Dumelang! [again this is posted later than it was written..for some reason it wouldn't allow me to post it earlier...Written last Sunday]
Wow…this is gonna be a whirlwind of awesomeness!! So here we go…
Where to begin? Well, I’ll start with how we taught at one of the Junior Secondary Schools in Mochudi this past week. I taught two classes on Monday, and to summarize quickly since I have more exciting stuff to share, it went quite well. We were helping them know the truth about their value in God's eyes and replacing the lies they believe about themselves with truth from His perspective. Thanks for any prayers. While there on Monday, some of the Scripture Union (S.U.) club members recognized me and were asking why we haven’t had the club in so long. The teacher escorting us heard some of them calling to me about S.U. and said that she thinks we can re-start the club next week! The school schedule is still the same, but she thinks the school will allow the S.U. to meet during the last hour of the school day! We haven’t been able to have the club since July, so this was a great thing to hear. Thursday we also started leading the morning assembly for that whole school. They’ve invited us to share every Thursday morning.
More Open Doors!
At the only senior secondary school in Mochudi (the whole district/county for that matter), we are also exciting about the open doors! Due to exams Friday, it looks like I will speak to the Christians during the last hour of the school day this Friday. The abstinence club will likely start the next day or perhaps the following Saturday. Friday I called the guidance/counseling teacher to ask about scheduling for that, and she said she’s been meaning to ask if we at YFC could lead the morning assemblies with the whole student body on a regular basis?! She has invited us to share twice a week! I assumed that we would have to focus only on Life-Skills (i.e. honesty, integrity, responsibility, making healthy choices, withstanding peer pressure, abstinence, etc) and not be openly talking about Christ. But she said, and I quote, “Encourage them to give their lives to Christ, to live for Him.” Wow…can you say “OPEN DOOR?!!” The abstinence club will be the first club YFC has ever had at this school and I believe this might be the first time we’ve had the opportunity to speak at the assembly to the whole school (1700+ students)!
Healing – Physical and Spiritual
Last post I mentioned and requested prayer for Slim’s friend and her brother. Sunday night when the friend called Slim she was in tears as her little 11-year old brother was in the hospital, unconscious and not moving (from a stroke). Things didn’t look too good. Slim’s friend also has been suffering from epileptic seizures, typically 6 a day (3 sets of 2). We hadn’t heard a conclusive update until Slim was able to travel down an hour south to where they live on Wednesday. She called me that night to share the amazing news – her friend hadn’t had a single seizure in a few days and her little brother was fine. Really. He was out of the hospital and back in school on Wednesday!!! It was like it had never happened! Praise God! Thanks so much for any prayers you offered! Slim also found out on Wednesday that her friend has started going to church and seems to really believe!!
This seems to be a trend. After Slim’s radical transformation, it seems that others around her are changing too. One of her main friends from the school in Mochudi has stopped drugs/alcohol too and has started going to church! This was a guy who she said had been a really bad influence on her. Then Slim’s uncle, not knowing that Slim has been transformed, called and invited her to go to hear a famous Christian preacher. Slim thought he was joking because he was definitely NOT a church-goer or a Christian. But he wasn’t joking—he has been transformed by Christ as well! When she told him she is now following Jesus too, he thought she was joking. They both couldn’t believe that the other one is now following Jesus!
Slim wanted to start the follow-up bible study course that YFC offers, and she already finished the first study in one night and wanted the next one. She still has a bible study/fellowship/prayer over the phone in the middle of the night since it’s free then…except now instead of just two of them, there are four young people having conference call fellowship over the phone every night at like 2 am!!
An Unbelievable Turnaround!
Three weeks ago on the 3-year anniversary of my accident, I took the Mochudi student to counseling again for the first time since the first week of December. Just for ease of telling the story, I will call her Tumelo, which is not her real name. [It was through Tumelo that I met Slim, her friend who went to the same school in Mochudi]. On the way back to Mochudi after counseling on February 3, Tumelo picked a song called “The Lost Get Found” by Britt Nicole. She absolutely loved it, played it on repeat the whole rest of the ride, singing it at the top of her lungs by the end! Here are the lyrics:
Hello my friend
I remember when you were
So alive with your wide eyes
Then the light that you had in your heart was stolen
Now you say that it ain't worth stayin'
You wanna run but you're hesitatin'
I'm talkin' to me
Don't let your lights go down
Don't let your fire burn out
'cause somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
Why don't you rise up now?
Don't be afraid to stand out
That's how the lost get found
The lost get found
So when you get the chance
Are you gonna take it?
There's a really big world at your fingertips
And you know you have the chance to change it
There's a girl on the streets, she's cryin'
There's a man whose faith is dyin'
Love is calling you
Why do we go with the flow
Why take an easier road?
Why are we playin' it safe?
Love came to show us the way
Love is a chance we should take
I'm movin' out of the gray
Don't let your lights go down
Don't let your fire burn out
'cause somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
(Stand out)
Why don't you rise up now?
Don't be afraid to stand out
That's how the lost get found
The lost get found
So when you get the chance
Are you gonna take it?
There's a really big world at your fingertips
And you know you have the chance to change it
Tumelo’s counselor called me in between that session and the next one because she wanted to hear my perspective on how she seems now. She said that it seems like Tumelo has had “a complete turnaround,” and according to her psychology training and the normal stages of progress, Tumelo was far from this point when she last met with her in early December. The counselor found it hard to believe that it was for real, and asked me what I thought. She thought perhaps Tumelo was faking having forgiven the person that hurt her (in order to perhaps dodge the issue) because it seemed very unlikely that she could have changed that much since December and truly forgiven the person. When the counselor last met with Tumelo in early December, Tumelo seemed far from that point of forgiveness, but now she seems to be great friends with the person she had been hating. I said I wasn’t too sure, but it didn’t seem like Tumelo was faking anything. I told the counselor about how Tumelo played that song on the way home over and over again.
Last week seemed the same way—Tumelo kept playing that “The Lost Get Found” song and other Christian ones, like “Oh Happy Day.” Then this past Thursday, was her 18th birthday…an awesome day. I picked her up from school, and on the drive in, she discovered another favorite song, “Sweet Sweet Sound” by Sarah Reeves:
I am an instrument of the living God
My life a melody to His name
More than the songs I sing
Worship is everything
I live to glorify my King
Hear the song of my life
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
I raise this anthem high
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
Through all the mire and clay
You're washing me with grace
You carry me, oh Lord, through it all
So I will testify even in the fire
I live to praise my Savior
She also played several other clearly Christian songs, including one called “I Believe” about believing in God. After I dropped her off, I drove to a nearby mall, where Slim met me (as we had planned covertly). We ordered pizza and took it back to the YFC centre in Gabs (in the same property complex where Tumelo gets counseling) to surprise Tumelo. I dropped Slim off with the pizzas so she would enter separately and Tumelo wouldn’t see her or me carrying pizzas. Then my housemate Katie had baked some brownies for her the night beforewhich I cut into a heart…so like a brownie cake. Once Tumelo finished counseling, she came across the courtyard, and I let her into the YFC office. Slim was hiding and came out with the brownie cake to surprise her. They hadn’t seen each other since late November (Slim already graduated) so Tumelo screamed from surprised delight and they hugged. A beautiful success! Then as we enjoyed the pizza, Slim invited Tumelo to an upcoming church camp – the same place where God really transformed her life. Tumelo didn’t seem opposed…I think she might have even said she would go. Let’s pray that she will!
Then on the drive back to Mochudi, while “The Lost Get Found” was playing, Tumelo turned down the radio to tell me, “This song got through to me. I hear about God, but this song really got through to me, and it encourages me so much. That and the one I found today [Sweet Sweet Sound]. That’s why I keep playing them over and over. They do something in my heart.” Since the door was open, I asked her how she feels about God these days. She said she doesn’t hate Him anymore and that all the blame she had put on Him has fallen away. She said she hasn’t fully accepted Him yet, but she is on the journey toward that! She said she would like to learn more about the Bible and someone to coach her in that. I told her about the bible study course that Slim just started and she seems interested. This fits with what the counselor had told me that Tumelo had said the first time back on February 3—that she wants to give God a chance and try out the Christian thing. Given that Tumelo seemed to not only be reconciled and “not hating” the person she had so intensely hated, but now she was willing to give God a chance, whom she had also hated when I first met her, it’s not unfounded that the counselor found it almost unbelievable. I mentioned that her friend Slim has had a huge transformation, and Slim’s been praying for her hard-core!
The counselor met with me Friday to tell me about Thursday with Tumelo. She told me that now she realizes Tumelo hasn’t been faking it—she really has forgiven and been reconciled with the person she hated…(much faster than the normal process according to her psychology studies), and she seems serious about giving God a chance in her life! I told the counselor about our conversation about God on the ride home, and how we saw a rainbow as we drove into Mochudi. It seemed like a smile from God…I know I was smiling listening to Tumelo say those words and sing along to those songs. Even before hearing the counselor’s confirming words Friday, I could just sense that she is “for real” and not faking it. I spent about an hour under the stars Thursday night barefoot in the sand with my guitar singing praise to the King, the Redeemer, the One who can soften even the hardest of hearts and transform lives. I think back to when I first met this girl…a suicidal, emotional wreck filled with hatred who wanted nothing to do with God. How cool that her change has been so drastic that the counselor could hardly believe it—“a complete turnaround.” What a privilege it has been to see her transformation. “Tumelo” means faith in Setswana, and it is my hope that she will come to an unshakable faith in Christ. Let’s continue to pray for her as she is nearing that faith…that nothing would hinder her from fully embracing Christ.
Open Doors with College Students!
I’ve briefly mentioned before how I’ve felt God guiding me to start a mentoring program in Gaborone. I hope to share the interesting details of that guidance sometime, but for now, I’ll just share how it’s going getting it started. I thought it would be good to have college-age Christians each paired-up with someone younger, such as a secondary school student in Gaborone to mentor them like a big brother/sister. So I realized that the college students involved in my church’s AIDS prevention program Face the Nation would be great mentors. I talked to the Face the Nation leadership and they thought it sounds like a good idea to let them know about the option. They gave me the contact info for the leaders of the Face the Nation club at the University of Botswana. Right now they are meeting in weekly cell groups, so I’ve contacted the cell group leaders and have been speaking at the cell groups introducing the mentoring program and recruiting them for that and/or volunteering with YFC in other ways. Last week, I spoke at one cell group, Friday at another. Monday and Tuesday are set up for me to share in those cell groups too. The response has been very positive, as most everyone has either wanted to be a mentor or volunteer, or both.
Friday, after I finished sharing with the cell group, I was walking back through the student union and a poster on one of the many bulletin boards caught my eye. It was advertising a prayer meeting on campus. As I took down the number on the poster, a guy standing nearby asked, “So, you are a Christian?” I agreed, and returned the query. He is, and it turns out he was a Face the Nation volunteer last year. He asked if I had been at the Face the Nation School of Discipleship last year. Indeed, I had been there several mornings to sit in on lectures and to visit those for whom I was a prayer partner. When I told him I was just at a Face the Nation cell group sharing about a mentoring program, he said, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard about this—where they’ll pair a college student with a secondary student from Gabs?” So he must’ve heard it from someone in the first cell group last week. He said he’s been helping to mentor students he met last year in the schools during their Face the Nation outreaches. He really wants to be a part of this new mentoring program, so I pulled out the sign-up sheet in my bag for him to sign (his name is Lucky, by the way).
I mentioned how we will have volunteer training on an upcoming Saturday, and he mentioned that he has worship band practice on Saturdays. So then I also brought up how I want to start up a worship band at YFC for prayer/worship nights. He seemed interested in that too. Then he mentioned that he couldn’t meet this Saturday (yesterday) for training because he will be at a gathering for Christian tertiary (university/college) students from the Gaborone area. I asked if the Christians from the various colleges and institutions often gather together for fellowship. He said that this was the first time and that I should come—the mentoring program might be something I could share about there (at the Botswana College of Agriculture).
Afterward, I wondered how I would share with everyone there…especially if I arrived and couldn’t find Lucky. I wasn’t about to stand up and make an announcement out of the blue without being invited. And even if I could find Lucky, would he be able to help me make that announcement? But I just went yesterday morning because I figured it could work out somehow. I prayed that God would work it out so I could share about the mentoring program. It turns out that Lucky was the lead singer on the worship team up front with an amazing voice! Then when the worship team sat down, it turns out I had chosen the seat right next to his! Later, when he was up front again, I saw him whispering to the emcee. Then he came down and asked if I would like to share for 5 minutes with everyone? Yes! So they invited “Sister Emily” up to the front podium and handed me a mic to share with everyone about the mentoring program and volunteering!
Then I had the sign-up sheets at the back, and 15 people signed up to be involved! Several of them go to Gaborone Institute for Health Sciences, which I didn’t even know existed, but it is within 1km of the YFC centre in Gabs! I don’t think I could have orchestrated a better scenario if I’d tried. I wouldn’t have even known about all these colleges or how to find Christian volunteers in them had I not happened to meet Lucky Friday. One could say it was indeed lucky that we happened to meet and start talking next to a bulletin board the day before this first inter-college fellowship gathering…that he happened to mention it and invite me…that he happened to be the lead singer up front who could speak to the emcee to invite me to share with everyone. But I can’t say it was lucky. That would seem to deny the divine orchestration. I can’t help but see this “random” meeting with Lucky as a divine appointment, part of God’s design to further His purposes.
This week has been an amazing, wild ride with God! I love it. One of the Face the Nation cell group leaders told me a couple weeks ago, “You are in the right place at the right time!” As time goes on, that seems to be confirmed more and more. Just after meeting Lucky on Friday as I walked to my car on the University campus, I couldn’t contain the smile just thanking God for His obvious hand. Now I have all the more reason to be thankful and in awe of His goodness and orchestration. It’s times like these that I understand more poignantly the scriptures that speak of how He goes before us and that the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord. It was right after meeting Lucky that I stopped by and talked to Tumelo’s counselor to hear that good news. You could safely assume that I played a lot of praise music on the drive home!
There’s even more to share, but this has been long enough. Thanks for your continued interest and prayers. God is at work here…and it’s a privilege to partner with Him and be along for the ride!
Many blessings,
Em
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Doors opening to work in the schools!
[I forgot to post this to this blog...so here it is from Sunday night, with some updates intersperced]:
Greetings all,
Tomorrow (Monday) I am teaching 2 classes, 40-minutes each, at a junior secondary school here in Mochudi on self-concept and how to withstand peer pressure, especially as it relates to involvement in sex, drugs, and alcohol. It’s the school where I most regularly helped lead the Scripture Union club back before the school schedules changed, making the extra-curricular clubs after school no longer a possibility. Thankfully the school has allowed us in to teach during the school day for this whole week. We have split up the teaching amongst us full-time YFC staff/volunteers and some local Batswana volunteers so that we each teach one or two classes. I will teach at 7:30 am tomorrow and then again at 2:00 pm. Prayers are welcome! [It went well..more details next post]
The same school has also invited us to regularly share with the whole school for 20 minutes each Thursday morning at the assembly! So that’s a huge blessing too…just requires an early morning—assembly starts at 7:00 am. [Starts tomorrow morning!]
At the senior secondary school in Mochudi, the opportunity I had a couple Fridays ago to speak to the students who pledged to abstinence went really well. Again, it was during school hours that I was given this opportunity to speak and 63 students showed up, which took a certain boldness to leave their classes (in essence identifying themselves as those who’ve pledged to abstinence). I was warned that the students in Mochudi can be very disruptive and loud on Friday afternoons, but when I shared with them for the last 45 minutes on that Friday (seemingly the worst possible time-slot), they were extremely attentive and quiet! It was such a blessing. I had them fill out an anonymous questionnaire that, among other things, asked if they had broken their pledge to abstinence since making it back in July (e.g. if they’d had sex since they pledged). I was pleasantly surprised to find that only 2 of them had broken the pledge; 61 had not. One of the questions asked if what they learned during the Face the Nation abstinence curriculum ever influenced them to not have sex when they were in a situation where they otherwise might have…and many of them indicated “yes.” So it is encouraging to see that the efforts to promote abstinence are making a difference.
This school was where I had planned on starting the abstinence club, but again, due to the school schedule changing, the club has been unable to ever start. I asked the 63 students who came to the abstinence talk if they would be interested in coming to the club if we did it on Saturday at the YFC office. I told them to write “Yes” on the back of their anonymous questionnaire if they were interested in going to a club on Saturday. Again, I was amazed that 30 said yes…some in huge letters with exclamation points. So I called up the guidance/counseling teacher (who came to the abstinence talk, and with whom I’ve been in close contact regarding the girl I take to counseling in Gaborone), and told her how many students were interested. She suggested we could meet at the school in a classroom…so that club will start up in the next couple weeks on Saturdays at the school!
Next Friday or the following, I will be speaking to the Christian students at the school during the same timeslot at the end of the school-day. The guidance/counseling teacher has invited me to share whatever I would like to encourage the students. I am still praying about what exactly I will share, but she said I could share my testimony or “something from the Word of God.” What an amazing open door! So prayers are definitely appreciated for that. I will be sharing with them about the ways they can grow in their faith, the programs and resources YFC offers them for free to help them grow, and then whatever else God lays on my heart to share with them.
I have much more to share, including the opportunity last week to speak to some Christians at the University of Botswana and recruit volunteers for the ministry in Gaborone…but I'll wait til next time.
Blessings!
~Em
P.S. I would also like to ask for prayer for the friend of Slim, the girl who I shared about last time. Her friend is suffering from grand mal seizures and just tonight that friend's 11-year old brother had a stroke (or something similar) and is currently unconscious and not moving. Any and all prayers are appreciated. Thanks. [still don't have a conclusive update...Slim is hoping to ride the bus down to visit her friend today to find out more...please keep praying]
Greetings all,
Tomorrow (Monday) I am teaching 2 classes, 40-minutes each, at a junior secondary school here in Mochudi on self-concept and how to withstand peer pressure, especially as it relates to involvement in sex, drugs, and alcohol. It’s the school where I most regularly helped lead the Scripture Union club back before the school schedules changed, making the extra-curricular clubs after school no longer a possibility. Thankfully the school has allowed us in to teach during the school day for this whole week. We have split up the teaching amongst us full-time YFC staff/volunteers and some local Batswana volunteers so that we each teach one or two classes. I will teach at 7:30 am tomorrow and then again at 2:00 pm. Prayers are welcome! [It went well..more details next post]
The same school has also invited us to regularly share with the whole school for 20 minutes each Thursday morning at the assembly! So that’s a huge blessing too…just requires an early morning—assembly starts at 7:00 am. [Starts tomorrow morning!]
At the senior secondary school in Mochudi, the opportunity I had a couple Fridays ago to speak to the students who pledged to abstinence went really well. Again, it was during school hours that I was given this opportunity to speak and 63 students showed up, which took a certain boldness to leave their classes (in essence identifying themselves as those who’ve pledged to abstinence). I was warned that the students in Mochudi can be very disruptive and loud on Friday afternoons, but when I shared with them for the last 45 minutes on that Friday (seemingly the worst possible time-slot), they were extremely attentive and quiet! It was such a blessing. I had them fill out an anonymous questionnaire that, among other things, asked if they had broken their pledge to abstinence since making it back in July (e.g. if they’d had sex since they pledged). I was pleasantly surprised to find that only 2 of them had broken the pledge; 61 had not. One of the questions asked if what they learned during the Face the Nation abstinence curriculum ever influenced them to not have sex when they were in a situation where they otherwise might have…and many of them indicated “yes.” So it is encouraging to see that the efforts to promote abstinence are making a difference.
This school was where I had planned on starting the abstinence club, but again, due to the school schedule changing, the club has been unable to ever start. I asked the 63 students who came to the abstinence talk if they would be interested in coming to the club if we did it on Saturday at the YFC office. I told them to write “Yes” on the back of their anonymous questionnaire if they were interested in going to a club on Saturday. Again, I was amazed that 30 said yes…some in huge letters with exclamation points. So I called up the guidance/counseling teacher (who came to the abstinence talk, and with whom I’ve been in close contact regarding the girl I take to counseling in Gaborone), and told her how many students were interested. She suggested we could meet at the school in a classroom…so that club will start up in the next couple weeks on Saturdays at the school!
Next Friday or the following, I will be speaking to the Christian students at the school during the same timeslot at the end of the school-day. The guidance/counseling teacher has invited me to share whatever I would like to encourage the students. I am still praying about what exactly I will share, but she said I could share my testimony or “something from the Word of God.” What an amazing open door! So prayers are definitely appreciated for that. I will be sharing with them about the ways they can grow in their faith, the programs and resources YFC offers them for free to help them grow, and then whatever else God lays on my heart to share with them.
I have much more to share, including the opportunity last week to speak to some Christians at the University of Botswana and recruit volunteers for the ministry in Gaborone…but I'll wait til next time.
Blessings!
~Em
P.S. I would also like to ask for prayer for the friend of Slim, the girl who I shared about last time. Her friend is suffering from grand mal seizures and just tonight that friend's 11-year old brother had a stroke (or something similar) and is currently unconscious and not moving. Any and all prayers are appreciated. Thanks. [still don't have a conclusive update...Slim is hoping to ride the bus down to visit her friend today to find out more...please keep praying]
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Radical Transformation...Open Doors!!!
Hey all!
LOTS of awesome news!! Ok, first, I’ll share about the event on Saturday at the new YFC center in Gaborone (Gabs), the capital. I feel like the event itself went well, though the turnout was less than expected. It was pouring down rain just before it started and I think that discouraged people from coming, especially if they have to walk or wait outside for a taxi ride. The people who did come seemed to enjoy it though and I shared my vision for what I’ve felt God leading me to start there—a mentoring/discipling program. Six young adults signed up to possibly volunteer with YFC in Gabs so that’s a good start. Others are interested in being mentored. One woman was just walking down the street and came inside to see what we were doing—now she wants to volunteer with YFC! I am trying to gather up other volunteers and then hold volunteer training with them.
Radical Transformation!!
On Monday, I had an awesome surprise. A few weeks ago, just after I arrived back in Botswana, I received a call from a girl nicknamed Slim who is friends with the girl I’ve been taking to counseling. Here’s the background scoop on Slim: I befriended her in September when she was in her last term of Secondary School in Mochudi, and we’ve hung out a few times (talking, playing basketball, grabbing a bite to eat, etc). She wore a long cross necklace, but seemingly for “bling” decoration, not because she really loved Christ. Slim got her nickname because of her love for rapper Eminem, aka Slim Shady. From what I could gather, she wasn’t really close to God, though her step-dad is a pastor. When we hung out just before Christmas break, she was dreading going to a church camp that her parents wanted her to attend. So I was quite surprised in mid-January when Slim called me and asked if I could give her more information about Face the Nation [the AIDS prevention program started by my church] because she thinks she wants to be a volunteer!?! Doesn’t she know how really Christian it is? How all the volunteers are committed followers of Christ, sharing the gospel and encouraging abstinence in schools? We set up a time to meet to talk more about it. We finally worked it out to meet a few days ago on Monday. I anticipated that our talk would give me the open door to share more with her about what it means to be a Christian (i.e. that it’s not just about going to church but about your heart’s relationship with Christ).
Instead, the person I encountered in our meeting Monday was not the same person I hung out with in late November. The person dreading to go to a church camp was replaced by someone who was all but bursting with joy and praise of her Savior! That cross is no longer “bling” to her, but symbolic of her “tight connection” with God. Slim Shady encountered the Light of the World at that church camp and is Slim “Shady-no-more”! She has confessed and repented, and turned to follow the Lord. His grace has empowered her to STOP bad habits that she could never shake before, like drugs. She has been set free of bitterness, addictions, etc. and set ablaze with a passion for her King and a passion to tell the world how good He is – to tell her generation they don’t have to live as friends of the world and enemies of God, but they can change (God can change them) and enjoy true life with Him. She wrote to me, “Life is awesome living by the word of God.” Almost 2 months after the camp, Slim’s fervor has not faded—she prays for hours each day and has a bible study every night with a friend from that camp. She told me she prays at 12 and then the bible study is like 2-4. I assumed she was talking about “pm,” like afternoon hours. But I found out yesterday she meant midnight and 2-4 AM! She told me that the cell phone subscription offers free calling in the middle of the night so that’s when they have their daily bible study fellowship over the phone! I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anyone talk about a bible study with such joy—like it’s such a privilege and one of the best things she could imagine doing. Her step-dad said she’s “on-fire for Jesus.”
“Slim?! On fire for Jesus?! No way!” Friends and peers can hardly believe it! Slim can hardly believe it! I can hardly believe it! But I could not deny the miracle standing before me—a transformed heart, a revolutionized life blazing before me with contagious zeal. She wants me to help mentor/disciple her too, which totally excites me. I dropped her at the bus stop, and she said she feels this desire welling up inside her to just stand up on the bus and yell, “GOD LOVES YOU!!” She wants to volunteer with Face the Nation and YFC in order to share her story and tell youth how they too can be changed by Christ and live differently. She wanted me to share her story with all of you – “Tell them how I was so lost...but now am found!” Gloriously found. This is just such an encouragement. If God could so radically transform Slim, how many other Batswana youth can be transformed as well? How many will be impacted by her testimony? What impact will it have on our mutual friend, whom I take to counseling? God is so good!!
Yesterday was my first day in my new office in Gaborone. Slim stopped by and we sat and talked. I learned more of the extent of what her life was like up until that church camp and what God has brought her out of. I won’t share details here, but trust me…it makes her redemption through Christ that much more amazing!!
Scripture Union Growing in Gabs!
The night before, I’d gotten a call from one of the students who leads the Scripture Union club at a Junior Secondary School in Gaborone with whom I’ve been working. She was at the Scripture Union camp that I went on in late November and she’d invited me to come to the club meeting the next day. She was excited to share that the club is growing and meeting every day after school. Since Slim was with me at the office, I invited her to come along to the Scripture Union (SU) club at that school. So she came along and at one point during the meeting, Slim felt led to give a word of encouragement. She told the students to keep focused on Christ and not to get sidetracked by the temptations the world has to offer. “I’ve been there…and it’s not worth it.” She encouraged them to live God’s way and keep following Christ. It was just a beautiful thing to see.
At that meeting, the SU student leader who had called me the night before thanked me for coming and shared that I am like a mother to them, a sister to them. Later she felt prompted to ask if any of those present wanted to pray to give their lives to Christ. If so, they could step into the center of our circle outside where we’d been singing worship songs. In all the SU meetings I’ve attended, I’ve never seen that type of thing happen, but 9 students stepped into the center, showing that they desired to give their lives to Christ! We prayed together with them, and now we can help them grow in their faith through the meetings and the follow-up bible studies from YFC.
Partnering with The Navigators to Disciple Youth
Yesterday, I also met with David, one of the staff of The Navigators, a Christian campus ministry started in the U.S. Their office is just adjacent to ours on the same property in Gaborone. David and I met together and realized that God has given us a very similar vision for how to reach the young people of Botswana—through mentoring/discipling (going really deep with a handful of students who then will go on to reach and disciple others). It was very encouraging for both of us to hear how our visions align so perfectly. We are partnering together to create a discipleship core group for students who just graduated in December from a school in Gabs during these 8 months until they start university study in August. The weekly fellowship meetings will be held in the new YFC center, and the school is offering to pay for the refreshments. So that is exciting!
Reaching the Nation through Radio
Soon after that, I drove to visit one of the YFC board members who has connections with one of the national secular radio stations. We’ve been invited to share on the Sunday morning Christian show, especially during March, the Month of Youth Against AIDS. We can create 3-minute pre-recorded nuggets (i.e. short testimonies, dramas, etc) and/or help lead discussion on topics relating to AIDS and abstinence where listeners can call or text in feedback. So we will be meeting soon at YFC to discuss this and make a plan that can be submitted to the radio station. Prayers for wisdom and ideas are welcome, as this will have a far-reaching impact (as I said, it’s a national station). This is also the station where one of my friends is a DJ on the Sunday morning show…and so our YFC events can now be publicized on the radio through these connections.
Open Doors to Speak in Mochudi Schools!
Finally, the last cool news from yesterday was that I heard back from the guidance/counseling teacher at the Senior Secondary School in Mochudi after I inquired about possibly being able to meet with all the students who committed their lives to Christ or committed to abstinence through the Face the Nation program last year. We haven’t been able to start the abstinence club since the school schedule changed, but I just asked if I might be able to just meet with the students briefly to encourage them. She said I could have up to an hour to speak to them during the school day tomorrow (Friday)! After talking again today with the guidance/counseling teacher, we decided I will come back next week too, so that this week I will meet with those who committed to abstinence and then next week or the following week, I’ll meet with those who became believers in Christ. Wow…so, it’s a great open door to share in the school! I would really appreciate your prayers because I just found out today I’m speaking on abstinence instead of giving encouragement to the Christians. I have no idea what to expect for numbers – over 300 students committed to abstinence back in July. Pray that students overcome the possible ridicule and decide to come to the meeting. It will be announced tomorrow morning at the general assembly to all students.
Then I might also be speaking to youth at another Mochudi school in the morning on leadership. We still haven’t heard back from the school if they could switch the time of the Leadership Training for about 50 students til the mid-morning tomorrow. Otherwise, it will be at the same time as my talk on abstinence so just Maruping and Twila will have to present the leadership training. But if it gets switched, then I will do part of the presenting for that in the morning. Both of these opportunities just came up yesterday. We haven’t been able to get into schools for months, and then BAM—two in one day! Exciting stuff!
Ok, so I should get back to planning for the abstinence meeting and then the possible leadership presentation. I won’t know until tomorrow it seems whether I’m actually able to help with the leadership training. Here, we have to learn to roll with it. You never know what a day may bring. Some days, like yesterday and possibly tomorrow, are jam-packed with one exciting thing after another. Other days like today are more relaxed.
But with everything going on, especially with Slim, I am truly loving life right now! I went for a run last night in the bush and was just so joyful. I was on this little hill overlooking Mochudi watching the sun set listening (sometimes dancing!) to worship music of the God who can transform lives.
He is good!
~Em
LOTS of awesome news!! Ok, first, I’ll share about the event on Saturday at the new YFC center in Gaborone (Gabs), the capital. I feel like the event itself went well, though the turnout was less than expected. It was pouring down rain just before it started and I think that discouraged people from coming, especially if they have to walk or wait outside for a taxi ride. The people who did come seemed to enjoy it though and I shared my vision for what I’ve felt God leading me to start there—a mentoring/discipling program. Six young adults signed up to possibly volunteer with YFC in Gabs so that’s a good start. Others are interested in being mentored. One woman was just walking down the street and came inside to see what we were doing—now she wants to volunteer with YFC! I am trying to gather up other volunteers and then hold volunteer training with them.
Radical Transformation!!
On Monday, I had an awesome surprise. A few weeks ago, just after I arrived back in Botswana, I received a call from a girl nicknamed Slim who is friends with the girl I’ve been taking to counseling. Here’s the background scoop on Slim: I befriended her in September when she was in her last term of Secondary School in Mochudi, and we’ve hung out a few times (talking, playing basketball, grabbing a bite to eat, etc). She wore a long cross necklace, but seemingly for “bling” decoration, not because she really loved Christ. Slim got her nickname because of her love for rapper Eminem, aka Slim Shady. From what I could gather, she wasn’t really close to God, though her step-dad is a pastor. When we hung out just before Christmas break, she was dreading going to a church camp that her parents wanted her to attend. So I was quite surprised in mid-January when Slim called me and asked if I could give her more information about Face the Nation [the AIDS prevention program started by my church] because she thinks she wants to be a volunteer!?! Doesn’t she know how really Christian it is? How all the volunteers are committed followers of Christ, sharing the gospel and encouraging abstinence in schools? We set up a time to meet to talk more about it. We finally worked it out to meet a few days ago on Monday. I anticipated that our talk would give me the open door to share more with her about what it means to be a Christian (i.e. that it’s not just about going to church but about your heart’s relationship with Christ).
Instead, the person I encountered in our meeting Monday was not the same person I hung out with in late November. The person dreading to go to a church camp was replaced by someone who was all but bursting with joy and praise of her Savior! That cross is no longer “bling” to her, but symbolic of her “tight connection” with God. Slim Shady encountered the Light of the World at that church camp and is Slim “Shady-no-more”! She has confessed and repented, and turned to follow the Lord. His grace has empowered her to STOP bad habits that she could never shake before, like drugs. She has been set free of bitterness, addictions, etc. and set ablaze with a passion for her King and a passion to tell the world how good He is – to tell her generation they don’t have to live as friends of the world and enemies of God, but they can change (God can change them) and enjoy true life with Him. She wrote to me, “Life is awesome living by the word of God.” Almost 2 months after the camp, Slim’s fervor has not faded—she prays for hours each day and has a bible study every night with a friend from that camp. She told me she prays at 12 and then the bible study is like 2-4. I assumed she was talking about “pm,” like afternoon hours. But I found out yesterday she meant midnight and 2-4 AM! She told me that the cell phone subscription offers free calling in the middle of the night so that’s when they have their daily bible study fellowship over the phone! I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anyone talk about a bible study with such joy—like it’s such a privilege and one of the best things she could imagine doing. Her step-dad said she’s “on-fire for Jesus.”
“Slim?! On fire for Jesus?! No way!” Friends and peers can hardly believe it! Slim can hardly believe it! I can hardly believe it! But I could not deny the miracle standing before me—a transformed heart, a revolutionized life blazing before me with contagious zeal. She wants me to help mentor/disciple her too, which totally excites me. I dropped her at the bus stop, and she said she feels this desire welling up inside her to just stand up on the bus and yell, “GOD LOVES YOU!!” She wants to volunteer with Face the Nation and YFC in order to share her story and tell youth how they too can be changed by Christ and live differently. She wanted me to share her story with all of you – “Tell them how I was so lost...but now am found!” Gloriously found. This is just such an encouragement. If God could so radically transform Slim, how many other Batswana youth can be transformed as well? How many will be impacted by her testimony? What impact will it have on our mutual friend, whom I take to counseling? God is so good!!
Yesterday was my first day in my new office in Gaborone. Slim stopped by and we sat and talked. I learned more of the extent of what her life was like up until that church camp and what God has brought her out of. I won’t share details here, but trust me…it makes her redemption through Christ that much more amazing!!
Scripture Union Growing in Gabs!
The night before, I’d gotten a call from one of the students who leads the Scripture Union club at a Junior Secondary School in Gaborone with whom I’ve been working. She was at the Scripture Union camp that I went on in late November and she’d invited me to come to the club meeting the next day. She was excited to share that the club is growing and meeting every day after school. Since Slim was with me at the office, I invited her to come along to the Scripture Union (SU) club at that school. So she came along and at one point during the meeting, Slim felt led to give a word of encouragement. She told the students to keep focused on Christ and not to get sidetracked by the temptations the world has to offer. “I’ve been there…and it’s not worth it.” She encouraged them to live God’s way and keep following Christ. It was just a beautiful thing to see.
At that meeting, the SU student leader who had called me the night before thanked me for coming and shared that I am like a mother to them, a sister to them. Later she felt prompted to ask if any of those present wanted to pray to give their lives to Christ. If so, they could step into the center of our circle outside where we’d been singing worship songs. In all the SU meetings I’ve attended, I’ve never seen that type of thing happen, but 9 students stepped into the center, showing that they desired to give their lives to Christ! We prayed together with them, and now we can help them grow in their faith through the meetings and the follow-up bible studies from YFC.
Partnering with The Navigators to Disciple Youth
Yesterday, I also met with David, one of the staff of The Navigators, a Christian campus ministry started in the U.S. Their office is just adjacent to ours on the same property in Gaborone. David and I met together and realized that God has given us a very similar vision for how to reach the young people of Botswana—through mentoring/discipling (going really deep with a handful of students who then will go on to reach and disciple others). It was very encouraging for both of us to hear how our visions align so perfectly. We are partnering together to create a discipleship core group for students who just graduated in December from a school in Gabs during these 8 months until they start university study in August. The weekly fellowship meetings will be held in the new YFC center, and the school is offering to pay for the refreshments. So that is exciting!
Reaching the Nation through Radio
Soon after that, I drove to visit one of the YFC board members who has connections with one of the national secular radio stations. We’ve been invited to share on the Sunday morning Christian show, especially during March, the Month of Youth Against AIDS. We can create 3-minute pre-recorded nuggets (i.e. short testimonies, dramas, etc) and/or help lead discussion on topics relating to AIDS and abstinence where listeners can call or text in feedback. So we will be meeting soon at YFC to discuss this and make a plan that can be submitted to the radio station. Prayers for wisdom and ideas are welcome, as this will have a far-reaching impact (as I said, it’s a national station). This is also the station where one of my friends is a DJ on the Sunday morning show…and so our YFC events can now be publicized on the radio through these connections.
Open Doors to Speak in Mochudi Schools!
Finally, the last cool news from yesterday was that I heard back from the guidance/counseling teacher at the Senior Secondary School in Mochudi after I inquired about possibly being able to meet with all the students who committed their lives to Christ or committed to abstinence through the Face the Nation program last year. We haven’t been able to start the abstinence club since the school schedule changed, but I just asked if I might be able to just meet with the students briefly to encourage them. She said I could have up to an hour to speak to them during the school day tomorrow (Friday)! After talking again today with the guidance/counseling teacher, we decided I will come back next week too, so that this week I will meet with those who committed to abstinence and then next week or the following week, I’ll meet with those who became believers in Christ. Wow…so, it’s a great open door to share in the school! I would really appreciate your prayers because I just found out today I’m speaking on abstinence instead of giving encouragement to the Christians. I have no idea what to expect for numbers – over 300 students committed to abstinence back in July. Pray that students overcome the possible ridicule and decide to come to the meeting. It will be announced tomorrow morning at the general assembly to all students.
Then I might also be speaking to youth at another Mochudi school in the morning on leadership. We still haven’t heard back from the school if they could switch the time of the Leadership Training for about 50 students til the mid-morning tomorrow. Otherwise, it will be at the same time as my talk on abstinence so just Maruping and Twila will have to present the leadership training. But if it gets switched, then I will do part of the presenting for that in the morning. Both of these opportunities just came up yesterday. We haven’t been able to get into schools for months, and then BAM—two in one day! Exciting stuff!
Ok, so I should get back to planning for the abstinence meeting and then the possible leadership presentation. I won’t know until tomorrow it seems whether I’m actually able to help with the leadership training. Here, we have to learn to roll with it. You never know what a day may bring. Some days, like yesterday and possibly tomorrow, are jam-packed with one exciting thing after another. Other days like today are more relaxed.
But with everything going on, especially with Slim, I am truly loving life right now! I went for a run last night in the bush and was just so joyful. I was on this little hill overlooking Mochudi watching the sun set listening (sometimes dancing!) to worship music of the God who can transform lives.
He is good!
~Em
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Prayer request...and Monkey Bidness!
Hi all,
Just a quick note today in the chance that some of you might read this in time to pray. Today I am leading the first event at our new YFC center in the capital, Gaborone. We just got access to the property a week and a couple days ago, and today I’m leading a reunion event for the 60-70 Batswana youth who attended the Youth Week camp put on by YFC in South Africa. It’s from 3-5 pm, which is 8-10 am EST, 7-9 am Central, etc.
We handed out flyer invitations to the teens when they disembarked the bus from the trip, and we have sweet connections so it was advertised for free on one of the main secular radio stations (one of our board members has connections with the radio, and one of my other friends from church is actually one of the DJs for the Sunday morning Christian program on that radio station so she helped make the announcement). Now we can advertise any of our events on the radio for free!
Anyway, I just covet your prayers for today to go well. I’m excited for this opportunity to really kick-start the ministry in the capital. I’ll be sharing today with everyone about a mentoring/discipling program I feel led to start. I’ll share more about that with you all later.
In other news, on last Saturday I ran out to the very muddy bush (involving long-jumping over a muddy creek) to reach the hidden spot tucked away by the river where I sit on a low branch and pray. I was there leaning back on the branch when I spotted a monkey climbing a nearby tree, then another, then another. Soon I realized they were behind me in the tree and above me…about 15 in all! It was pretty amazing.
One of them, perhaps the ambassador/messenger monkey, was sent to my tree and subsequently his fecal matter was issued in my general direction. I am not sure whether the monkey’s behavior was malicious in nature, but if so, I am thankful that his aim did not match his mischievous intentions! I decided to move on to the other place I like to sit on a tree branch by the river…and I saw my 4-foot lizard friend, who I have hereby named Morgan the Monitor Lizard.
Thanks for any & all prayers! I’ll try to update you soon!
Blessings,
Em
Just a quick note today in the chance that some of you might read this in time to pray. Today I am leading the first event at our new YFC center in the capital, Gaborone. We just got access to the property a week and a couple days ago, and today I’m leading a reunion event for the 60-70 Batswana youth who attended the Youth Week camp put on by YFC in South Africa. It’s from 3-5 pm, which is 8-10 am EST, 7-9 am Central, etc.
We handed out flyer invitations to the teens when they disembarked the bus from the trip, and we have sweet connections so it was advertised for free on one of the main secular radio stations (one of our board members has connections with the radio, and one of my other friends from church is actually one of the DJs for the Sunday morning Christian program on that radio station so she helped make the announcement). Now we can advertise any of our events on the radio for free!
Anyway, I just covet your prayers for today to go well. I’m excited for this opportunity to really kick-start the ministry in the capital. I’ll be sharing today with everyone about a mentoring/discipling program I feel led to start. I’ll share more about that with you all later.
In other news, on last Saturday I ran out to the very muddy bush (involving long-jumping over a muddy creek) to reach the hidden spot tucked away by the river where I sit on a low branch and pray. I was there leaning back on the branch when I spotted a monkey climbing a nearby tree, then another, then another. Soon I realized they were behind me in the tree and above me…about 15 in all! It was pretty amazing.
One of them, perhaps the ambassador/messenger monkey, was sent to my tree and subsequently his fecal matter was issued in my general direction. I am not sure whether the monkey’s behavior was malicious in nature, but if so, I am thankful that his aim did not match his mischievous intentions! I decided to move on to the other place I like to sit on a tree branch by the river…and I saw my 4-foot lizard friend, who I have hereby named Morgan the Monitor Lizard.
Thanks for any & all prayers! I’ll try to update you soon!
Blessings,
Em
Monday, January 10, 2011
Trip to the States -- Good Medical reports
Dumelang!
I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year’s! A lot has happened since I last wrote. I enjoyed the opportunity to speak a couple more times in Michigan at my church for about an hour each time. It was also so nice to see some friends in Michigan (though sadly it is not realistic for me to see everyone I would have liked to!). Ryan flew home so Mom, he, and I spent Christmas together (with Chester the beagle too – 14 years old now). We decided to drive up to our old church in Lexington for the Christmas Eve service, which was a delightful surprise for our friends from there. After the service, Ryan and I just went on a quick tour of the church to remember our “old stomping ground” where we’d grown up in the youth group. When we entered the choir room, to the left on a little table as you walk in, there was a small (probably a few feet wide) chalkboard with “Howdy Choir Members!!!” written faintly on it in chalk. It looked like something I would write, even looked like my handwriting. I looked closer and saw my name signed in the bottom corner! I haven’t attended that church since 2004, so I was definitely not expecting to see that! It doesn’t erase anymore, and I don’t know if they usually have it out like that, but it was a cool, random surprise!
On Christmas Day, we drove back up to the Lexington Cemetary to put a wreath on Dad’s grave and Mom read a meaningful poem. We then drove up to the Lexington Park along the lake where Ryan and I ventured down onto the snowy, windy Lake Huron beach. As we passed the swing set on the way back, we decided we should swing in the snow! And yes, I even jumped out of the swing into the snow at the end. So that was some random, child-like fun. Then Mom did an amazing job of cooking Christmas dinner, which was normally Dad’s forte since he was a trained chef. It was definitely different not having Dad around, but it wasn’t as emotional as I’d expected. I never really noticed how “O Come All Ye Faithful” is more fitting or meaningful now – “Sing, choirs of angels; Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above” (i.e. Dad). The day after Christmas, we went to our family friends’ place for our annual Christmas gathering.
Minnesota!
Then the next morning, Monday the 27th, Ryan and I flew out to Minneapolis on the same flight. It was kind of humorous that I’d been upgraded to first class again because of my frequent flyer miles, but Ryan not so much... So I got to go to the front of the lines and sit in first class, while he was back in coach! I got to board earlier, so I gave him a little wave and smile as he passed me on the way back to coach, haha. I thought about asking the person next to him if he/she wanted to switch and sit in first class, but after getting situated in my comfortable chair and enjoying my pre-flight glass of orange juice…Naah! We would both probably sleep anyway and not really talk. At least, this is what I told myself as I enjoyed my spacious seat. Once there, I stayed at Ryan’s new place in Hopkins, MN. He’s renting a house, and has acquired two housemates who have both been friends with him for years.
Beautiful Redemption…Crisis Averted!
Within a few minutes of arriving at Ryan’s house, my jaw appliance broke! It had been getting weaker and at one part the clear material had been worn down to expose a couple centimeters of the internal wire. At first I was kinda freaking out because it cost like $1500 and we’d gotten a letter the previous week about how my insurance does not want to cover any more jaw costs. But then I realized that I already had an appointment scheduled with the jaw specialist that very day, just 3 hours later. The jaw appliance is custom-made and the only place that can fix it in the world is that very place where I had the appointment. So they took it overnight to send it to the lab to be fixed. Then I came back the next day, they refitted the repaired appliance to me at the only timeslot still available for an appointment (at 3 pm, precisely when the jaw appliance would return from the lab!), and made the necessary adjustments to hopefully fix/help my jaw (the original purpose of the appointment the day before).
Just that one day of naked teeth (not wearing the jaw appliance) was cause for noticeable discomfort, soreness, and pain. It made me realize how truly blessed I am that it broke when it did. Had it broken a few weeks, or even a few days, earlier in Michigan, it would have been a painful wait until I could make it to St. Paul to see the jaw specialist. Or had it broken in the following week, I would’ve been back here in Botswana at a loss for what to do. The other thing that I thought it might have been affected was that I was planning on riding down with one of Ryan’s housemates to a young adult Christian conference down in Kansas City on Tuesday morning. I knew the jaw appliance was more important, so I was willing to miss the conference if need be. But when he learned that I would need to wait until the jaw appliance was back from the lab to have my appointment at 3pm on Tuesday, he was more than willing to wait and still drive me down to the conference! So besides that small delay (and the costs of repair), it was essentially harmless because of the timing. Had it broken any other day, it would’ve been much more of a crisis. It reminded me of how God loves to bring redemption to the bad situations in our lives.
Kansas City! Reuniting with friends and making new ones!
I had already worked out to stay with friends at a church near the conference. Interestingly, the guy I had emailed to ask about accommodation, Ben, had been the student leader of the high school bible study/prayer meeting in Lakeville a couple years ago with whom I was working. Two years ago, I had invited Ben and several of his high school friends to come to the same conference and had worked it out so they could stay at a church with the Bethany College of Missions group. And now, Ben has since graduated and is now a sophomore at the University of Minnesota co-leading the Univ. of Minnesota House of Prayer (which he started last year!). So this year when I realized I could come, I emailed Ben and he hooked me up to stay with them at a different church. He was the one organizing 30-some people from Minnesota (including me) to attend the conference. Pretty cool how it was coming back full circle!
So it was an adventure staying at the church with 2 or 3 different groups from Minnesota, mainly college-age students. Maybe 50 people staying there…and only one shower!! It was great to meet a few St. Kate’s students who have been leading a bible study on campus. St. Kate’s is where I did my undergrad and where I’d co-led the Campus Crusade bible study for over 4.5 years. A couple years after I graduated, it had kind of fizzled out, and I’d tried to “find the remnant” in 2008 to get it re-started up, but as of 2009, I only knew of 2 students (one of whom was planning on transferring) going to the bible study with the 2 Campus Crusade staff. After I moved to Botswana, I no longer had any idea what was going on at St. Kate’s in that regard. So it was just an encouragement to meet these St. Kate’s girls who were passionate about Christ and have been leading a bible study and are in the process of getting it chartered! The last night (New Year’s Eve), we ended up staying up until 4 am talking and sharing testimonies.
Besides the encouragement and inspiration the worship and speakers at the conference provided, it was such a blessing to see so many of my friends there. I was so thankful to have coffee and catch up with one of my former youth group students, Bethany, whose family moved to Florida (so I didn’t know when I’d get to see her again). She had also come along two years ago with Ben to stay at the church with Bethany College students. I also had lunch one day and hung out another night with one of my friends who lives in Kansas City (with whom I’ve stayed several times) and our mutual friend from Bethany College. I also saw a handful of other classmates and friends from Bethany College. A bunch of us went out for dinner one of the nights.
Minnesota Again -- Good Medical News!
I rode back up on New Year’s Day and the next day, I attended the Lessons and Carols service at my Minnesota church and gave a presentation afterwards about my mission work in Botswana. Saturday night, Sunday, and Monday I also met up with various friends and college roommates. Though I couldn’t see everyone I would have liked (or even have time to stop by Bethany College), it was so nice to see the many people I could.
All told, I had 3 jaw doctor, 2 massage therapy, and 2 chiropractic appointments while in Minnesota. I am supposed to wear the jaw appliance another 2 months at least before I can hopefully start tapering off of it. The massage therapist told me that he doesn’t think I’ve lost any range of motion in my neck; it was just pretty tight. He told me something he’d never shared with me before: When I first started coming to him in September 2008 (7 months after the accident), given the extent of my injuries, he didn’t think he would be able to help my neck gain any range of motion. He thought his role would be to prevent any regression, but he honestly didn’t think I would gain any more rotation since I broke the top two vertebrae. So when I continued to gain rotation for a year and 4 months until I left last December, he said he was completely surprised and thoroughly pleased. He was one who has called me a walking miracle.
Right after that on Monday the 3rd, I decided to drop in to visit my physical therapist, who is a neck specialist. I didn’t have an appointment, but I just thought it’d be nice to drop in and say hi as I passed through. He wasn’t expecting me at all, so he was surprised to see me and we hugged. He wanted to see my neck rotation, so I turned right/left and up/down and he said it’s better than when he last saw me (December 2009)! So that’s an encouragement to know that I’m not regressing while in Botswana. This physical therapist has emailed me a few times in Botswana, and in one of them, he again acknowledged that my main physician has been God. He wrote in May: “I'm happy (but not surprised) to hear that your neck is doing well. You had 3 important things going for you: great motivation to get better, a body that's good at healing (good genetics) and a good medical team with a high level supervisor (God).”
Michigan Again … Atlanta … Johannesburg
I flew back to Michigan later that day and again was upgraded to first class. Oh my goodness! It was a new plane with ginormous seats! There was so much legroom I couldn’t even touch the seat in front of me with my feet! My chair could recline all the way to a flat bed, or while seated, I could adjust it in so many ways, including lumbar support. All this for no extra charge (thank you frequent flyer miles). Ludicrously beautiful.
I was back in Michigan with enough time to basically wash my clothes, do last minute errands, and repack for Botswana. I came down with a cold that Tuesday, including a painfully stuffed right ear. Thanks to some medical advice from friends, I got some medicine and it was feeling better after a couple hours, though still stuffed. With some special airplane earplugs to equalize pressure, I didn’t suffer too much on the plane rides.
During my 6 hour layover, I was able to have lunch out in Atlanta with Kjel, the step-dad of Jessica from my accident. His wife (Jessica’s mom) Cindy was sadly not able to get off work since it was the first day of school. It was nice to catch up with Kjel though. Then, I happened to sit next to a woman on the flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg whose daughter had broken her neck in a car accident 4 years ago and was in a coma for 10 days before passing away. So we kind of understood each other. Then after the long flight, I was picked up by the parents of Karin, the other woman who was killed in my accident. During my 23-hour layover, I stayed at their house again (in Karin’s old room), as I had in July. It was such a blessing to see them again and to share more with them. They told me I am always welcome there; that their home is my home.
Botswana!!!
Then it was off to Botswana, where I arrived safely on Friday. The two housemates already back picked me up from the airport and we went to our friends’ house in Gaborone, where we’d been invited for dinner. Yesterday, we handed out flyers to all the youth as they stepped off the coach bus from Youth Week (a YFC camp in South Africa), letting them know about the Youth Week Reunion event we have planned for January 22 at the new YFC building in Gaborone!! Our other three housemates had been at Youth Week so we picked them up too. So now it’s feeling back to ‘normal’—today is the first day back at the office and we are gonna sweat it out at aerobics class tonight!
Blessings from Botswana,
Em
I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year’s! A lot has happened since I last wrote. I enjoyed the opportunity to speak a couple more times in Michigan at my church for about an hour each time. It was also so nice to see some friends in Michigan (though sadly it is not realistic for me to see everyone I would have liked to!). Ryan flew home so Mom, he, and I spent Christmas together (with Chester the beagle too – 14 years old now). We decided to drive up to our old church in Lexington for the Christmas Eve service, which was a delightful surprise for our friends from there. After the service, Ryan and I just went on a quick tour of the church to remember our “old stomping ground” where we’d grown up in the youth group. When we entered the choir room, to the left on a little table as you walk in, there was a small (probably a few feet wide) chalkboard with “Howdy Choir Members!!!” written faintly on it in chalk. It looked like something I would write, even looked like my handwriting. I looked closer and saw my name signed in the bottom corner! I haven’t attended that church since 2004, so I was definitely not expecting to see that! It doesn’t erase anymore, and I don’t know if they usually have it out like that, but it was a cool, random surprise!
On Christmas Day, we drove back up to the Lexington Cemetary to put a wreath on Dad’s grave and Mom read a meaningful poem. We then drove up to the Lexington Park along the lake where Ryan and I ventured down onto the snowy, windy Lake Huron beach. As we passed the swing set on the way back, we decided we should swing in the snow! And yes, I even jumped out of the swing into the snow at the end. So that was some random, child-like fun. Then Mom did an amazing job of cooking Christmas dinner, which was normally Dad’s forte since he was a trained chef. It was definitely different not having Dad around, but it wasn’t as emotional as I’d expected. I never really noticed how “O Come All Ye Faithful” is more fitting or meaningful now – “Sing, choirs of angels; Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above” (i.e. Dad). The day after Christmas, we went to our family friends’ place for our annual Christmas gathering.
Minnesota!
Then the next morning, Monday the 27th, Ryan and I flew out to Minneapolis on the same flight. It was kind of humorous that I’d been upgraded to first class again because of my frequent flyer miles, but Ryan not so much... So I got to go to the front of the lines and sit in first class, while he was back in coach! I got to board earlier, so I gave him a little wave and smile as he passed me on the way back to coach, haha. I thought about asking the person next to him if he/she wanted to switch and sit in first class, but after getting situated in my comfortable chair and enjoying my pre-flight glass of orange juice…Naah! We would both probably sleep anyway and not really talk. At least, this is what I told myself as I enjoyed my spacious seat. Once there, I stayed at Ryan’s new place in Hopkins, MN. He’s renting a house, and has acquired two housemates who have both been friends with him for years.
Beautiful Redemption…Crisis Averted!
Within a few minutes of arriving at Ryan’s house, my jaw appliance broke! It had been getting weaker and at one part the clear material had been worn down to expose a couple centimeters of the internal wire. At first I was kinda freaking out because it cost like $1500 and we’d gotten a letter the previous week about how my insurance does not want to cover any more jaw costs. But then I realized that I already had an appointment scheduled with the jaw specialist that very day, just 3 hours later. The jaw appliance is custom-made and the only place that can fix it in the world is that very place where I had the appointment. So they took it overnight to send it to the lab to be fixed. Then I came back the next day, they refitted the repaired appliance to me at the only timeslot still available for an appointment (at 3 pm, precisely when the jaw appliance would return from the lab!), and made the necessary adjustments to hopefully fix/help my jaw (the original purpose of the appointment the day before).
Just that one day of naked teeth (not wearing the jaw appliance) was cause for noticeable discomfort, soreness, and pain. It made me realize how truly blessed I am that it broke when it did. Had it broken a few weeks, or even a few days, earlier in Michigan, it would have been a painful wait until I could make it to St. Paul to see the jaw specialist. Or had it broken in the following week, I would’ve been back here in Botswana at a loss for what to do. The other thing that I thought it might have been affected was that I was planning on riding down with one of Ryan’s housemates to a young adult Christian conference down in Kansas City on Tuesday morning. I knew the jaw appliance was more important, so I was willing to miss the conference if need be. But when he learned that I would need to wait until the jaw appliance was back from the lab to have my appointment at 3pm on Tuesday, he was more than willing to wait and still drive me down to the conference! So besides that small delay (and the costs of repair), it was essentially harmless because of the timing. Had it broken any other day, it would’ve been much more of a crisis. It reminded me of how God loves to bring redemption to the bad situations in our lives.
Kansas City! Reuniting with friends and making new ones!
I had already worked out to stay with friends at a church near the conference. Interestingly, the guy I had emailed to ask about accommodation, Ben, had been the student leader of the high school bible study/prayer meeting in Lakeville a couple years ago with whom I was working. Two years ago, I had invited Ben and several of his high school friends to come to the same conference and had worked it out so they could stay at a church with the Bethany College of Missions group. And now, Ben has since graduated and is now a sophomore at the University of Minnesota co-leading the Univ. of Minnesota House of Prayer (which he started last year!). So this year when I realized I could come, I emailed Ben and he hooked me up to stay with them at a different church. He was the one organizing 30-some people from Minnesota (including me) to attend the conference. Pretty cool how it was coming back full circle!
So it was an adventure staying at the church with 2 or 3 different groups from Minnesota, mainly college-age students. Maybe 50 people staying there…and only one shower!! It was great to meet a few St. Kate’s students who have been leading a bible study on campus. St. Kate’s is where I did my undergrad and where I’d co-led the Campus Crusade bible study for over 4.5 years. A couple years after I graduated, it had kind of fizzled out, and I’d tried to “find the remnant” in 2008 to get it re-started up, but as of 2009, I only knew of 2 students (one of whom was planning on transferring) going to the bible study with the 2 Campus Crusade staff. After I moved to Botswana, I no longer had any idea what was going on at St. Kate’s in that regard. So it was just an encouragement to meet these St. Kate’s girls who were passionate about Christ and have been leading a bible study and are in the process of getting it chartered! The last night (New Year’s Eve), we ended up staying up until 4 am talking and sharing testimonies.
Besides the encouragement and inspiration the worship and speakers at the conference provided, it was such a blessing to see so many of my friends there. I was so thankful to have coffee and catch up with one of my former youth group students, Bethany, whose family moved to Florida (so I didn’t know when I’d get to see her again). She had also come along two years ago with Ben to stay at the church with Bethany College students. I also had lunch one day and hung out another night with one of my friends who lives in Kansas City (with whom I’ve stayed several times) and our mutual friend from Bethany College. I also saw a handful of other classmates and friends from Bethany College. A bunch of us went out for dinner one of the nights.
Minnesota Again -- Good Medical News!
I rode back up on New Year’s Day and the next day, I attended the Lessons and Carols service at my Minnesota church and gave a presentation afterwards about my mission work in Botswana. Saturday night, Sunday, and Monday I also met up with various friends and college roommates. Though I couldn’t see everyone I would have liked (or even have time to stop by Bethany College), it was so nice to see the many people I could.
All told, I had 3 jaw doctor, 2 massage therapy, and 2 chiropractic appointments while in Minnesota. I am supposed to wear the jaw appliance another 2 months at least before I can hopefully start tapering off of it. The massage therapist told me that he doesn’t think I’ve lost any range of motion in my neck; it was just pretty tight. He told me something he’d never shared with me before: When I first started coming to him in September 2008 (7 months after the accident), given the extent of my injuries, he didn’t think he would be able to help my neck gain any range of motion. He thought his role would be to prevent any regression, but he honestly didn’t think I would gain any more rotation since I broke the top two vertebrae. So when I continued to gain rotation for a year and 4 months until I left last December, he said he was completely surprised and thoroughly pleased. He was one who has called me a walking miracle.
Right after that on Monday the 3rd, I decided to drop in to visit my physical therapist, who is a neck specialist. I didn’t have an appointment, but I just thought it’d be nice to drop in and say hi as I passed through. He wasn’t expecting me at all, so he was surprised to see me and we hugged. He wanted to see my neck rotation, so I turned right/left and up/down and he said it’s better than when he last saw me (December 2009)! So that’s an encouragement to know that I’m not regressing while in Botswana. This physical therapist has emailed me a few times in Botswana, and in one of them, he again acknowledged that my main physician has been God. He wrote in May: “I'm happy (but not surprised) to hear that your neck is doing well. You had 3 important things going for you: great motivation to get better, a body that's good at healing (good genetics) and a good medical team with a high level supervisor (God).”
Michigan Again … Atlanta … Johannesburg
I flew back to Michigan later that day and again was upgraded to first class. Oh my goodness! It was a new plane with ginormous seats! There was so much legroom I couldn’t even touch the seat in front of me with my feet! My chair could recline all the way to a flat bed, or while seated, I could adjust it in so many ways, including lumbar support. All this for no extra charge (thank you frequent flyer miles). Ludicrously beautiful.
I was back in Michigan with enough time to basically wash my clothes, do last minute errands, and repack for Botswana. I came down with a cold that Tuesday, including a painfully stuffed right ear. Thanks to some medical advice from friends, I got some medicine and it was feeling better after a couple hours, though still stuffed. With some special airplane earplugs to equalize pressure, I didn’t suffer too much on the plane rides.
During my 6 hour layover, I was able to have lunch out in Atlanta with Kjel, the step-dad of Jessica from my accident. His wife (Jessica’s mom) Cindy was sadly not able to get off work since it was the first day of school. It was nice to catch up with Kjel though. Then, I happened to sit next to a woman on the flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg whose daughter had broken her neck in a car accident 4 years ago and was in a coma for 10 days before passing away. So we kind of understood each other. Then after the long flight, I was picked up by the parents of Karin, the other woman who was killed in my accident. During my 23-hour layover, I stayed at their house again (in Karin’s old room), as I had in July. It was such a blessing to see them again and to share more with them. They told me I am always welcome there; that their home is my home.
Botswana!!!
Then it was off to Botswana, where I arrived safely on Friday. The two housemates already back picked me up from the airport and we went to our friends’ house in Gaborone, where we’d been invited for dinner. Yesterday, we handed out flyers to all the youth as they stepped off the coach bus from Youth Week (a YFC camp in South Africa), letting them know about the Youth Week Reunion event we have planned for January 22 at the new YFC building in Gaborone!! Our other three housemates had been at Youth Week so we picked them up too. So now it’s feeling back to ‘normal’—today is the first day back at the office and we are gonna sweat it out at aerobics class tonight!
Blessings from Botswana,
Em
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
New YFC building in the capital!!
Greetings from Michigan!
I arrived safely last Monday for my visit to the States, and my luggage arrived safely last Tuesday. It was nice on my last flight from Atlanta to Flint, MI my boarding pass said I was in first class. What?! I didn’t argue. I enjoyed spacious seating, ample legroom, chilled juice, and SunChips. When I arrived in Flint, Mom told me that because of all the frequent flyer miles (Africa flights add up!), I have now been upgraded to Sky Priority status or something (aka first class on domestic flights). Sweet!
It was snowing upon arrival and Sunday we had quite the snowfall, maybe 8 inches? Not as much as the blizzard in Minnesota, but still enough for a snow day for local kids yesterday. I came from Botswana’s summer (90s or 100s Fahrenheit every day), so this has been an abrupt reacquaintance with wicked frigid temperatures!! But I like the snow.
Big News!
I have great news from Botswana! It is now confirmed as of this week, that we have a YFC building/center in the capital city, Gaborone!! This is the first time in YFC’s history in Botswana that we have a separate center (not a house that also was some staff’s home) in Gaborone where we can have programs/events. It has been years of praying that this has now come about! It is in a very strategic location, just near the University, a school, and close to downtown. It’s within a 5 minute drive of 3 of the 4 schools I’m working at! We already have our first event scheduled for the 22 of January. I will be heading up most of the programming and activities there. Prayers are appreciated that God would raise up more staff and volunteers to come alongside me and really help the ministry thrive. Also, prayers are appreciated for vision and guidance in how to use the center most effectively and be a good steward of this blessing.
Speaking at a Church Tomorrow Night and Sunday!
Sunday I spoke at a church in my hometown area and tomorrow night, Wednesday, December 15, I will be sharing a longer (45 min-hour) presentation at 6:30 pm at Grace Ministry Center in Port Huron, in the far end of the Outlet Mall off of Range Road. I will share and then we have lots of finger foods, treats, and drinks so afterwards, we can chill and catch up, ask/answer questions, etc. So if you are in the area and available to come, I encourage you to make it out. It’d be great to see you! I will share lots of pictures and videos, as well as many stories from Botswana (some of which I haven’t shared on here). I’ve been reminded yet again while preparing it that God is amazing…some of the things I’ll share certainly show His hand at work!
I will also be sharing the same presentation at 9:00 am at Grace Ministry Center on this coming Sunday the 19th. It will be in a classroom while the first service is happening in the main sanctuary. Then for the second service, the pastor will call me forward for a brief interview. So I know many of you might have church activities of your own tomorrow night, but perhaps Sunday would work instead. Feel free to invite friends along who might be interested.
Blessings!
~Em
I arrived safely last Monday for my visit to the States, and my luggage arrived safely last Tuesday. It was nice on my last flight from Atlanta to Flint, MI my boarding pass said I was in first class. What?! I didn’t argue. I enjoyed spacious seating, ample legroom, chilled juice, and SunChips. When I arrived in Flint, Mom told me that because of all the frequent flyer miles (Africa flights add up!), I have now been upgraded to Sky Priority status or something (aka first class on domestic flights). Sweet!
It was snowing upon arrival and Sunday we had quite the snowfall, maybe 8 inches? Not as much as the blizzard in Minnesota, but still enough for a snow day for local kids yesterday. I came from Botswana’s summer (90s or 100s Fahrenheit every day), so this has been an abrupt reacquaintance with wicked frigid temperatures!! But I like the snow.
Big News!
I have great news from Botswana! It is now confirmed as of this week, that we have a YFC building/center in the capital city, Gaborone!! This is the first time in YFC’s history in Botswana that we have a separate center (not a house that also was some staff’s home) in Gaborone where we can have programs/events. It has been years of praying that this has now come about! It is in a very strategic location, just near the University, a school, and close to downtown. It’s within a 5 minute drive of 3 of the 4 schools I’m working at! We already have our first event scheduled for the 22 of January. I will be heading up most of the programming and activities there. Prayers are appreciated that God would raise up more staff and volunteers to come alongside me and really help the ministry thrive. Also, prayers are appreciated for vision and guidance in how to use the center most effectively and be a good steward of this blessing.
Speaking at a Church Tomorrow Night and Sunday!
Sunday I spoke at a church in my hometown area and tomorrow night, Wednesday, December 15, I will be sharing a longer (45 min-hour) presentation at 6:30 pm at Grace Ministry Center in Port Huron, in the far end of the Outlet Mall off of Range Road. I will share and then we have lots of finger foods, treats, and drinks so afterwards, we can chill and catch up, ask/answer questions, etc. So if you are in the area and available to come, I encourage you to make it out. It’d be great to see you! I will share lots of pictures and videos, as well as many stories from Botswana (some of which I haven’t shared on here). I’ve been reminded yet again while preparing it that God is amazing…some of the things I’ll share certainly show His hand at work!
I will also be sharing the same presentation at 9:00 am at Grace Ministry Center on this coming Sunday the 19th. It will be in a classroom while the first service is happening in the main sanctuary. Then for the second service, the pastor will call me forward for a brief interview. So I know many of you might have church activities of your own tomorrow night, but perhaps Sunday would work instead. Feel free to invite friends along who might be interested.
Blessings!
~Em
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Camp! etc
Greetings!
I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a lovely turkey dinner with the American family who goes to our church and small group bible study. One interesting thing in Botswana is that the sweet potatoes turn green when cooked. Slightly unappetizing…but tasty nonetheless! It was just a blessing to enjoy a home-cooked turkey dinner when, as one of my friends put it, my family was “so spread out” for the first time (Dad in heaven, Mom & Ryan in Minnesota, and me in Botswana).
Our God is an Awesome God!
I’ve continued hanging out with the student who I’ve been taking to counseling in Gaborone. On the drive to counseling in late November, I let her be the DJ as usual with the music on my mp3 player. I was surprised that she selected a clearly Christian song (“Above All” by Michael W. Smith). She didn’t want to listen to Christian music at all before. I figured it was a mistake and that once she realized what it was, she would change it. Instead, she cranked it up and told me that a Scripture Union volunteer had been coming to the school on weekends to teach a dance to that song to whoever wanted to learn. She listened to it twice, while doing some of the motions.
I smiled inwardly, because a week and a half earlier when that same Scripture Union volunteer had seen us talking at the school, he’d invited her to Scripture Union and urged me to convince her to go. Once he had left, she’d said to me, “Don’t try to convince me…I’m not going.” Another time she told me that when he’d been talking to a group of them about God a few months ago, she couldn’t stand to hear about God, so she’d just left. But now, though the dance for “Above All” was not officially part of Scripture Union club, she had evidently been observing, if not participating, in it. As we drove, she went on to select more clearly Christian songs, such as “Amazing Grace” and “Our God is an Awesome God”! It’s encouraging to see her heart softening towards God bit by bit!
Unexpected Opportunities—to speak, and to camp!
When I dropped her off for counseling that day, I decided to stop by the Junior Secondary School in Gaborone where I’ve been getting involved with the Scripture Union club. I was just planning on dropping off some bible studies for the students (the club is normally a different day and it’d been cancelled that week due to sports day). However, the guidance/counseling teachers called up a student leader of SU and he came to the office. They told me about a Scripture Union camp a few days later and invited me to it. Then the boy took me to where most of the club members happened to be meeting, waiting for the permission slips for the camp. Then he said, “Ok, and now Emily will share with us.” Ok!? So I stood and shared some of my testimony with them and encouraged them to fully surrender their lives to God and let Him lead them down the path He dreamed for their lives. Another application of that verse to always be ready to give an account of the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15)! Then we sang heartfelt worship songs together there in an outdoor amphitheatre of the school.
Afterward, I found out that the student leader of the club was recently promoted to be the one and only Head Boy in the school. Thus, the teachers call upon him to speak to misbehaving kids, encourage good behavior and be a good example. He told me he feels called to encourage every student to know more about Christ!
And it actually worked out for me to go to the Scripture Union camp for a few days! After calling and re-checking over the weekend to make sure they had accommodation for me on such short notice (they said yes), I decided on Monday morning to text message one of the contacts to tell her I was on my way from Mochudi. After I’d already been driving for an hour, I got a text back from her telling me there was no accommodation at the camp! I was all packed and ready to spend the next 3 days at the camp, so this was a bit frustrating and discouraging.
God Will Make a Way…
But then I remembered that I know an American missionary family who live near where the camp would be. So I called them up and explained the situation, and they were eager to offer their hospitality so I could still attend the camp during the days and stay at their place at night. This was such a blessing. I actually met this family in 2004 when they were missionaries up in Maun, in the north of Botswana. I spent many hours then helping to paint their wooden house with wood sealer! We reunited at the Joining Hands missionary conference in April this year, and again when they visited our church a few weeks ago. They’d also invited us for Thanksgiving dinner at their house, but it was just a really far drive and easier to celebrate with the American family living in Mochudi. It was great to catch up with these missionaries and enjoy their house – no mosquitos there!?! And thus no need for mosquito nets! (I wonder if I’m not called to work there…haha).
Scripture Union Camp!
The camp was in a remote place on the outskirts of a tiny village called Digawana. It was at a Junior Secondary School that is a boarding school so the campers slept in the hostels. When I arrived, I met a kind young woman who is the Scripture Union advisor at the school where she teaches. She took me into the main hall where there were hundreds of students and teachers just ending an organized debate session, debating theological topics. She introduced me to everyone (I’m not good at estimating numbers but she thought perhaps 600 people were there…someone else thought 300…it was a lot either way!).
I realized that I was the only non-Batswana in the whole camp, or at least the only lekgoa (white person). This was actually my first experience of being the only foreigner for an extended period of time. I liked the experience, though challenging at times if they switched into only speaking Setswana. But it served as another motivational kick in the pants to keep studying my Setswana!
After the debate, it was recreation time, where I got to know that teacher better (and shared lots of my testimony with her) and hung out at the sports field. I also hung out in the girls’ hostel with the girls from the club in Gaborone I started working with in October. Dinner consisted of two “fatcakes” (an amazing confection consisting of basically a ball of fried dough, similar to a donut but bigger and more bread-like) and some vegetable-beef soup. Fatcakes are greatly loved by the Batswana…and by me. Though, perhaps because of the name and thanks to the grace of God, I’ve steered pretty clear of them (had less than 10 this whole year even though they are sold by women right outside the YFC office).
After dinner it was time for the evening session of worship and preaching by a visiting pastor. The worship was awesome. True Batswana worship – with kids just dancing, jumping, and clapping with joy. A bunch of teens went to the back where there was open space and proceeded to do a synchronized dance with the song (it reminded me of how everyone joins in the "Electric Slide" at American dances and weddings), but this was cooler. At parts of it, they would do mirror-image footwork and turn around from each other, then meet and high-five each other with both hands in rhythm with the song. The joy in the room was infectious. I wish I could have taken video or pictures, but being the only foreigner, I didn’t want to look like a tourist! Some of the boys from the school in Gaborone where I work urged me to join in and dance alongside them, so they taught me the fun footwork (a simple dance, not the intricate one). It was a cool experience!
Learning New Testament Style – in the countryside
I also enjoyed feeling so “in the bush” and the amazing star-scape it provided each night. Those were the best starry nights I’ve seen this year because there was so little light pollution in such a remote area. The next day, all of us walked out of the school into the “bush” near the school and sat down in an open field next to a little pond with cows and donkeys grazing nearby. There the staff/teachers gave their prepared answers to the questions that teens had put in the Question Box all week, anything they were wondering about faith and life. We sat outside in the cool breeze as they read the questions (i.e. what is fasting and why do it? When is the right age to start dating? Are snakes evil? etc.) and shared insight from the Scriptures. It was like a bit of teaching & discipleship, and reminded me of how Jesus would teach in the outdoors.
Before it began though, someone spontaneously starting singing a Setswana worship song and then teens and teachers hopped up and began to join together in a dancing march in a huge train of people through the field with the backdrop of grazing cows! Maybe someday I’ll know those dances and can join in, but for now it was just cool to watch. All in all, we were there in the field about 3 hours until the sunset, the youth still interested in learning more!
Promoting Abstinence and Faithfulness
Earlier that day for a few hours all the teens were taught the True Love Waits abstinence/HIV-prevention curriculum, which happened to be the exact curriculum I taught in northern Botswana in 2004. Interestingly, the American missionary family I was staying with near the camp had been the ones to teach it to me in 2004 and at that time, they said it was the first time the curriculum would be taught in Botswana. They had been developing and teaching it in Uganda since the ‘90s and it was hugely successful in helping Uganda’s AIDS rate plummet from the highest in the world to less than 5% in one decade. This family had just moved from Uganda to Botswana in 2004, and we were the first ones they trained to teach the curriculum in Botswana. It was good to see the message of abstinence being promoted so heavily at this camp, and to see that hundreds of teens committed to abstain until marriage and to be faithful in marriage.
Working Alongside a Key Student – Another Cool Connection!
At the camp, the guy who is one of the student leaders of the SU club at the school in Gaborone (the Head Boy who I’ve been working with to give out the bible studies and who invited me to speak to the club) told me he needed to leave the camp to go to an important meeting in Gaborone on Tuesday to stand up for children’s rights. He had permission to leave so I drove him to the bus station in the nearest city so he could ride to Gabs. Turns out he is on the National Children’s Consultative Forum coordinated by Unicef and the University of Botswana, a committee of roughly 150 youth nationwide. I came to find out that he is not just on the committee/forum, but is the national chairperson of it! Of all the youth in Botswana, it turns out that I’ve been working with the one who has been chosen to chair this nationwide forum to help children in Botswana!
As chair, they want him to visit children/youth nationwide (in schools, prisons, hospitals, orphanages, etc.) and help them understand their rights (namely in the recently passed Child Act). He’s told me he’s hoping that perhaps we can work together somehow to share Christ with the kids too! He said he wants kids to know about Christ and to encourage them to get involved in Scripture Union. At the end of our car ride back to camp, he asked me if I could help him with his desire to write a book so that he can stand up for children and share things he’s learned. He said he wants people to know “how marvelous it is once you know Christ!” Oh, and this guy is just 16 years old!
Odds and Ends from the Camp
Other cool things at the camp were some of the conversations I had with the teens. Another one of the student leaders of the club I’m working alongside shared with me at dinner the first night how she is the only Christian in her family. When her dad was diagnosed with cancer in early November, she fasted and prayed for 5 days and his latest tests last Tuesday showed huge improvement (he didn’t need any more chemo)! Another guy came up to me and asked some deep questions about faith. We ended up talking for several minutes (all the way out on the walk to the bush for the Question Box time), and it’s clear that this guy is solid in his faith and desire to serve the Lord. He just graduated from senior secondary school and is praying that he’ll have the opportunity to go to the University of Botswana next August. He is just hungering to serve the Lord so I told him about volunteer opportunities in Gaborone with YFC and he seems quite interested. I got his contact info to call him in January when we start up programs there.
Finally, the last night there was the talent show and they invited me to join in, so I played one of the piano songs that God gave me when I was 17. At that point, I hadn’t had a piano lesson since I was 9 years old, and I only could play 5 songs. But one night I just started composing a song out of nowhere (hadn’t planned on composing anything)! I played it the next day for my youth pastor, and she got chills and tears in her eyes and remarked, “This is a gift from God!” So I gave that little introduction at the camp and then played the song to the largest audience ever I think. They started clapping and cheering during it (hopefully not for me but for the real Composer of the song). It was just a cool way to round out my time with them and I got to say goodbye on the microphone to them all and thank them for a great couple days.
Back in the States!
I safely arrived Monday in Michigan! My luggage safely arrived Tuesday. The schedule for when I’ll be sharing at different churches is in my last post (starts this Sunday!). I'll head back to Botswana on January 5.
~Em
I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a lovely turkey dinner with the American family who goes to our church and small group bible study. One interesting thing in Botswana is that the sweet potatoes turn green when cooked. Slightly unappetizing…but tasty nonetheless! It was just a blessing to enjoy a home-cooked turkey dinner when, as one of my friends put it, my family was “so spread out” for the first time (Dad in heaven, Mom & Ryan in Minnesota, and me in Botswana).
Our God is an Awesome God!
I’ve continued hanging out with the student who I’ve been taking to counseling in Gaborone. On the drive to counseling in late November, I let her be the DJ as usual with the music on my mp3 player. I was surprised that she selected a clearly Christian song (“Above All” by Michael W. Smith). She didn’t want to listen to Christian music at all before. I figured it was a mistake and that once she realized what it was, she would change it. Instead, she cranked it up and told me that a Scripture Union volunteer had been coming to the school on weekends to teach a dance to that song to whoever wanted to learn. She listened to it twice, while doing some of the motions.
I smiled inwardly, because a week and a half earlier when that same Scripture Union volunteer had seen us talking at the school, he’d invited her to Scripture Union and urged me to convince her to go. Once he had left, she’d said to me, “Don’t try to convince me…I’m not going.” Another time she told me that when he’d been talking to a group of them about God a few months ago, she couldn’t stand to hear about God, so she’d just left. But now, though the dance for “Above All” was not officially part of Scripture Union club, she had evidently been observing, if not participating, in it. As we drove, she went on to select more clearly Christian songs, such as “Amazing Grace” and “Our God is an Awesome God”! It’s encouraging to see her heart softening towards God bit by bit!
Unexpected Opportunities—to speak, and to camp!
When I dropped her off for counseling that day, I decided to stop by the Junior Secondary School in Gaborone where I’ve been getting involved with the Scripture Union club. I was just planning on dropping off some bible studies for the students (the club is normally a different day and it’d been cancelled that week due to sports day). However, the guidance/counseling teachers called up a student leader of SU and he came to the office. They told me about a Scripture Union camp a few days later and invited me to it. Then the boy took me to where most of the club members happened to be meeting, waiting for the permission slips for the camp. Then he said, “Ok, and now Emily will share with us.” Ok!? So I stood and shared some of my testimony with them and encouraged them to fully surrender their lives to God and let Him lead them down the path He dreamed for their lives. Another application of that verse to always be ready to give an account of the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15)! Then we sang heartfelt worship songs together there in an outdoor amphitheatre of the school.
Afterward, I found out that the student leader of the club was recently promoted to be the one and only Head Boy in the school. Thus, the teachers call upon him to speak to misbehaving kids, encourage good behavior and be a good example. He told me he feels called to encourage every student to know more about Christ!
And it actually worked out for me to go to the Scripture Union camp for a few days! After calling and re-checking over the weekend to make sure they had accommodation for me on such short notice (they said yes), I decided on Monday morning to text message one of the contacts to tell her I was on my way from Mochudi. After I’d already been driving for an hour, I got a text back from her telling me there was no accommodation at the camp! I was all packed and ready to spend the next 3 days at the camp, so this was a bit frustrating and discouraging.
God Will Make a Way…
But then I remembered that I know an American missionary family who live near where the camp would be. So I called them up and explained the situation, and they were eager to offer their hospitality so I could still attend the camp during the days and stay at their place at night. This was such a blessing. I actually met this family in 2004 when they were missionaries up in Maun, in the north of Botswana. I spent many hours then helping to paint their wooden house with wood sealer! We reunited at the Joining Hands missionary conference in April this year, and again when they visited our church a few weeks ago. They’d also invited us for Thanksgiving dinner at their house, but it was just a really far drive and easier to celebrate with the American family living in Mochudi. It was great to catch up with these missionaries and enjoy their house – no mosquitos there!?! And thus no need for mosquito nets! (I wonder if I’m not called to work there…haha).
Scripture Union Camp!
The camp was in a remote place on the outskirts of a tiny village called Digawana. It was at a Junior Secondary School that is a boarding school so the campers slept in the hostels. When I arrived, I met a kind young woman who is the Scripture Union advisor at the school where she teaches. She took me into the main hall where there were hundreds of students and teachers just ending an organized debate session, debating theological topics. She introduced me to everyone (I’m not good at estimating numbers but she thought perhaps 600 people were there…someone else thought 300…it was a lot either way!).
I realized that I was the only non-Batswana in the whole camp, or at least the only lekgoa (white person). This was actually my first experience of being the only foreigner for an extended period of time. I liked the experience, though challenging at times if they switched into only speaking Setswana. But it served as another motivational kick in the pants to keep studying my Setswana!
After the debate, it was recreation time, where I got to know that teacher better (and shared lots of my testimony with her) and hung out at the sports field. I also hung out in the girls’ hostel with the girls from the club in Gaborone I started working with in October. Dinner consisted of two “fatcakes” (an amazing confection consisting of basically a ball of fried dough, similar to a donut but bigger and more bread-like) and some vegetable-beef soup. Fatcakes are greatly loved by the Batswana…and by me. Though, perhaps because of the name and thanks to the grace of God, I’ve steered pretty clear of them (had less than 10 this whole year even though they are sold by women right outside the YFC office).
After dinner it was time for the evening session of worship and preaching by a visiting pastor. The worship was awesome. True Batswana worship – with kids just dancing, jumping, and clapping with joy. A bunch of teens went to the back where there was open space and proceeded to do a synchronized dance with the song (it reminded me of how everyone joins in the "Electric Slide" at American dances and weddings), but this was cooler. At parts of it, they would do mirror-image footwork and turn around from each other, then meet and high-five each other with both hands in rhythm with the song. The joy in the room was infectious. I wish I could have taken video or pictures, but being the only foreigner, I didn’t want to look like a tourist! Some of the boys from the school in Gaborone where I work urged me to join in and dance alongside them, so they taught me the fun footwork (a simple dance, not the intricate one). It was a cool experience!
Learning New Testament Style – in the countryside
I also enjoyed feeling so “in the bush” and the amazing star-scape it provided each night. Those were the best starry nights I’ve seen this year because there was so little light pollution in such a remote area. The next day, all of us walked out of the school into the “bush” near the school and sat down in an open field next to a little pond with cows and donkeys grazing nearby. There the staff/teachers gave their prepared answers to the questions that teens had put in the Question Box all week, anything they were wondering about faith and life. We sat outside in the cool breeze as they read the questions (i.e. what is fasting and why do it? When is the right age to start dating? Are snakes evil? etc.) and shared insight from the Scriptures. It was like a bit of teaching & discipleship, and reminded me of how Jesus would teach in the outdoors.
Before it began though, someone spontaneously starting singing a Setswana worship song and then teens and teachers hopped up and began to join together in a dancing march in a huge train of people through the field with the backdrop of grazing cows! Maybe someday I’ll know those dances and can join in, but for now it was just cool to watch. All in all, we were there in the field about 3 hours until the sunset, the youth still interested in learning more!
Promoting Abstinence and Faithfulness
Earlier that day for a few hours all the teens were taught the True Love Waits abstinence/HIV-prevention curriculum, which happened to be the exact curriculum I taught in northern Botswana in 2004. Interestingly, the American missionary family I was staying with near the camp had been the ones to teach it to me in 2004 and at that time, they said it was the first time the curriculum would be taught in Botswana. They had been developing and teaching it in Uganda since the ‘90s and it was hugely successful in helping Uganda’s AIDS rate plummet from the highest in the world to less than 5% in one decade. This family had just moved from Uganda to Botswana in 2004, and we were the first ones they trained to teach the curriculum in Botswana. It was good to see the message of abstinence being promoted so heavily at this camp, and to see that hundreds of teens committed to abstain until marriage and to be faithful in marriage.
Working Alongside a Key Student – Another Cool Connection!
At the camp, the guy who is one of the student leaders of the SU club at the school in Gaborone (the Head Boy who I’ve been working with to give out the bible studies and who invited me to speak to the club) told me he needed to leave the camp to go to an important meeting in Gaborone on Tuesday to stand up for children’s rights. He had permission to leave so I drove him to the bus station in the nearest city so he could ride to Gabs. Turns out he is on the National Children’s Consultative Forum coordinated by Unicef and the University of Botswana, a committee of roughly 150 youth nationwide. I came to find out that he is not just on the committee/forum, but is the national chairperson of it! Of all the youth in Botswana, it turns out that I’ve been working with the one who has been chosen to chair this nationwide forum to help children in Botswana!
As chair, they want him to visit children/youth nationwide (in schools, prisons, hospitals, orphanages, etc.) and help them understand their rights (namely in the recently passed Child Act). He’s told me he’s hoping that perhaps we can work together somehow to share Christ with the kids too! He said he wants kids to know about Christ and to encourage them to get involved in Scripture Union. At the end of our car ride back to camp, he asked me if I could help him with his desire to write a book so that he can stand up for children and share things he’s learned. He said he wants people to know “how marvelous it is once you know Christ!” Oh, and this guy is just 16 years old!
Odds and Ends from the Camp
Other cool things at the camp were some of the conversations I had with the teens. Another one of the student leaders of the club I’m working alongside shared with me at dinner the first night how she is the only Christian in her family. When her dad was diagnosed with cancer in early November, she fasted and prayed for 5 days and his latest tests last Tuesday showed huge improvement (he didn’t need any more chemo)! Another guy came up to me and asked some deep questions about faith. We ended up talking for several minutes (all the way out on the walk to the bush for the Question Box time), and it’s clear that this guy is solid in his faith and desire to serve the Lord. He just graduated from senior secondary school and is praying that he’ll have the opportunity to go to the University of Botswana next August. He is just hungering to serve the Lord so I told him about volunteer opportunities in Gaborone with YFC and he seems quite interested. I got his contact info to call him in January when we start up programs there.
Finally, the last night there was the talent show and they invited me to join in, so I played one of the piano songs that God gave me when I was 17. At that point, I hadn’t had a piano lesson since I was 9 years old, and I only could play 5 songs. But one night I just started composing a song out of nowhere (hadn’t planned on composing anything)! I played it the next day for my youth pastor, and she got chills and tears in her eyes and remarked, “This is a gift from God!” So I gave that little introduction at the camp and then played the song to the largest audience ever I think. They started clapping and cheering during it (hopefully not for me but for the real Composer of the song). It was just a cool way to round out my time with them and I got to say goodbye on the microphone to them all and thank them for a great couple days.
Back in the States!
I safely arrived Monday in Michigan! My luggage safely arrived Tuesday. The schedule for when I’ll be sharing at different churches is in my last post (starts this Sunday!). I'll head back to Botswana on January 5.
~Em
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