It’s been an interesting few weeks, to put it mildly! Some background to the story is that most of the Botswana civil servants (teachers, nurses, doctors, other government staff except police/army) went on strike on April 18 in an attempt to make the government increase their salaries 16%. Students were still required to be in school, even though there was no one to teach them (just a few administrators in the office).
The first couple days of the strike, we at YFC continued our scheduled lessons on self-esteem/worth at schools. It was certainly a weird feeling to walk into a classroom full of students with no teacher, teach them for 40 minutes, and then leave them with no teacher. They were extremely well behaved, working quietly on homework. It also worked in our favor that at a school in Gaborone, we were able to have longer Scripture Union club meetings. I brought my guitar and we sang worship songs in preparation for a revival/handing-over ceremony where the older students will hand over the leadership to the younger officers. One afternoon we sang for 2 hours during the school day! This was in the first couple weeks of the strike.
The strike was originally only going to be for two weeks. However, it continued. On Monday 16 May, nearly a month into the strike, the students nationwide had reached a point of restlessness with no teachers and organized their own strike in various places, including that school, demanding that their teachers return. In Mochudi, they marched into town, burning tires and trash in the streets, looting from stores. Police and SWAT teams were called in. By the evening things had settled down with no major injuries, and in the morning army peacekeeping troops were present, along with a busload of police to maintain order. Things had already calmed down quickly, but the government closed down all the public schools indefinitely on Tuesday as a result of the student uprisings here and in other villages. Private schools also voluntarily closed down for about a week. Government primary schools reopened after a week, and secondary schools after two weeks.
Once the civil servants strike crossed over from being a legal strike to becoming an illegal strike, essential workers (mostly medical staff) were ordered back to work by a court order. Those essential workers who continued to strike (approximately 3000) were then fired. Hospitals were operating on skeletal staff and some clinics were closed. At the end of the week that the secondary schools reopened, on Friday June 3, the students in Mochudi again marched through town, creating a roadblock and hitting cars with sticks. There was no major damage or injuries that we know of, but it caused the school in Mochudi to close again.
Botswana has always been distinguished by its peacefulness, never even having a war or strike/riots like this, so this has really shaken people (though I want to stress that we feel very safe—please don’t worry!). Not to mention the recent Foot & Mouth Disease outbreak in Botswana which resulted in tens of thousands of cows being slaughtered. Beef is one of the staples of the Botswana economy, along with diamonds, the demand for which has been lowered substantially by the global economic crisis and the Japanese tsunami (Japan is usually a big importer of Botswana diamonds).
The Church rising up as one!
One positive aspect of all of this is that it has brought the Body of Christ together. Actually on May 15, the night before the students rioted in Mochudi (so while things were peaceful and we had no idea the next day would be so chaotic), we at YFC had called a meeting of intercessors from various churches and I’d shared our vision of an interdenominational prayer movement and encouraged them to invite their young people to our weekly prayer meetings at YFC. We also agreed to meet each Sunday to pray and plan for the Global Day of Prayer on June 12.
Then Sunday June 5 was declared by the Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana to be a national day of prayer for reconciliation for the nation. So Christians came together from different churches/denominations in villages and cities nationwide to pray together for peace, stability, and reconciliation. In Mochudi, there was quite a large turnout—bringing together several pastors and believers from several churches. It was a beautiful thing to see—really what we’ve envisioned and been praying for. It was historic for Mochudi where “unity” has not been a word that would describe the interaction between pastors and churches. At that meeting, church leaders repented for not having already been gathering together when everything was fine, and there was talk of having an all-night of prayer with all the churches invited.
In Gaborone, at the prayer meeting there that day, leadership of the striking union members seemed to make a public apology or at least head in that direction. Some thought the strike was over, but there was confusion and still people were striking the last week. They had accepted the government’s 3% salary increase but many were still striking demanding the reinstatement of the essential services workers who were fired during the strike. It turned violent in Gaborone last Wednesday as marchers (which the union has denied were union strikers) destroyed shop windows, and some said that police and SSG (aka SWAT) teams fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the Main Mall. No one was seriously injured. In Mochudi, the senior secondary school was closed all week, and all the other schools sent the students home on Wednesday or Thursday due to threats of possible violence, though nothing happened.
As of Friday last week, the union leaders called a suspension of the strike, and that the civil servants would return to work this week. The government has reinstated some of those who were fired and allowed that they all can re-apply for their jobs. There is a lot more to it all as to why each side feels so strongly—i.e. the factors that led to this point—and if you are interested you can search for and read the many articles online. As an example, I just read online that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) has encouraged the government’s stance, actually urging them to cut back public servant expenses even more to be able to sustain the economy.
On Sunday 12 June, we at YFC hosted the Global Day of Prayer gathering. Again, Christians from several churches turned up in large number (nearly 100!) to pack out our center. There were 6 or 7 different pastors present, unified together in prayer. We prayed for peace, for the economy, for the youth, for unity in the Body of Christ, etc. At one point, there was a long period of corporate repentance for the nation’s sins. It was beautiful to see pastors, elders, old and young, kneeling down and crying out to God. No matter if they were wearing expensive suits or jeans or skirts, all knelt down on the floor and pleaded for mercy. After that, we arose and sang powerful worship songs together. We didn’t have instruments, but they weren’t needed—just beautiful a cappella singing. We kept singing…you could tell people just wanted to stay and keep worshipping together. So the pastors made plans to meet again as “the Church” again in a couple weeks! This was such an encouragement, especially to those who have been interceding for years for an interdenominational prayer movement in Mochudi. Someone called it miraculous, given the characteristic disunity among churches.
Resolution – Reconciliation – Restoration
Monday morning, most of the 90,000 striking civil servants returned to work. However, some workers still did not want to return to work, upset at the union leadership for suspending the strike. Their picketing in Gaborone was broken up and dispersed by the police without violence on Monday as police ordered them back to work. The workers returned to work Tuesday; students and teachers returned to school Tuesday, so things seem to be somewhat normal again. Things are calm and peaceful, though things still don’t seem fully resolved. There is talk of the strike possibly resuming later (indicative even in the term “suspension” of the strike, instead of “cessation” or “end”). And of course, the educational system will need to recover from this in terms of preparing students for the end of year examinations and restoring respect between teachers and students. All this will be an interesting backdrop for the previously scheduled visit next weekend of the U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama to Botswana to discuss the educational system here! In church one Sunday during the strike, it came to mind that we should pray for resolution, reconciliation, and restoration. I will keep praying for that, and you are welcome to join.
Other Odds and Ends
Meanwhile, life and ministry has gone on. I have lots to share, but I will just give brief highlights. We’ve continued visiting and praying for hospital patients on Fridays and Yarona FC drop-in centre on Saturdays. I’ve started mentoring a university student leader, one of the YFC volunteers, and that is going really well. I’ll share more details on that and the mentoring program soon. In a nutshell, the mentoring program is taking shape as I’ve been meeting with school leaders and discussing partnership options with Face the Nation, and started mentoring training.
Next, one of the Girls Club members suggested we could do a benefit concert to raise funds to buy blankets for needy people in Mochudi during this cold winter. So the Girls Club leaders invited churches to tell their youth and prepare dramas, dances, or songs. We at YFC did our step-dance number, and I played/sang one of the songs I wrote. It was a fun evening! This past Saturday the girls rode through Mochudi in our YFC van to deliver the blankets to the families.
Last week, a representative from Child Evangelism Fellowship came and taught a 3-day seminar at YFC. It was great to see that Lesego, one of the Christian young ladies from Olifants Drift, was there being trained as well. Now she can implement what she learned with the children in that remote village (we met her when we did the outreach there at the end of April). It’s always good to know that those kids we met and taught there will have someone who can continue to teach and guide them!
In these weeks we’ve also said goodbye to Twila and Kathrin, two of our housemates who’ve gone back to Canada and Germany after serving 10 and 9 months respectively. Kathrin’s last day we hiked Kgale Hill in Gaborone, and in a beautifully random scenario, we met dozens of Koreans at the summit. They are members of the Korean Church nearby, and they offered us sushi! So we ate sushi atop Kgale Hill! Beautifully random! Then I’ve continued leading the club at that prestigious private school, and this Tuesday, a Korean student came for the first time. Turns out he goes to that same Korean Church!
I’ve met with Tumelo to help encourage and disciple her. She said her relationship with God is growing as she’s reading the bible. Now that she’s back in school in Mochudi, we’ll have to find a regular time we can meet. She’s coming along to the next camp reunion this Saturday in Gaborone, where I’ll continue teaching the teens how to play guitar. Please keep praying for Tumelo and for Slim to grow closer to God and be strengthened in their faith.
Finally, it was bit of a rougher patch for me emotionally last week with the one-year anniversary of my dad’s unexpected death on June 9. But God continues to show Himself to be my Comforter. For example, on the one-year anniversary, I was thinking how I feel like there’s a hole in my heart…and it reminded me of a book called A Dad-shaped Hole in My Heart. Then that same night I happened to read this excerpt from the book Come Away My Beloved by Frances Roberts, from God’s perspective:
“I will be your comfort. I will be your joy…By My Spirit, I will mend the broken heart…For My heart is fused with your heart, and in your grief, I am one with you. Yes, I will fill the vacant place. My arms shall hold you…My grace shall sustain you.”
So yes, the vacant place, the “Dad-shaped hole in my heart”, my heavenly Father is filling. God is faithful.
May you experience the God of peace and comfort in your own life.
Blessings,
Em
P.S. I almost forgot to mention an encouraging “divine appointment” this week when a guy in his late 20s or early 30s stopped by the YFC office wanting to know more about YFC. We ended up talking about issues of faith and doubt, purpose and calling. He asked at one point, “What is truth? What is life all about?” He said that as he tries to follow God, he finds that “God messes up his plans.” The night before I’d watched the movie “Evan Almighty”—a fictional picture of God calling a modern-day Noah to build an ark and how he’d expressed that same sentiment (that God was messing up his plans to be a successful Congressman). I shared how after the flood, he’d come to realize that God “messes up our plans” only because He has better plans. So I mentioned that to this guy, and then he said he doesn’t really believe that God has a plan for our earthly lives.
Then he asked, “Does God really still call people like that? Does He still call people like he did with Abraham and Moses, ‘Leave your country and your father’s house and go to the land I’ll show you…’?” Hmm…I said yes, maybe not with those exact words, but God still calls people today. I asked if he’d like to hear my testimony of how God called me to Botswana. He said yes, so I had the open door to share with him my testimony. I had my laptop there, with a powerpoint I’ve used when I share my testimony at churches, so we were able to go through that. After that, he acknowledged that God still calls people today! After our nearly 2 hour talk and discussion, he left asking if perhaps we can continue the conversation another time.
P.P.S. As I was finishing the P.S., Slim texted me to tell me she was in Mochudi so we just hung out and talked for about 2 hours. Without sharing too much detail, it truly seemed to me like the changes in her life and family situation since we talked on Monday night by phone could only be described as God’s intervention. The last couple weeks, including Monday night when we last talked, she was very discouraged; but now she has a very positive outlook. I was able to give her some resources and audio teachings that I’ve wanted to give her for months.
It has been one thing after another why we could never meet up in person (and now she lives 45 minutes away)…so this was the first time I’ve seen her in a couple months! I was thinking of going to Gaborone today but turned down doing something there because I felt I should just stay in Mochudi, though I didn’t have anything officially planned in terms of ministry. But then Slim came to Mochudi, so I’m glad I stayed here! God is good!!
