The Talbott Family in Africa

The pump team pulling the pump from the old well

One morning in August of this year I was out early and saw an unusual shape on the horizon. It was a drilling rig. After some intense negotiating we were able to get the rig on our property to drill a well. They had drilled several dry holes around Marrupa so we anxiously waited every meter drilled to see what the result would be. Finally at 36 meters they hit water.  We now have a very good producing well that has really improved our lives. We have a garden in the dry season, Corinne rinses vegetables under the tap, we take more and better showers and we are also irrigating our fruit trees.

Graham planted a test plot of corn September 9 and it is now (mid November) about two feet high. He has been faithfully watering it every other day since our rains have not started yet.

Lincoln trying out for Junior Varsity Soccer

The first part of August; Donna, Lincoln and Dad all journeyed to Kenya. Donna began tenth grade (her third term) and Lincoln began ninth grade (his first time at RVA) He is in a dorm with 21 ninth grade boys. The atmosphere in the dorm could be described as rather barbaric the first couple of days. We have reports that the noise level and unusual behavior has subsided considerably as the term got underway. Corinne and I have both had opportunities to meet several of the important teachers and staff at RVA and many of the our kids classmates. This has helped ease the difficult transition of sending our kids to boarding school. We really are blessed to have our kids be in this very supportive environment.

Lincoln joined 55 other boys trying our for soccer. They all found the tryouts very challenging at the altitude of 7,000 feet. Lincoln did not make the JV team but is playing in the Colts program, the soccer program for 7 – 9 th grade boys.

The Intermediate English Class

The Eco Tourism school in Marrupa is the only one of its kind in Mozambique. Their objective is to train 170 students from around the country to be leaders in the tourism industry in the national parks and other tourism venues. We are the only native English speakers on their English staff. We currently have 65 beginning students and 14 intermediate students. The last week of August our intermediate class was studying chapter one of Genesis. Some of the questions they came up with are; Where was God when he was creating the heavens? It says ‘we created’, who was we?

We are also working with the Department of Education planning a short term intensive training for their English teachers in January. We are very free in Mozambique to use the Bible as our English text and with some of the more advanced students can have some very thoughtful discussions. We have more opportunities to teach than we can possibly do. God has opened numerous doors in the Marrupa area and we would like to help short term workers go through these doors. Probably if you are reading this you could help these students to learn English. If you know how God has saved you through His perfect sacrifice you could also help these students understand more about God’s message to them. If you would like to come and help us short or long term in Marrupa please email us at bob.talbott@sim.org.

The First Meetto Song Books in Marrupa

In July of this year we had visitors from the other side of the forest to the east of us. Jeremy, Martha and Alan work with the Meetto people in the next province over. They brought seven college interns over for a three day stay in Marrupa. One of the highlights was having a Meetto sing along. They had made a song book with over 100 songs. We invited several of our Meetto friends over to try it out. They were very pleased to sing songs in their native tongue. They also brought the first Meetto Bible that consists of Genesis, Jonah, Mark and James. The day after we received the Bibles  Corinne was thrilled to see our friend Benidito walking down the street absorbed in his newly aquired Meetto Bible.

Donna with Bev on mid term break

We droppped off Donna at the airport in Lilongwe, Malawi on April 27 to return to school for the third term of the year.  She was accompanied by Amanda, a 10th grader at RVA. Donna was very involved in many different aspects of RVA life her first term, including field hockey, outreach ministry and band. She  went to Nairobi over midterm and stayed with her guardian Bev. Bev is an SIM missionary working in Kenya.

We will miss her quite presence around the house and her many baking projects.  She will finish ninth grade in July and then be home for a six week break before she returns to school, this time accompanied by her brother, Lincoln.

Time for Plan B

Twice during the month of March we have attempted to travel from our house in Marrupa to Lichinga. The first time we were only faced with water about two feet deep over the bridge at the Lugenda River. We turned around and headed back to Marrupa. The second time three weeks later, we were on our way to pick up Donna in Malawi. This time the water was down some but there was a truck stuck in the middle of the one lane bridge. Apparently the driver had tried to get across the day before and the current pushed his left front tire over the bridge.  We evaluated the situation and decided we couldn’t help so we (friends and colleagues in three cars) decided to make the eight hour detour to the south. We made four tea and coffee stops over the three day journey with various missonary friends on the route. So it took us quite a bit longer to get to the airport but we did get a chance to see quite a few people we would not have seen other wise.

We did get to Lilongwe, Malawi Friday, March 27 and picked up Donna the next morning. She says RVA was “good”. Maybe we will hear more from her later.

Lincoln comparing his stride with that of an elephant

Our return back to Africa consisted of several routes. Donna is now in Kenya attending Rift Valley Academy. The rest of the family met up in Blantyre, Malawi and drove into Mozambique. On the way back to Marrupa we were surprised to see these evenly spaced large brown marks on the road. After a short debate as to their origin we stopped to investigate and came to the conclusion, yes they were elephant tracks. We encountered these tracks about 50 miles west of Marrupa along with ample elephant dung. We have yet to see one of these large creatures and wonder how they can be so elusive.

We were very pleased to encounter our house and yard in very good condition. We spent four intense days, cleaning, setting up the solar, radio and water systems. We really had a lot of fun greeting people in the street and everywhere we went. It was very nice to return to the same living situation and colleagues.  A first for us in our missionary career.

The end of December has brought the last time phase to us.  The boys milked the cow for the last time. (probably for this decade) We went for our last ski, last time to take a long trip without going through borders, last time to open the cavernous refrigerator to see what is in it.

Our family parted ways in Denver on December 31. Donna and Corinne are now on their way to Kenya.  Bob and the boys caught a different flight to Malawi. Corinne will assist Donna getting settled in Kenya at Rift Valley Academy and then travel to Malawi to join Bob and the boys.   Then the last 12 hours of the journey by road to Marrupa, Mozambique will begin.

Check out Donna’s school at  RVA.org.

Church on the Seward Pennisula

 We were unable to connect with the members of this church.  It was an active church during the gold rush about 100 years ago in the middle of the Seward Pennisula. The nearest inhabitant now lives about 40 miles away.

In September Corinne and I hit the road, airports and airplanes to visit Minnesota, Alaska and Wisconsin. We traveled around 10,000 miles seeing many old friends and reconnecting with several churches. This wraps up our major travel in the U.S. We do have three remaining speaking engagements but will stay closer to home in western Kansas for these.

Meanwhile back in Kansas, the kids stayed home on the farm with their aunt Lisa. Donna continues to observe volley ball and Lincoln is getting some time in as a 100 pound defensive lineman in junior high football.

In August we made a trip to the Boundary Water Canoe Area in northern Minnesota. We also spent time in northern Wisconsin. It was great to be back on the water and in the woods. We are now back in western Kansas where trees and water are in shorter supply. The kids started school on August 21.