Reflections on the week

Wednesday through Friday during the work day, I went with Dr. Paula up to Northwest University. She is a senior lecturer there and is the main veterinarian in the small animal clinic. On arrival, she gave me a tour of the facilities and introduced me to all the faculty and staff. I must say I am on name overload and have a lot of trouble pronouncing their names correctly. They however all already know me by name! The students are not in session yet. Their school year runs February to December (in comparison to the States which run Aug-May). They are starting classes three weeks early this year because South Africa is hosting the World Cup in June and they need to have their spring semester finals finished before it begins. The students should start to trickle in over the next week for registration and then classes begin the first of Feb. Mafikeng, the town where the university is located, is in the Northwest province and approximately 15 minutes from the Botswana border. Almost all of the students at Northwest are Tswana and come from the surrounding towns and villages.

The past few days I have helped in the clinic with seeing cases. There are two small animal technicians, Tshepi and Thato, who are so much fun to be around. There are also a couple of graduates of the animal health program that are volunteering at the school in order to get work experience in hopes of helping them gain employment. (Unemployment in South Africa is 40%.) They are serving as interns, taking care of the hospitalized animals on the nights and weekends, in exchange for living accommodations. They see a lot of tick borne diseases here and do a blood smear on every dog that comes in the hospital (looking for canine ehrlichiosis and babesiosis). Parasites are also a big problem. I counted over 150 hookworm eggs on a fecal from a puppy! No wonder it was vomiting and lethargic! I went out on a farm call with one of the the large animal vets and technicians. It was really fun because we went out to a surrounding village area. The cow had just calved the previous day and they wanted us to look at her because her udder was swollen. When we got there and examined her, she had only one functional quarter (only one teat was producing milk), and it was obvious that this had been going on for a long time and it was likely she would not regain function of those affected quarters. We recommended supplementing the calf with some milk replacer and selling the cow once the calf was weaned. It is hard to recommend selling an animal to someone that has their livelihood tied up in their livestock, but in her condition she would no longer be a productive animal for them. On Monday, I will get to see my first case of heartwater (a rickettsial disease of ruminants).

One of the days, whenever there were no cases, I was up at the front desk visiting with Akofa, the receptionist. She asked me many questions and then she point blank asked me, "Why do you want to do missions?". Talk about an open door. To people who think of America as "the land of milk and honey", it is hard for them to understand why one would be willing to give upthat life, have to raise your own support, and work for a fraction of what you would in the States. Please pray for similar open doors to share with the students as they come back. Pray that I will be bold to proclaim that the reason I am here is to bring the message that Jesus Christ died so that they might have fellowship with God now and in the life to come. Pray that I can share that ultimate fulfillment in life doesn't come when you get a job and make a lot of money and live in a big house and drive nice vehicles, it comes when you know who God is and who you are IN CHRIST. Earthly possessions are nothing compared to the greatness of knowing Christ my Savior! There is a lady named Josephine who has a ministry on campus called His People. She is coming over tomorrow to celebrate her birthday and I am hoping to be able to visit with her and share about Breakaway. Hopefully, once school gets back in swing, I can go to the student meetings.

There is much potential for the school here at Northwest. Professor Beighle, a veterinarian and career missionary, invested years in the students coming through NWU and hard work getting the funds to build the current facility. He spent much time helping students write scientific papers for their Master's and PhD's in a language that was not their native tongue. Many of these students would not have gotten advanced degrees without his influence and encouragement. Rightly so, the facility is named in his honor. The Beighle's moved back to the states a couple of years ago after spending 30 years here. The exciting news is that Christian Veterinary Mission has a great opportunity to step in and help carry out the vision the Lord gave Prof Beighle for the students here at NWU. Currently there is only one veterinary school in South Africa and it is at the University of Pretoria. As of now, they only graduate around 30 graduates a year and many of them move abroad to practice in the UK or Australia, thus leaving a shortage of veterinarians in SA. There is a chance that they might start a second vet school at NWU. Dr. Paula is working (and has worked) very hard to help institute changes and get resources that will help improve the quality of education the students will receive and hopefully give the students at Mafikeng opportunities they would not otherwise get. While the facilities and equipment are improving, they are needing people with the vision and motivation to push things into reality.

Last night I went to the youth group at church with Logan and Becca. It took me back to my old days of youth! I really enjoyed worshipping with them and am excited to get to be apart of that fellowship. Please pray that I might be able to impart any wisdom I can to this younger generation.

Well, it is Saturday afternoon and it is raining outside. Of course, Tim has just hung out the laundry, including the sheets for their bed. He has just threatened that I might get kicked out of my bed in case they don't dry in time! :) What a blessing this family has already been to me. They have provided me with many laughs. A cheerful heart does good like a medicine. Did I mention that mangos are in season! I have had one a day--I figure it keeps the doctor away! May the Lord bless and keep you! Til next time . . .