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Namibia team listens, develops priorities

Hi everyone,

I am back in the saddle here at Bethany after two weeks in Namibia, where my ELCA companion-relationship team connected with the Lutheran church bodies in the north and south, and with the German Lutheran church in Windhoek, as well as the Pacific Lutheran Church people in Namibia. Our goal was to listen to our official companions on how me might walk with them into the future. The next step is to formulize a proposed strategic plan, and then implement it, a part of which undoubtedly will be raising funds. Despite grinding poverty, the brand-new nation of Namibia is pretty well poised for the future.

- Rachel Pritchett, office administrator

Bethany members prepare to leave for Namibia

Good morning, everyone

Did you know that Bethany has four members who soon will be in Namibia to work with other Lutherans and to attend the Lutheran World Federation assembly? This coming Saturday and Sunday during worship, myself, my husband Lloyd, and Dave and Trish Siburg will be blessed as we make final preparations for our visit. Thanks to Pastor Paul for doing that.

As chair of the Namibia Task Force of the Southwestern Washington Synod, I will lead a small team that will advance and sustain a longstanding ELCA companion relationship with the three Lutheran church bodies in Namibia. Besides Lloyd, members include Deacon Linda Walker of the New Jersey Synod and Stephanie Haselwood Armstrong of Elim Lutheran Church of Port Orchard. We’ll first attend the assembly, which celebrates the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation. We then will visit, worship and plan with representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. After a safari at Etosha National Park, we’ll do the same work within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia. We’ll visit Paulinum seminary. And, we’ll give a formal greeting to the German Lutheran church. We hope to meet with a couple of key government officials. After that, we head to the German colonial town of Swakopmund on the coast.

The Siburgs will attend the assembly, and then take off on their own for a visit with the indigenous San people.

Please pray that all of us are good global representatives and that we are effective in furthering our companion relationship. Please pray for our safety in that vast desert country just north of South Africa.

Rachel Pritchett

P.S. Here's a photo of a malnourished boy I took in Namibia in 2010. I've thought and prayed for him many times since.