First Full Day At Shikwaru

From August 14th

Today we woke up in a warm room after a good nights sleep.  The “cabins” or large thatched roof huts at the Rafiki site of Shikwaru are a lot warmer than our Zambian tent was.  Although I really enjoyed our time in the tents.  They really were quite the luxury tents!  For the girls and Crystelle it was the first view in daylight of how things are laid out here on the beautiful grounds.   They have don't a great job creating a location that is so suitable for so many functions from weddings or corporate gatherings to youth events or weekend getaways.

We (Terrace and I) were instructed to check our hunting bows first thing in the morning to make sure they were still in good working order after our overseas flight.  After the time our bows spent with Delta they did need a little work to get them sighted in again.  As a part of this trip there is the opportunity for team members to hunt African Plains Game on the property.  This is one of the ways that Shikwaru raises money for the ministries here in South Africa and Zambia.  At our own expense we did intend to do some hunting at the end of our trip but Shikwaru staff wanted to bless us with the opportunity to hunt prior to the rest of the team coming in.  So the plan was to go on a hunt sometime today.  So we shot our bows before breakfast and for a little bit after breakfast until we felt confident they were working well.  Jaelyn was also able to try a crossbow that she may attempt to hunt with later in the week. I am looking forward to the opportunity for the girls to hunt while we are here so this was an added blessing!

During our breakfast we were able to meet with Roelene who helps to manage many of the ministries here at Shikwaru and RaG.  We went over various options for the next two days schedule.  Her hope is to help us accomplish what we want in terms of learning about their ministry and creating chances for us to assist in serving as well.  We found out that we would be able to attend a Centershot Club this afternoon at one of the schools that our Centershot Mission Team visited last year.  It will be fun to see some of what has grown out of our ministry from last year when I came with the Centershot Team to kick off the archery ministry at this school.

By mid morning we were able to head out with Eugene, the Professional Hunter (or P.H.) for the game farm, for a mini family safari.  This would be Terrace’s first big game hunt of any kind and with a bow yet!  You got to know I was excited, but to make things even better it was great that Crystelle and Jaelyn could come along to join us in the elevated “hide” for her first hunt.  It was a good experience for her to see how the hunting really looks in Africa and to experience sitting and waiting, as well as seeing some animals come in range and how to prepare to take a shot.  We had two impala come to the area but both were younger rams and too small for her to shoot.  It was exciting to be this close to the animals and watch them interact and eat.  Terrace did really well and we all look forward to the next chance for her to hunt.  You can see by the pictures that hunting with your wife and two girls is a lot different than normal.  Again we had some great family time together having a lot of fun and being goofy.  I’m not sure any of the people who meet us over here will think that we are normal!

After about 2.5 hours in the hide we came in for lunch and then headed to Mokapone to the school for the after school archery club.  It started at 1330hrs. Here in South Africa most schools run from 0700-1300 hours.  Then there are extra curricular activities and after school programs that run for the afternoons.  At the school we attended today there was about 30 kids who came to the Centershot Club.  It felt good to be able to know how we could help and serve with a ministry that looks familiar to all of us.  It was fun to meet Louis and work with him again at this school.  He is the youth pastor at the church associated with this school Centershot ministry.  We were also able to say “hi” and talk briefly with Pastor Rolf and Elizabeth who helped to start the school Centershot ministry here and were with the team last year when we served at this school. 

After the Centershot club we drove back to the lodge and had another amazing supper.  This is certainly not the place to lose weight.  They have been treating us so well and all the staff here go out of their way to take care of you.  We feel very spoiled and sometimes are left wondering who is serving who.  

Today Terrace was not feeling very well around supper time and actually did get sick to her stomach.  We think that she got a bit of a flu bug but nothing too serious.  Please pray that we will all stay healthy and that sickness will not get in the way of our ministry time here.

Despite Terrace being sick we had a relaxing evening and were able to spend time together and worked on catching up with blogging and contacting friends and family through Facebook.  We thank the Lord for a chance to connect with people back home and hope that this helps you feel more a part of what we are doing while we are here.  So many of you supported us financially and we want to thank you again for that.  Your prayers and financial gifts have made what has happened so far a possibility.  God has been so good to us!