Wednesday Night Meal

Hello all! We will welcome home the Namibia team sometime tonight (Thursday) and look forward to catching up with them tomorrow night (Wednesday) at Intersection from 6:00-7:30. After Intersection, we will be eating together at the Chic-fil-a off Franklin (in front of Wal-Mart). If you are planning on going to eat with us, have your ride pick you up there! Talk to you soon.

Final Namibia Update

Hello all,

Well our long journey on this side of the Atlantic is coming to a close. We had an amazing trip and saw God move in so many ways within our team as well as in the students here in Namibia. YWAP Camp was the icing on the cake of what was already a great experience. We spent this past weekend at an encampment about 45 minutes north of Windhoek worshipping and celebrating the truth that we as Christians are aliens/foreigners in this world. It truly was a time of spiritual renewal for those who were there. In all, there were 190 people at Camp which means it was packed out. Our students helped lead in drama, music and so many other ways. I don't think there is any way for me to truly describe in detail all that happened there, but we saw 25 kids come to Christ and many others make commitments to rededicate themselves to Christ and live for Him in their daily lives. We have been so blessed to be a part of this whole movement that God is doing here in Namibia.

It is kind of weird that we will be getting on a plane in about 6 hours to head back to Texas. It is hard to process through all that has happened on this trip, but I know that God has truly spoken to our students and that they will be coming back changed forever. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them start asking to come back again in the near future. As the youth pastor, I can honestly say that I have been so proud of all of these students and how they have handled themselves throughout this entire experience. The leadership here in Namibia has continually commented on how great the team has been and that it is obvious how hard they worked before getting here and how they appreciate how hard they have worked since we landed. They have said on numerous occasions that they really feel like this team is anointed by God and they can't wait to see how God moves as a result of us being here. I don't say that to say look what we've done, but just to let you know that God truly has been at work.

We are sad to leave this place today, but feel as though we have been able to accomplish what we set out to do in encouraging believers, sharing the message of God's love for the people here, and beginning relationships with so many that will be carried on through email and Facebook. Thanks so much for praying for us and know that God has answered in big ways. Don't stop praying yet because we have a very long trip home. We will see you when we get back on Tuesday. Love to you all.

Blessings,

HSM Namibia Team

Namibia Update for Thursday

Greetings from Namibia,

Today started off with a short assembly at St George's Primary School. We only had time to do a couple of songs and the Prayer Skit. Once again our students did a great job in the assembly and the children loved hearing our kids. We had been told that we would have 35 minutes for that assembly, but we all know that mission trips survive on the concept of flexibility and adaptability so we shortened it and all went well.

We returned to Cafe Schneider one more time for an excellent breakfast before starting on our camp preparations. The guys worked on some platforms that will be used during recreation during the weekend and the girls helped in putting together all of the camp booklets that the students will receive with all of the info for the camp. They did an incredible job serving the ministry staff here by willingly stepping in to finish whatever project necessary to get ready for camp. The majority of the afternoon was spent doing this. A group actually went out to the camp to get some of the sound system set up as well as make a video for the camp rules while the rest of the group stayed at the house to write names on head bands for recreation.
After we returned to the house and had supper, we spent some time praying together for our time this weekend. Specifically we prayed that God would be able to use us as His instruments to speak His truth to the students there. We prayed that God would unify us so that our message would be strong.

Please pray that we would be salt and light to these students at the camp and that God would move in the hearts of our students and those that are a part of YWAP. This will be the last email until after camp so we will let you know how God answers these prayers on Sunday. Thanks and we love you all.

Blessings,

HSM Namibia Team

Wednesday Namibia Update

Today was another great day for our team. We spent the entire morning at St Paul's School doing assemblies which was very long but so fun. We began by doing the assembly for the 1st and 2nd grade students. Instead of trying to figure out what parts of our program would be age appropriate, we decided to do some games and songs from our time at Beautiful Gate. The kids really seemed to have fun playing and singing with our team. Paul finished the assembly by teaching the lesson that he did from our previous day at Beautiful Gate. Our second assembly was a bit different because we had the 5th-7th grades. This time we did a portion of our normal program with Kirsten sharing about how God really helped her through the healing process after her mom passed away. The children really responded well to her and the entire program. Then we went back to doing some of the Beautiful Gate material for the 3rd-4th grade class. We had already done part of our program for 1st-6th grades so we were trying to do some new things that they hadn't already seen so it was a good thing that we had prepared some extra songs. After this group left to go back to class, we did our program for the 8th-9th grades. Cassie and Nathanael both shared testimonies with this group that really challenged them on the subject of prayer and salvation. It was a great opportunity for these students to hear the Gospel. We finished off our time at St Paul's by facilitating a religious education class for the 12th grade. This was a class where the students came and watched a couple of our skits and then we had some question and answer time where many of our students responded to questions about why does it have to hurt when God disciplines us, how do you stand strong as a Christian when the world tries to tempt you, and what do you do when you are a Christian with non-Christian friends who influence you negatively. They did an incredible job of answering questions and I truly believe that our students enjoyed being able to share from their experience in their walk with Christ to encourage these 12th grade students.

We came back to the Bullingtons house after the assemblies to get ready for our last day at Beautiful Gate. Our program today consisted of some fun children's songs, some more spontaneous melodrama, followed by giving out power bands (colored beads on a string) which basically explain how we are born in sin, but the blood of Christ cleanses us from that sin and then we follow Christ in baptism leading us into spiritual growth and eventually opening the door for us to go to heaven because of our relationship to Jesus. I'm not totally sure that the kids understood the whole concept, but they were given a few little keepsakes over the last few days that will hopefully be a reminder of a group of American teenagers who loved on them and cared for them. After saying goodbye to the children there, we drove through Katutura which is the township that Beautiful Gate is in. The name literally means a "place you don't want to live" because it is such a transient place. It is a poverty stricken area of town that has houses made from sheet metal and plywood. It made a pretty big impact on our students to actually see some of these places where the children at Beautiful Gate live.

Tomorrow is our last day of assemblies and then we start getting prepared for YWAP camp. The time has really flown by but our students have really been amazing at how they have served and loved the students of Namibia. Many have said that this is one of the first mission trips that they weren't ready to go home yet when they got this far into the trip. Again thank you so much for continuing to pray for us and please ask God to encourage us and give us energy as we are pretty run down from a long week of service. Love to all of you and we'll talk to you again tomorrow.

Blessings,

HSM Namibia Team

Namibia Team Updates

Every update we receive from the team in The Africa (as I like to refer to it) will be posted on the blog. Here is what we have, in the order that we received it.

Tuesday, June 12
Hey guys,

Just letting you know that we all survived the trip over and are getting ready to have dinner at the Bullingtons. We enjoyed our time in London by watching for celebrities which we saw and met two of them. Terry O'Quinn (John Locke from LOST) and Chad Michael Murray from a lot of CW shows were both in the airport so that was fun for the kids. We are really tired and worn down from the long trip, but we are very excited about what we will get to experience over the next couple of weeks. I'm going to keep this short, but know that we will be updating regularly.

Blessings,

Ronny

Saturday, June 16th
Hello all,

We returned from the game park yesterday afternoon. It was a really great experience for all of us. We were in the gates of the park for about 20 minutes when we came across our first lion! Now being one who has been to this game park and searched for 3 days for lions this is a pretty amazing thing. We enjoyed seeing all kinds of animals in their natural habitat which is truly an incredible thing. Here's a quick list of the things that we saw in our trip there: lions (4), rhinos, elephants, zebra, giraffe, hyenas, springboks, kudus, gemsboks (oryx), wildebeest, ostriches, impalas...needless to say, we saw alot. We had a little bus trouble (go figure that on a youth trip) where our bus broke down in the middle of the park. Something happened to the hydraulics on the bus which affected the brakes, but God is good and after a little prayer and some funny video clips (which we will love showing when we return), we were on our way again.

We returned back to Windhoek yesterday afternoon in time to get a little rest before heading off to YWAP (the weekend Bible study). We got set up and ready to go quickly before the students arrived then our kids got to meet their Namibian counterparts. It was a little awkward at first, but eventually the two groups began to mix and the comfort level increased greatly. During the worship service that night our band did a worship set and they did an incredible job as usual. Then Aeriel Butler got up and gave her testimony. The students in the school hall really absorbed all that she said and I can say that I was a very proud youth pastor. The night ended with more fellowship time with the students. It was a beautiful moment to watch these American students stand and talk and interact with the students at YWAP. Our host families picked us up from there and everyone went home for a nice deserved rest.

Tonight we will get to do it all over again for the young youth. We expect God to do some great things in this trip and so far we have not been disappointed. This weekend is the last chance for these Namibian students to sign up for their youth camp so we can just pray that many will come and hear a fresh word from God. Keep praying for us and we'll talk to you all soon.

Be Blessed,

Ronny

Sunday, June 17th
Hello everyone,

We wanted to give you the update from last night and this morning. We had the younger YWAP Bible Study last night and it was great! Over the weekend we got to meet about 200 students and try to remember their names. Our band did a great job once again...they performed "Party" for the first time and the kids loved it! We are really loving the time here so far.
This morning we worshipped with the church here and it was really great. We led worship for the church and Ronny preached so we had to hear him speak...again. Haha! It was a really great time for our team to worship with the Namibians here. We are preparing to start the assemblies tomorrow so be praying for us as we go to the schools. We are very excited and can't wait to perform the program that God has led us to put together.
Please pray protection for our group as many have had some cold type symptoms due to the change in weather. We are trusting that God is going to use this program to great things. I am attaching a personal note from each student for your reading pleasure to give you an idea of what is happening from their perspective. Thanks for your prayers and we'll email again soon. Love you all and Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there.

HSM Namibia team

Monday, June 18th
Hey guys,

Last night we made a trip up one of the mountains surrounding Windhoek so that we could get a view of the entire city...the ride up itself was worth the trip. We rode on a vehicle (buffel...buffalo in Afrikaans) that could seat 25 and it was open air so we got to see everything. When we got to the top, we had dinner made by some church members that was really good. We ate Gemsbok sirloin and boerwors which is really great meat. We watched the sun go down and prayed over the city. It was a very cold ride down, but again way worth the trip.

We started the morning off by meeting at St Paul's chapel to perform part of our program for the primary (elementary) school students at 6:45am...needless to say it was a very early morning. The assembly went well. The students enjoyed having our group...there was plenty of laughing (in the appropriate places of course) and the kids seemed to really love "Party". Kyle gave his testimony and did a great job of relating his relationship with Christ to these young students. Once we finished we had to pack everything away (sound system stuff) and then head over to another school to perform our entire program for their college (high school).
When we arrived at St George's we had to get everything set up all over again and ready for the students break time. This assembly was really tough because the kids were all over the place getting snacks and talking, but our kids did an incredible job. This was the first time to do the entire program and they pulled it off flawlessly. Maggie and Benjamin gave their testimonies and the students really responded well. After we finished the break time, our students went out into the crowd of St Georges kids and had a great time mixing it up with them. It was a rough assembly because we were outside and it was hard to hear, but we know that God was glorified through all that we did today.

After the two assemblies this morning, we took the kids shopping for a second time (the first was really short and so not everyone got to get what they wanted). We went to the Craft Center in downtown Windhoek and it was a very cool experience for the students. We then headed back to the Bullingtons for lunch which was homemade lasagna...mmm, good!!
After lunch we headed out to Beautiful Gate which is a day care center for AIDS orphans. We had a fun time ministering to the kids there by singing worship songs, doing a Bible story, and making a picture frame out of paper plates. It's incredible to see the poverty there, but also still realize that God is still at work among the poor and marginalized in this society. These kids are being given the opportunity to hear the Gospel and be loved on which does not happen at their homes. It was a very emotionally draining as well as physically draining day, but God moved and we are blessed to see how He is working in the lives of students here in Namibia. We love you all and ask that you continue to pray that God opens doors for us to encourage the students here, share the love of Christ, and most of all just be a reflection of the compassion and mercy of our God.

Blessings to you all,

HSM Namibia team

Tuesday, June 19th
So today has been a great day! We started early again to do an assembly at Delta Secondary School. It was a short assembly but it was really fun. We only had 10 minutes, but the head master of the school let us do an extra song so we must have done something right. After the assembly, we got a few minutes to meet some of the students which was really great.

We ate breakfast afterwards at Cafe Schneider which was a big hit with the kids before having to rush off to set up for our next assembly at All Nations. Most of the schools that we are ministering in are schools supported by churches or the government, but this one we went to was one that would be referred to as a church school. It was an amazing group of students ranging from age 5-15. I was so proud of our kids yet again because they did a great job and the children responded so well. This was probably the best group we have performed for thus far. Sarah and Seth gave their testimonies to the group and did very well. Each one of our kids has been able to reach out and encourage students today and that was a great blessing for us.

We went back to Beautiful Gate for day 2 of our 3 day program there. Paul Carr led the Bible story time and did a really great job teaching the little children...he even got asked if he taught children back in the States. They really seemed to enjoy him. Our students are really attaching to some of these little children and it is a beautiful thing to watch as they just go and put these kids on their shoulders or swing them around or just sit and hold them while praying for them. They are truly being the hands and feet of Christ as they minister to these who have gone through so much before reaching the age of 7.

After we finished at Beautiful Gate, we tried to get some time at an internet cafe, but most of the students who tried to email found out how slow African internet can be at those types of places. They got half an hour to try to email without much luck. A few were actually successful at sending an email, but the majority were frustrated to watch nothing happen as they sent their email. So if you were waiting on a personal message from your student, this is why it didn't happen. We may try again at a different place later this week, but don't worry because everyone is doing well.

Tonight we took the team to a restaurant called Joe's that is known here in Windhoek for it's incredible food. They have a platter that they serve called the Bushman Sosati that many of the students ordered which gave them a bunch of different meats to choose from...I will let you hear from them what meats exactly were on there. It was some great fellowship for our team after a very blessed day. Thank you so much for continuing to pray for us. Here are some more items that you can be praying about for us: 1) peaceful sleep-many of us have had a difficult time getting to sleep at night as well as waking up in the middle of the night multiple times, 2) continued health-lots of runny noses and coughs because of the change of weather; and 3) energy for a long day of assemblies tomorrow-we will start at 7:15am and go all the way through to 11am before getting ready for our last time at Beautiful Gate starting at 2pm. Thanks so much for you prayers thus far. We really have been blessed by them and can feel God using you to help keep us alert and unified. We love you all. Until tomorrow...

Blessings,

HSM Namibia Team

Wednesday Night, June 20th

After Intersection tomorrow night (June 20th), we will be eating at Fazoli's! The one by Home Depot, not by Baylor campus. Come enjoy some bread sticks and baked zitti with us! Have your parents pick you up at Fazoli's! Hope to see you there!

Post Intersection Eats (P.I.E.)

We will be going to Rosa's Cafe after Intersection for dinner. Hope you can make it!!
HSM

Ranger Game

You need to be here at 4:30pm for the JH Ranger game. We will be back around midnight.

Back in use

Hey guys,

We've been really bad at updating the blog, but we are back at it for the summer so be watching for new updates. Just a reminder to all of you that we are starting at 6pm on Wednesday nights now and will do that all the way through the summer. Also we are starting d-group tonight at the Abens' house...if you need directions email us at highlandstudents@gmail.com. This is our ministry email. It's new so add it to your list. See you guys tonight.

Ronny