This is Bob Parkinson, from Canada.

Not so very long ago we wrote a news item on the shipping container that Bob organised to be sent to Flying Mission Zambia. 

At the time of writing, the container had not been opened. Now we are delighted to show you some of what was inside. Being a practical sort of a guy, Bob knew what to bring and has been able to furnish the mission with many useful tools and materials. Here is just a 'taster' of what the 'metal box' contained.

What to do when your tired and hungry daughter locks herself and you out of the house for 2½ hours:  Review memory verses; list what you're thankful for; pray for Daddy to come home; say the sounds of the alphabet; practice rhyming; count to 50 by ones; count to 100 by 5's; count to 100 by 10's; pray for Daddy to come home; sweep the gazebo floor and the sidewalk; play “I Spy”; take the laundry off the line; use the clothespins to practice phonics; thank God that Daddy came home!

“Mrs Pauline, will you help my Grandmother?”

There are often a number of children by the gate at the end of the runway asking for shoes, but here was a young teenager whose immediate concern was for someone other than herself. 

“What is the problem with your Grandmother?”

“She had a stroke 4 weeks ago and we need help.”  

The thought of someone lying immobilised inside a mud brick dwelling, with no health service to provide care, reminded us of the desperate plight of many of these people. 

As told by Paul Collier, Flying Mission Guesthouse:

I had just done something that I had not done for several years: I had bought my wife a bunch of roses to celebrate her birthday. We were in the car on our way home when my mobile phone rang. Pauline answered the call but could not make out what was being said. I did not do much better but recognised it was Leonard, the Zambian foreman at the Flying Mission Zambia base where we live and work; with all the background noise all I could make out from what he said was, “…outside your front door.” We were still 10 miles from the base and it was just beginning to rain where we were but, looking in the direction of home, the sky looked very dark. We decided that there must be heavy rain at the base and maybe the water was coming in the front door of our home or, more likely, the front door of the guest house.

SITUATION VACANT:

Missionary to work as a shoe shop assistant:

• Must be able to lift heavy boxes

• spend hours inside a hot and smelly 40 foot long container

• bring a smile to the faces of satisfied customers

• be willing to be accused of dealing unfairly after trying your utmost to be fair

Today in home school we continued our section on “Wh” questions, this time focusing on “What,” “Where,” and “When.” Once again KG gave a lot of answers that differed from the ones given in the book – but this time I could blame it on her cross-cultural upbringing.

“What makes a car run?” I asked. “Gasoline,” said the book. “Petrol,” said KG.

“Where do ants live?” I asked. “In anthills,” said the book. “In ant mounds,” said KG.

“When do you put a stamp on an envelope?” I asked. “Before you mail it,” said the book. “Before you post it,” said KG.

“When does a rooster crow?” I asked. “In the morning,” said the book. “All night long,” said KG.

We have started a section in home school on “Wh” questions – Who, What, Where, When, and Why. Today KG worked on answering “Who . . . ?” She had to choose between three answers for each question. It went like this:

Bob Parkinson is a friend of Flying Mission Zambia. Not only has he come over from Canada to help us in previous years, he has recently organised a container of useful 'stuff' to be shipped to Chilongolo for use in the ministry to rural Zambia. Last week it arrived safely, but not without incident.

Since Bob would not be in Zambia at the time of arrival of the shipping container, Rick Rempel, Chief Pilot for the mission, was assigned the task of arranging the delivery to the base.

A while back, we posted a story about Kgakgamatso "KG" Spicer (see the story Two More Milestones Reached). A few years on, and KG has passed more milestones, including starting at school. Read on for an excerpt from a homeschool day ...

For the past several years, KG attended the one private school in Gaborone that has a program for special needs kids.  Although she may return to this school in the future, I am now teaching her at home in an effort to give her the one-on-one instruction that she requires.  Her teacher was far more capable and qualified than I am, but with eight other special needs kids in his classroom, he didn't have time to give her the one-on-one teaching that she needs.

Every year the Flying Mission celebrates Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day) by taking boxes of Bibles to Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone and distributing them to the patients. This year, with gifts from FMS and a generous donation from the United Free Church of Scotland, FM and FMS personnel were able to give the gift of God's word to nearly 600 patients.

It was an exhilarating experience for pilot Chris Thomas, who is new to FMS this year.