Buyela Team from YFC South Africa
On Monday March 22, a dance/drama team of 14 young adults from Youth for Christ South Africa arrived. Their team named is Buyela, a Zulu word meaning “return.” They seek to help people return to God and for family reconciliation – fathers’ hearts to return to their children and children’s hearts to return to their fathers (based on Malachi 4:6, Luke 1:17). You can find them online at www.buyela.com. They have stayed at the YFC office all week as they’ve ministered here in Botswana. They presented a 90-minute program to the entire student body at three schools in Gaborone. March is officially the Month of Youth Against AIDS here in Botswana, so schools are more open to having presentations about AIDS and encouraging abstinence to prevent its spread. The team also presented to the orphans at the YFC daycare and to the School of the Blind students Friday. On Saturday, March 27, they performed at an open-air abstinence rally in the center of Mochudi that was co-sponsored by Youth for Christ and a Women’s Prayer Movement in Mochudi. We were up at 5 something a.m. to be in town by 6:30 am to put up a big-top tent. The dance/drama team from South Africa performed a few of their dances and the dance/drama team from here in Botswana performed a powerful drama. There were various speakers sharing about the AIDS situation here in our district, as well as the reasons why to abstain and how, through the strength and grace of the Lord, to actually abstain and be faithful during marriage.
I was thankful I brought my trusty Botswana umbrella along to the rally because when the sun was beaming down and we were all sitting under the sun (the tent was for the sound system and stuff for the presentations), most people were cooking like chicken under the sun. But I had a slice of shade courtesy of my patriotic umbrella. Many people from Botswana also brought along their umbrellas (most people carry their umbrellas everywhere to block the sun, and only occasionally the rain). I ended up offering it to one of the German volunteers (Kyra) and her boyfriend Alex who arrived Friday on a visit from Germany (let’s just say he came from the Germany winter and is NOT tan at all!). Another addition to our household is another American YFC missionary, a 23-year old named Katie! She arrived Thursday night and will be working with the orphan day care for at least 2 years. So she is now sharing a bedroom with me in the house. I was the first American long-term missionary to move here, and now there are two of us!
Saturday night we had dinner together as a household (9 of us now with Alex and Katie!). Simone from the Netherlands was the cook that day (we take turns cooking) – a delicious meal of sausage, potatoes, corn, peas, and carrots. Soon after, we walked to the YFC office where the South African dance/drama team performed at the Coffee Bar. It was the biggest turn-out all year, which was awesome because of the powerful and important message that was presented. Several students committed their lives to Christ after their presentation! It was a very encouraging night!
The next day (Sunday, March 28), the South African team presented at a youth service at the church in Gaborone that the YFC director E.J. pastors. It was the “last hurrah” before the team drove back to South Africa yesterday. The people really liked it and already want the team to return.
After that last performance Sunday night, we were all quite hungry (not having eaten dinner yet). One of the YFC Botswana board members was there with his wife and he decided to treat us ALL to dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in Gaborone called Spur. So there were 22 of us (the YFC South Africa team and then most of the YFC Botswana staff)!!! What generosity!! It was an amazing treat! I had chicken enchiladas…muy bueno!
Overall, it was such a blessing having the Buyela team with us for a week. We spent a lot of time with them and grew to be friends so we miss them already! We YFC Botswana staff (though mainly E.J.’s wife Koekoes) prepared meals for them all week, including a braai (barbeque/cook-out) Friday night. We are thankful for the team’s visit, and we pray that the message of abstinence will take root in the hearts of all the teens and adults who saw/heard them this whole week and that it will lead to behavior change that helps reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. This is the type of team that we want to organize and lead to travel full-time throughout Botswana to schools/communities. Right now, the YFC Botswana dance/drama team is part-time volunteers and they perform in Mochudi and nearby towns. I will be focusing on the ministry in Gaborone and Mochudi now to help get that going more, as we try to organize members, training, and funding for a full-time travel team.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Stories from Botswana 2004!
Stories from my last trip to Botswana
*I thought I would share a few stories from my last trip to Botswana in 2004 that relate to what I referred to in my last blog post. It was when I first used the Victoria Falls analogy and saw the Lord use it to impact hearts:
One day [in June 2004], we were at a high school in northern Botswana doing AIDS awareness/prevention, and an 18-year-old boy came up to me during some downtime and asked me a peculiar question. He asked if I could show him in the Bible where it says which day is truly the Sabbath...Saturday or Sunday. I thought it was kind of a minor detail that, in the big picture, didn’t make much difference; what matters is if your heart is right with God. But he was insistent to know for sure. He even had a list of every scripture regarding the Sabbath that he’d gotten from a pastor. Along the way he said something that made me see the deeper misconception and confusion he had—he said, “But if I break just one law, I’ve broken the whole law.” Ah! -- from that I realized that he was trying to be right with God by the law, by trying to follow every law and command of God. I shared that James had made that statement (James 2:10) about breaking the whole law precisely to make the point that we are all going to break at least one law (because no one is perfect and can obey all of them), and therefore we are all sinners guilty of breaking the whole law. All have sinned, and each person’s sin causes a separation between them and God, who is holy and sinless.
Then God gave me the idea to use Victoria Falls, world famous waterfalls right near Botswana, in an analogy. So I shared the analogy with him [Read the last post, if you haven’t yet, for the analogy].
I went on to share with him that Ephesians 2:8 states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” So it is by faith in Christ and repenting of our sin and trusting in His forgiveness that we can cross over to God, not by doing good works or trying to follow every commandment. So the boy I was sharing all this with asked, “Then should we then just disregard the law and commandments and not bother doing good works?” We had been looking at Romans 3 at the time and the very next verse answered perfectly: “Do we then, throw out the law by this faith? Of course not! Rather, we uphold the law.”
And the next verse in Ephesians (after saying it’s by faith, not works, that we are saved), says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Thus, we should not do good works or obey the commandments as a means by which we are “saved”, to earn our way to heaven, but we should still be doing good works as a natural outflow of our love for Him and as a result of our relationship with Him. For example, you can’t be made right with God just by going to church every Sunday – if you haven’t trusted in Christ’s forgiveness and entered into a personal relationship with God, going to church is just an example of long-jumping across Victoria Falls in vain. But does that mean you shouldn’t go to church once you’ve accepted Christ as your Savior? Of course not! It is just now a result of your faith and love for Christ, not a means by which you are earning your salvation. So likewise, you can still do good works and try to follow His law, but out of a different motivation, that of love, not fear.
After I explained this all to the boy and wrote it out and drew him the picture of Victoria Falls and Christ as the bridge, it really seemed like he understood it. Two days later, I came upon him in a group of people and when he turned and saw me, his face lit up. In his hand, he was still clutching the paper on which I’d written the analogy and he held it up and excitedly exclaimed, “This has meant so much to me...I understand it! It’s true! It’s in my heart! It’s changed me!” I replied, “That’s great! But don’t keep it to yourself—tell your friends and others here at school!” He replied, “Oh, I already did that yesterday!” As we parted ways, he shook my hand, looked intently in my eyes and said, “Thank you...I will never forget this…I will never forget you.” It was just amazing to see how God had set him free from trying to follow every single law out of fear in order to get to heaven—worrying which day the Sabbath was on in case he might be breaking that one rule—to the point now where he understands the good news and forgiveness in Christ.
A few weeks later, July 10th rolled around (which is a very significant date in my spiritual journey and calling to Botswana). We were going hut-to-hut (or house-to-house) sharing the gospel, and I’d never thought to use the Victoria Falls bridge analogy to explain the gospel in hut-to-hut ministry because we usually had visual aids with which to share the gospel. But on that day, we were without our usual visual aids, and the first group of 5 people about my age knew nothing about Jesus. So I decided to use the analogy and I drew it out in the sand (Botswana is all sand) and it really drew them in, and I explained how Jesus is the only way back to the Father. I am one who would rather someone really think about whether they are going to commit to following Christ so I know they are truly genuine in their commitment, but after we talked for about an hour and I had them explain back to me what the gospel means, they already seemed very genuinely ready to make an informed decision to follow Christ. The guy even had tears in his eyes! So we prayed with them and connected them to a local church where they could grow in their faith.
The next week, we used the bridge analogy in the Vacation Bible School we had in a rural village called Sehitwa. We drew two lines about 25 feet apart and had kids try to long-jump across, and each day as the week went on, we elaborated on the analogy. On the last day we actually built a cross outline out of wood between the two lines and we gave kids the opportunity to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior and then walk across the ‘bridge’ as a public symbol of their commitment to follow Him. We had the oldest kids in our group (12 and 13 years old so they could definitely understand our teachings all week). We did not pressure anyone, and some took longer to decide, but in the end, every last one walked across that bridge and we prayed with them. Praise God! One boy had not smiled all week, but after walking across the bridge, he broke into a huge smile. And throughout that week, the analogy was used by our ministry groups at villagers’ huts and people trusted in Christ for the first time. It was just so cool to see how God could use a simple analogy in so many lives. And it made me realize that God can use anybody to make a difference. If He used me, He can use you.
*I thought I would share a few stories from my last trip to Botswana in 2004 that relate to what I referred to in my last blog post. It was when I first used the Victoria Falls analogy and saw the Lord use it to impact hearts:
One day [in June 2004], we were at a high school in northern Botswana doing AIDS awareness/prevention, and an 18-year-old boy came up to me during some downtime and asked me a peculiar question. He asked if I could show him in the Bible where it says which day is truly the Sabbath...Saturday or Sunday. I thought it was kind of a minor detail that, in the big picture, didn’t make much difference; what matters is if your heart is right with God. But he was insistent to know for sure. He even had a list of every scripture regarding the Sabbath that he’d gotten from a pastor. Along the way he said something that made me see the deeper misconception and confusion he had—he said, “But if I break just one law, I’ve broken the whole law.” Ah! -- from that I realized that he was trying to be right with God by the law, by trying to follow every law and command of God. I shared that James had made that statement (James 2:10) about breaking the whole law precisely to make the point that we are all going to break at least one law (because no one is perfect and can obey all of them), and therefore we are all sinners guilty of breaking the whole law. All have sinned, and each person’s sin causes a separation between them and God, who is holy and sinless.
Then God gave me the idea to use Victoria Falls, world famous waterfalls right near Botswana, in an analogy. So I shared the analogy with him [Read the last post, if you haven’t yet, for the analogy].
I went on to share with him that Ephesians 2:8 states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” So it is by faith in Christ and repenting of our sin and trusting in His forgiveness that we can cross over to God, not by doing good works or trying to follow every commandment. So the boy I was sharing all this with asked, “Then should we then just disregard the law and commandments and not bother doing good works?” We had been looking at Romans 3 at the time and the very next verse answered perfectly: “Do we then, throw out the law by this faith? Of course not! Rather, we uphold the law.”
And the next verse in Ephesians (after saying it’s by faith, not works, that we are saved), says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Thus, we should not do good works or obey the commandments as a means by which we are “saved”, to earn our way to heaven, but we should still be doing good works as a natural outflow of our love for Him and as a result of our relationship with Him. For example, you can’t be made right with God just by going to church every Sunday – if you haven’t trusted in Christ’s forgiveness and entered into a personal relationship with God, going to church is just an example of long-jumping across Victoria Falls in vain. But does that mean you shouldn’t go to church once you’ve accepted Christ as your Savior? Of course not! It is just now a result of your faith and love for Christ, not a means by which you are earning your salvation. So likewise, you can still do good works and try to follow His law, but out of a different motivation, that of love, not fear.
After I explained this all to the boy and wrote it out and drew him the picture of Victoria Falls and Christ as the bridge, it really seemed like he understood it. Two days later, I came upon him in a group of people and when he turned and saw me, his face lit up. In his hand, he was still clutching the paper on which I’d written the analogy and he held it up and excitedly exclaimed, “This has meant so much to me...I understand it! It’s true! It’s in my heart! It’s changed me!” I replied, “That’s great! But don’t keep it to yourself—tell your friends and others here at school!” He replied, “Oh, I already did that yesterday!” As we parted ways, he shook my hand, looked intently in my eyes and said, “Thank you...I will never forget this…I will never forget you.” It was just amazing to see how God had set him free from trying to follow every single law out of fear in order to get to heaven—worrying which day the Sabbath was on in case he might be breaking that one rule—to the point now where he understands the good news and forgiveness in Christ.
A few weeks later, July 10th rolled around (which is a very significant date in my spiritual journey and calling to Botswana). We were going hut-to-hut (or house-to-house) sharing the gospel, and I’d never thought to use the Victoria Falls bridge analogy to explain the gospel in hut-to-hut ministry because we usually had visual aids with which to share the gospel. But on that day, we were without our usual visual aids, and the first group of 5 people about my age knew nothing about Jesus. So I decided to use the analogy and I drew it out in the sand (Botswana is all sand) and it really drew them in, and I explained how Jesus is the only way back to the Father. I am one who would rather someone really think about whether they are going to commit to following Christ so I know they are truly genuine in their commitment, but after we talked for about an hour and I had them explain back to me what the gospel means, they already seemed very genuinely ready to make an informed decision to follow Christ. The guy even had tears in his eyes! So we prayed with them and connected them to a local church where they could grow in their faith.
The next week, we used the bridge analogy in the Vacation Bible School we had in a rural village called Sehitwa. We drew two lines about 25 feet apart and had kids try to long-jump across, and each day as the week went on, we elaborated on the analogy. On the last day we actually built a cross outline out of wood between the two lines and we gave kids the opportunity to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior and then walk across the ‘bridge’ as a public symbol of their commitment to follow Him. We had the oldest kids in our group (12 and 13 years old so they could definitely understand our teachings all week). We did not pressure anyone, and some took longer to decide, but in the end, every last one walked across that bridge and we prayed with them. Praise God! One boy had not smiled all week, but after walking across the bridge, he broke into a huge smile. And throughout that week, the analogy was used by our ministry groups at villagers’ huts and people trusted in Christ for the first time. It was just so cool to see how God could use a simple analogy in so many lives. And it made me realize that God can use anybody to make a difference. If He used me, He can use you.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Seeing the Potential in Youth
Sharing the Gospel at Coffee Bar!
On Saturday, March 20, I spoke at the Coffee Bar outreach at the YFC office. On Saturday nights, YFC runs a Coffee Bar outreach where we open up our building to teens from 7-10 pm and have games like ping-pong, pool, foosball, four-square, football (soccer), chess, puzzles, etc for them to play. Then we build relationships with kids, many of whom are not Christians. I recently talked to the youth ministry chairman here in Botswana who worked with YFC in years past, and he said that our Coffee Bar is the only one of its kind that he is aware of in all of Botswana for youth. About half-way through the Coffee Bar evening, one of the YFC staff shares for about 5-10 minutes a short message about God’s love, the gospel, etc.
First off, we were thankful that a lot of kids came anyway despite the rain and cooler temperatures (not cool to me but most of them wore pants…maybe it was in the 70s). As I said, many/most of these kids are not believers (i.e. a couple weeks ago, I talked with a teen whose breath smelled clearly of alcohol). So it’s cool that we are able to share with those who really need to hear of a greater hope and a deeper satisfaction than what this world has to offer.
I felt led to share the basic gospel using Victoria Falls as an analogy. Obviously in 5-10 minutes, you cannot get into a very deep theological explanation of the whole gospel, but I felt this was a good basic summary and if they wanted more explanation, we are always available and can help disciple them. I first used this analogy on my last trip to Botswana and it really was relevant to many kids and adults in Botswana. So…to start off, I had 5 of them long-jump as far as they could. Then I showed them pictures of Victoria Falls and asked if they had just been long-jumping across Vic Falls if it would really matter who could long-jump the furthest? No…they would all fall short and drown. Similarly, our sin had caused a separation between us and God, and no attempts on our own (i.e. good works, following the laws in the Bible, giving to charity, attending church, doing mission or volunteer work, etc.) can bridge the gap. Even if we obey more of God’s laws and do more good things, it’s just like long-jumping further across Victoria Falls—it is futile; you still fall short and die. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). In James it says if you keep the whole law but fall in one point, than it’s like you’ve broken the whole law (James 2:10). The effects are the same—separation from God (Romans 6:23).
Then I went on to explain more of the gospel and how God wanted a close relationship with each of us, so out of His deep love, He sent his Son to create the only bridge back to a close relationship with God through His death on the cross and His resurrection that defeated death. I emphasized that it’s not enough to know Jesus died and rose again to create the bridge back. That’s like standing and looking at the bridge and saying, “Yup, I believe there’s a bridge,” but never crossing it. Even the demons believe in God, but they certainly haven’t trusted in Christ (James 2:19). Turning from our sin and our own ways (repenting) and trusting in Christ as our Savior (from sin and death) and as Lord (to lead our lives) is the way we cross over the bridge. But that is not the end…it is only the beginning. We were not just saved from something, but for something—God has a plan for each of our lives. And we are meant to develop a close relationship and friendship with God and to now obey his word/law out of love (not fear…nor as a means to gain heaven or earn His favor). It will not be easy to follow Christ, but it is worth it and He is worthy.
I showed some posters of Vic Falls I have, including one of the bridge across from Zambia to Zimbabwe, and then said we YFC staff are available if anyone wants to talk to us tonight or whenever. After I finished, I erased the diagram of the Vic Falls and cross bridge I had drawn on a white board and went to put the posters and my bible away. When I returned just a minute later, there were a few boys who had already re-drawn the bridge analogy on the white board and were talking to one of the YFC staff about it. I ended up talking with two of these guys (both age 17) from then until Coffee Bar ended (so for about 1.25 hours!). They had lots of questions about the bible, faith, sin, peace, evolution, life issues and struggles, etc. I was amazed how honest and vulnerable they were with me. They have trusted in Christ but had some questions and could use some discipleship. They both wanted to start our discipleship bible study course (an 18 part correspondence course—where they mail in a lesson and receive the next lesson with the previous one checked and commented on by YFC staff—which really ground a new believer in the foundations of faith). One is really interested in drama/acting and being a part of the YFC dance/drama team when he is old enough. By then we hope to have a full-time team that travels throughout the country that I would lead, so perhaps he will be on my team someday! I can sense so much hunger and potential in him. He said he had read in the bible that morning a passage about ambassadors/messengers and feels like God wants him to be an ambassador and messenger telling other people to believe in Jesus. Sweet!
Another guy came over to look at the Vic Falls diagram and I could tell he was deeply thinking about it all. Another YFC staff member talked with him, and he told her that he knows he is like standing staring at the bridge but he hasn’t crossed over…he hasn’t trusted Christ and turned from his sin. He knows he needs to, but he has a lot of questions still. He took more information and I think the first bible study to read over. So let’s pray for him and the others who may be thinking/considering following Christ, that the Lord would continue to draw them.
Altogether, I felt it went quite well and was thankful to have the opportunity to really talk deeply with those guys afterwards. As I was thinking about it tonight and how they show such promise and yet need discipleship to clear up some misconceptions, I happened to read this from The Holy Spirit by Billy Graham:
“In the Acts of the Apostles we read of Apollos whose earnestness, love, and great gift of oratory appealed to the hearts of Priscilla and Aquila. However, he was immature and unprepared to lead others into the deeper Christian life. He had progressed barely beyond the baptism of John. But this godly couple, instead of laughing at his ignorance or decrying his lack of understanding of true biblical orthodoxy, took him into their home and in love expounded the way of the Lord more perfectly to him (Acts 18:26). Then he began to use his great gifts for the glory of God and the winning of souls. He left an indelible impression on the early Church and helped promote the kingdom of God in the first century.”
*Wow...I just got a chill thinking of the potential within those guys I spoke with tonight, especially the one who wants to be an ambassador/messenger sharing about Christ and wants to act on the team...how this passage could fit for him—how he has such great potential and acting gifts combined with such a beautiful heart seeking after the Lord. And already, the Lord seems to be putting His mark on him, stirring him to be an ambassador and messenger to tell others to believe in Christ and to use his acting gifts in the music/drama team (like how Apollos “began to use his great gifts for the glory of God and the winning of souls”).
I had that feeling of, ‘Who is this? Who will he grow up to be?’ Last week I shared in a prayer meeting how we never know if the kids we are working with will end up being the next Billy Graham or Ravi Zacharias (Ravi is an internationally-known Christian speaker/author who was the lone youth who responded to give his life to Christ at a huge Youth for Christ rally in India decades ago). Funny how the Lord just led me to a book by Billy Graham that confirmed what I had JUST been thinking—that we just need to disciple him and clear up his misconceptions and he could be such a vital part of the kingdom of God. Obviously, we want to pour into every kid who desires to grow in Christ, regardless of whether they end up being famous or shining Christ just in their village. Either way, they have such great potential, and the Lord has plans for each of them to promote the kingdom of God in the twenty-first century. I feel so blessed to be able to help youth reach their potential and discover and live out the calling God has for them, the unique role in His kingdom that only they can play.
On Saturday, March 20, I spoke at the Coffee Bar outreach at the YFC office. On Saturday nights, YFC runs a Coffee Bar outreach where we open up our building to teens from 7-10 pm and have games like ping-pong, pool, foosball, four-square, football (soccer), chess, puzzles, etc for them to play. Then we build relationships with kids, many of whom are not Christians. I recently talked to the youth ministry chairman here in Botswana who worked with YFC in years past, and he said that our Coffee Bar is the only one of its kind that he is aware of in all of Botswana for youth. About half-way through the Coffee Bar evening, one of the YFC staff shares for about 5-10 minutes a short message about God’s love, the gospel, etc.
First off, we were thankful that a lot of kids came anyway despite the rain and cooler temperatures (not cool to me but most of them wore pants…maybe it was in the 70s). As I said, many/most of these kids are not believers (i.e. a couple weeks ago, I talked with a teen whose breath smelled clearly of alcohol). So it’s cool that we are able to share with those who really need to hear of a greater hope and a deeper satisfaction than what this world has to offer.
I felt led to share the basic gospel using Victoria Falls as an analogy. Obviously in 5-10 minutes, you cannot get into a very deep theological explanation of the whole gospel, but I felt this was a good basic summary and if they wanted more explanation, we are always available and can help disciple them. I first used this analogy on my last trip to Botswana and it really was relevant to many kids and adults in Botswana. So…to start off, I had 5 of them long-jump as far as they could. Then I showed them pictures of Victoria Falls and asked if they had just been long-jumping across Vic Falls if it would really matter who could long-jump the furthest? No…they would all fall short and drown. Similarly, our sin had caused a separation between us and God, and no attempts on our own (i.e. good works, following the laws in the Bible, giving to charity, attending church, doing mission or volunteer work, etc.) can bridge the gap. Even if we obey more of God’s laws and do more good things, it’s just like long-jumping further across Victoria Falls—it is futile; you still fall short and die. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). In James it says if you keep the whole law but fall in one point, than it’s like you’ve broken the whole law (James 2:10). The effects are the same—separation from God (Romans 6:23).
Then I went on to explain more of the gospel and how God wanted a close relationship with each of us, so out of His deep love, He sent his Son to create the only bridge back to a close relationship with God through His death on the cross and His resurrection that defeated death. I emphasized that it’s not enough to know Jesus died and rose again to create the bridge back. That’s like standing and looking at the bridge and saying, “Yup, I believe there’s a bridge,” but never crossing it. Even the demons believe in God, but they certainly haven’t trusted in Christ (James 2:19). Turning from our sin and our own ways (repenting) and trusting in Christ as our Savior (from sin and death) and as Lord (to lead our lives) is the way we cross over the bridge. But that is not the end…it is only the beginning. We were not just saved from something, but for something—God has a plan for each of our lives. And we are meant to develop a close relationship and friendship with God and to now obey his word/law out of love (not fear…nor as a means to gain heaven or earn His favor). It will not be easy to follow Christ, but it is worth it and He is worthy.
I showed some posters of Vic Falls I have, including one of the bridge across from Zambia to Zimbabwe, and then said we YFC staff are available if anyone wants to talk to us tonight or whenever. After I finished, I erased the diagram of the Vic Falls and cross bridge I had drawn on a white board and went to put the posters and my bible away. When I returned just a minute later, there were a few boys who had already re-drawn the bridge analogy on the white board and were talking to one of the YFC staff about it. I ended up talking with two of these guys (both age 17) from then until Coffee Bar ended (so for about 1.25 hours!). They had lots of questions about the bible, faith, sin, peace, evolution, life issues and struggles, etc. I was amazed how honest and vulnerable they were with me. They have trusted in Christ but had some questions and could use some discipleship. They both wanted to start our discipleship bible study course (an 18 part correspondence course—where they mail in a lesson and receive the next lesson with the previous one checked and commented on by YFC staff—which really ground a new believer in the foundations of faith). One is really interested in drama/acting and being a part of the YFC dance/drama team when he is old enough. By then we hope to have a full-time team that travels throughout the country that I would lead, so perhaps he will be on my team someday! I can sense so much hunger and potential in him. He said he had read in the bible that morning a passage about ambassadors/messengers and feels like God wants him to be an ambassador and messenger telling other people to believe in Jesus. Sweet!
Another guy came over to look at the Vic Falls diagram and I could tell he was deeply thinking about it all. Another YFC staff member talked with him, and he told her that he knows he is like standing staring at the bridge but he hasn’t crossed over…he hasn’t trusted Christ and turned from his sin. He knows he needs to, but he has a lot of questions still. He took more information and I think the first bible study to read over. So let’s pray for him and the others who may be thinking/considering following Christ, that the Lord would continue to draw them.
Altogether, I felt it went quite well and was thankful to have the opportunity to really talk deeply with those guys afterwards. As I was thinking about it tonight and how they show such promise and yet need discipleship to clear up some misconceptions, I happened to read this from The Holy Spirit by Billy Graham:
“In the Acts of the Apostles we read of Apollos whose earnestness, love, and great gift of oratory appealed to the hearts of Priscilla and Aquila. However, he was immature and unprepared to lead others into the deeper Christian life. He had progressed barely beyond the baptism of John. But this godly couple, instead of laughing at his ignorance or decrying his lack of understanding of true biblical orthodoxy, took him into their home and in love expounded the way of the Lord more perfectly to him (Acts 18:26). Then he began to use his great gifts for the glory of God and the winning of souls. He left an indelible impression on the early Church and helped promote the kingdom of God in the first century.”
*Wow...I just got a chill thinking of the potential within those guys I spoke with tonight, especially the one who wants to be an ambassador/messenger sharing about Christ and wants to act on the team...how this passage could fit for him—how he has such great potential and acting gifts combined with such a beautiful heart seeking after the Lord. And already, the Lord seems to be putting His mark on him, stirring him to be an ambassador and messenger to tell others to believe in Christ and to use his acting gifts in the music/drama team (like how Apollos “began to use his great gifts for the glory of God and the winning of souls”).
I had that feeling of, ‘Who is this? Who will he grow up to be?’ Last week I shared in a prayer meeting how we never know if the kids we are working with will end up being the next Billy Graham or Ravi Zacharias (Ravi is an internationally-known Christian speaker/author who was the lone youth who responded to give his life to Christ at a huge Youth for Christ rally in India decades ago). Funny how the Lord just led me to a book by Billy Graham that confirmed what I had JUST been thinking—that we just need to disciple him and clear up his misconceptions and he could be such a vital part of the kingdom of God. Obviously, we want to pour into every kid who desires to grow in Christ, regardless of whether they end up being famous or shining Christ just in their village. Either way, they have such great potential, and the Lord has plans for each of them to promote the kingdom of God in the twenty-first century. I feel so blessed to be able to help youth reach their potential and discover and live out the calling God has for them, the unique role in His kingdom that only they can play.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Growing ministry!
Ministry Growing in Gaborone and Mochudi!
Dumelang!
I’ll pick up with where I left off…last Thursday (March 11), I rode the bus into the capital Gaborone (Gabs) to observe George (from Namibia) lead the second meeting of a peer-counseling club called P.A.C.T. at a school there. We’ve decided that I will help George co-lead that club…I’ll share more about that further down. My last post mentioned my quest for chicken in Gabs (since I hadn’t had it yet in Botswana), and… I did indeed partake of the blessed fowl...Kentucky Fried Chicken to be exact! I wanted to try Chicken Licken but they wouldn't take VISA and I needed my cash for the bus fare. So KFC it was. Beautiful. It's the only American restaurant in Botswana. No Mickey D's, no Burger King, no Taco Bell, no Wendy's or Arby's, no Pizza Hut or Dominoes...just KFC. They know what's important here...chicken. haha. I am extremely thankful for that. A little of the Colonel's secret recipe here and again is a true treat.
Let’s see… the day after that I led the hour-long weekly staff prayer meeting…and then the next interesting thing was going to the Mochudi School of the Blind on Monday, March 16 with Koekoes (South African) and Potlako (Motswana—from Botswana). They led games, singing, bible study/verse memorization with them. The kids ranged from really little (4 or 5 years) to maybe 16. YFC leads a program there every Monday afternoon with the kids, and it's evident they really enjoy it. Many of the kids have some vision so they can walk around and play. It was beautiful to hear them sing a song for us. I saw two Americans volunteering for a few weeks at that school. I realized I had not seen (to my knowledge) another American for exactly one month, since I got off the plane in Johannesburg! That is the longest stretch in my life...even on mission trips or the trip to Bangladesh, I was on the trip with other Americans.
The following day (Tuesday, March 16), I went to the Scripture Union club that Sara (German) and Clive (English) run at a junior secondary school here in Mochudi. They are going through the follow-up bible study curriculum that YFC created as a means of discipleship (so each club meeting they cover one of the bible studies that the kids are doing on their own as well). Tuesday’s topic was the purity lesson, sharing God’s plan for sex in marriage and encouraging abstinence before marriage as a means of AIDS prevention. In our daily staff prayer meeting that morning, we prayed for more students than usual to come to hear the important message that is key in the fight against AIDS here. When we arrived, there were already more students than normal waiting for us, and then the number swelled to almost twice what is normal – the biggest amount ever! I sat in the back just smiling, thinking, “Wow...God is answering our prayer before our eyes—He’s bringing the kids here!” Sara said she really felt the Lord guiding her words as she presented, and we all left in awe of God’s work among and through us. I now regularly help Sara and Clive lead the Scripture Union club on Mondays here in Mochudi.
A couple days later (Thurs March 18), I rode the bus again to Gabs early in the morning to plan the P.A.C.T. club lesson with George. P.A.C.T. stands for Peer Approach to the Counseling of Teens. So it is a club that meets weekly on Thursdays at a school in Gaborone. Basically, we train and pour into teens who want to counsel their peers through life issues and encourage them peers to make good choices. We are currently developing the curriculum, incorporating the topics/issues the members suggested (i.e. teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, abstinence, peer-pressure, decision-making, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, etc). I am thankful for this opportunity to develop long-term relationships with these youth and, from a biblical perspective, to help them through their own issues so they can then help their peers. Studies have shown the effectiveness of peer counseling in causing positive behavior change and reducing the spread of HIV, so I am stoked to be a part of this. I co-led the lesson with George that day on their worth/value in God’s eyes—and the love and affirmation that they have from God. That is foundational for so much of what we will be covering because if they can truly grasp and internalize who God says they are (their true identity in Christ), then they can better withstand peer pressure to engage in risky behavior (i.e. sex, drugs, alcohol, etc)— they won’t need to be affirmed by their peers as much if they grasp the love and affirmation of God.
The plan is that I will work Tuesdays and Thursdays in Gaborone. We are also currently trying to get permission to go into schools there during the break time in the mornings to build relationships with teens. At a private, non-religious school, there is a thrilling prospect—a teacher has expressed interest in YFC coming to minister there, and has offered to be the advisor. A few of the teens who attend that school also play in the worship band at the church in Gaborone that many of the YFC staff attend. It sounds like it may work out for me to form a band with them so we’d lead praise and worship during the break time! That would be amazing! Another stellar opportunity is that I’ve been invited to help lead three one-day camps for teens that will be put on at an international school in Gaborone by Christians visiting from an Asia. Finally, there is a Motswana (from Botswana) man who is interested in helping YFC in Gaborone if he can raise enough funds, and just yesterday we got an email from a Motswana 22-year old woman who would also like to help YFC in Gaborone! Right now is the most international volunteers that YFC Botswana has ever had as well. God is raising up His servants to impact the youth of Botswana!
Dumelang!
I’ll pick up with where I left off…last Thursday (March 11), I rode the bus into the capital Gaborone (Gabs) to observe George (from Namibia) lead the second meeting of a peer-counseling club called P.A.C.T. at a school there. We’ve decided that I will help George co-lead that club…I’ll share more about that further down. My last post mentioned my quest for chicken in Gabs (since I hadn’t had it yet in Botswana), and… I did indeed partake of the blessed fowl...Kentucky Fried Chicken to be exact! I wanted to try Chicken Licken but they wouldn't take VISA and I needed my cash for the bus fare. So KFC it was. Beautiful. It's the only American restaurant in Botswana. No Mickey D's, no Burger King, no Taco Bell, no Wendy's or Arby's, no Pizza Hut or Dominoes...just KFC. They know what's important here...chicken. haha. I am extremely thankful for that. A little of the Colonel's secret recipe here and again is a true treat.
Let’s see… the day after that I led the hour-long weekly staff prayer meeting…and then the next interesting thing was going to the Mochudi School of the Blind on Monday, March 16 with Koekoes (South African) and Potlako (Motswana—from Botswana). They led games, singing, bible study/verse memorization with them. The kids ranged from really little (4 or 5 years) to maybe 16. YFC leads a program there every Monday afternoon with the kids, and it's evident they really enjoy it. Many of the kids have some vision so they can walk around and play. It was beautiful to hear them sing a song for us. I saw two Americans volunteering for a few weeks at that school. I realized I had not seen (to my knowledge) another American for exactly one month, since I got off the plane in Johannesburg! That is the longest stretch in my life...even on mission trips or the trip to Bangladesh, I was on the trip with other Americans.
The following day (Tuesday, March 16), I went to the Scripture Union club that Sara (German) and Clive (English) run at a junior secondary school here in Mochudi. They are going through the follow-up bible study curriculum that YFC created as a means of discipleship (so each club meeting they cover one of the bible studies that the kids are doing on their own as well). Tuesday’s topic was the purity lesson, sharing God’s plan for sex in marriage and encouraging abstinence before marriage as a means of AIDS prevention. In our daily staff prayer meeting that morning, we prayed for more students than usual to come to hear the important message that is key in the fight against AIDS here. When we arrived, there were already more students than normal waiting for us, and then the number swelled to almost twice what is normal – the biggest amount ever! I sat in the back just smiling, thinking, “Wow...God is answering our prayer before our eyes—He’s bringing the kids here!” Sara said she really felt the Lord guiding her words as she presented, and we all left in awe of God’s work among and through us. I now regularly help Sara and Clive lead the Scripture Union club on Mondays here in Mochudi.
A couple days later (Thurs March 18), I rode the bus again to Gabs early in the morning to plan the P.A.C.T. club lesson with George. P.A.C.T. stands for Peer Approach to the Counseling of Teens. So it is a club that meets weekly on Thursdays at a school in Gaborone. Basically, we train and pour into teens who want to counsel their peers through life issues and encourage them peers to make good choices. We are currently developing the curriculum, incorporating the topics/issues the members suggested (i.e. teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, abstinence, peer-pressure, decision-making, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, etc). I am thankful for this opportunity to develop long-term relationships with these youth and, from a biblical perspective, to help them through their own issues so they can then help their peers. Studies have shown the effectiveness of peer counseling in causing positive behavior change and reducing the spread of HIV, so I am stoked to be a part of this. I co-led the lesson with George that day on their worth/value in God’s eyes—and the love and affirmation that they have from God. That is foundational for so much of what we will be covering because if they can truly grasp and internalize who God says they are (their true identity in Christ), then they can better withstand peer pressure to engage in risky behavior (i.e. sex, drugs, alcohol, etc)— they won’t need to be affirmed by their peers as much if they grasp the love and affirmation of God.
The plan is that I will work Tuesdays and Thursdays in Gaborone. We are also currently trying to get permission to go into schools there during the break time in the mornings to build relationships with teens. At a private, non-religious school, there is a thrilling prospect—a teacher has expressed interest in YFC coming to minister there, and has offered to be the advisor. A few of the teens who attend that school also play in the worship band at the church in Gaborone that many of the YFC staff attend. It sounds like it may work out for me to form a band with them so we’d lead praise and worship during the break time! That would be amazing! Another stellar opportunity is that I’ve been invited to help lead three one-day camps for teens that will be put on at an international school in Gaborone by Christians visiting from an Asia. Finally, there is a Motswana (from Botswana) man who is interested in helping YFC in Gaborone if he can raise enough funds, and just yesterday we got an email from a Motswana 22-year old woman who would also like to help YFC in Gaborone! Right now is the most international volunteers that YFC Botswana has ever had as well. God is raising up His servants to impact the youth of Botswana!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Back in Action!
Dumelang!
I am back in action! I feel much better and am back at the office again today (and I had a nice morning run!). Please keep the other staff in your prayers though. Two (Kyra from Germany and Simone from Holland) who were sick about half a day earlier than me are still home sick, but after almost going to the hospital last night, we think they’ve finally turned the corner and the worst is over. One more was home sick yesterday but I think she’s back at the daycare today. I only ate dry toast and Jungle Oats for a day and a half, two days, but yesterday for lunch I broke out the Moroccan chicken and chick pea soup in a can that I bought at Woolworths (which is a British store I would frequent when in England). Believe it or not, but that was the first time chicken, that blessed meat, entered my stomach in this country! I think this was the longest chicken fast (inadvertent) I’ve had since I became a chicken consumer as a young lass. There is chicken here…I just haven’t gotten around to buying it. There is a restaurant chain here in the capital called Chicken Licken, with “lip-licken good” chicken. Glory. There is also a restaurant chain called Nando’s that I LOVED on my last trip to Botswana in 2004. So some time I’m in the capital, I’m fixin’ to get me some southern fried chicken y’all! Chicken is good.
Ok, so wow…I have a lot to recap on. Let’s start where I left off. So last Wednesday and Thursday, I went with Kyra (German) and Naomi (Motswana) to YFC Kids Club. What is cool is that there is a kids club Monday through Thursday in four different places in town. And at least the two places I went were both outside under random trees. So Wednesday we walked probably 30-40 minutes to get there -- it was off a dirt road at a big tree that offers shade, and the kids come to the tree. Thursday it was closer in town, also under a tree. They play games, sing songs, and have bible lessons, memory verses, and prayer. The kids are mainly elementary age and…super cute!!! I wish I could have taken pictures, but it’s distracting for them so I didn’t. But believe me…cuteness in abundance!
The church I attended in Gaborone a few days before that, Open Baptist Church, is actually doing a lot to fight AIDS. They started an organization called Face the Nation with dance/drama and school programs that go to every Sr. Secondary School in Botswana for a month during the college break (so college students from the University of Botswana take part in the dance/drama teams and also teach the curriculum for a month at each school). They won the Willow Creek Leadership Summit Courageous Leadership Award last year or the year before, so they get a lot of funding from the U.S. through that. YFC partners with them; some of our staff worked as facilitators of some of their dance/drama teams.
Last Thursday (March 4), the YFC staff joined with a couple of the Face the Nation volunteers and a local Motswana (from Botswana) pastor to do a prayer walk at Molefi Sr. Secondary School, the only Sr. Secondary School in the whole large district (so many students live on site in hostels), which is right by the YFC office. We met with one of the teachers who is a Christian in an audio-visual room of the school library to split into pairs to pray for the prayer concerns they have identified through interviews with teachers/students/administration. I was paired up with the local pastor so we prayed together for about 10-15 minutes and then we spread out in groups of 3-4 to pray outside around the school buildings/hostels. Face the Nation prays at every school in advance of when the Face the Nation team arrives in order to pray for the needs of the school and prepare the way so the Face the Nation curriculum will be more effective.
Saturday March 6, Face the Nation also had a day of prayer and fasting at Open Baptist Church in Gaborone (the capital) to pray for all the Sr. Secondary Schools in the nation. I didn’t have a ride into the Church so I just went for a run around the Molefi school (the school campus is ginormous…like about a 10 minute walk to cover one edge of the square walled-in grounds) to pray again for the needs at Molefi. It was only in doing this that I realized that the walk to the YFC office every day is along the back wall of Molefi! I had just thought it was private property, but it is actually the school property all along! So now I am reminded every day to pray when we walk past.
On Saturday March 6, Face the Nation also launched a 40-day prayer journey with specific prayer points each day about one of those schools or for the local pastors, etc. So I have been joining in that as well. Yesterday (March10) the focus was pastors and community leaders and starting today, we will pray for each of the 27 Sr. Secondary Schools in Botswana.
Saturday night we ran another Coffee Bar for the youth of Mochudi. A former YFC staff member named Ernest still comes to the YFC events and the next morning I walked with him to church (because Sara who usually comes was sick). Ernest, a Motswana, is the chairman of the youth ministry council for the Alliance Church denomination in Botswana, and he said he doesn’t know of any other Coffee Bar type program for youth in all of Botswana (it’s where we just have an open house at the YFC office for 3 hours Saturday nights with games, pool, foosball, football, four-square, ping-pong, and a short Christian message or a Christian movie sometimes). The Alliance Church we attended is where another YFC staff member, Tebatso, goes because her husband is the head pastor.
I really enjoyed the service. It is in a building with a cement floor and corrugated metal roof and walls that reach maybe 10 feet high but not to the roof. Thus, you can see the sky and the tops of the nearby hills all around you as you worship, and feel the breeze. It was a cool experience to worship and see the clouds behind the worship team/altar.
The people were very friendly and receptive…they even set aside time during a song for people to welcome the visitors, and they don’t just come and shake your hand; they hug you. So I got lots of hugs from little old ladies, women, and kids. Tebatso led a teenage girl choir in a song, and then all the little kids got up and sang a beautiful, meaningful song: “I have a Father. I know I’m not alone. I have a Brother. When everyone else departs from me, I know I’m not alone. Jesus is there for me.” In a country with so many orphans and fatherless homes, this was especially poignant.
The walk back from church was memorable. We walked along a skinny little path until we reached the river that runs through Mochudi. Because there hasn’t been rain for almost a week, the river was lower and the rocks set in the river to cross it were exposed. So we crossed the river on rocks, like stepping stones. Before you get alarmed, this “river” was only maybe 15 feet wide at this point and very shallow, so had I lost my balance, the worst scenario would have been a wet skirt. Though I did learn the next day that there are crocodiles in that river (but not where we were!). Once across, Ernest and the few other youth with us walked along a skinny (half foot to a foot wide) path that wound its way through grassland with trees and grazing goats and cattle. It was the most grass I’d seen in Mochudi (it’s usually just red dirt everywhere) so it was very beautiful countryside to me. That night I played guitar/sang worship songs in our yard out under the most amazing starscape I’ve seen this trip to Africa…just stunning.
Monday, I went with the YFC dance/drama team to their presentation at a Jr. secondary school REALLY far away…over 50 km away right on the border with South Africa (but still in this district…so you see why students board at Molefi if they go to Sr. Secondary school). There was actually a student there I know named Doreen, who stays in Mochudi on the weekends. Saturday on my “prayer run” (before I knew her) I invited her to come to Coffee Bar that night and she came (she had been before as well, but I didn’t know that). Then at Coffee Bar, we’d talked a bit while we were putting together a puzzle. So it was cool to see a familiar face at this school really far away. The kids liked the presentation as usual. On the drive back through the countryside, we had to stop or slow down several times for herds of cattle (MASSIVE bulls!!) and goats who don’t like to look both ways before crossing the road. They must have been absent that day in preschool for that lesson.
After we dropped the dance/drama team off, it was now…..my turn to learn to drive!! So the director E.J. hopped in the passenger seat, and I drove on the left side of the road the stick-shift SUV that fits about 10 people. So now I’m getting used to shifting with my left hand. Thankfully, I learned how to drive in the U.S. in a stick-shift mini-van, so at least I’ve got the clutch/shifting thing down already. So E.J. had me drive out the way we just came from, out into the country. So I got up to 80 kilometers an hour on the open road and successfully avoided all animals (and people!). I didn’t ever stall it…I just realized that the indicator/turn signal is on the opposite side as well—I went to indicate a turn and the windshield wipers started going crazy! So, my brain needs to get used to that switch too! I should be getting my own car soon.
Then that night I succumbed to the flu-like virus dealio that’s ravaging our staff house and lots of Botswana. So I went to bed at 8pm and slept 12 hours…felt better throughout the day Tuesday, and by Wednesday was back to work. Today I went for a run, drove us to work in a YFC car, led the daily prayer meeting at the YFC office (we take turns leading it for a week), and I am getting ready for my first solo journey to the capital this afternoon on public transport (bus) to go observe George (from Namibia) give a YFC presentation at a school there. So that will be a fun adventure. Last time I didn’t sit on the bus, so I’m hoping that this time there will be a seat for the hour journey. Maybe I’ll snag some chicken whilst in Gabs (what we affectionately nickname the capital Gaborone). We’ll see, haha.
Have a great day!
~Em
I am back in action! I feel much better and am back at the office again today (and I had a nice morning run!). Please keep the other staff in your prayers though. Two (Kyra from Germany and Simone from Holland) who were sick about half a day earlier than me are still home sick, but after almost going to the hospital last night, we think they’ve finally turned the corner and the worst is over. One more was home sick yesterday but I think she’s back at the daycare today. I only ate dry toast and Jungle Oats for a day and a half, two days, but yesterday for lunch I broke out the Moroccan chicken and chick pea soup in a can that I bought at Woolworths (which is a British store I would frequent when in England). Believe it or not, but that was the first time chicken, that blessed meat, entered my stomach in this country! I think this was the longest chicken fast (inadvertent) I’ve had since I became a chicken consumer as a young lass. There is chicken here…I just haven’t gotten around to buying it. There is a restaurant chain here in the capital called Chicken Licken, with “lip-licken good” chicken. Glory. There is also a restaurant chain called Nando’s that I LOVED on my last trip to Botswana in 2004. So some time I’m in the capital, I’m fixin’ to get me some southern fried chicken y’all! Chicken is good.
Ok, so wow…I have a lot to recap on. Let’s start where I left off. So last Wednesday and Thursday, I went with Kyra (German) and Naomi (Motswana) to YFC Kids Club. What is cool is that there is a kids club Monday through Thursday in four different places in town. And at least the two places I went were both outside under random trees. So Wednesday we walked probably 30-40 minutes to get there -- it was off a dirt road at a big tree that offers shade, and the kids come to the tree. Thursday it was closer in town, also under a tree. They play games, sing songs, and have bible lessons, memory verses, and prayer. The kids are mainly elementary age and…super cute!!! I wish I could have taken pictures, but it’s distracting for them so I didn’t. But believe me…cuteness in abundance!
The church I attended in Gaborone a few days before that, Open Baptist Church, is actually doing a lot to fight AIDS. They started an organization called Face the Nation with dance/drama and school programs that go to every Sr. Secondary School in Botswana for a month during the college break (so college students from the University of Botswana take part in the dance/drama teams and also teach the curriculum for a month at each school). They won the Willow Creek Leadership Summit Courageous Leadership Award last year or the year before, so they get a lot of funding from the U.S. through that. YFC partners with them; some of our staff worked as facilitators of some of their dance/drama teams.
Last Thursday (March 4), the YFC staff joined with a couple of the Face the Nation volunteers and a local Motswana (from Botswana) pastor to do a prayer walk at Molefi Sr. Secondary School, the only Sr. Secondary School in the whole large district (so many students live on site in hostels), which is right by the YFC office. We met with one of the teachers who is a Christian in an audio-visual room of the school library to split into pairs to pray for the prayer concerns they have identified through interviews with teachers/students/administration. I was paired up with the local pastor so we prayed together for about 10-15 minutes and then we spread out in groups of 3-4 to pray outside around the school buildings/hostels. Face the Nation prays at every school in advance of when the Face the Nation team arrives in order to pray for the needs of the school and prepare the way so the Face the Nation curriculum will be more effective.
Saturday March 6, Face the Nation also had a day of prayer and fasting at Open Baptist Church in Gaborone (the capital) to pray for all the Sr. Secondary Schools in the nation. I didn’t have a ride into the Church so I just went for a run around the Molefi school (the school campus is ginormous…like about a 10 minute walk to cover one edge of the square walled-in grounds) to pray again for the needs at Molefi. It was only in doing this that I realized that the walk to the YFC office every day is along the back wall of Molefi! I had just thought it was private property, but it is actually the school property all along! So now I am reminded every day to pray when we walk past.
On Saturday March 6, Face the Nation also launched a 40-day prayer journey with specific prayer points each day about one of those schools or for the local pastors, etc. So I have been joining in that as well. Yesterday (March10) the focus was pastors and community leaders and starting today, we will pray for each of the 27 Sr. Secondary Schools in Botswana.
Saturday night we ran another Coffee Bar for the youth of Mochudi. A former YFC staff member named Ernest still comes to the YFC events and the next morning I walked with him to church (because Sara who usually comes was sick). Ernest, a Motswana, is the chairman of the youth ministry council for the Alliance Church denomination in Botswana, and he said he doesn’t know of any other Coffee Bar type program for youth in all of Botswana (it’s where we just have an open house at the YFC office for 3 hours Saturday nights with games, pool, foosball, football, four-square, ping-pong, and a short Christian message or a Christian movie sometimes). The Alliance Church we attended is where another YFC staff member, Tebatso, goes because her husband is the head pastor.
I really enjoyed the service. It is in a building with a cement floor and corrugated metal roof and walls that reach maybe 10 feet high but not to the roof. Thus, you can see the sky and the tops of the nearby hills all around you as you worship, and feel the breeze. It was a cool experience to worship and see the clouds behind the worship team/altar.
The people were very friendly and receptive…they even set aside time during a song for people to welcome the visitors, and they don’t just come and shake your hand; they hug you. So I got lots of hugs from little old ladies, women, and kids. Tebatso led a teenage girl choir in a song, and then all the little kids got up and sang a beautiful, meaningful song: “I have a Father. I know I’m not alone. I have a Brother. When everyone else departs from me, I know I’m not alone. Jesus is there for me.” In a country with so many orphans and fatherless homes, this was especially poignant.
The walk back from church was memorable. We walked along a skinny little path until we reached the river that runs through Mochudi. Because there hasn’t been rain for almost a week, the river was lower and the rocks set in the river to cross it were exposed. So we crossed the river on rocks, like stepping stones. Before you get alarmed, this “river” was only maybe 15 feet wide at this point and very shallow, so had I lost my balance, the worst scenario would have been a wet skirt. Though I did learn the next day that there are crocodiles in that river (but not where we were!). Once across, Ernest and the few other youth with us walked along a skinny (half foot to a foot wide) path that wound its way through grassland with trees and grazing goats and cattle. It was the most grass I’d seen in Mochudi (it’s usually just red dirt everywhere) so it was very beautiful countryside to me. That night I played guitar/sang worship songs in our yard out under the most amazing starscape I’ve seen this trip to Africa…just stunning.
Monday, I went with the YFC dance/drama team to their presentation at a Jr. secondary school REALLY far away…over 50 km away right on the border with South Africa (but still in this district…so you see why students board at Molefi if they go to Sr. Secondary school). There was actually a student there I know named Doreen, who stays in Mochudi on the weekends. Saturday on my “prayer run” (before I knew her) I invited her to come to Coffee Bar that night and she came (she had been before as well, but I didn’t know that). Then at Coffee Bar, we’d talked a bit while we were putting together a puzzle. So it was cool to see a familiar face at this school really far away. The kids liked the presentation as usual. On the drive back through the countryside, we had to stop or slow down several times for herds of cattle (MASSIVE bulls!!) and goats who don’t like to look both ways before crossing the road. They must have been absent that day in preschool for that lesson.
After we dropped the dance/drama team off, it was now…..my turn to learn to drive!! So the director E.J. hopped in the passenger seat, and I drove on the left side of the road the stick-shift SUV that fits about 10 people. So now I’m getting used to shifting with my left hand. Thankfully, I learned how to drive in the U.S. in a stick-shift mini-van, so at least I’ve got the clutch/shifting thing down already. So E.J. had me drive out the way we just came from, out into the country. So I got up to 80 kilometers an hour on the open road and successfully avoided all animals (and people!). I didn’t ever stall it…I just realized that the indicator/turn signal is on the opposite side as well—I went to indicate a turn and the windshield wipers started going crazy! So, my brain needs to get used to that switch too! I should be getting my own car soon.
Then that night I succumbed to the flu-like virus dealio that’s ravaging our staff house and lots of Botswana. So I went to bed at 8pm and slept 12 hours…felt better throughout the day Tuesday, and by Wednesday was back to work. Today I went for a run, drove us to work in a YFC car, led the daily prayer meeting at the YFC office (we take turns leading it for a week), and I am getting ready for my first solo journey to the capital this afternoon on public transport (bus) to go observe George (from Namibia) give a YFC presentation at a school there. So that will be a fun adventure. Last time I didn’t sit on the bus, so I’m hoping that this time there will be a seat for the hour journey. Maybe I’ll snag some chicken whilst in Gabs (what we affectionately nickname the capital Gaborone). We’ll see, haha.
Have a great day!
~Em
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sickness and recovery
Monday, March 8, 2010
[Written by Em's mom, Hannah]:
Prayer request -- Em just phoned us to say that she and her YFC staff housemates are experiencing some kind of nasty flu.. One young lady has spent the last three days in bed and just beginning to feel better, two others went home at lunchtime today, and now (8:30 p.m. to her) Em is feeling pretty rough. So she's asked that you please keep them all (7) in your prayers... Thanks so much. Hannah
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Hi, Everybody. I'm feeling much better now! -- I'm back at the office today, but please keep praying for three of the staff who are still home sick. Two who were sick before me are still sick, and actually worse today. Please also pray that the 2 who haven't been sick don't get this, and that the 2 of us who've had it and recovered stay healthy. Thanks!!
[Written by Em's mom, Hannah]:
Prayer request -- Em just phoned us to say that she and her YFC staff housemates are experiencing some kind of nasty flu.. One young lady has spent the last three days in bed and just beginning to feel better, two others went home at lunchtime today, and now (8:30 p.m. to her) Em is feeling pretty rough. So she's asked that you please keep them all (7) in your prayers... Thanks so much. Hannah
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Hi, Everybody. I'm feeling much better now! -- I'm back at the office today, but please keep praying for three of the staff who are still home sick. Two who were sick before me are still sick, and actually worse today. Please also pray that the 2 who haven't been sick don't get this, and that the 2 of us who've had it and recovered stay healthy. Thanks!!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Orphan daycare, zebra-striped phone, human scarecrows, etc
Last Wednesday, I got up really early to go with the YfC daycare/preschool teachers, Corine (from Holland), who drives the YFC combi (big white van) around Mochudi to pick up all the little orphans/vulnerable children who attend the YFC daycare. They are cute 2-6 year-old kids, some of whom have HIV or full-blown AIDS. Then we went to the daycare/preschool which is run in conjunction with a local church. It is very well run with a curriculum, including lots of teaching, learning, singing, playing, and breakfast and lunch every day for the kids. Lunch there was my first true Botswana meal of their food. I can’t tell you what exactly it was, but afterwards I learned that it involved sardines. I could tell it was fishy, which surprised me seeing that Botswana in landlocked in a desert, but I ate it all. Not gonna lie, that night I didn’t feel so hot though, haha. The daycare/preschool model (as opposed to an orphanage) allows the kids to live in a home with a family (extended family or caretakers) and the daycare enables those caretakers to go to work. The Botswana government is much more supportive of this strategy than orphanages. The government has a lot of standards for places that are taking care of orphans, which is good to ensure they are being adequately cared for. One of the regulations is to have a “tiny toilet”…a toilet that is much smaller and lower to the ground to accommodate the little orphans. If a toilet could be cute, this one would be it!
That night all of us from the staff house were invited by E.J., the YFC national director, and his wife Koekoes to come out to their house in a nearby village for a braai (a barbeque). So we grilled out some massive pieces of beef and sat out under the stars. We saw the Southern Cross constellation. Stellar…ha…literally!
Weather-wise, I’m adjusting to the heat. I went running again this morning along the dirt paths of Mochudi. We’ve actually had some ‘cooler’ days where wearing pants was actually comfortable. We had a couple days of heavy rain. On Thursday I had to walk home in the pouring rain, so it ended up being me running home in the pouring rain. I was completely soaked when I got home (a 20 minute walk) and this was the impetus for buying my umbrella, which is festively the Botswana flag colors (Blue, black, and white) and even has a few Botswana flags on it. I am just thankful I got here when I did…the week before I came it was 108 degrees Fahrenheit!!! That would have been quite the shock coming from the Michigan snow!!
Thursday nights we go to a bible study at a Motswana woman (woman from Botswana)’s house. Friday morning was my first trip into the capital city, Gaborone to turn in my residence permit papers --- Pray that I get it quickly with no complications! Once I have that, I can apply for a Botswana drivers license. It looks like a great used-car has pretty much fallen into my lap – an English couple who supports YFC who have lived here for years are moving away and they are offering their Toyota Corolla at a very reasonable price. So I went and looked at it Sunday and might be purchasing that soon! Friday afternoons we have our hour-long staff prayer meeting and then a staff business meeting. After that, I went grocery shopping with Patricia to pick up food – it was my turn to cook the Saturday dinner for all 7 of us who live in the staff house. I decided to be true American and go with hamburgers and fries…as well as tasty chocolate chip yogurt and a big swiss cake roll thingy for dessert (which I bought from the bakery of course). No one died from my cooking…in fact, everyone really liked it. Let us thank God for that miracle, haha.
Earlier Saturday, 4 of us drove into Gaborone to go shopping at a mall. It almost felt like I was in America...similar to our malls but on a smaller scale. That’s where I bought my Botswana umbrella and a cell phone. My phone is also true Botswana—it has blue Zebra stripes on it in support of the Botswana football (soccer) team, the Zebras. It even came with a sticker of some of the football players. I was super excited to find a bookstore there with lots of Christian books in English! Philip Yancey made it across the ocean…and lots more authors I like have books there too! The books are quite pricey (more expensive than in the States), but at least I know I can buy them if I really want to. A lot of things are quite comparable to U.S. prices, but many things are actually more expensive. Some things are cheaper though. We had pizza for lunch, and rode the bus back to Mochudi. By “ride” the bus, I mean stand in the aisle the whole time (1 hour) in a packed bus. Oh, that reminds me…on the way to Gaborone, we pass fields of crops and there are actually human scarecrows…people who are paid to stand in the fields all day and wave at the birds to keep them from eating the crops!! Can’t say I’ve seen that before. Oh…another thing I saw in Gaborone—a billboard for the first ever Gaborone Marathon. Now, I am not stupid enough to try a Marathon in a month in a half, but they also have a 10K and a 4K race. So…I am probably going to enter the 4K. Woo hoo!
Sunday I went to church in Gaborone with 4 other YFC missionaries and then went to look at that used car for sale, and then went to the home of George, one of the YFC staff who lives in Gaborone with his wife and kids. They have unlimited wireless internet, so I went there to download Skype and try to create a blog. This plan was foiled because you need to have a gmail account to make the blog, which I don’t have, and it’s impossible to set up a gmail account from Botswana because they cannot send the verification code to Botswana cell phones. So…I will try to have them text the code to my bro in the States who can email it to me. But now (Tuesday), I still have not been able to get back online because Sunday and Monday were days of fasting and prayer for all the YFC Botswana staff…and today in the office the power went out just before I got online! So I’m typing on my long-life battery laptop! So thankful the battery lasts up to 8 hours!! Yeah, so we had 24 hours of prayer and fasting, starting and ending with a prayer meeting all together and then being able to just spend time alone with God in between. It was a very refreshing time for us all. Prayer is a vital necessity and foundation for all our ministry here. We know we cannot face the challenges in our own strength. We start every morning at the office with a prayer meeting. Here are the words of our national director, E.J. –
“It is important that everything is based on prayer. This is very, very important. We will not do anything without prayer. Whatever ministry you do, pray and fast. Get people to pray for your ministry.”
E.J. also shared this quote from Billy Graham, who actually was the first full-time YFC evangelist:
“If you want to succeed in your ministry, the first thing you do is pray. The second thing you do is pray. The third thing you do is pray.”
I had a great time Sunday night worshipping God outside in our sand “yard” with guitar and singing as I watched the sun set…and then the moon rise. Besides playing guitar with E.J. during the Friday staff prayer meetings, I hadn’t had a chance to really worship with guitar yet (I still need to buy one here or in South Africa…I borrowed Corine’s on Sunday).
This afternoon, I will go to another school with Clive (English) and Sara (German) to observe them leading a weekly Scripture Union club there. Tomorrow I will go with Kyra (German) and Naomi (Motswana) to the Kids Club for elementary aged kids. These first weeks I am just going to see all the different ministries as I pray and seek how exactly I should get involved right away. March is the month of Youth Against AIDS in Botswana. Koekoes asked me to help her organize an abstinence rally later this month…and I will be going to any of the meetings of the board of government, NGOs, and organizations working to fight AIDS in Mochudi. I haven’t seen the taxi driver, Kagiso, whom I shared about last time. It is a big place – there are 70,000 people in greater Mochudi…about 40,000 in the village limits. So that’s why it was pretty remarkable that Kagiso and I crossed paths again so quickly last week. Well, that’s about all for now…I just hope the power comes back on sometime so I can send this to you all! [time elapsed]...power was off for about 5 hours, and now I'm sending this from an internet cafe.
Blessings from Botswana,
Em
That night all of us from the staff house were invited by E.J., the YFC national director, and his wife Koekoes to come out to their house in a nearby village for a braai (a barbeque). So we grilled out some massive pieces of beef and sat out under the stars. We saw the Southern Cross constellation. Stellar…ha…literally!
Weather-wise, I’m adjusting to the heat. I went running again this morning along the dirt paths of Mochudi. We’ve actually had some ‘cooler’ days where wearing pants was actually comfortable. We had a couple days of heavy rain. On Thursday I had to walk home in the pouring rain, so it ended up being me running home in the pouring rain. I was completely soaked when I got home (a 20 minute walk) and this was the impetus for buying my umbrella, which is festively the Botswana flag colors (Blue, black, and white) and even has a few Botswana flags on it. I am just thankful I got here when I did…the week before I came it was 108 degrees Fahrenheit!!! That would have been quite the shock coming from the Michigan snow!!
Thursday nights we go to a bible study at a Motswana woman (woman from Botswana)’s house. Friday morning was my first trip into the capital city, Gaborone to turn in my residence permit papers --- Pray that I get it quickly with no complications! Once I have that, I can apply for a Botswana drivers license. It looks like a great used-car has pretty much fallen into my lap – an English couple who supports YFC who have lived here for years are moving away and they are offering their Toyota Corolla at a very reasonable price. So I went and looked at it Sunday and might be purchasing that soon! Friday afternoons we have our hour-long staff prayer meeting and then a staff business meeting. After that, I went grocery shopping with Patricia to pick up food – it was my turn to cook the Saturday dinner for all 7 of us who live in the staff house. I decided to be true American and go with hamburgers and fries…as well as tasty chocolate chip yogurt and a big swiss cake roll thingy for dessert (which I bought from the bakery of course). No one died from my cooking…in fact, everyone really liked it. Let us thank God for that miracle, haha.
Earlier Saturday, 4 of us drove into Gaborone to go shopping at a mall. It almost felt like I was in America...similar to our malls but on a smaller scale. That’s where I bought my Botswana umbrella and a cell phone. My phone is also true Botswana—it has blue Zebra stripes on it in support of the Botswana football (soccer) team, the Zebras. It even came with a sticker of some of the football players. I was super excited to find a bookstore there with lots of Christian books in English! Philip Yancey made it across the ocean…and lots more authors I like have books there too! The books are quite pricey (more expensive than in the States), but at least I know I can buy them if I really want to. A lot of things are quite comparable to U.S. prices, but many things are actually more expensive. Some things are cheaper though. We had pizza for lunch, and rode the bus back to Mochudi. By “ride” the bus, I mean stand in the aisle the whole time (1 hour) in a packed bus. Oh, that reminds me…on the way to Gaborone, we pass fields of crops and there are actually human scarecrows…people who are paid to stand in the fields all day and wave at the birds to keep them from eating the crops!! Can’t say I’ve seen that before. Oh…another thing I saw in Gaborone—a billboard for the first ever Gaborone Marathon. Now, I am not stupid enough to try a Marathon in a month in a half, but they also have a 10K and a 4K race. So…I am probably going to enter the 4K. Woo hoo!
Sunday I went to church in Gaborone with 4 other YFC missionaries and then went to look at that used car for sale, and then went to the home of George, one of the YFC staff who lives in Gaborone with his wife and kids. They have unlimited wireless internet, so I went there to download Skype and try to create a blog. This plan was foiled because you need to have a gmail account to make the blog, which I don’t have, and it’s impossible to set up a gmail account from Botswana because they cannot send the verification code to Botswana cell phones. So…I will try to have them text the code to my bro in the States who can email it to me. But now (Tuesday), I still have not been able to get back online because Sunday and Monday were days of fasting and prayer for all the YFC Botswana staff…and today in the office the power went out just before I got online! So I’m typing on my long-life battery laptop! So thankful the battery lasts up to 8 hours!! Yeah, so we had 24 hours of prayer and fasting, starting and ending with a prayer meeting all together and then being able to just spend time alone with God in between. It was a very refreshing time for us all. Prayer is a vital necessity and foundation for all our ministry here. We know we cannot face the challenges in our own strength. We start every morning at the office with a prayer meeting. Here are the words of our national director, E.J. –
“It is important that everything is based on prayer. This is very, very important. We will not do anything without prayer. Whatever ministry you do, pray and fast. Get people to pray for your ministry.”
E.J. also shared this quote from Billy Graham, who actually was the first full-time YFC evangelist:
“If you want to succeed in your ministry, the first thing you do is pray. The second thing you do is pray. The third thing you do is pray.”
I had a great time Sunday night worshipping God outside in our sand “yard” with guitar and singing as I watched the sun set…and then the moon rise. Besides playing guitar with E.J. during the Friday staff prayer meetings, I hadn’t had a chance to really worship with guitar yet (I still need to buy one here or in South Africa…I borrowed Corine’s on Sunday).
This afternoon, I will go to another school with Clive (English) and Sara (German) to observe them leading a weekly Scripture Union club there. Tomorrow I will go with Kyra (German) and Naomi (Motswana) to the Kids Club for elementary aged kids. These first weeks I am just going to see all the different ministries as I pray and seek how exactly I should get involved right away. March is the month of Youth Against AIDS in Botswana. Koekoes asked me to help her organize an abstinence rally later this month…and I will be going to any of the meetings of the board of government, NGOs, and organizations working to fight AIDS in Mochudi. I haven’t seen the taxi driver, Kagiso, whom I shared about last time. It is a big place – there are 70,000 people in greater Mochudi…about 40,000 in the village limits. So that’s why it was pretty remarkable that Kagiso and I crossed paths again so quickly last week. Well, that’s about all for now…I just hope the power comes back on sometime so I can send this to you all! [time elapsed]...power was off for about 5 hours, and now I'm sending this from an internet cafe.
Blessings from Botswana,
Em
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