Accident Update
First off, I’ll give an update on our recovery from the recent rollover accident. (If you missed last post, read that one first). All of us are doing well. I am pretty much back to normal. I just have a couple bruises that are still healing. My neck and jaw feel just like they did before this recent accident. My jaw is still not fully better from the first accident, but this didn’t aggravate it any worse. I played football (soccer) two days after the rollover and basketball for an hour this past Saturday. I’ve gone running a few times too—so I feel just fine. Praise God.
Upon closer inspection of the Venture, it appears my body slammed into the passenger door when we landed upright again, because the door is noticeably bowed outward. But thankfully, I only have a bruise to show for that.
About half an hour before the rollover, I’d felt randomly like I should lock that door, so I’d locked it. Perhaps that was a nudge of the Holy Spirit that kept the door from flying open when I hit it evidently very hard minutes later. I guess we won’t ever know for sure, but I’m thankful I locked it!
Visiting Hospital Patients
Charlotte, the Canadian who fractured a vertebra in her back, is doing well too. On Tuesday last week, I drove Charlotte’s sons Jesse and Jake (along with the two other YFC long-termers Katie and Jenn) to visit Charlotte in the hospital in Gaborone. By that point, she was already unplugged from any machines or IV’s and was able to walk to the bathroom and even be upright long enough to shower. She was in good spirits. Her husband Kevin stayed with her at the hospital most of the time.
We’d been planning on visiting the hospitals with the Canadians, but not thinking we’d be visiting one of our own (Charlotte)! Charlotte was the one who’d actually asked me the day before the accident to take her to the hospital to hand out dolls that Kevin’s 90-year old grandma and her friends in Canada had knitted and sent along for children at the hospitals. When we visited Charlotte at the private hospital, we left some with Kevin to hand out in the children’s ward there. Then Jesse, Jake, Katie, Jenn and I drove to the government hospital and met up with one of the YFC volunteers who visited the hospital with me recently. Then we handed out the dolls in the children’s ward there and prayed for the kids.
Adventures with Canadians—close encounter with Mama Rhino!
Three days after the rollover, we escorted the Canadian team to a church in Mochudi, which included walking through the bush on trails and crossing over the raging Notwane river (please note my sarcasm…it’s probably only 10-15 feet wide and 2-3 feet deep) on a fallen tree. So that’s always an adventure!
On Thursday last week, the whole team stopped by to visit Charlotte again just before she was taken on a medical flight back to Canada (she arrived safely and is continuing her recovery there—latest news is that she might go home from the hospital tomorrow!). We then drove the team to a nature preserve for a surprise game drive (aka safari). The most exciting part was seeing 3 rhinos, including a month old baby rhino with a little stump for his horn. So cute!
Mama Rhino was not so keen to see us, however, and started to charge at us. She stopped a split second later, but it was enough to stun us and send everyone on the side closest to her sliding over in an attempt to prevent possibly being impaled by her massive rhino horn! It’s not one of my dreams to become an Em-kabob.
On a more peaceful note, we also saw a few giraffes at sunset.
The following day, I took some of the Canadian girls to visit and pray for patients in the Mochudi hospital. It was super cute when one little girl sat up, bowed her head, and clasped her hands in the “praying hands” position as we prayed over her. Saturday morning we held the second interdenominational Youth leader forum at YFC. We are trying to facilitate the youth leaders working together to plan events and discuss ways to help the youth on various issues. We are planning another fundraiser concert and fashion show (modest of course!) to support the poor in Mochudi.
Right after that meeting, we drove the Canadians to the airport to fly back home. All except Charlotte’s 15-year old son Jesse. He is sticking around for another month to help out. Katie, Jenn, and I are excited to have a little brother around for a month. We are currently educating him on how to feed himself. He cooked his dinner last night successfully, for the most part :).
It’s a change only having four of us in the staff house instead of 20 for the two weeks the team visited. The team was primarily teenagers, so it was understandably a crazy time in our house! But we enjoyed it. I led worship with them a few times and had opportunity to share my testimony with them one night. For those who are familiar with it, I shared the July 10th story—perhaps I’ll share it on here again sometime soon. But in a nutshell, that was the date when I first had an overwhelming sense I’m supposed to be a missionary…and then things kept coming up on that date in various years that confirmed that I’m supposed to be a missionary in Botswana.
Sharing the July 10 Testimony in a village church…on July 10!
This year, I was invited on July 10 to go to a small village called Mantswabisi, where my church partnered with a missions organization called Reaching the Unreached to plant a church there a few months ago. It worked out that I was able to speak in the church service on July 10 about my July 10 testimony! It was a cool moment when the translator finally realized that the date that day was July 10! So July 10 is now also the first time I’ve spoken during a church service in Botswana. We were supposed to meet the chief of the village that day, so we visited his home, but unfortunately he wasn’t feeling well so we didn’t get to meet him yet. The village was composed of a lot of traditional huts called rondavels, which are less prevalent in Mochudi and definitely rare (if not, nonexistent) in Gaborone.
Youth Outreach in Tlokweng
The following three days, July 11-13, I led an outreach day-camp with the Canadians in Tlokweng, the village right next to Gaborone. It went well. The first day we had around 30 kids, but by the last day there were 60+! Since it was a 3-day camp, we based it around 1 Cor. 13:13—“These three things last forever—faith, hope, and love…” The theme was “Treasure Forever: 3 Things Last Forever,” and each day was focused around one of the three as a means of explaining the gospel message. I really appreciated the help the Canadians offered with games, bible trivia, memory verses, leading worship, sharing testimonies, etc. That enabled me to focus on leading worship and the message each day (supplemented with video clips). Let’s pray that the message will take deep root in the hearts of the youth.
Other tidbits
The previous week, before the Canadians arrived, we’d led holiday programs in Mochudi. I helped out with the Kids Club by leading worship songs with the kids. Every evening, we had the YaRona FC drop-in centre, so I helped out with that a few evenings, sharing the message once. This past Saturday, I also spoke and shared the testimony from our recent rollover.
In more serious matters, a young person that I’ve not mentioned before recently attempted suicide, but thankfully failed. She is doing much better now, and I’m assisting in getting her professional counseling. Prayers for her are certainly welcome. Another girl I know from Scripture Union club in Gaborone let me know last week that her father died after his battle with cancer. The burial was Saturday. Since I lost my dad, I guess this is now a circumstance where I can offer empathy to a deeper degree, in accordance with 2 Cor. 1:3-4—
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
When I’ve talked to her on the phone and texted with her, she has seemed to be holding tightly onto her heavenly Father through this. I was amazed and inspired to just now receive this text message from her. May these words from the lips of a 15-year-old who just lost her father also inspire you:
“God is so great and loving. He is “I Am that I Am” and never changes. No matter the challenges you’re facing, He still loves you, and remember He can never give you a challenge that you can’t handle. You have the potential and don’t quit. There is a reward ahead of that mountain, and it’s so difficult as you go up, but keep pushing and you shall make it. Love you.”
Wow… God is indeed so great and loving.
Another Outreach!
Oh—another prayer request. We at YFC are going on another outreach this week to a tiny village called Dikwididi. The Batswana YFC staff left yesterday with John, the Mochudi policeman who went with us to Olifants Drift in April. Since I had ministry in Gaborone yesterday, Jesse and I will drive out this afternoon in my car and stay the night and return with the whole team on tomorrow evening. We welcome prayers for our safety and for effective ministry there. It is only about 30 km from here, and I’ve driven through there once. And yes, we will return to Olifants Drift sometime. We’d already been planning this outreach to Dikwididi though.
Thanks for your prayers, encouragement, and interest.
Love,
Em
