“You use too much the nasals!”

We arrived in Katima Mulilo, Namibia with a sense of hopeful anticipation. We always feel this way when we begin training a new group of students. Our students were to be a mix of Namibian, Zambian, and Khwe, both men and women, from three churches. We were especially excited about Pastor Wilson and Matthias who are both Khwe and would be joining us from the Chetto community. The Khwe are what are popularly known as bushman or Sans people, but they much prefer Khwe (pronounced kway) which is the name of their language. Percy’s very good friend, Pastor Jack, was to be our host at his church, Jesus Kingdom Ministries. We had first met Jack in 2018 and had twice been guest lecturers at his Bible school on the same property so we were excited to see him again.

Well, how did the training go? It went splendidly. Our students were engaged, freely asked questions, openly discussed key issues, and we laughed together a lot. Abby combined her Wounded Healers training with Praying the Psalms of Lament. It was not something she had done before and it was very effective. Each of our students, at the end of the week, wrote his or her own Psalm of lament, and it was deeply meaningful for them. I focused, as usual during Phase 1, on Understanding Guilt, Shame, and Fear which led to serious discussions about unresolved personal issues and typical ministry struggles. Our own experience has taught us that leaders who fail to deal with their own unresolved guilt, shame, and fear - and the accompanying wounds - often cause serious harm to others in their families and the life of the church. That’s why we begin Phase 1 with these classes.

As usual, our students struggled a bit, especially Wilson and Matthias, with our American accents. Concerned about this possibility, I spoke to Matthias during a break on our first day and asked him if the look of confusion I’d seen on his face while I was teaching was because of my accent. His response was priceless. Shaking his head yes, and using two fingers, he pointed to his own nose and said, “You are using too much the nasals!” Smiling, I lowered my voice and, straining, spoke as deeply and sonorously as I could, “Would that be better?” “Oh, yes,” he said enthusiastically. Still smiling, I said, “Sorry, can’t do it.” I must say that he looked pretty disappointed!

Yesterday, it was our privilege to worship at Jesus Kingdom Ministries whose mission statement reads: “We exist to treasure Jesus with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, to enjoy Him above all creation and spread the passion to all people for God’s glory!” Abby taught, I preached, Percy translated, and Nathan led wonderful worship music. Afterward, Pastor Jack and his wife, Kaleni, joined us for a lingering lunch where we discussed everything from politics to the inappropriate influence of self-styled “prophets” on the local churches to the dominance of witchcraft on the local community’s life and thinking. It was a joy to be with them!

Please continue praying for us. This week will be a combination of personal meetings, video recording, and strategic discussions, especially about how we may more effectively reach the Khwe. We were very excited when Matthias told Percy this past Friday that our training had been personally meaningful to him, and that we had to bring our training to his people. And remember, where we go, you go!

Our Phase 1 class in katima mulilo, namibia, was great!

Small group breakouts went really welL because of our students’ enthusiasm, students like (L to R) chi chi, wilson, and elias!

It’s always beautiful to see our students digging into god’s word!

Pastor wilSon (L) and Matthias are from the Khwe community in chetto.

Matthias looks up a scripture passage during a small group breakout.

Jesus kingdom ministries welcomed us warmLy to worship. Many of their memBers were at their home villages because it was A holiday weekend.

Pastor jack and his wife, Kaleni (pictured here), are a joy to know!

These kids loved having their photo taken after worship.