The day I have been anticipating for months finally arrived!

Nova called me at 6:45 this morning. I was semi-awake but still in bed. It's baby time! I asked her how long before I needed to be there to take her to the hospital and she graciously gave me 30 minutes. I took the fastest shower on record and proceeded to run through the house trying to think of everything I needed to do before I left. Many things from my typical routine I left out like eating a decent breakfast, but there were certain things I had to make sure were done like feeding the dogs, packing my cameras, etc.

At 7:20am I pulled up to her house. She has never looked or acted like a woman 9 months pregnant, and this morning she did not look like a woman about to give birth. I began to doubt whether a baby would come today, but I trusted her instincts and off we went.

She was led into a small bed in a small space in a small room. I thought, "Hmm... this is going to be interesting when all the action happens!" Thankfully, that was only the first room where the nurses evaluated her to see if indeed she was in labor. The verdict: She definitely was. Her water had broken by this time and she was at 6cm. One nurse gave her two hours until delivery.

I had been waiting outside this room, but could go with her to the next room. This is where she would wait until the very time of delivery. She had a wonderful nurse who stayed with her until then. I read in the waiting area for a while, checking on her periodically. Each time she was resting. After an hour, I went to check on her again. By then she was more active and her contractions were coming every 6 minutes or so. About 10 minutes later they started coming even more frequently. By 11am, she was having them every few minutes and her pain was increasing. Even though I am comfortable in intense situations, I always get emotional watching someone else in pain. I don't mind at all being by his or her side, but I hurt for them in a major way and it takes all my strength to not let the tears fall.

Before noon, Nova was ready to have the baby... or so she thought any way. She felt the incredible urge to push, but since she was still only at 6cm, the nurses encouraged her not to. Upon further examination, the nurses decided it was getting close to time for delivery and they began to move her to the delivery room.

By this time, most of the nurses knew that Nova had given me permission to be in the delivery room with her. What an incredible privilege! And I should add, I was the only person with Nova at all this entire time. No other family or friends were present.

I was about one minute behind them, gathering all of our things to take to the delivery room. I quickly set everything on the floor and went to the side of the bed. About 30 seconds and just a few pushes later, the baby was out! I didn't even have time to think about grabbing my camera before I was witnessing the miracle of this little one rushing out of his mommy. "It's a boy!" I tearfully told Nova. The nurse quickly cleaned him off and I finally remembered my camera.

Even just a few months into Nova's pregnancy, she told me that I would be the one to name her baby. Then and now, I am speechless at her request. On a couple different occasions, I asked her again if she was sure about that decision and she emphatically confirmed that she was. I knew instantly that if the baby was a girl, I would name her after my sister Elisabeth. I never settled on a boy's name until just a couple weeks ago when I decided that his name should also be meaningful and not just something I picked randomly. Matthew it would be, after my brother.

I have been praising God all day because I was beginning to think I would miss this occasion altogether! I am heading out of town on Friday and was worried that she wasn't going to have the baby by then. Her due date was the 15th, though in her mind she always pegged the 28th as being the day. Momma's know best! Thankfully, she was right and baby Matthew arrived before I left on the 30th! I wouldn't have wanted to miss this day for the world and I have been praying that he would come in time. I am so thankful and blessed that God answered my prayer!

So... without further adieu... I am more than ecstatic to introduce you to baby Matthew. Thank you for all of your prayers and I hope you will continue to pray for Mommy Nova, Daddy Eldon, Big Brother Tudesky, and of course Baby Matthew in the days to come. Money is scarce as with so many families here and the future will not be easy. But I can say that no matter the circumstances, the days ahead are already brighter because of this new, precious addition.

In the same paper was a snippet about how some of the residents in Katutura get their water. I've often seen children even much smaller than these struggling to carry big jugs of water back to their homes. And I thought my childhood chores were burdensome!

I feel like the stories from my blog have given pretty accurate reports of my ongoing experiences here, what is happening, and what I am learning. So I will not recap all of that. Instead, I hope you will take some time to read my latest newsletter and watch the 6-minute video I made from photos and videos I've taken over the past year. The quality of the video is poor because even at the lowest resolution it was a huge file for posting! (If any of you would like a copy of this video, my mom or my church can put the original file onto a DVD for you.)

I know that God has used you all in a mighty way as you have chosen to partner with my ministry through support and prayers. "Thanks" never seems like a strong enough word, but please know that I do appreciate you all more than words can say!

(click to enlarge)

My friend Nova is due to have a baby any day now. Her supposed due date was July 15th... obviously that has come and gone. The latest check-up from the hospital showed the baby is fine and getting big. Nova walked back home from the hospital that day, "To help the baby come faster," she said. Walking definitely is a helpful thing at this stage, but it was still crazy for me to think of a lady 9 months pregnant walking over 2 miles home! How many ladies that pregnant do you know who have walked that far? Quite hilly terrain I might add! Nova was a first for me. I must keep my phone on me at all times because Nova expects me to be the first one at the hospital when she is going into labor. This will be my first time witnessing the birth of a child! And not only that, Nova has asked me to name her child! What an incredible honor! We don't know the gender of the baby, but I have some names picked out and I can only hope that she likes them. :/

Nova and her son have been going to church with me quite regularly. The church I attend is different than other churches here, a lot more contemporary and laid back than most churches in town, and obviously less traditional than the African churches. Nova and Tudesky have both enjoyed the services and Tudesky has started going to Sunday School. He has teamed up with another little buddy of mine, Ethan, and they've made fast friends. Nova reads with Tudesky from the Bible and has mentioned how great those times have been. I wanted to buy Tudesky a kids devotional and found the perfect one at the Christian bookstore. It's got a short daily devotional perfect for his reading level. Nova said he loves that book and she tells me he reads from it often. Knowing that my relationship with both of them is helping them each to grow in their relationship with God is such an encouragement to me.

I have still been meeting with the young lady I've been discipling--I've told her story before. That is going well and we're on Chapter 30-something of The Purpose Driven Life. She asks great questions and I pray that she is really getting a lot out of the study and our time together. There are still rough patches as she deals with her difficult life and struggles with remnants of addiction, but I have seen a lot of progress. Her trust in me has grown and even though I have to show her tough love on occasion, I believe she appreciates it and sees me as someone who really does care about her and the choices she makes.

At FHS, I have started a weekly "creative writing class" with some of the afternoon kids. These kids are between 10-14 and mostly females. The purpose of the class is to help them with their English and grammar, and I also want it to be a time where they can build their self-confidence. Most of these children don't have a safe environment to express themselves. I want to give them an outlet to do that and a place where they can be heard and appreciated. I am really enjoying my time with these young ones and I after just a few weeks I can already tell the ones who also look forward to my time with them. Most of the stories so far have been fictional exercises to get their imaginations going. Some of them were asking who would read their stories and wished I would take them to America so people there could read them. That fit perfectly with my overall desire for this class because eventually I wanted to shift the stories from fictional ones to stories that allowed them to write more about their own lives here in Namibia. Thus began "The Stories of the African Child"... or whatever it should be called. There is no real title for it, but the aim is simple... I have asked the children to write about themselves as Namibian children. I explained to them how my childhood in America was much different from their childhood here. I made up some true-to-life stories of American children and read them aloud, asking the kids to point out the differences between their lives and lives of many children in America. I told them that it is important for people in America to know how children live in other parts of the world, and I explained to them that when I got older and started to learn more about African children I knew that one day I would want to come and help them. Telling their stories will be important for Americans--and others--to read, and maybe one day they would also think to come to Africa and help God's children. I think the children really understood the purpose of this exercise, and it is one that we will continue to work on throughout the coming weeks. What is really neat about this exercise is that it allows the children to write about their lives, giving me the opportunity to read their first drafts and ask questions, have them elaborate on certain points, and even provides a time for me to talk with them about some of the difficult issues they face on a daily basis. Many have lost one or both parents, some are living with family members who don't treat them well, for many it is not unusual for them to go to bed hungry, and going to school with a clean uniform is a luxury. These are things many children in America do not have to face, or at least not as often as children here in Namibia... where being an orphan seems to be more common than having both parents still alive. This week I helped one of the girls finish the second draft of her story. I got her to open up about her childhood memories of her father before he passed away. The day ended with her crying and me trying to console her, but I pray that it was a positive experience overall because she started to remember great things about her father that initially she had no recollection of.

Aside from praying for the relationships mentioned in the updates above, I am praying for continued energy for each day. It is easy to do and do and do and wear yourself out by staying constantly busy with good things. I pray that I will focus on the tasks that are most important and won't allow myself to get wrapped up in mundane duties that aren't making Kingdom impact. The world can be a distracting arena and I want to make the most of my time here.

I am also praying for a dear friend back home who has just been diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. Kathleen is a precious lady at my home church who is a blessing to everyone who knows her. They will meet tomorrow with an oncologist to talk about treatment options, if there are any. The treatment would be very aggressive and difficult for her due to her age. Please pray with me that Kathleen and her family will feel God's comfort and know His peace during this difficult time.

Yesterday, Linda and I went to visit Elizabeth and her family at their home in Katutura. We took along some KFC and had a great time eating, hanging out, and playing with the kids.

Aside from the petting zoo field trips, a lot has been happening at FHS... many things thanks to Linda's creativity!

She taught the kids how to make butter using cream, a pinch of salt, and shaking the tar out of some ziploc bags! It was pretty funny to watch the unique ways the kids would try to shake up the butter...

And I've personally never found so much enjoyment out of playdough! I am sure I enjoyed playing with it as a kid--I really loved the peanut butter playdough my mom used to make!--but watching these kids make all kinds of cute creatures was so much fun! I was really impressed by their creativity. See for yourself...

We had a birthday party not too long ago for Hilde (on the left below). Hilde is sponsored by my friend Kim and her family. Kim mailed a package filled with birthday goodies for Hilde and her friends... sunglasses, books, markers, candy, and more! I'd say this was a birthday Hilde won't soon forget, and all the other kids were so excited that they also received so many fun gifts! Thanks, Kim!

I'll close with a photo of Disco Queen Elizabeth! She wanted me to take a photo of her afro, and I agreed under the condition that she would let me pose her! I thought this was appropriate. ;)

We've been continuing the petting zoo trips at FHS. We've got one more lined up next week, but here are some pictures from our last two outings. It's never a dull moment around that place!

The calf had been born less than a week before. Apparently Mama Cow already has some help to look after her baby...

...or perhaps the eland just thinks he's part of the family!

Kaita was not too keen on backing up any further to take a picture with the goat.

One of the monkeys snatched a glove right out of one of the kid's pockets. Little stinkers!

I've never seen such an excited ostrich!

(By the way, I'm cheering for Spain. I found myself first cheering for Mexico, then Ghana, and now Spain. Some of the guys I play soccer with on Monday nights are from Spain, so that made it an easy choice...)

On Monday, Cindy, Linda, and I went with Teacher Anna and her class on a tour of downtown Windhoek. This is one of the educational trips Linda has planned for this term. I learned a lot and hopefully the kids did too! Teacher Anna teaches a remedial class for the older students at FHS who aren't in a formal school. Each year we have a group of kids in the remedial classes whom we try to teach and tutor to a level where they can test into a formal school... often several grades behind where they should be at their age. Field trips like this one are a special way to teach them about the community and to supplement their lessons.

And let the tour begin...

We ended the tour with a picnic in the Parliament gardens. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous day! :)