Dumelang!
I have lots of encouraging stories this time. First though, I’ll start with the one slightly discouraging thing—at the school in Mochudi where we had the Scripture Union club a couple weeks back where I shared on eternal perspective, the principal interrupted our club the following week to announce that with the new school schedule it would not be possible to continue the club at the school. It would not be fair for the rest of the school to have to be in class/study and other kids singing in Scripture Union. Apparently, there was a miscommunication between the SU advisor who invited us to come and the principal, but it was the principal who asked us to stop…so we of course, submitted to his authority and told the students to go back to their studies.
Meanwhile, we continue to hold the program daily at the YFC office for the Standard 7 (13 year old) students who are done with school for the year. I will speak for the third time this Wednesday. We also continue YaRona FC (coffee bar) on Saturday nights. This week was my week off from YaRona FC, so I’ll have to update you later on the boys I mentioned last time.
Running into People (twice!) who Need Encouragement
Ok, on to the more encouraging stories. So in late October, I went for a run near sunset and was running down a dirt road on the outskirts of Mochudi when I saw a young teen guy walking in the same direction up ahead of me. For some reason, I just felt like I wanted to say something nice to encourage him or brighten his day. As I got closer and was next to him, I heard, “Em!” I turned to take a closer look. He did look familiar, and truly by the grace of God I believe, I recognized him from the weeklong holiday program we had at the office back in July and remembered his name. We had a little small-talk and then I continued on my run since it was going to be dark soon.
Then I ran to a place I like to call the “bird sanctuary” because there are just tons of birds chirping and flying by a man-made pond (I think it’s for water treatment…but it’s the closest we have to a lake around here, it doesn’t smell, it’s surrounded by green plants and all the birds, so it’s quite pleasant). Anyway, I watched the orange-pink sunset reflecting over the water…the best sunset I’ve seen in Botswana…and as I sat there, I felt like I should have taken more time to talk to that boy. It was a great opportunity to show love and care, but I had just been focusing on getting my run in. Sometimes I notice my task-orientation can override people-orientation, and I’ve been trying to work on that. I think it’s more of a Western mindset of getting things done, tasks accomplished, i.e. exercise completed…when it might be better to put that task aside to show care and genuine concern for people. I wish I’d asked him how he’s doing in his new relationship with Christ…just how he’s doing in life?
I was planning on running a longer route home, but since it was getting dark soon, it was best to go back the normal way home. This would be going on a different road but in the same general vicinity where I’d seen the boy about 20 minutes earlier. In the back of my mind, I thought, Maybe I might see him again? As I ran up the dirt road, lo and behold, there he was walking toward me on that different road! So we talked again, and I was able to ask more how he was doing in life, in his faith, and I invited him to Yarona FC. It was just nice because I’d felt like I got the second chance I’d been hoping for.
Another similar thing happened at the senior secondary school. Three weeks ago on Saturday, I was waiting in the parking lot at the school for the female student who I’ve been meeting with and taking to counseling. For whatever reason, she didn’t come down from the dorm to hang out til about 10-15 minutes after I’d arrived. But in that waiting time, a guy student had met me and was just asking about the U.S. and whether I thought it’d be wise for him to try to go there to get a job. We were talking purely about things like the economy, job markets, etc—nothing spiritual at all.
But then a week and a half later, when I came to the school on a Thursday to pick up the female student to take her to counseling, who should be right near where I parked, but this same teen guy. He came up to me and said, “Emily! I was looking for you on Saturday. I wanted to talk to you. Why didn’t you come?” [I hadn’t come that Saturday to hang out with the female student because it hadn’t worked in our schedules]. He asked what I was doing there, and I told him I was picking the female student up for counseling. He said he could use some counseling and that maybe I could help him by email. He told me some of his issues, which were spiritual in nature. He wondered what to do, so I encouraged him to go to the pastor at the church just down the road. At that point, the female student was ready to go so as I got in the car to leave for counseling, I quickly encouraged him to pray to Jesus and talk to the pastor.
Again, I had that feeling of wishing maybe I’d said more or exchanged contact info with him in case he did want to email or talk more. A few hours later when I dropped the female student off at her dorm, I was driving back through the parking lot and guess who was walking across the driveway right in front of me? The same guy! So I parked and we talked a bit more. He ran and got some paper to write his email and phone number on it. So yeah, yet again I was able to have that second chance to talk to someone when I felt it was unfinished. And remember, this is a school of 1700 students, so it’s all the more cool that I keep running into him. I emailed him a week ago, but haven’t heard back yet (they only really email from internet cafés on weekends though). If you think of it, please keep this young man in your prayers. He is dealing with some serious issues and needs help.
Watching a Life Being Transformed, Bit by Bit
Speaking of the girl I’ve been “mentoring” and taking to counseling, there have been some encouraging things with her too. I couldn’t meet with her last Saturday because we were going to Gaborone to celebrate Twila’s birthday (Twila is one of my Canadian housemates). When I mentioned that, the student said, “Oh, you should stop by on your way back through on Saturday—I’ll have something for her.” She had never met Twila, so I didn’t know that she was really serious. But on Saturday, she called me to remind me to stop by so she could give Twila a present. So, we stopped by the school, and this student, who just a couple months ago was on the verge of killing herself, had made and laminated two cards and wrapped a present of lotions and shower gels for Twila! She hugged Twila and the rest of us as well. She wrote on one of the cards:
“Don’t give up on your dreams. The least you can do is die trying to achieve them. The sweetness of life lies in usefulness, so in life never give up. Live life to the fullest. Be wise. Happy Birthday.”
I know Twila was amazed at such generosity from someone who had never met her…and I see it as a very encouraging sign that this student is now able to not only focus outwardly and do caring things for others, but also to give advice about never giving up in life.
This past Thursday when I picked her up to drive to counseling in Gaborone, she reminded me that she wanted to hear the story of how God led me to be a missionary in Botswana. The week before on the drive home, she had asked why I would want to move to Botswana from the U.S. when pretty much everyone in Botswana wants to move to the U.S.?! I told her that I really felt like it is where God has called me to be, and I could share that story with her sometime, but it’s quite long. We agreed that I’d share it the following week in the car.
When the next week rolled around, I totally forgot about that…but she reminded me and wanted to hear the story. So for the whole drive there, I shared my testimony with her. On the way home, I mentioned that there’s still more to the story if she wants me to continue it. “Yes! Please continue it!”…so for most of the way home, I shared more and we talked about how God works in different ways in different people’s lives, but it’s important to let Him lead our lives. Just her desire and willingness to hear me tell the story that was “laden with God” was a huge step, because a few weeks ago when I’d been sharing more about the accident testimony when her friend had asked me about it, she had said that she didn’t want to hear about God. So, this was another encouraging step. It is cool to watch her heart being softened toward God, bit by bit. Thanks for any and all prayers to that end.
Singing in Hospital and Prison!
A few weeks ago while we were at the hospital visiting and praying for patients, I asked at the nurses’ office if it might be ok for us to bring a guitar the following week and sing in the wards. They gave the go ahead for that, so last week, Modise, Franzi, and I sang worship songs in a couple of the wards. In the first one, some of the nurses were singing along. They followed us to the next ward to sing with us again! After we'd go to each patient individually to talk/pray with them. Afterwards one of the nurses thanked us for coming and told us that our singing really blessed her heart. She invited us to help with their Nurses Christian Fellowship revival meeting they are planning. So we’ll see…
I’ve also been delivering those follow-up bible studies to a Prison Fellowship volunteer who gives them to prisoners at 4 prisons. [As an aside, I kinda feel like it's a drug deal going down each time we meet up in random places to exchange the bible studies, haha--in parking lots, on the side of the road at a bus stop, at a gas station, etc]. A few of us had been feeling a desire to visit prisoners just before this lady had first called me about the bible studies, so we asked if we could visit the Women’s Prison in Gaborone and she worked it out for us to get permission to go in. So last week, four of us joined in their Christian fellowship meeting. It was powerful to hear their testimonies (i.e. a murderer follows Christ now!) and see their hearts truly free as they worshipped their Redeemer. A prison guard joined in the worship too, and we all exchanged hugs at the end, prison guard included. It reminded me of Galatians 3:28-“…there is neither slave nor free…but all are one in Christ Jesus.” A few days earlier, we had led worship with guitar in the hospital wards in Mochudi, and some of the nurses joined in. Then we’d talked and prayed with the patients individually. The nurses said they were blessed by our singing and invited us to come to their Christian fellowship meetings too!
Stirring Curiosity at a Private School
This Tuesday is the last club for the year at the private school in Gaborone because exams start the following week. We will resume there in January with the next term. The music teacher who is the advisor for the group (the one I happened to email from the US in February to ask about buying a guitar in Botswana…and then she ended up being the person who helped YFC get into that school!) said that there is a buzz around the school about the club. I asked if it’s teachers or students, and she said both—people are just curious what we are doing, what the club is all about. So…hopefully, that will translate into more involvement as people check it out.
A Student Finds True Life Just in Time!
During October, I started getting more involved at a Junior Secondary School in Gaborone. YFC has had some involvement there— several students have been doing the follow-up bible study course after we did some assemblies on abstinence earlier this year. Now I am looking to get more regularly involved with the Scripture Union club, which is somehow still meeting despite the school schedule changes.
The student leader of the club sadly told me that one of the students who’d been doing the follow-up bible studies had unexpectedly passed away August 28 of a “bad headache”? I looked at the studies in the deceased teen’s envelope and saw a place where it said, “I have received life through Jesus!” and he’d written his name and the date—August 11, 2010…just seventeen days before he died. I had to fight back tears when I read that and how he described Jesus—“My Savior from sin. He is the way and guider. He is glory and the light.” And now, as far as we can tell, this young teen is now experiencing glory and light with his new-found Savior!
Feeling a bit like my Dad
In the past week, I’ve felt a bit like my dad in terms of how he was a bus driver. I was asked to be a driver on Thursday to help drive the little orphans/vulnerable children from the YFC daycare on their field trip to Gaborone to visit the train station and have a picnic at a park. I don’t often get to interact with the daycare kids, but I always love when I get the opportunity. They are super cute! They were sticking their heads out the window while we were driving ,and so I only wish they speak English so I could have used one of my dad’s famous sayings on the school bus. He would get on the loudspeaker and calmly say, “Please no body parts outside the windows. No hands, no feet, no heads, no if’s, no and’s, no…” :).
Also, this week I’ve been driving several visiting YFC National Directors from countries all over Africa, as they are here in Botswana getting training for two weeks. E.J., the National Director for Botswana, is also the Regional Director for the 10 countries in the Southern Region of Africa. So some of those countries’ directors are here, but also the directors from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania & Zanzibar, and the islands Mauritius and Rodriguez. Now we are here with them at the internet café after church together in Gaborone.
‘Til next time, blessings!
~Em
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