Our First Week in Rundu!

Hello from Rundu! It has been a very busy week getting adjusted and settling into the lifestyle of Rundu. We arrived in Rundu this past Monday after an 8 hour drive from the capital city of Namibia, Windhoek.

Before we left Windhoek we spent some time with a very humble and inspiring man named Naf. His full name is Ngurimuje-Kahepako-Nangapeningo-Nojandero. Through Naf we learned of Namibia's overwhelmingly sad history from the time it was overtaken by Germany in 1884. From Germany's control Namibians suffered racism, genocide, and concentration camps. When South Africa gained control in 1948 the apartheid was also enforced. Namibia gained its independence in 1994 and much has changed since however, there still are many challenges seen here. Much injustice has occurred over the past 100+ years which expectedly and sadly still remain imprinted in the minds and hearts of most of Namibia.

This past Monday was our big drive day, as our last blog had said we piled into the van and trailer with all our luggage, 7 kids, 6 adults, and a puppy. The drive was great. The scenery was beautiful along the way. After we crossed the “red line” the scenery became much more like the Africa we expected; villages with mostly huts with straw roofs. The “red line” is a check point that has been set up between the northern part and the southern part of Namibia to originally regulate the transportation of cattle, but has also separated the more tribal regions from the more modern regions of Namibia as a result.

Mufasa, the lion at the lodge

Along our travels we saw some wildlife! We saw a group of baboons right along the road on either side just hanging out. A little while later we passed a single warthog digging in the sand not to far from the road and then later there was a giraffe off in the distance eating from a tree. It was a little giraffe but still it was a giraffe in the wild! One of our pit stops was at a lodge that had raised a rescued lion! Day 4 in Namibia and we already saw a lion!!

Mostly this week we have been setting up our home and going through our orientation of Rundu, its culture, and people. We've spent time going to the local food stores, bought our cell phones and home electricity, and even ate dinner at a lodge overlooking the Kavango River that separates Namibia from Angola. Mark has played doubles tennis with Rob, Blair (an awesome Aussie missionary that has been here for 6 weeks spending time with the OVC), & Dr. Yuri (the head of the hospital). Julie has walked into town to see the open market and get a feel for the area – it was a very dusty and hot 3 hour trip!

We've been fortunate to have a tour of the hospital and spend time playing with the children at the Kaisosi Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project (OVC). The children have been so welcoming! We are excited to get to know them better as we spend time there.

Our home in Rundu

A few things we have become accustomed to since arriving are: heat (35-40 C), dust/sand, thunderstorms, lizards, and ants! :) It is a change, but a great one.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We will be beginning our time at the hospital this week and are sure we will have lots to become accustomed to. Mark will be beginning his work on the hospital computers and Julie will be beginning her time as a nurse in Casualty (otherwise known in the States as Emergency).

We Arrived Safely in Namibia!

Hi family and friends!  Just wanted to send out a quick note to let everyone know we arrived safely in Namibia after 2 days of traveling.  All of our luggage arrived and we were able to travel through immigration and customs without a hitch! The only problem Julie had was that after traveling that long, her ankles and feet looked like tree trunks! By this morning, the swelling has gone down and her feet are almost back to normal! :)

On Thursday, we were able to do some sightseeing in London during our 12 hour layover. It was a surprisingly cold day- 32 degrees! We all decided while we were looking at the frost and being able to see our breath, that we'd embrace it because it will be our only day of "winter" until next year! London was so awesome. We took the tube into the city during rush hour and then took the entire morning to walk all around the city. We saw Big Ben, the houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, a few parks, and even the British Museum. We finished off our day in London with fish and chips and then took the overnight flight into South Africa.

Just before our flight to South Africa, we had to say goodbye to half of our AIM team from orientation. From left to right in the pic above: Jules & Mark (lets hope you know us!), Sarah, Meredith, Heather, Alysse, and Laura. Sarah, Meredith, and Heather were continuing on to Uganda and Alysse and Laura were continuing on to Namibia with us!

Currently we are in the capital of Namibia, Windhoek (pronounced: Vint-hook) for a few days and then on Monday we will be driving to Rundu which is about 9 hours away. Our team leaders Rob and Alissa picked us up at the airport, and will be giving us an orientation until Monday. They drove down from Rundu with their 7 children and a puppy! We were able to get a whole night sleep and an awesome dinner at Linda and Cindy's home (2 missionaries through AIM here in Windhoek.) They both were so accommodating and Linda even gave us her room to sleep in! We don't feel the jet-lag too badly, and are excited for today to begin. We will write again soon.

Away We Go!

Can you believe it, we are only a few days away from leaving for Africa?  Julie and I have been preparing for what seems like a long time and we can't believe the time has come to begin our journey. This past month has been full of excitement, anticipation, prayer, lots of visits with family and friends, and TONS of packing! As of today, Julie and I have all of our worldly possessions in our new storage unit!  We actually have some walking room in there. All I have to say is thank you craigslist for slimming down our amount of stuff! 

As of tonight, we will pretty much be spending our weekend with our air mattress, some food, and suitcases. Now, all we have to do is pack our suitcases! We are hoping to go for a hike tomorrow after we are all set for our journey. One last day to reflect on the months ahead. On Sunday, we will be going to Riverbend Church in the morning and then driving out towards my hometown to have lunch with my family to celebrate our departure and my 30th birthday! From there we will be saying goodbye to my family, and making our way to northern Jersey to spend the night with Julie's family. Monday morning we will be spending with our awesome friends (and chauffeurs to our orientation) Kara and Bryan! And finally, by Monday afternoon we will begin our orientation at AIM's headquarters in New York. We will be flying out Wednesday night and will be arriving in Namibia on Friday. 

From Monday on we will no longer have our cell phones and we are saying goodbye to our Verizon contract and the bill too! If you would like to keep in touch with us other than our blog, you can email us at either mmoyer80@gmail.com or juliepurkiss@gmail.com. We hope to have some sort of phone capabilities in Namibia but are unsure of how that will work. We will keep you posted.

Some of you have been asking if you can still make a donation for our mission trip. YES you can! To make a donation you can make a check out to Africa Inland Mission and mail it to AIM's headquarters at:

Africa Inland Mission

Attn: Receipting

PO Box 178 

Pearl River, NY 10965

Please just enclose a post-it or note stating that your donation is for us, Mark and Julie Moyer. We do have amazing news! Julie and I have received enough support to be financially cleared for our trip! We want to thank everyone again for your desire to partner with us financially. Thank you also for your continual encouragement, concerns, questions, and prayers. God has truly blessed us during this time of preparation. We are so excited to begin and cannot wait to share more.

Stay tunned... 

Cue Inspirational Video...

This is AIM's newest video that helps describe why we chose to go to Africa:


Identity from AIM On-Field Media on Vimeo.