Isaiah "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in thee."

The intervening time since our last entry has been exciting to include “the hurricane of the century” … our unplanned early departure from Tanzania because of a dental problem …the planned trip back to Bismarck, ND to visit supporters and our home church and meeting a medical team on the way back in Amsterdam for a two week stay in our village. As of this date we have only been back about two weeks. It has been a joy to see how God has worked out details in ways that we didn’t even think about-but that is just like Him in His promise to make all things work together for good for those called according to His purpose.

This chain of events started one casual day when Peggy felt a large filling fall out of a molar and wanted to discuss it at lunch time. We both concluded that it would not be long until pain also set in and this kind of dental care is just not in sight here. ( The tooth would most certainly need a crown). We had to get ready to go home even though it was a week earlier than we had anticipated. The planned time home was to include an important meeting of those who run teacher training programs in Rafiki villages (the acronym used is RICE which stand for Rafiki Institute of Classical Education). We are nearing the time when African governments are starting to certify the programs.

Rice deans from 9 countries

As schedules were reviewed for flights, Peggy found out that the Orlando airport would be closing for hurricane Irene just as we would be arriving there. This was too close for the usual delays here and there which can be expected in a complicated itinerary-we would have to leave immediately .. in a few hours..(that very night). When we got to Orlando the terminal was packed with passengers fleeing the hurricane which was predicted to first pass over the Florida keys as a category 5! We had a little more than a day to get ready and in that time it began to move up the west coast of Florida. At Tampa it suddenly veered inland and traveled up the midline of the peninsula; the eye went right over our house but by then it had attenuated to category 1-2. Just west of our house the winds snapped an oak tree off 10 feet up the trunk and it missed the house by about a few feet. We had filled the bathtub with water for dishes and toilet use and didn’t get the power back for four days. Some people had to wait for two weeks for power despite the fact that repair vehicles were sent to Florida from all over the country. Some people did get trees on their houses and lost roofing shingles which had to be temporarily covered by giant blue tarps. Later that week a tree service came and removed the downed tree and by then I had cleaned the debris from most of the yard with some help from volunteers at headquarters. We decided it was best to remove four more trees which posed a risk to the house.

Peggy found a dentist who had holes in his schedule because of the storm, and got power back unexpectedly early-he fixed the problem. We did have guests after the power was restored for weekend orientation at Rafiki headquarters which included a nurse from Bismarck who was scheduled to come to Tanzania later. There were other minor repairs to be done but we got off easy. Some people had so many trees down that the curbside looked like a lumber truck has just delivered fresh cut trees to a saw mill. During the subsequent week my brother and his wife visited, noteworthy because they have decided to come and see us in Africa next year; our daughter also visited and confirmed that she was planning to see us in Africa in December.

Then it was time to fly to Bismarck which resulted in no travel problems. It was Fall there and all the leaves were turning red or yellow. Although a week was planned which included the

STEER conference. We have mentioned this before as a conference of ranchers and farmers who raise cattle for sale either as heifers for breeding purposes or steers sold for meat. The proceeds go to support missionaries. This year they sent over one million dollars to support about 85 different mission efforts with the lion’s share going to Campus Crusade for Christ for international and US college campus work. We have support coming from about 13 cows producing offspring at various farm sites. The meeting was special because this year was the 60^th anniversary of the organization which was celebrated by a banquet during which founders and officers past and present rehearsed God’s faithfulness in providing for the steady growth of people who are willing to take cows for missionary support. We did have another person who wants to take some cows for us in the spring. Larry and Cindy Renner who also work for Rafiki in Malawi were at the conference with us and we were able to see many of our old friends and supporters at the booth.

The time went fast because each day was spent in shopping for the orphans, getting medical supplies, keeping doctor appointments and meetings over a meal with many friends. We met the new pastor of our church and the current college age leader. Tentative plans were made for sending a team from the church both to Malawi and Tanzania next year which we would welcome as a possible source of longer term volunteers much needed at this present time. Many thanks to all of you who provided such hospitality and encouragement. Peggy and Cindy spoke at a women’s fellowship and the pastor with the elders invited me to speak at the morning service October 1 about the Rafiki ministry (we are now starting our fourth year in Africa).

The medical team of a pediatrician and two nurses from Bismarck have just finished their time here checking on our resident orphans and some of the day students. Most of the work would be considered well child visits but there were a few surprises like a yellow crayon remnant stuck in a boy’s ear after he decided to do something about his itching ear. We are facing new challenges here because some of the children are entering the teenage years with the usual mental and physical changes. The team took a short safari over two days to see the unrivaled wonders of African wildlife. We have completed the first chicken house (will need maybe three more) which we hope will house enough layers to meet our current egg use in 450 meals a day plus provide training for our resident children in how to raise chickens. There’s much more but we will save it for next time and say thank you for your prayers and support.