Well, $366.28 has been given toward our flights, and we now have another $9633.72 left to go toward out flights home.  Slow and steady wins the race! :) Thank you to those who have given!

God Bless,

Charlene

The first $100 is in the account for our tickets... we are on our way.  $9900 more to go! :0)  Seems overwhelming... but GOD is in control!  He knows!  WE just need to trust and obey!  I will continue to keep everyone posted!  Step by step, day by day...

Charlene

Well it is that time for us to return to Canada for a year of home assignment.  Here are some of the postings that I placed on my Facebook Group called "Knightly's on Home Assignment".

What is a home assignment anyway?
Well, it is a time that missionaries take to go back to their country of origin and travel around seeing their supporters, friends, and family sharing what they have been doing in a foreign land for the past few years! They bore people with their pictures, dress up, show native trinkets, sings songs in a foreign language, and share stories! Ok it is more than that... but when I was a missionary kid that is what I thought furlough (the oldfashion word for Home Assignment) was! I did enjoy meeting people and telling them wild tales about eating raw meat and stuff though!
It is also a time of rest (not that you feel very rested when you return to your work, but it is a change of scenery which helps you put things back into perspective) regrouping and ministering to those who have been faithfully supporting us through the years of preparation as well as our time on the field.
We appreciate all of those who have prayed, written letters, sent packages, and financially helped us to meet our needs and the needs of others!! We look forward to seeing you all and spending some quality time with you!
If you have any questions about HOME ASSIGNMENT... please ask! There are no stupid questions! We will do our best to keep you up-to-date with our progress on THE RETURN OF THE KNIGHTLY'S!

Progress Report

I updated the blog a week ago with the information concerning Home Assignment. Since then I have had a couple of people email for our bank details, and last night friends of ours transferred 90 Euros. That translates into about $150... so we have $9850 more to go and our tickets will be paid for! :-) As the finances come, we will continue to update. We want you to know that we are trusting God for our return and we are excited to share how HE is doing it!!!
So here is where we are at:
1. We project that the Return One Year Opened Ended Tickets will cost $10,000 for the 5 of us!
2. We will need to lease or purchase a vehicle upon return (we have a contact in NB who has offered to sell us a vehicle and buy it back when we leave... so that is a blessing and a great option).
3. We are looking at staying in Cranbrook for the school year (as Pete's parents own a house that we may be able to stay in).
4. We hope that Pete can go the middle of June for Talitha's graduation.
5. We hope that the rest of us will follow in July (that way the children can have one FULL school year in Canada).
6. We hope to travel across Canada visiting friends and supporters between July and August, and we would like to attend Pete's niece's wedding the end of August in Alberta.
7. Meagan is registered with on-line schooling now and we hope to have her brain stimulated enough to re-enter school without any problem :0)
8. The boys will have to leave half way through the school year here (Jan to Nov is the school year on this side of the equator), and we would like to have some Afrikaans resources to take back with us when we go, so they don't lose the language!
9. We have a lot of planning to do in regards to filling a calendar with speaking engagements and visiting!
10. We hope and pray that on the way 'home' (to Namibia) we will be able to visit some of our friends and supporters in Europe (UK, Holland, and Germany).
There... that is probably enough information for now! We will let you know how things go as we find out! I am not sure when to book the tickets... that is always the scary thing... book before the money comes in... or wait and risk having the tickets cost more? Oh the difficulties and excitement of planning a Home Assignment!

Preparation for Leaving Namibia

There are many things that we need to do before leaving Namibia for one year! Here are some of the things that I can think of at the moment, and I will continue to update as we realize the things we have forgotten!
1. Pete is the Ministry Coordinator in Okahandja. There will need to be a replacement before we leave, or at least someone within the ministry already who can take over the responsibilities that he has. He also manages The Rock (the Multi Purpose Ministry Center), where several ministries (CHI and Apex) function during the week. We get the security calls, he is responsible when things break or stop working, organizing and scheduling events, etc! He also does a lot of the driving for events during the week, like Care and Compassion.
2. I have the beading ministry and some people (mainly from the Ark) are just learning to sew! I need to find someone to replace the administrative end of things, financial issues as well as training, restocking and supervising!
3. We have to consider what to do with the house (we are hoping we can find someone who will rent it for the year, as finding a place here is not an easy task... unless we could consider purchasing when we return) and the 'stuff'!
4. We also have a contract for our Internet, and we will need to find someone to take that over while we are gone.
5. We are considering renting out our vehicle to missionaries who come down from Angola, or people who come to Namibia with CHI on short term missions. We'll see how that works itself out... but it would be nice if it got used for the year that we are gone. We also need to consider perhaps replacing it with a 4x4 upon return, especially if Pete returns and starts doing village evangelism (we'll see what happens).
6. We will need to say good-bye... and that is NOT something that I look forward to! A lot can happen in a year and good-bye's are not an easy task!
7. We would like to make one more trip up into Angola before we hit the road for Canada!
8. We need to help Jenny get fully established without needing the money she gets from cleaning here each month, or find her another job.
Well, that's all that I can think of for now.

Preparation for Re-entry to Canada

This is something that may sound funny to you, but it is scarier than coming to Africa for the first time! Lots of things have changed in 3 years (I know because I returned after a year and a half and a lot had already changed). There are a lot of things to think about...
1. Should Pete get a job? If so, how does that work when we need to go visiting churches and people?!?!
2. How much of a budget do we need to project? It will be more than living here, and fuel will be a big part of it.
3. Getting the kids registered for school in a new place (completely unfamiliar).
4. Getting used to hormones in the meat, preservatives, fast food, etc!!
5. Seeing a tropical specialist and getting all our digestive problems worked out! :0) And of course the money to pay for that.
6. Finding a dentist who can work on our teeth and not unload our pocketbook!
7. The kids will have to learn to wear shoes to the shopping mall again!
8. We can't carry things on our heads anymore.
9. Learn to drive on the right side of the road again, and to enter the vehicle on the 'drivers side' not the passenger side (looking like an idiot... did that when I went back in Dec 06). Watching for traffic when walking... looking BOTH ways and remembering which way the traffic is COMING from!
10. Finding a church to get involved in and help serve while we are home! It will be important for us to find a body of believers who is going to stand behind us and support us physically, emotionally, spiritually and financially when we return! High priority!
Oh I can think of a ton of things... you may think they are funny, but seriously... some of those little things are what makes life difficult to adjust upon return!
Well, enough for now! We'll keep you posted!

How Can YOU Help?

Here are some quick suggestions, if you can think of others please feel free to leave your ideas too... These are just some suggestions of how you can have fun raising some money for our One Year Home Assignment! Let us know if you have done something fun to raise money for the 'cause'! We look forward to hearing from you!!!
1. Have a yard sale
2. Have a dinner party... host some friends, share what the Knightly's do in Namibia, give them each an information sheet on how to contact us directly or include our banking details
3. Put some of your 'stuff' in the Buy and Sell
4. Have a spaghetti dinner at your church, youth group, or any other group you belong to
5. Have a challenge with your friends
6. Do a penny drive
7. Save ALL of 'your' change in a bucket
8. Collect bottles
9. Spring clean for people
10. Do a service auction... house cleaning, car repair, house painting, etc
11. Sponsor an African night with your friends (you can think of ideas, things you could do)
12. Cancel your cable for 3 months
13. Drive past the restaurant, go home and make sandwiches
14. Walk or take the bus for one month
15. Stay home and watch a movie

Questions????

Ask us questions if you don't understand, or want some clarification.  We will be happy to answer as best as we can!

Hope you have found this to be helpful! 

We'll keep you posted!

God Bless,

Charlene

Home Assignment

It is time for our family to return to Canada for one year home assignment. We are asking our family and friends to consider helping us financially with the tickets to return. The cost is going to be a whopping $10,000. It seems unreachable… but with God all things are possible! We would like to fly home by July… and if possible send Pete for Talitha’s graduation (which is June 15). There are a LOT of details to work out, but for now we would like to see if we can get commitments and pledges toward the airfare. If 100 people pledged $100 they would be paid for… 200 pledged $50 again… paid for! We will keep you posted on the progress in the weeks ahead!! If you want to deposit directly into our account please do so into our savings account, as opposed to our general running account!

Please email for bank details… knightvision6@gmail.com

Pete’s Work

This has been a busy month. The usual Ark, Care and Compassion and Choose to Wait responsibilities as well as looking after The Rock (MPMC).

With the help of Sylvia they started a Choose to Wait discipleship club on Fridays. The young people who have gone through Choose to Wait have been invited to come and get involved in a continuing program where they can continue to build on the foundations they have already learned.

On the 17th Pete headed north to Oshikuku to help with installing the solar panels that were shipped in the Dutch container. He stayed there until February 22nd. They are installed and functioning well. They power the appliances that were also sent in the container.

There were some stressful times with Come and See volunteers. They came to Namibia to save the world, and didn’t want to follow the chain of command… which created a lot of difficulty and stress in Pete’s life!

At the end of the month he traveled to Rehoboth for training and our monthly Prayer and Fasting.

Jenny

This month has been extremely stressful for Jenny. The list of difficulties is long and I don't know how she survives! When someone is determined, successful and hard working like Jenny they get so much opposition on this continent! Here are some of the things she has had to deal with… her older brother beat her up, he stole a bunch of her stuff from the market, her mother beat her little brother until he was unconscious, she is paying for her 3 little brothers and younger sister to go to school (fees, supplies and uniforms), she works here at the house for me and at the carver market and for another beading ministry in town, she had a couple of men try to break into her house one night (threatening to rape her and her sister), she has not been sleeping at night, and her children have been sick. She needs help! We would like to purchase a piece of land for her so she can get off the property that she shares with her mother and the man who tried to break in. The cost is roughly $700 CN for the land, and then we would like to put a fence around so probably another $150 CN. If you have a desire to help please contact us.

Visitors From Canada

Adrianna and Rachel from Vernon were planning to go to Kenya, however, with the unrest the airline cancelled their tickets. Several years ago (something like 18 years) I was a bridesmaid in Adrianna’s Aunt Linda’s wedding, and so they contacted me to see if coming to Namibia would be an option! The girls arrived on February 24 for a 2 week stay! They blessed us with treats like chocolate, Starbucks, socks and underwear, etc! They shadowed us the first week, checking out the different ministries here in Okahandja. The second week the girls and I took a road trip with a couple of Dutch ladies included! More on that NEXT issue! It was nice to meet new people and share our lives with them! We hope they enjoyed their time with us!

Charlene’s Work

This month has been very busy. I did a presentation for the Country Directors on the beading ministry, as well as drew up and presented a proposal for an embroidery machine… which would enable us to make our own t-shirts, hats, etc for CHI International.

I traveled to Keetmanshoop (6 hour drive) alone to do some training. Pete was gone for almost a week to Oshikuku.

I made SEVERAL trips to the airport and Windhoek. Booked airline tickets for people, planned a Namibia tour, etc…!

I also managed to help Ndemufayo get caught up with her Bank Reconciliations for most of last year. I also figured out the Vat Refund (tax) for CHI Namibia, hopefully I did it right :-)! Juliet said that if you want something done give it to a BUSY person… I think I will go into hiding next month :-)!

I also emailed an update with a personal note to 500 on our mailing list! I could barely move my arms afterward. It was very nice to hear back from almost 100 people!!! What a blessing!

I also did some enquiring as to airline tickets for our family to return to Canada for a home assignment.

Also hosted several visitors during the month.

Can’t believe the month went so fast… it’s all a blur! Better busy than bored I guess!

Training in Keetmanshoop and Rehoboth

February 10 to 14 I went on a road trip to Keetmanshoop in the south of Namibia. It was nice to see the Care and Compassion ladies again and to spend ALL day with them on the 12th, teaching them new beading techniques and sharing more on colour coordination. It was a success! I taught 6 ladies 3 new stitches. On the way home on the 14th I stopped in Rehoboth to teach 2 Care & Compassion leaders, the Ministry Coordinator and 4 volunteers how to bead. They did a great job! We are hoping to have a kit sponsored so that they can get started with something at Ark Rehoboth. Currently the C&C program is not yet running (due to lack of finances), so hopefully they can get to work on generating their own funds with this program!

Knightly Kids

We have done all we can for Meagan, but she is still not in school! I am trying to keep her busy by helping with the beading ministry. We are going to have to find things for her to do that will help her with Life Skills until we can get her back to Canada and enrolled!

Trevor is really starting to enjoy High School. He wrote a really nice little report on how he has adjusted to High School. It is good to see, as school has been such a struggle for both of the boys. Most of the time they feel like they are not learning anything!

Tavis is struggling… often the teachers don’t show up to the class and the peer ‘leaders’ are in charge of the classroom, which is incredibly stupid. It causes a great deal of frustration and rowdiness in the classroom. Tavis needs structure and he has not been getting that at all this year.

Financial Information

We are in the transition phase with our finances and would appreciate your prayers during this time. Currently we are unable to receipt those who live in Canada (CHI has just been approved as a charitable organization in Canada… it will take some time to work things out… but we hope that things will be ironed out soon! We thank you for your patience.)

For those who desire to support our ministry financially you can do so by

DIRECT DEPOSIT (either through Internet Banking or at the Royal Bank) into our

account or sending cheques to Ron and Marge (Pete’s parents).

Email for Bank Details…. knightvision6@gmail.com

Ron and Marge Knightly

Box 4, Ft. Steele BC V0B 1N0

Phone:250 426 4782

If you live in the USA you can mail your donation to CH-USA and you will receive a receipt for tax purposes. The address is PO Box 52038, Longwood FL, 32752-0328, please include a ‘separate’ paper indicating that your donation is for the

“Knightly Family-Namibia”!

Thank you for your support! We are continually overwhelmed by God’s provision for not only our daily needs but for the ability to help meet the needs of others through the generosity of those who give financially to our ministry here in Namibia. May God richly bless you!

Praise and Prayer

Praise:

We are thankful for a busy month!

We are thankful for visitors!

We are thankful for finances to cover our expenses!

We are thankful for good health!

We are thankful for safety on the road (many miles have been traveled)!

We are thankful for the many blessings that God has given us!

We are very thankful for our supporters who are giving sacrificially to the Lord and HIS work through us!

We are thankful for the prayers and communication which helps to keep us encouraged throughout our journey here in Africa! Thank you!

Prayer:

Please pray for Trevor’s friend, Darryl, who has been diagnosed with a brain tumour!

Please pray for Jenny!

Please pray for our prospective Home Assignment and the necessary preparations that need to be made ASAP… and the finances that need to be raised!

Please pray for our work here in Namibia, especially that we can train those who will take over the ministries that we are currently in charge of!

Please pray for strength and wisdom in trying and difficult times!

Please pray for the kids… especially in returning to Canada and the adjustments that they will need to make!

Please pray wisdom in knowing how best to help the people that God places in our path!

Well yesterday Jenny went home from the woodcarver market to find that her 13 year old brother was at the hospital with her mom and older brother.  She arrived at the hospital to find that he had been beaten UNCONSCIOUS by his mother (with her bare hands).  Of course, the story they told at the hospital was that it was an accident!  Jenny is stressed to the max!  She can't take too much more of the family dynamics.... she looks tired and worn out... and is very emotional!  We need to pray that Jenny's mom goes back to Rundu and leaves the kids here.  It is time for her to leave.... and let these kids have a chance!  Very frustrating!

Charlene