Village Life & Commissioning Ceremony

Mpho building a fire out of cow dung. They heat water and cook meals in these big cast iron pots. You have to make sure the cow patties are "dry".

JoAnne with Vivee and Callie (these are their short names we can pronounce).

The girls escorting Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head on a tour at the school in Malokaganyane. They have 40 pre-school children who attend.

Snicker & Penny on the ride home from the village. JoAnne says they loved the village, chasing goats and cows in the area. They were very brave behind the fence!

Mike & JoAnne after the CEO Commissioning Ceremony at the Flying Mission hangar at the airport in Gaborone, Botswana.

The ceremony was wonderful with speakers, a choir, a couple of pastors, prayer, and finally an official handover of leadership. We feel very honored and blessed to serve God and Flying Mission in this divine calling.

Village Live-In

We hope these pictures speak for us. We're living in a village of Malokanganyane about 120 km from Gaborone for 5 days. Just came out today to help the grandmother we're staying with go to a funeral. We've only got 5 minutes of Internet time left, so with very few words we write this blog post.

JoAnne and I are doing good, and getting adjusted to the life here. I took a sponge bath with water heated on a fire made from wood and cow dung this morning at 0500. We have our handover celebration next Friday, so please pray for us as we continue moving forward in this transition process.

Mike & JoAnne from the bush of Botswana.

Orphan Day Care and Craft Stop

JoAnne and Kali giving "hugs" of love to these orphan children.

Mike and JoAnne with children on the play ground at the Tumelong Day Care Center.

Look at the joy in this young boy.

Kali with Saralee (Director of Flying Mission Care Ministries)


Kali at craft shop in a nearby village.

Our friend Heidi in her kitchen. We ate a traditional meal of cooked corn with a vegetable sauce on the top. It was very filling and good tasting!

Week 1 Update

Here are a couple of world travelers, Penny and Snickers! They made the trip in their kennels under the aircraft without any problems. They even have their own Giraffe and Zebra mascots for company.

Here we are, reduced to a couple of potato heads!! As you can see JoAnne is already becoming very creative and we are laughing at ourselves as we present to you Mr and Mrs Potato Head. They have traveled all the way to Botswana, Africa from Idaho, USA. Watch for future installments and adventures from these home grown spuds. They really do have "faith like potatoes."

We are busy getting ourselves processed thru immigration: medical exams, document review, and will hopefully obtain a Botswana work permit in the next 30 days. Once we obtain the work permit we can open accounts, rent a home, buy a car, and more formally represent Flying Mission and the ministry we've been called to here in Africa.

Kali will start back to Boise on Aug. 18 to arrive Aug 19.

Arrived Botswana

This is the entrance to the airport in Gaborone.

First sunset after arriving Botswana.

JoAnne, Kali, and I spent 3 days traveling to Gaborone, Botswana. We are so thankful to have arrived safely and even JoAnne's little toy poodles Snickers and Penny made the trip in good condition. What a blessing to come so far across God's great creation. We had many opportunities to share our call to missions with many other travelers along the way. Some of the trip was very challenging and difficult, but God always provided us with the strength and encouragement to endure and stand firm. Please watch for more updates as we transition into our new mission calling. For now, we'll work on getting adjusted to this time zone (8 hours ahead of MST).

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Launch into the deep!

Moving to Botswana, Africa

JoAnne and I with daughter Kali began our journey to Africa today. We had a great send-off at the Boise Airport from family, friends, Ustick Baptist Church family, and Idaho Friends of MAF. We are so thankful for all the prayer and support.

JoAnne and her toy poodle Snicker's ready for travel.

Kali and Judy saying goodbye.

Mike and the Dykstra kids.

We are currently in Washington DC getting ready for another bag-drag and long flight for Johannesburg, South Africa.