New York Times

If you have not seen it I encourage you to go and have a look at the New York Times article about Namibia. It is in the Travel section for August 24th. It has some very interesting information about the country and about the clash of cultures taking place in Namibia. Have a great Saturday. J

...And We're Back

Well the past few weeks have been a series of ups and downs, both literally and metaphorically. So this post will probably be a little long. We will try and make up for it with some photos.

I will begin with something good. The clergy training program is getting started. We have had two discernment days over the past few weeks. Lukas and I met with 11 people from the area around Windhoek and South and then Lukas went to the North this past weekend to meet with another large group. It was great listening to their stories and feeling their ethusiasm. We have really started to get the program together. Towards the beginning of October the selection commitee will meet and choose the postulants for the training program. They will register for their TEE (Theological Education by Extention) materials in November and we will have our orientation week in January. We hope to have 36-40 students in the program. Everything will depend on how far we can make the grant money go. We have a plan, but the changing economic conditions could affect how many students we can accept.

Now for the big downer. On Wednesday, August 6th, The Transfiguration. Penny and I were both invited to lunch with different people. Me with the personal assistant for the Ambassador of Nigeria and Penny with the Dean's wife. She left at 12:30pm, I left at 1pm. She got back at 2pm. I arrived about an hour later and found Penny standing with the Dean at the front of our house. As I walked up the steps she told me that our house had been broken into. She had come into the house to find that the window in our living room had been broken and the security bars pried off. She initially thought that only the computer had been stolen, but after some searching realized that our old and brand new digital cameras had been stolen. After a day or so we also figured out that Penny's purse an my second wallet had been stolen. Betwen the two they got Penny's iPod and both our credit cards. By the time we cancelled the cards on Friday the thieves had charged several thousand dollars. For the next few days we had a guard at night. Since that time the parish has really taken security much more seriously. We have a new temporary security fence in the front and back and a new plan for security of the property.

Over the days that followed the theft we experienced a range of emotions. Sometimes we were angry other times we were sad. Sometimes we felt guilty for having these things in the first place and other times we were frustrated that we lost photos of our family and friends that had not been downloaded or backed-up. When we moved here we did not bring much, mostly clothes and electronics. We had been feeling really homesick anyway and then to have most of what conected us to home taken was hard. At the same time we could look around and see how little most people here have, the high unemployment rate and rising food prices make for a desperate situation. As we takled to people in the parish we realized that most everyone has had a theft of some kind and that in many ways it is a rite of passage. We feel connected in a different way. We know we must remain vigilant about our security, both property and physical, but we cannot lock ourselves away and become disconnected from the people were are here to serve.

Enough bad news lets get to some good stuff. About the same time that were were robbed Penny and I had been considering adopting a cat from the SPCA here in Windhoek. We had actually gone the day before and picked out two cats and they were being spayed at the time. We went and picked them up the Friday after the theft. You can see them in the photo. Since we had been feling homesick we named our new additions after rivers in Alabama. The grey and white cat is named Coosa and the calico/tabby mix is named Sipsey. They are very sweet and affectionate and have brought new life to the house. As you can see they have already started getting comfortable.

So we went and ordered a new computer and had to wait about 2 weeks to get it. The Olympics have been a nice diversion and we have never felt so patriotic. You can tell that you are feeling homesick when you get tears in your eyes during the medal ceremony for womens gymnastics. I realized that this was the first time I have ever heard the Star Spangled Banner from another country.

This past weekend we experienced a highlight of our time here so far. The Dean, Mike and his wife DeeDee and Penny and I took the youth confirmation class on a camping and hiking trip to the Nakluft Mountains. There were 20 kids aged 12-17, from a variety of economic backgrounds.

We left at about 11am on Friday for a 5 hour drive through the bush to the Namib/Nakluft National Park. We took a bus that had seen better days but semed up to the trip. Mike followed in his truck. About 3 hours into the trip we had our first flat tire, on Mike's truck. A very nice Austrian couple on holiday in Namibia stopped to offer assistance. About 30 minutes later our second flat, this time on the bus. This is a part of the world where you must take flat tires very seriously. As you can see from the photos we are out in the middle of nowhere and it can be hours before another car passes.

So we finally arrived at our camp site and got everything together. The kids were split into teams and were each responsible for preparinga meal. It was very cold during our trip. A cold front from the Cape came through and brought temps close to freezing both nights. It did, however, make the 10 mile hike the next day much nicer. Rather than try and narrate the entire hike and the rest of our trip I will download photos and just say a word about each one.

This photo is of our first meal being prepared.

These are our kids along with Mike, DeeDee, myself and our bus driver Jack. Penny is taking the photo.

Next a couple of photos of the amazing scenery. As I said the hike was 17km or about 10.5 miles and reached a hight of 1910 meters (6266 feet) Its 1000 feet higher than Denver. We will post more photos of the trip in our next post.

We will be updating the blog more frequently now that we have our computer back. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We heard that we made the Huntsville Times last Friday. If anyone has a copy please drop it in the mail to Jeremy and Penny Lucas PO Box 65 Windhoek, Namibia, we would love to see it. Blessings and Peace, Jeremy an Penny

Getting Settled

Well it has been a couple of weeks since our last blog post, so much for the weekly update. Sorry to keep y’all waiting. We are still getting settled into our new home and can’t believe that we have only been here for 5 weeks. The past two weeks have been very busy.

Just before Penny and I were to leave on a four day break at the coast, I had my first death in the parish. It was obvious that he was highly respected and loved by everyone who knew him. He was Kwanyama and was the principle at a High School in the North. I visited his home the evening after he died and was invited in to be part of the mourning to read scripture and say prayers for the family and Damien. It was an incredible evening of Kwanyama hymns and offerings of condolence to his widow and children.

On the Saturday after he died we held a memorial service at the Cathedral in the morning. Close to 150 people came as we said prayers and heard remembrances. After the service the family and friends left Windhoek to travel to the North for the full service of the Burial of the Dead. That service can take 4 hours or longer we have heard.

That afternoon Penny and I left and drove across the Namib Desert to the western coast. On the way we were stopped by the police. The officer was checking speed with a radar gun, but I knew we had not been speeding. We had been warned that Namibian police were out in force to catch speeders so we were watching. He pulled us over by stepping into the road and waving us to the side. When we stopped I asked if we were speeding and he said “No”. Then he began asking for something that I could not understand and finally Penny heard the words “Red Triangle”. He finally communicated to us that he needed to see our red triangle. I had absolutely no idea what he was wanting but came to figure out that each car is required to carry a set of red triangles to put on the road in case of an emergency, to alert other cars to your presence. As we were driving the parish car I had no idea if there were red triangles or not. I got out of the car and checked the boot, (the ‘boot’ is what they call the car trunk in Namibia) No triangles. So he told me that he would have to give me a ticket, but that it was only N$100 or about $14 US. I said ok and then he asked if I knew were to go and pay the ticket. I told him I had no idea, and he said we would have to go back to the last town we passed (about 45 minutes ago) and pay it. I told him that we were on our way to the coast and would be coming back on Wednesday, and I asked if we could pay it on our way back. I also told him that we would buy red triangles as soon as we got to Swakopmund. At this he got very confused and said he didn’t know what to do. Finally he decided that he no longer wanted to deal with us and told us that we could just go, which we did.

We stayed for 4 nights in a flat across from the ocean loaned to us by some friends, in a small tourist town called Swakopmund that is sometimes referred to as being more German than Germany. Swakopmund means “mouth of the Swakop” in German and refers to the Swakop river that flows into the Atlantic when there has been significant rainfall. There are all kinds of shops and restaurants that cater to the many German tourists who visit. The architecture also reminds you of a German village as you can see from this photo. We did not take this photo. But we did take others. We got a new camera just before we left the United States and have not had time to download the software to our computer. As soon as we do you will have more photos then you ever wanted from Namibia.

We stayed in Swakopmund until Wednesday and then drove home. It is about a 4 hour drive over paved roads, some of which are in major need of repair. A few times we had to slow down for baboons or warthogs in the road and mainly tried to stay out of the way of the crazy drivers.

This past Sunday I was Celebrant and preacher for both services. The service is from the Anglican Prayer Book of the Province of Southern Africa 1989 and is similar in many ways to the BCP 1979. It follows the same pattern more or less; Ministry of the Word, sermon, Prayers of the People, the Peace, and then the Communion. I think anyone visiting from an Episcopal Church would be able to follow along with very little problem. Our Old Testament reading last Sunday was about Moses being sent by God to the Hebrew people in slavery. So I taught everyone Go Down, Moses in my sermon and we sang together a couple of verses. It was great. Some people really got into it and other now just think I am crazy.

This past week I was really busy with parish administrative issues and working on the Clergy training program. We begin the selection process in 2 weeks with interest meetings in Windhoek and the North and then the Commission on Ministry will select the ordinands in September. Penny and I had our first tutoring session in Oshikwanyama the past Wednesday. We have scheduled regular Wednesday morning classes so hopefully we will know how to say something more than good morning. Penny is doing well and is about to begin exploring where her skills can be most useful.

We also want to say a special thank you to everyone who has sent us mail. It takes at least 2 weeks from the US to get a card and longer for any kind of larger package or box. We will try and let you know when we get your mail so that at least you can know it arrived. We are still looking for people to download SKYPE. It is a very easy way to connect and talk to us. The best times to call us are between 7am-3pm Central Time. We are 6 hours ahead of Alabama. If you want to call the best thing to do is to send us an email and tell us a good time. We have been having a little trouble with our internet connection the last week or so (it goes out for 24 hours at a time with no real explanation, and Telecom who runs the system stops answering the phone) So we have not been able to really say for sure we could be available. So if we make a plan to talk and you can’t get us please know that we have no control over the system so keep trying.

I hope you enjoy reading our updates. Thanks to everyone sending email it is great to hear from you. It helps us to feel not quite as homesick as we are. Blessings and Peace, Jeremy