Ministry with another American Team – World Race
In November and early December, we hosted an American team from the World Race program. One highlight with them was when they joined us in giving out teddy bears to the children in Princess Marina Hospital. We gave out some teddy bears that were made by a mission team from Bloemfontein, South Africa, and bought some more to make sure every child got one. Pictured below are some of the team, with some of the regular YFC hospital ministry volunteers:
The rest of the team was at that moment sharing the gospel with an older man we met at the hospital, they led him to the Lord! We also continued visiting the patients in the Spinalis ward (where they have spinal cord injuries and are often paralyzed). On another day, a couple YFC volunteers led one of the teenage patients to the Lord and one gave him her bible. That started a chain reaction of all the other patients in the Spinalis Ward desiring Bibles! So we ended up getting a new Bible for each of them, as well as providing them with Bible studies.
African Havens Camp for Orphan/Vulnerable Teens
The World Race team leader, Katie, joined us at a weekend African Havens Camp for the 23 orphans/vulnerable teens in the after-school tutoring program. We sang, played sports and games, watched a movie, had guys/girls talks, and each student was guided through a career interest inventory by one of the volunteers.
The last morning of the camp, we took the kids to our church, His People-Gabs East, where I led them in the song I’d been teaching them weekly at tutoring. They sang very well!
African Havens Volunteer Planning Retreat
Two weeks before the camp, there was a planning retreat for the African Havens volunteers, where we stayed the night in Mokolodi Game Reserve:
Facilitating a Life-Changing Kairos Course
Another highlight was that 13 World Race members were able to attend the Kairos Course.
I served as a facilitator/teacher, administrator, and one of the worship leaders for the week-long Kairos Course that several YFC volunteers also attended. My friend Vivien was the other main facilitator and worship leader, and we all camped at a farm in Kumakwane Village, so it was a great time of fellowship and learning. The farm is run by Jeff Sukup, an American missionary who was the head facilitator for the course.
The international course, which focuses on how to be involved in missions, really impacted the 24 students from 5 nations. One of the YFC volunteers wrote during the course: “I am eternally grateful for this course; it is changing my life.” Even the day after the course, she went on an outreach to share the gospel! Here is a picture of all the students who graduated, meaning they attended every lecture and completed all the coursework during the week.
Thanksgiving Feast, prepared by the World Race Team!
The World Race team that we hosted in the YFC staff house kindly treated some of us to a Thanksgiving feast there! They really went all out, decorating the living room and preparing amazing food and apple cider! It was such a blessing to all of us!
Pictured below are the team alone, and then with us:
Other fun times with the World Race team!
We had fun together celebrating Fifi's birthday at the YFC office.
We also hiked up the Phutadikobo Hill in Mochudi with the team for a prayer meeting and fellowship:
And, as is custom, I made sure to take the team to the Three Chiefs Monument in Gaborone:
Youth Week Cabin Leader Trainings
As we’ve done for the past few years, we held bi-weekly Cabin Leader trainings for the Youth Week 2019 cabin leaders from early October until early December.
Here are a few beautiful shots I took in late November and early December:
Being Part of a Ghanaian Traditional Wedding!
My dear friend/sister Vivien invited me to be a part of her Ghanaian traditional wedding on 1 December! On that day, she married Lamech, a Motswana who loves the Lord and is very gifted musically, such that he is a professional pianist and music director. Viv is a beautifully gifted singer, and it was a precious, powerful part of the celebration when she sang a song while Lamech played the keyboard. The wedding followed the Ghanaian tradition because Viv was born to Ghanaian parents who moved to Botswana from Ghana when Viv was in primary school. The Ghanaian tradition meant, among many things, that we bridesmaids wore white lace dresses and a colorful kente fabric from Ghana. Vivien wore a gorgeous red dress with a beautiful Ghanaian printed train. She was absolutely stunning!
The symbol she wore on her forehead is Ghanaian and called Gye Nyame. It literally means “except for God” in the sense of “But for the Lord”, as in acknowledgement that if it were not for God, XYZ would not be possible. It symbolizes the knowledge that God is sovereign and supreme, and all we have and are is because of Him. We would not be here... except for God.
Here are some pictures after they had signed their marriage certificate. Pictured also is Zizi, who was Viv's witness and signed the certificate as well (we serve together on the worship team at church too):
ROAR Camp 2018
The annual YFC ROAR Camp in Gaborone went well! I was part of the planning team for it, but unfortunately was unable to attend (a change of venue required us to postpone the camp dates, and I had already planned on being in England then for a family holiday with my relatives from UK and US). The team of YFC staff and volunteers did a great job running the camp in December with the theme, Finding Your ROAR! The Christian school that was the camp venue was so blessed by hosting ROAR that they have urged us to continue using the school for future camps and events free of charge! I was proud that Gugu, one of the volunteers I’ve mentored over the years, served as the Camp Director.
Christmas Together as a Family in England!
As mentioned above, I went on a family vacation to England to spend Christmas with my family. My mom and Bill flew over from the US and we rented a cottage together just down the road from Roni and Anthony's house. It was a great time reuniting with my family. We met the Town Crier after the town Christmas Carol concert at the church just down the road. Below is the view from our cottage, where you can see that church tower as well as a rainbow touching the sea.
It was great to reunite with Auntie Roni and Anthony, my cousin Tess and Tom, and their little ones Forrest and Daisy. Sadly this picture from Christmas dinner didn't feature Tess and Daisy, haha. And again, my photography skills need to improve, namely to remember to take pictures with people, i.e. Tess! haha.
I was happy that I was able to run along the cliffs of the English Channel this trip. The last two or three trips, I was recovering from different ankle or foot injuries and couldn't run, so I was all the more grateful to run this time! One of my favourite runs is to run from Swanage up onto Ballard Down and then down along the cliff to Old Harry Rocks. Here is some of the journey, along with an aerial shot I found online to give you an overall perspective.
Another run was from Kingston to Houns Tout past Chapman's Pool up to St. Aldhelm's Chapel.
Here are some more pictures from Swanage and surrounding areas:
And near the end of our trip, we went on a family hike to Swyre Head to watch the beautiful sunset.
What a refreshing trip to be with family again, especially for Christmas. I flew back to Botswana just before New Year's to prepare for the Youth Week camp on 2 January--we had nearly 210 campers registered from Botswana!! I'll share more about Youth Week 2019 in a future post! Until then, take care and God bless you!
