Our annual conference was at the end of August. Each year, the entire AIM team in Namibia gathers together for worship, prayer, learning from the Word, and sharing about the ministries we are all currently involved in. Though I was a day late arriving to conference, I really enjoyed it and was challenged by the messages brought by Pastor Thijs. I also enjoyed hearing about what other missionaries are up to around the country. Though I know what everyone’s “assignment“ is, it is still encouraging to hear specific stories and to hear about all the other things each is involved in besides his or her general assignment. It is also good to share prayer requests for each other and we had a time of prayer for each individual and couple after their sharing time.

Another added bonus was the location of conference. We stayed at the Kalkfontein Guest House. I had been there once before. You may remember in a previous blog entry about a workshop in Rundu, I stayed at a guest house along the way and met a lion named Mufasa. Mufasa is the pet of the owners of Kalkfontein. He is one of many animals they have roaming around. He’s in a big fenced in area to himself, but many of the other animals, like warthogs and meerkats, roam free around the property. It’s always fun to walk around and have close encounters with animals you typically wouldn’t be able to interact with. The warthogs will come right up to you--they think you might have food. And the meerkats get over their shyness fairly easily. I sat down next to a family and the daddy meerkat rolled over on his back waiting for me to rub his belly. That was a first! :) They also have a momma and papa ostrich who have several baby ostriches running around. Papa doesn’t like you to get too close, but if you don’t mind his dinosaur-like shrieks and a bit of spit coming your way, you can get close enough to snap a few good pics. Mufasa steals the show though. They’ve raised him since he was a cub. He’ll come over to the fence and let you pet him. You can even put your hand near his mouth and he won’t do anything. At night while you’re in bed, you can hear his low growls and panting. Staying at Kalkfontein is quite the experience!