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.

Three Weeks to Go...

It seems surreal to think we leave for Africa in 3 weeks! Much has happened over the past two weeks. Mark and I resigned from our jobs, we sold my car, and we've begun prioritizing our "stuff" and our lives to maximize what time we have left with family and friends before the big day we leave for Africa! :) Next week we will begin renting our storage unit so I am sure things will begin to move along quickly from there!

We've also begun communicating with our team leaders in Rundu, Namibia. Rob and his wife, Alissa (and their 7 kids!) have been wonderful in easing our hearts and giving us much needed peace in the preparations for our journey. Since speaking with them we've been able to see God working and molding our opportunities for our time in Africa! Since speaking with Rob, we've seen Mark's ministry opportunities blossom from mentoring children through soccer to possibly teaching computer classes in the schools and setting up computers at the hospital for medical and administrative purposes! This is a real need in Rundu since they have had trouble finding anyone locally with the expertise to do the set up and training. The hospital is a 350 bed hospital and it will be a great blessing and a lasting impact to bring the gift and knowledge of computers to the staff. As far as myself, I have been daydreaming about my times in Zimbabwe 5 years ago remembering the nursing, the people, the food, and the memories. :) I am more than excited to begin my time as a nurse in the hospital in Namibia! I also have learned in talking with Rob that I will have an opportunity to spend time in the village clinics - hopefully providing medical care and teaching - something I am very passionate about! And as far as everything else goes, we will play it by ear!!

This weekend Mark and I were able to go to a conference in Jersey called Thirst. It was an amazing opportunity to hear from many Christian speakers and rock out to the best band I've heard recently - Gungor. It was a great day to spend with friends and be able to reflect on the journey ahead of us. Mark and I are continually remembering to embrace a servant's heart and are praying that God will use us in Namibia any way He sees fit. 

Music Video Link for Gungor: Beautiful Things

Today after church at Riverbend, our friends planned a surprise lunch for us! What a great time to relax and laugh together. On the ride home, Mark and I were saying how we really feel our Riverbend friends are now our family... family that we are going to miss dearly while in Africa. 

We have felt truly blessed with the outpouring of financial support friends and family have given us over the past few weeks. Thank you! Thank you for desiring to partner with us on this mission trip. It has been very humbling and uplifting to us. As of now, we are a little more than half way there! :)  Please continue to pray for this need.

As for the week ahead? I am presently smiling ear to ear because I get to spend a few more days with my sister and her boyfriend Jeremiah! They used up most of the vacation time to come see us before we depart, and because of that they won't be coming home to NJ for the holidays. I feel it was such a sacrifice for them, and of course they don't see it that way, but I do want to say THANK YOU! I've been blessed to have the most amazing sister and friend in my life and will be cherishing the last few days I have with her before she flies back to her home in Key West (I know, Key West!!)

As We Prepare...

It is amazing to us that we are leaving for Africa in 5 weeks to begin our 8-month mission trip through the Africa Inland Mission!  As each day passes we are one day closer to experiencing a dream of ours - a dream that began almost 5 years ago. We met soon after Julie returned from a mission trip at a rural hospital in Zimbabwe. Her passion for Africa became our passion as our relationship grew, and we felt God was guiding us towards missions. We feel taking this trip together early on in our marriage will be a great stepping stone for our faith and our lives.

We created this blog to be able to share our thoughts and experiences with you while we are in Namibia. We can only image how God will use us to help the lives of those in Rundu! We are excited with what information we do have on our trip and our preparing our hearts for the many opportunities and different circumstances  that may come our way.

We graciously and humbly want to thank those who have already felt led to support us financially. Please know that because of your prayers and financial support you are part of this trip. Thank you! Your donations have begun to make our journey possible, and we kindly ask for your continued support.

All donations are tax deductible; all checks should be made out to Africa Inland Mission. Please do not place our names anywhere on the check as the organization is non-profit. All checks should be sent directly to us, so that we may record them. You will receive a receipt from AIM for your donation. You can mail your one time donation to the following address:

Mark and Julie Moyer

919 Eden Terrace

Easton, PA 18042

If you would prefer to pledge support monthly, please click on the page named "Monthly Pledge Instructions" on the right.  Thank you in advance for all of your love, support, and encouragement. We are excited to share more as October 18th approaches!