hospital outreach

We have long been wanting to start some sort of ministry in the local hospital, Princess Marina, and this week things took a big step forward. Here's an excerpt from a letter I wrote to a friend yesterday:

"Just a bit of background: For decades Flying Mission has been doing a Bible distribution on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas, for you holiday-illiterate Americans) in the Princess Marina Hospital, giving out several hundred Bibles, and stopping to talk and pray with people that are interested. It’s a great time, but there’s no real opportunity for the building of relationships or the meeting of long-term needs due to the merely annual nature of the event. When we Weiseths joined the rest of the Flying Mission family this year for the event, I got separated from the herd, and ended up spending an hour or so with a young paraplegic named Kabelo. I resonated with this bright, hopeful guy, and found myself returning to visit him and a few other friends regularly. In the meantime, a few people at our church, unbeknownst to me, started talking about a hospital outreach. Additionally, Flying Mission saw the arrival of an Australian nurse named Laurel who started engaging in home-based care ministry.

 

In the past month or so, it occurred to me and and others that we might join together – Open Baptist Church working with Flying Mission in Princess Marina Hospital. Two initial fronts are envisioned: men working in the Orthopedic ward at the hospital, and women reaching out to expectant and new mothers, many of whom are far away from their home villages for the delivery of their children, and who often face difficult circumstances. We met with the Head Matron at the hospital, and received permission to begin outreach there, with no restrictions upon any kind of ministry we wish to do. And I stood in front of our church this last Sunday and announced our inaugural planning and training meeting this coming Saturday.

 

We are excited for this new open door, and think it only right that you guys, our Tacoma family, would know about it. If you have the opportunity, Shelley and I would ask that you pray for all of us here. In future updates, I look forward to introducing some of the other people involved in this to you. . . and to telling you how things are taking shape. Much remains to be decided. We don’t even know what we’re going to do in the hospital beyond talking and praying with folks! But God has planted something here, and I know He will make it grow."

 

 More soon. . .

Stasis?

As cooler temperatures set in here in the southern hemisphere, it would seem that hibernation is beginning in areas other than the animal kingdom. You may recall that I flew to the States in February in order to qualify as Captain on the B-737, with the hope that Flying Mission would initiate airline operations on behalf of Air Botswana soon thereafter.

Well, here's June. And no 737 has darkened the ramp at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport as of yet.

Why the delay? The reasons are myriad, and I am unfortunately not at liberty to discuss them in any detail. And the future looks pretty murky as well. But. We came to Africa as a result of a series of opening doors which I frankly would have called impossible a year earlier. Our time here has been both transformational and fulfilling, with a clear sense that the Lord has prepared a way for us all along.

Is this stasis? Emphatically no. Yes, I and a number of folks in Flying Mission Services are frustrated that we aren't yet flying jets. But there is more going on in the meantime, details of which I'll relate in my next post.

waking from dormancy

Holy smokes, I have neglected this blog for too long! Stand by for some substantive updates later this week. . .