Planting a Cross on Kgale Hill, Declaring God's Glory over Gaborone!

After years of planning, we are excited to have planted at 12-meter tall wooden cross atop Kgale Hill, overlooking the capital city, Gaborone!

Years back, the Youth for Christ Botswana board chairman, Callie de Bruyn, had a desire to plant crosses in Botswana to bring glory to Jesus. He got in touch with American Pastor Bill Mantel, who feels called to plant crosses around the world through his ministry called Christian Cross Ministries, and they started making plans, first for a cross at the Youth for Christ (YFC) national office in Mochudi and then for the cross on Kgale Hill.

Here are some pictures from when we planted the cross at Youth for Christ national office in 2014:



You can see Callie with a brace on his foot and crutches due to a motorcycle accident in late 2013. We had hoped at that point that he would recover well enough to hike up Kgale Hill so we delayed the cross planting there, but unfortunately due to several more surgeries over the next few years, we realized Callie needed to refrain from hiking and instead help direct the process from the ground. He obtained permission to plant the cross on Kgale Hill back in 2014 from the owners of the land, the Roman Catholic Church.

Locally we formed a committee, mainly of YFC staff and volunteers, to plan the cross planting process. At our first meeting, I can remember Callie sharing about the cross on Kgale Hill that he envisioned: “This will be a beacon for young people in Botswana…a shining light for our King in this dark world.”

At least two or three scouting hikes happened to find the best location for the cross (shout out to George, Bobo, and Rhoda for one of those and I believe Isaac for another one or two!). Then we planted the cross in stages—first, carrying up the steel base and cementing it into place; second, carrying up the wooden pieces and assembling the cross at the top; and third, actually erecting the cross. We affixed solar powered flashing lights on the cross, which charge during the day and shine at night, fitting with the vision that the cross will shine like a beacon over Gaborone, bringing glory to God.

Here are some pictures of the process:

Guys carried up the very heavy steel base in late November 2017. It took two days and great teamwork to get it up to the top! To be honest, we were wondering if we'd need a helicopter to lift it up there, but these guys surprised us with their strength and perseverance to carry it up a rustic, unmarked narrow path!



Meanwhile, the rest of us carried up cement mix and water that was used to make cement to secure the steel base in place at the top.
These guys pictured below with me (GodChaser, Thuso, and Pako) all had two liter bottles of water inside their sacks of cement. I carried up 10 liters of water and that was heavy enough for me!



We are grateful that some workers on Callie's farm and also a football team/social club in a village near Callie’s (TheolaTheola Social Club from Kgomokasitwa) volunteered to also help us with carrying, assembling, and erecting the cross. We gave soccer jerseys to that team a few months ago which were donated by a mission team from YFC Canada, and we are hoping to partner with that social club to do some outreach in their rural community later this year.

Two days after the above pictures were taken, some of them, led by Pono (in the orange worksuit), came back to carry the steel base all the way to the top and cement it in place. Then they came back again later that week, while most of us were in the Youth for Christ ROAR Camp, to carry the cross poles up to the top and assemble the cross at the top.



On 9th December 2017, the day after ROAR Camp ended, a group of about 15 of us hiked up and were able to erect the cross using poles, ropes, and God's grace! At one point we could no longer get any leverage, so we called Callie down below who went to buy us a 6 meter pole, and Pono and others went down to fetch it...That longer pole enabled us to lift the cross higher and allow the few of us pulling the ropes to get better leverage to hoist it up.



One of the YFC volunteers who helped with the cross planting on Kgale Hill is someone who actually gave his life to Christ while on Kgale Hill in 2013!

It was at the Unashamed Movement event that I helped organize that the Lord drew this young man named Phatsimo to Himself. Here is a picture from that very event on Kgale Hill when he gave his life to Christ:

Phatsimo soon started calling himself “Godchaser,” which has stuck, such that we all call him that (or “Chaser” for short). It is a fitting name for him, as he has really chased after God and grown to be one of our most spiritually mature and faithful YFC volunteers.

GodChaser shared his testimony at the first prayer meeting/event we organized at the foot of the cross on Kgale Hill in late January. How cool that he could share his story on the same hill where he’d given his life to Christ five years earlier?! Despite the rainy, cool conditions, about 50 youth joined us for the hike up to the cross, where we prayed over the city/nation and dedicated the cross for God's glory.



Callie's daughter Carlein shared a bit about the history of the cross and stood in as her father's representative. George, the newly appointed Youth for Christ Botswana national director, shared a brief gospel message about the cross, and then GodChaser shared his testimony of how he gave his life to Christ atop Kgale Hill. Finally, I shared a brief encouragement - like the solar panels on the cross, the more time you spend in the sun (or with the Son), the brighter you shine in the darkness. I also shared prayer points about the different areas of society for us to pray over Botswana.


It was pretty cool and memorable that a cloud descended on us in just those 5-10 minutes as we all prayed at once over Botswana!


The rain and cold temperatures couldn't dampen our spirits! After taking a group shot, we took turns signing our names in a little notebook that Carlein brought to leave in a waterproof capsule that she hid at the foot of the cross, but marked for geocaching so others can find it and also sign their names.



Then we headed back down the hill and met Pastor Bill and his wife Carol from Christian Cross Ministries, as well as Callie and his wife Marinda. They were so pleased to see the vision come into reality. They encouraged us and also prayed with us and for us.



Here is a picture of Callie and his wife Marinda holding the plaque that was made to go on the cross:

In February, Youth for Christ hosted a 5-member World Race missionary team from the US. One day in late February, we hiked up to the cross on Kgale Hill with them and some other YFC staff/volunteers to drill the plaque onto the cross and hold another prayer meeting there. They were also able to write their names in the notebook in the capsule.


We look forward to more hikes and prayer meetings there at the foot of the cross on Kgale Hill. And from down below in the city, we can look up at the cross and be reminded of the love of our Lord. May the cross continue to shine as a beacon over Gaborone, declaring God's glory!

P.S. If you'd like to read more about Callie's testimony, you can check it out here: http://www.christiancrossministries.org/ccm-cross-0056-kgale-hill-gaborone-botswana/