Some sadness...but God still brings Beauty from Ashes

Hey all,
Just realized it’s been awhile since my last post. Sadly, my beloved dog Chester passed away this week at the old age of 14.5 (102 in dog years)…so that was another sad phone call to receive. My mom feels his absence most keenly because he was living with her in Michigan, though it’s hard for me too since he was such a faithful friend all these years (since I was 13).

More Beauty from the Ashes

So June is a tougher month now because of the anniversary of my dad’s death, Father’s Day, and now Chester’s death. I wrote a new song for guitar/vocals two days after Father’s Day called “Beauty from Ashes,” and it’s actually the first song I’ve written since my accident. So it’s borne out of that and my dad’s death:

“Beauty from Ashes”

Verse 1:
This life can have its pain, its trials, and its heartache
But You never said You’d keep us from all heartbreak
Yet what You promised is that nothing could ever separate us,
That we’ll look back and see how You beautifully re-made us

Chorus:
You bring beauty from ashes
You trade joy for mourning
You bring beauty from ashes
My King, My Love

Verse 2:
When tragedy, and grief, and trials enfold us
You are still in control and tenderly You hold us
You work all things together for the good of those who love You
And You’ll be glorified my King, proven faithful and true

Chorus:
You bring beauty from ashes
You trade joy for mourning
You bring beauty from ashes
My King, My Love

Bridge:
You are so good, You are so kind
You heal my heart, You blow my mind
You are so faithful in my life
Jesus

You are beautiful
So beautiful
You are beautiful
My King, My Love

Jesus, You are so faithful in my life
Jesus, You are so faithful in my life

About a week later (last Monday), I got to see God bring even more beauty from the ashes. One of the YFC volunteers in Gaborone asked if I’d come with her to the hospital in Gaborone to visit a family friend, a young pastor who’d survived a fatal car accident where 3 people died. His main injuries were related to his neck and jaw. Sound familiar? So I brought along my laptop and showed him the slideshow that depicts the testimony of how God has brought beauty from the ashes of my accident, triumph out of tragedy. I encouraged him that God can bring him through this valley back to the mountaintops, and that God is faithful and good in the midst of such tragedies. The other visitors encouraged me to lead a prayer for him, so I prayed for his healing—physical and emotional. Due to his neck brace and jaw it was difficult for him to speak, but he reached out his hand to shake mine afterward. The next day, when I stopped in to visit him, he looked much better and was able to talk a bit with me and thank me again.

Hospital Ministry in Gaborone

When the volunteer had asked if I’d go to the hospital with her, I was hoping that we could visit other patients afterward. It’s been on my heart to visit patients at that hospital, but I didn’t know the procedure. Before I had a chance to ask her, she asked me if we could visit other patients! She said that the Lord had really been calling her to visit patients there, and she was hoping that our visit that day could be the start of a regular hospital ministry. That, of course, resonated in my heart, as I’d been hoping the same exact thing! So after we visited her pastor friend, we visited and prayed for several other patients. In the process, we ran into the college student I’ve been mentoring! She too was there to visit and pray for patients! I found out the next day that she has been going to minister at the hospital almost every day since 2008! So it looks like we already have a core of committed hospital ministers, and we can invite other volunteers to join us!

Hospital Ministry in Mochudi

I typed the following up awhile back about our hospital ministry on Fridays in Mochudi, but left it out because the entry was already quite long, so I’ll include it now:

The day in May we shared the Gift of Time lesson at the school assembly [that God gives us all the gift of time and we have to choose how to fill our time], we were praying for and talking to a teen girl patient who wanted a nurse to assist her. We went to get one, but they said they were busy attending to a corpse. Someone in the next room had just died. It just struck me regarding the time teaching we gave earlier that day…that woman’s time was up. We only get so much time on earth. How are we using it? Meanwhile, while that girl could not be attended by a nurse I sang over her a lullaby, the lyrics of which are from the perspective of God singing to you. Any of my youth group kids from the US would recognize it as the song I’ve sung to them at camps and overnights just before bed. It’s “I am” by Jill Phillips. Here are the lyrics:

Oh gently lay your head
Upon My chest
And I will comfort you
Like a mother while you rest
The tide can change so fast,
But I will stay
The same through the past,
The same in future, same today

CHORUS:
I am constant; I am near
I am peace that shatters all your secret fears
I am holy; I am wise
I'm the only one who knows your heart's desires
Your heart's desires

Oh weary, tired and worn,
Let out your sighs
And drop that heavy load you hold
‘Cause Mine is light
I know you through and through;
There's no need to hide
I want to show you love
That is deep and high and wide

CHORUS(2x)

Oh gently lay your head
Upon My chest
And I will comfort you
Like a mother while you rest

The patient closed her eyes and rested as I sang. I think it calmed her down. I often sing that song over patients in the hospital and am so grateful for the chance to help them sense God’s love and care for them. Another particularly memorable moment at the hospital was when we went up to an old lady lying in her bed. She didn’t understand or speak English very much, so in my halting Setswana I tried to find out what was wrong and ask if we could pray for her. After we prayed, she reached for my hand, pulled it gently closer and bent her head down to kiss my hand. She communicated love and appreciation through that and her eyes/smile better than words could have done. She then signaled for Jennifer to come closer so she could do the same for her. By the time we left her bedside, she had kissed each of our hands three times.

Other News

There’s a lot going on with mentoring, clubs, etc., but here are some main things: This week I’m meeting again with the leadership of the Face the Nation program to determine how they might partner with us in the mentoring program I’m developing. Prayers for wisdom and God’s will in all this is much appreciated. We are running holiday programs the next couple weeks in Mochudi and a village next to Gaborone, so prayers for that are also welcome. A visiting team from Cape Town just left this morning, and a week from today, 20+ Canadians will arrive to minister with us, and all somehow fit into our staff house for two weeks! Two of the regular staff/volunteers, Corine and Franzi, just flew back to Europe after their times of service here (sad for us!!), so we only have 3 of us living in the house now…until the Canadians arrive!

Michelle Obama Visited Mochudi!

Oh, and in other random news, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama made an unscheduled stop at the restaurant just 300 meters from our house in Mochudi last week! We didn’t know she was coming to Mochudi, but as I drove to Gaborone that morning and saw all the police and tanks along the highway from Gaborone to Mochudi, I wondered what was going on. I knew that Michelle Obama was in Gaborone, and so I assumed she was going to visit Mochudi?! So I called my housemates to let them know, and sure enough, she not only drove by, but stopped to get food right across the street from where they were standing to see her drive by, less than a quarter mile from our house! You can watch a Reuters news report on it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qr9Uu4w2Ag. She drove back through the next day on her way back to the airport.

Take care, and I appreciate your care and prayers.
Blessings,
Em

Strike, Riots, Church Unifying, etc

Dumelang!

It’s been an interesting few weeks, to put it mildly! Some background to the story is that most of the Botswana civil servants (teachers, nurses, doctors, other government staff except police/army) went on strike on April 18 in an attempt to make the government increase their salaries 16%. Students were still required to be in school, even though there was no one to teach them (just a few administrators in the office).

The first couple days of the strike, we at YFC continued our scheduled lessons on self-esteem/worth at schools. It was certainly a weird feeling to walk into a classroom full of students with no teacher, teach them for 40 minutes, and then leave them with no teacher. They were extremely well behaved, working quietly on homework. It also worked in our favor that at a school in Gaborone, we were able to have longer Scripture Union club meetings. I brought my guitar and we sang worship songs in preparation for a revival/handing-over ceremony where the older students will hand over the leadership to the younger officers. One afternoon we sang for 2 hours during the school day! This was in the first couple weeks of the strike.

Explaining our skit during morning assembly 13 May during the strike

The strike was originally only going to be for two weeks. However, it continued. On Monday 16 May, nearly a month into the strike, the students nationwide had reached a point of restlessness with no teachers and organized their own strike in various places, including that school, demanding that their teachers return. In Mochudi, they marched into town, burning tires and trash in the streets, looting from stores. Police and SWAT teams were called in. By the evening things had settled down with no major injuries, and in the morning army peacekeeping troops were present, along with a busload of police to maintain order. Things had already calmed down quickly, but the government closed down all the public schools indefinitely on Tuesday as a result of the student uprisings here and in other villages. Private schools also voluntarily closed down for about a week. Government primary schools reopened after a week, and secondary schools after two weeks.

Once the civil servants strike crossed over from being a legal strike to becoming an illegal strike, essential workers (mostly medical staff) were ordered back to work by a court order. Those essential workers who continued to strike (approximately 3000) were then fired. Hospitals were operating on skeletal staff and some clinics were closed. At the end of the week that the secondary schools reopened, on Friday June 3, the students in Mochudi again marched through town, creating a roadblock and hitting cars with sticks. There was no major damage or injuries that we know of, but it caused the school in Mochudi to close again.

Botswana has always been distinguished by its peacefulness, never even having a war or strike/riots like this, so this has really shaken people (though I want to stress that we feel very safe—please don’t worry!). Not to mention the recent Foot & Mouth Disease outbreak in Botswana which resulted in tens of thousands of cows being slaughtered. Beef is one of the staples of the Botswana economy, along with diamonds, the demand for which has been lowered substantially by the global economic crisis and the Japanese tsunami (Japan is usually a big importer of Botswana diamonds).

The Church rising up as one!

One positive aspect of all of this is that it has brought the Body of Christ together. Actually on May 15, the night before the students rioted in Mochudi (so while things were peaceful and we had no idea the next day would be so chaotic), we at YFC had called a meeting of intercessors from various churches and I’d shared our vision of an interdenominational prayer movement and encouraged them to invite their young people to our weekly prayer meetings at YFC. We also agreed to meet each Sunday to pray and plan for the Global Day of Prayer on June 12.

Then Sunday June 5 was declared by the Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana to be a national day of prayer for reconciliation for the nation. So Christians came together from different churches/denominations in villages and cities nationwide to pray together for peace, stability, and reconciliation. In Mochudi, there was quite a large turnout—bringing together several pastors and believers from several churches. It was a beautiful thing to see—really what we’ve envisioned and been praying for. It was historic for Mochudi where “unity” has not been a word that would describe the interaction between pastors and churches. At that meeting, church leaders repented for not having already been gathering together when everything was fine, and there was talk of having an all-night of prayer with all the churches invited.

In Gaborone, at the prayer meeting there that day, leadership of the striking union members seemed to make a public apology or at least head in that direction. Some thought the strike was over, but there was confusion and still people were striking the last week. They had accepted the government’s 3% salary increase but many were still striking demanding the reinstatement of the essential services workers who were fired during the strike. It turned violent in Gaborone last Wednesday as marchers (which the union has denied were union strikers) destroyed shop windows, and some said that police and SSG (aka SWAT) teams fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the Main Mall. No one was seriously injured. In Mochudi, the senior secondary school was closed all week, and all the other schools sent the students home on Wednesday or Thursday due to threats of possible violence, though nothing happened.

As of Friday last week, the union leaders called a suspension of the strike, and that the civil servants would return to work this week. The government has reinstated some of those who were fired and allowed that they all can re-apply for their jobs. There is a lot more to it all as to why each side feels so strongly—i.e. the factors that led to this point—and if you are interested you can search for and read the many articles online. As an example, I just read online that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) has encouraged the government’s stance, actually urging them to cut back public servant expenses even more to be able to sustain the economy.

On Sunday 12 June, we at YFC hosted the Global Day of Prayer gathering. Again, Christians from several churches turned up in large number (nearly 100!) to pack out our center. There were 6 or 7 different pastors present, unified together in prayer. We prayed for peace, for the economy, for the youth, for unity in the Body of Christ, etc. At one point, there was a long period of corporate repentance for the nation’s sins. It was beautiful to see pastors, elders, old and young, kneeling down and crying out to God. No matter if they were wearing expensive suits or jeans or skirts, all knelt down on the floor and pleaded for mercy. After that, we arose and sang powerful worship songs together. We didn’t have instruments, but they weren’t needed—just beautiful a cappella singing. We kept singing…you could tell people just wanted to stay and keep worshipping together. So the pastors made plans to meet again as “the Church” again in a couple weeks! This was such an encouragement, especially to those who have been interceding for years for an interdenominational prayer movement in Mochudi. Someone called it miraculous, given the characteristic disunity among churches.

Resolution – Reconciliation – Restoration

Monday morning, most of the 90,000 striking civil servants returned to work. However, some workers still did not want to return to work, upset at the union leadership for suspending the strike. Their picketing in Gaborone was broken up and dispersed by the police without violence on Monday as police ordered them back to work. The workers returned to work Tuesday; students and teachers returned to school Tuesday, so things seem to be somewhat normal again. Things are calm and peaceful, though things still don’t seem fully resolved. There is talk of the strike possibly resuming later (indicative even in the term “suspension” of the strike, instead of “cessation” or “end”). And of course, the educational system will need to recover from this in terms of preparing students for the end of year examinations and restoring respect between teachers and students. All this will be an interesting backdrop for the previously scheduled visit next weekend of the U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama to Botswana to discuss the educational system here! In church one Sunday during the strike, it came to mind that we should pray for resolution, reconciliation, and restoration. I will keep praying for that, and you are welcome to join.

Other Odds and Ends

Meanwhile, life and ministry has gone on. I have lots to share, but I will just give brief highlights. We’ve continued visiting and praying for hospital patients on Fridays and Yarona FC drop-in centre on Saturdays. I’ve started mentoring a university student leader, one of the YFC volunteers, and that is going really well. I’ll share more details on that and the mentoring program soon. In a nutshell, the mentoring program is taking shape as I’ve been meeting with school leaders and discussing partnership options with Face the Nation, and started mentoring training.

Next, one of the Girls Club members suggested we could do a benefit concert to raise funds to buy blankets for needy people in Mochudi during this cold winter. So the Girls Club leaders invited churches to tell their youth and prepare dramas, dances, or songs. We at YFC did our step-dance number, and I played/sang one of the songs I wrote. It was a fun evening! This past Saturday the girls rode through Mochudi in our YFC van to deliver the blankets to the families.

Last week, a representative from Child Evangelism Fellowship came and taught a 3-day seminar at YFC. It was great to see that Lesego, one of the Christian young ladies from Olifants Drift, was there being trained as well. Now she can implement what she learned with the children in that remote village (we met her when we did the outreach there at the end of April). It’s always good to know that those kids we met and taught there will have someone who can continue to teach and guide them!

Lesego is next to me, and Fifie is one of our newer Botswana staff.

In these weeks we’ve also said goodbye to Twila and Kathrin, two of our housemates who’ve gone back to Canada and Germany after serving 10 and 9 months respectively. Kathrin’s last day we hiked Kgale Hill in Gaborone, and in a beautifully random scenario, we met dozens of Koreans at the summit. They are members of the Korean Church nearby, and they offered us sushi! So we ate sushi atop Kgale Hill! Beautifully random! Then I’ve continued leading the club at that prestigious private school, and this Tuesday, a Korean student came for the first time. Turns out he goes to that same Korean Church!

I’ve met with Tumelo to help encourage and disciple her. She said her relationship with God is growing as she’s reading the bible. Now that she’s back in school in Mochudi, we’ll have to find a regular time we can meet. She’s coming along to the next camp reunion this Saturday in Gaborone, where I’ll continue teaching the teens how to play guitar. Please keep praying for Tumelo and for Slim to grow closer to God and be strengthened in their faith.

Teaching guitar at last month's camp reunion.

Finally, it was bit of a rougher patch for me emotionally last week with the one-year anniversary of my dad’s unexpected death on June 9. But God continues to show Himself to be my Comforter. For example, on the one-year anniversary, I was thinking how I feel like there’s a hole in my heart…and it reminded me of a book called A Dad-shaped Hole in My Heart. Then that same night I happened to read this excerpt from the book Come Away My Beloved by Frances Roberts, from God’s perspective:

“I will be your comfort. I will be your joy…By My Spirit, I will mend the broken heart…For My heart is fused with your heart, and in your grief, I am one with you. Yes, I will fill the vacant place. My arms shall hold you…My grace shall sustain you.”

So yes, the vacant place, the “Dad-shaped hole in my heart”, my heavenly Father is filling. God is faithful.

May you experience the God of peace and comfort in your own life.

Blessings,

Em

P.S. I almost forgot to mention an encouraging “divine appointment” this week when a guy in his late 20s or early 30s stopped by the YFC office wanting to know more about YFC. We ended up talking about issues of faith and doubt, purpose and calling. He asked at one point, “What is truth? What is life all about?” He said that as he tries to follow God, he finds that “God messes up his plans.” The night before I’d watched the movie “Evan Almighty”—a fictional picture of God calling a modern-day Noah to build an ark and how he’d expressed that same sentiment (that God was messing up his plans to be a successful Congressman). I shared how after the flood, he’d come to realize that God “messes up our plans” only because He has better plans. So I mentioned that to this guy, and then he said he doesn’t really believe that God has a plan for our earthly lives.

Then he asked, “Does God really still call people like that? Does He still call people like he did with Abraham and Moses, ‘Leave your country and your father’s house and go to the land I’ll show you…’?” Hmm…I said yes, maybe not with those exact words, but God still calls people today. I asked if he’d like to hear my testimony of how God called me to Botswana. He said yes, so I had the open door to share with him my testimony. I had my laptop there, with a powerpoint I’ve used when I share my testimony at churches, so we were able to go through that. After that, he acknowledged that God still calls people today! After our nearly 2 hour talk and discussion, he left asking if perhaps we can continue the conversation another time.

P.P.S. As I was finishing the P.S., Slim texted me to tell me she was in Mochudi so we just hung out and talked for about 2 hours. Without sharing too much detail, it truly seemed to me like the changes in her life and family situation since we talked on Monday night by phone could only be described as God’s intervention. The last couple weeks, including Monday night when we last talked, she was very discouraged; but now she has a very positive outlook. I was able to give her some resources and audio teachings that I’ve wanted to give her for months.

It has been one thing after another why we could never meet up in person (and now she lives 45 minutes away)…so this was the first time I’ve seen her in a couple months! I was thinking of going to Gaborone today but turned down doing something there because I felt I should just stay in Mochudi, though I didn’t have anything officially planned in terms of ministry. But then Slim came to Mochudi, so I’m glad I stayed here! God is good!!

Tumelo gave her life to Christ!!!

Dumelang!

It’s been a memorable couple weeks, to put it mildly! When I typed everything out I was going to share, it was crazy long, so I’m just going to save some of it until later. But here’s the best news!--

Tumelo = Faith

The Saturday before last, there was a follow-up camp to the camp at a private school in Gaborone where I had helped with worship leading and counseling. Tumelo, the student from Mochudi that I’ve been taking to counseling, asked me if I could pick her up so she could go the follow-up camp. She had gone to the day-long camp in early April but had not given her life to Christ. At the follow-up camp, I helped lead a discussion group on the message that the pastor had just given. Tumelo was in my group and was giving all the right answers about what it means to become a Christian, what it means to abide in Christ, etc. On the drive home, I kinda joked with her that she knows all the right answers (but yet she and I knew she had not taken the step of faith and accepted Christ as her personal Lord and Savior). She smiled and said that she’s paid attention (seemingly referring to that camp’s teachings and our previous conversations about it). Here's a picture of us on her birthday (she is ok with me posting this):

On an encouraging note, Tumelo told me in that car ride that she had gone to church the Sunday before of her own volition—I think the first time she had ever gone to church in Mochudi while at boarding school (and not with her mom in her home village). She told me she just really felt like she should go to church that day, and so she got up early to do so. So that was encouraging, as well as the fact that she wanted to go to the Christian follow-up camp. At that camp, by the way, I led one of the workshops, teaching teens how to play guitar. It was a bit challenging teaching 15 complete beginners at once with only 4 guitars, but I think it went well.

Anyway, I had worked it out with the school that Tumelo had permission to leave for 4 afternoons to receive special counseling in Gaborone from a visiting American ministry team called Fresh Start through the Face the Nation program at my church. Face the Nation is the same organization where her regular counselor works.

The first day she was scheduled to meet with the Fresh Start counselor was actually the first day the schools were closed down [this is the other main news I was going to share…in a nutshell, please pray for Botswana for a quick but lasting resolution to a civil servants strike that’s disrupting education, health services, etc], so it actually worked in her favor that she was able to attend their morning teachings as well this past week. On Wednesday, I took her out to lunch at the mall during the lunch break and that night I received this long text message from her [I’ve asked her permission and she gave her blessing to share it, the things that follow, and her picture]:

Hey Em. I got home safe. I want to thank you for lunch. But mostly I thank you for the love, care, guidance, teachings and opportunities to build my life that you give me. Thank you for being my friend. I am glad I met you. I love you. You are like a sister, a friend, a teacher, a mother and a minister to my life. I thank God for uniting us. Thank you very much for what you have done in my life and continue to do, you and [regular counselor]. God bless you all for the wonderful work you are doing, you and your ministry. Keep on with the holy work, my life is changing for the better because of all you have done for me. Thank you once more. Am grateful.

Wow…I almost cried reading that. May I briefly remind you that when I met Tumelo in August, she was a suicidal, emotional wreck who hated God and didn’t want to hear anything about God. And while she had been showing great strides in counseling and said she was moving toward God in February and March, things took a complicated turn in early April where she had a disagreement with her mom and moved out and missed school for about a week. She hasn’t had an appointment with her regular counselor since March because we didn’t want to force her and then the counselor was too busy with Face the Nation discipleship school that is currently running. I was relieved that when I invited Tumelo to this Fresh Start counseling as part of that Face the Nation training, she agreed…and then she wanted to go to church and to come to the Christian follow-camp. And now this text message… It was evident that God was continuing to pursue her and soften her heart. I texted her back the following:

Wow, if I could frame an SMS [text message], that would get framed!—almost made me tear up. Thanks so much for your sweet words. It’s been a pleasure watching you be transformed. I am also so thankful the Lord united us. I hope you’ve been able to see some of His love through me too—He loves you so much. He has great plans for you, you have such great potential. May the song of your life truly be a sweet, sweet sound—a melody to His name. See you tomorrow at Face the Nation dear. Robala sentle [sleep well]! Love ya

The part I mentioned about the song of her life being a sweet, sweet sound and a melody to His name is quoting the song she always plays in my car, even as we drove together that day she sang along to it at the top of her lungs. I could just sense that she was so close to coming to Christ in faith [I’ve been calling her Tumelo (meaning faith in Setswana) in these communications to protect her privacy, but also as a prayer/prophecy that she would come to an unshakable faith in Christ one day]. I felt I was supposed to stay up and pray to that end. Here is some of what I journaled in a reflection/prayer:

The girl who hated God and wanted nothing to do with Him—didn’t even want to talk about Him or hear worship songs—that girl has since asked to hear my testimony, chosen to play and sing her heart out to Christian songs, attended a clearly Christian camp and took the initiative to attend the reunion camp, and gone to church of her own volition…and perhaps most amazingly, the girl who hated God when we met just thanked God for uniting us and asked God to bless me for the “wonderful, holy work” I’m doing.

Father, thank You for softening her heart towards You. Lord I pray that [Tumelo] would gain a fresh revelation of Your love. I pray that she would come to faith, radically saving faith, in You. I pray that any schemes of the Enemy to distract her from public declaration of her faith will be thwarted…Draw her unto Yourself—that she may take the step to trust in You and give her life to You to be a sweet melody in Your ear. Father continue to draw her and transform her heart to beat for You, to be yielded to Your Lordship fully. Help her trust that it is worth it to follow Your ways. Grant her the courage to take the step to call upon You as Saviour and Lord from a sincere heart, and may her life never be the same. Tumelo = Faith. May it be so. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

It was around 1 am when I was journaling that prayer and I actually half-fell-asleep for a few seconds when I was writing the sentence, “I pray that any schemes of the Enemy to distract her from public…” and awoke to see that I’d just seemingly unknowingly, on that borderline between dreaming and wakefulness, written “public”?! Why did I write public?! I wondered. But I just finished the sentence that she would give public declaration of her faith…? I finished the prayer and went to bed.

The next morning, it all made a bit more sense. When I arrived at the church for the Face the Nation training, I opened the door and what did my eyes behold, but Tumelo up at the front of all the Face the Nation volunteers and staff speaking through tears into the microphone. “I have had experiences that have controlled my life. I have been overwhelmed by them. Today I am renewed. Today I have given my life to Jesus Christ. I have given my life to Jesus Christ!” –a “public declaration of her faith”!!! Praise the Lord – He is mighty to save!! Her regular counselor and I went to meet her as she walked back—both she and her counselor were crying as they embraced. It was simply a beautiful moment—a beautiful answer to oh so many prayers. The angels rejoiced with us over this one who had repented.

I spoke with her Fresh Start counselor in the following moments, and she told me that the day before, she had gone through with Tumelo again what it means to give your life to Christ, what true repentance is, etc., and she’d wanted Tumelo to think it through that night. In the morning that day during break time, they’d met and Tumelo wept under conviction as she confessed sin after sin and gave her life to Christ! And now just minutes afterward, she’d stood up of her own volition to make that beautiful public declaration of her faith!! What a beautiful Saviour!

We took pictures soon after that…a beautiful new creation in Christ!!

The Day of Salvation!

In the afternoon, she met with the Fresh Start counselor for the last time to pray through issues of forgiveness, especially with her mother. She was radiant afterward and we took some more photos.

Then she wanted me to drop her off at the hair salon. As she hopped out of the car to get her hair cut, she said, “New me—New look!” The next day she attended the whole day of Fresh Start teachings, and she is attending all this week as long as the schools are still closed. One of the Face the Nation leaders joked that the schools have been closed just for her so she could attend Fresh Start and Face the Nation teachings! I wouldn’t go so far to say that, haha, but I know my God brings good out of adverse circumstances and works all things together for good…this is just another beautiful example.

At church on Sunday, during the time for visitors to stand and introduce themselves, I recognized Tumelo’s voice just a few rows behind me. I turned around—sure enough, she had taken public transport by herself to get to church! (I had thought she would’ve gone to the church she goes to with her mom, but she wanted to check out ours). So after church, I took her to the mall and we had lunch together. I asked if she’d like to pray for our food. She agreed, and though she spoke softly so I couldn’t fully decipher her words, it was another beautiful moment—the first time we’d ever prayed together.

During the meal, she mentioned that next year, she wants to be a Face the Nation volunteer. Also, at some point, I asked her how her relationship is with her mom now. She said things are much better. I asked if she feels like she has fully forgiven her mom, and Tumelo replied with a smile, “I don’t feel like I have, I KNOW I have.” Amen! Her mom is so excited that she has come to faith, and it’s such an answer to prayer to see the reconciliation between them.

After lunch I leant her my phone to call our friend and her former schoolmate, Slim, to share the good news. It was definitely a blessing to be able to hear Tumelo testifying again how she had given her life to Christ and to hear Slim’s excitement. Slim gave her life to Christ in late November, so now they can be of encouragement to each other’s faith. Even then on the phone, Tumelo encouraged Slim that things will be ok (Slim’s going through a rough patch with circumstances beyond her control, so prayers for her encouragement are welcome). I find it a privilege to help them both to grow in their faith. It’s been such a joy to be able to see God transform their lives.

I captured my sentiment this way in a journaled prayer: “You are worthy of ALL the glory, ALL the honor, and ALL the praise. You are the relentless pursuer of lost sheep and for that I praise You. Thank You for softening [Tumelo]’s heart and seeking after her, showing Yourself to be mighty to save. And while You deserve ALL the glory for her salvation, how truly beautiful and poetic that You chose to use [her counselors], me, and others (i.e. those who read my newsletters and blogs) to partner with You to bring it to pass. What a precious privilege You’ve given me to co-labor with the King of Kings, what a blessed existence.”

So in case you didn’t catch that, I was also acknowledging that the prayers you may have offered over these past 9 months for Tumelo have been part of the means by which her heart was softened from hating God, to tolerating God, to liking God, to loving and trusting God. So I want to thank you for any and all prayers you may have lifted up for her. When I just told Tumelo the other day that hundreds of people in the U.S. and around the world have been praying for her, she seemed stunned in a good way and said, “Thank you.”

Today Tumelo was singing “Your Grace is Enough” as she walked around at Face the Nation…the praise seemingly overflowing out of her heart. In the afternoon today, I was given the opportunity to address all the Face the Nation volunteers and staff (and Tumelo) for 20-30 minutes and share about the YFC mentoring program I’m establishing. With Tumelo’s blessing, I shared the story of our relationship and her transformation as an example of the kind of transformation we hope this mentoring program will bring to many more teens in Botswana.

God is so amazingly good!!

Love, Em

Olifants Drift Outreach Adventure!

Greetings all!

Olifants Drift Outreach!

'Tis time to share the stories from our outreach to the remote village of Olifants Drift. On Friday, 29 April when the world’s attention was fixed on the royal wedding in England (even Botswana’s President Ian Khama was in attendance), six Batswana staff and I piled in YFC’s SUV (Toyota Venture) for the journey northeast to Olifants Drift, a remote village of roughly 1200 people accessible only by dirt/mud roads. Thankfully the roads were dry both ways so I did not have to exert my mud-driving prowess again! Along the drive, we encountered many cows, donkeys, and goats…and a few other humans.

Last post I shared some of the ways we felt led to go to Olifants Drift, and now I’ll share a bit more to show how it all worked out for this outreach to happen. I mentioned that Olifants Drift first came up to me in August one day when I noticed it on a Botswana map for the first time and just felt a desire to go there…and Maruping (having no idea I’d been thinking of Olifants Drift) brought up later that day or the next as a prayer point that Olifants Drift has no Christian church and we should pray for it because a church in Mochudi called Bible Life was hoping to establish a church there. Then the next day, I saw “Olifants Drift” written on a woman’s day-planner at an NGO meeting for those fighting AIDS.

Well, we had tried to go on an outreach to Olifants Drift in November, but we couldn’t find accommodation. Soon after the New Year, John, a Motswana Christian policeman from Mochudi interested in furthering the kingdom of God, was directed to YFC by his friend Justice, who used to be a YFC staff member. John came and met Maruping, and it was discovered that John is good friends with a Christian police officer in Olifants Drift named Mookitse. Mookitse had already called John and urged him to bring a group of Christians to do an outreach in Olifants Drift because at that point there was still no Christian church or fellowship in the village. Thus, John had already been organizing a group from Mochudi and planning a trip to do that. Maruping told him that we at YFC had also been planning to go, but just lacked accommodation. Because of John’s connection with Mookitse, they were able to work it out so that half of us stayed with the police, and half at the primary school. So that answered our prayers for accommodation in Olifants Drift!

So when we arrived in Olifants Drift, we went straight to the police station, where we met Mootkitse (pictured above) and he directed us to the school. That evening I met a woman who shared more of the story that shows how it truly seems like God has been orchestrating this whole thing. She is a woman from Mochudi who has owned land/fields out near Olifants Drift for decades. She would travel out to Olifants during the holidays and school breaks. She attends a church in Mochudi called Christ Embassy, and she told me that God put a burden on their hearts at that church to pray for Olifants Drift last August – the same time that it first came up to me and that the other church, Bible Life, also had a burden to start praying for it! So Christ Embassy, Bible Life, and YFC all started praying for Olifants Drift in August! This woman, an elder in the church, was appointed as a national “missionary” to help with the establishment of a Christian fellowship in Olifants Drift. Since her retirement from teaching 5 years back, she has lived in Olifants more regularly, and now she has moved there full-time to help get the Christian fellowship going.

So two months ago, in February, she and others (including Mookitse) started gathering for Christian fellowship at the primary school. When we came, the fellowship consisted of 10-12 people with no pastor, just the oversight of this church elder. Even in their short two-month existence, they’d already faced opposition and challenges, especially from a group who came to the village claiming to be the literal twelve apostles.

Unique Experiences :)

When we first arrived at the primary school, our home for the next few days, we quickly saw that we had arrived just in time for dinner…to be killed. There tied to a tree was a large goat and a couple guys were getting ready to slaughter it. The goat, sensing his impending doom, jerked free of the cords that had bound it to a tree. So… “dinner” ran away! The goat made a mad dash for the bush with our guys chasing after it!! They caught it in the field and led it back by its horns…literally “led to the slaughter.”

Wow…I’ve lived in Africa, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Nicaragua, etc, but never seen an animal killed for dinner. We enjoy the privilege of supermarkets here in Mochudi, or you can buy meat from a slaughter house. So this was a new, and honestly, slightly disturbing, experience for me! A couple of the YFC staff and I moved away from the scene and found our solace in husking corn and throwing it in the big black cauldron over the open fire in the outdoor kitchen of the school. Also a new experience for me, and definitely less disturbing, haha.

Goat ended up being on the menu each day…let’s just say, I’m thankful we brought along a lot of bread. Even if we hadn’t killed it right there, I just really don’t like goat meat. I wasn’t a fan in Bangladesh, and 6 years later when I tried it again in Olifants Drift…nope…still not a fan. Please know that I was careful not to be disrespectful; and if there hadn’t been sufficient alternative food, I would’ve partaken of the goat meat more.

Another interesting experience was bathing. It involved boiling water over the fire, mixing it with cold water, then standing in a large tin ‘bathtub’ and pouring water from the bucket over oneself. But where did one do this? Outside in the walkway between two buildings (NOT an enclosed space)! Can’t say I’ve ever bathed outdoors in the open under the stars. Due to the darkness and lack of backlight, those walking by (whom you could see because they were illuminated) could apparently not see the one bathing because of it being so dark. Still…awkward! I wondered if my white skin made a difference to this theory…haha. Right before I was about to bathe, someone started up a car that happened to be facing directly in line with where we bathe…the headlights flipped on as they reversed and drove off! Had I bathed two minutes earlier, I could’ve been “caught in the headlights,” literally…and I’m sure I would’ve resembled a deer in the headlights…supremely awkward! So, I am thankful for that NOT happening—supremely awkward situation averted…thank you Jesus!

The first night we had a meeting discussing the situation in the village (hearing from the local Christians) and spending time joining together in worship and intercession. We had walked down to the river earlier in the evening…which is perhaps the Limpopo or a main tributary from it (people were disagreeing on that), but either way, the water of the Limpopo flows in that river. Some locals we met beside the river told us there is a snake-spirit-woman living in the river who kills people (people disappear). They said she looks like a mermaid, but with a snake bottom. Interesting…

Later that night, I wondered what was in the metal tin on a desk in the classroom where I slept. Oh—how about the decomposing, furry goat skull!?! Sweet dreams! That night’s sleep was perhaps one of the worst in my life—due to the river nearby, the mosquitos were out in full-force, and we, sleeping on the floor of a classroom, did not have mosquito nets, nor did we think to pack repellant spray. I tried covering myself, head and all, in my sleeping bag to keep them away from my face and ears, but this got way too hot. When my head or arms were exposed for relief from the heat, mosquitos whined and landing on my face and arms almost immediately. Finally, I decided to change into long pants, socks, and hooded sweatshirt with the hood over my head/face, and sleep on top of the sleeping bag. Finally, I could fall asleep! This successful discovery was not made until 3 am, however. This wouldn’t have been so bad, had we not planned a prayer meeting for 5 am!

So I got up at 4:45am, physically appeared at the prayer meeting, but soon realized that I left my mind on my pillow. In my bleary-eyed, half-dead state of mind, I glanced in the closet of that classroom thinking I would leave my backpack in there. What did my bleary eyes behold? Oh—how about the bloody goat carcus!?! Ok, not putting my bag in there!… Wow…I was so tired I couldn’t really pray anyway, so I got the keys to the Venture and slept for awhile more on the bench seat. I felt kinda bad since we’d talked the night before about how important it was to pray in the morning before we go out to do ministry (with which I agree) and how we all should be there. So I felt like the others might view me as a “pansy-Christian” or something, but I knew that given my lack of sleep, my choice to sleep longer was in fact wise to prepare me for the long day of ministry ahead. When I returned to the 2-hour prayer meeting at 6:15am, God comforted me and made me smile by leading me to read Psalm 127—“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” Amen! :)

Reaching an Old Woman for Christ

After breakfast, we split into groups to go house-to-house through the village, inviting people to the evening open-air service we were holding that night and sharing with those who wanted to learn more about Christ. I was the only white person (and non-Setswana speaker) in the entire group, the entire village for that matter, so they paired me with Thapelo, one of our YFC volunteers (he’s the translator for his pastor during sermons). I only had time to reach one house because I was going to return back to the school to help with the Children’s Ministry.

At the one house, we sat down and talked with an old woman, whose Setswana name I would murder if I tried to spell it, but whose English name is Elisa (Batswana usually have two names like this). She was recovering from leg surgery so would not be able to make it to the evening service, but wanted to hear more about Christ. So I shared the gospel message with Elisa, using the bridge analogy that I often use with Victoria Falls (but in her case I contextualized it by using the river in town). After a long talk and discussion, she indicated that she wanted to trust in Christ alone…not any ancestors, witch doctors, or other gods. She wanted to give her life to God. So Thapelo and I prayed with her, and then prayed for her leg to recover quickly so she could walk to the church services at the school. This very sweet, gentle old woman was very thankful that we came and talked with her.

It was only after we were leaving her yard that I remembered how earlier that morning John, the Mochudi policeman, had felt strongly during prayer that we need to reach the old people too (not just young) in the house-to-house ministry because some of them would be unable physically to get to the evening service or the church services, and we don’t want them to die without hearing the gospel message. So it seems like Elisa was perhaps one of those very people!

Music & Sharing with Kids/Youth

I walked back to the school and helped lead songs with guitar with the kids. Naomi from YFC shared bible stories with them, and then I shared the gospel using that bridge analogy (having the kids physically try to long jump across the “river” I’d drawn in the sand and realize they all fall short and need a bridge—which I drew as a cross). There honestly weren’t that many kids…only about 6-8, but later that night at the evening service and the next morning at the Sunday morning church service, there were about 50 youth and children.

All told, in the house-to-house ministry, 106 young people were reached with the gospel message and 40 chose to give their lives to Christ! We gave them the sign-up sheets to start our Indepth 18-part correspondence bible study course. Normally from such a distance, we would mail them back and forth, but interestingly enough, they don’t even get mail in Olifants Drift! Their mailboxes are in Mochudi! So that would be pretty much pointless to mail them the bible studies! Once again, it’s the policemen to the rescue…Mookitse and John drive back and forth from Olifants to Mochudi at least a few times a month, so we’ve organized it so that the Christians in Olifants Drift will turn in their bible studies at the school (where the church meets) and then Mookitse or John will bring them to us to get corrected and to provide the next ones.

Can’t Get Away…from the Goat!

On Saturday afternoon, I was attempting to take a nap in the classroom when my peace was disturbed. What’s that grinding sound I hear? Oh—someone sawing and cutting at the decaying, furry goat skull to glean more edible parts!?! Later in the afternoon, I went with Maruping and Mookitse to set up for the evening program. We all got in the car, but then Mookitse got out. He evidently forgot something. What did he bring in his hands when he returned? Oh—a bowl containing the decaying, furry goat skull!?! Seriously!?! I feel like that freakin’ goat was haunting me, haha! I turned to Maruping before Mookitse got back to the car with the goat parts and said, “Maruping, you have to hold that…I cannot hold that!!” (The smell of the goat was really quite disturbing to me by that point…well and of course, gazing at decaying goat parts isn’t on my top ten list of things to do). So Maruping thankfully held the bowl of goat parts on his lap as we drove to a house, where it was deposited. Thank God! And no…it never reappeared…the goat’s haunting presence only remained in the meals we ate. I just find the whole situation quite humorous…first the goat tries to run away…and then it haunts around every corner, haha!

Open-Air Services in the Village

The evening service on Saturday was delayed due to a thunderstorm. We had 12-15 people squished in the Venture to provide cover, including an old man and woman from the village. At one point there were 5 people squished in the front bench seat of the Venture as we waited out the storm. Good times!

Then the weather cleared, revealing an amazing clear starry sky, under which we held our tent meeting. At one point during prayer for people, I was invited to play the keyboard ‘til the end of the service. I appreciated and enjoyed that opportunity.

Sunday after the church service, we handed out Christian literature to adults/youth, and storybooks & little toys to the kids.

We made sure to reiterate the times the church fellowship is meeting at the school and encourage the people to continue meeting there and growing in their faith. Then we had lunch (goat again! Praise God for fresh rolls!), packed up, and took some group photos:

Then we headed back to Mochudi. Thankfully, the rains hadn’t made the road too muddy or water-covered, so it was smooth driving (just had to dodge the cows and donkeys). All in all, it was a memorable, albeit exhausting, trip! Thanks so much for any & all prayers that were offered for it. We continue to pray that God strengthens that growing body of believers and helps them to be lights in the darkness.

Sharing from Suffering

Later that night I was scheduled to Skype (internet video call) with one of the YFC World Outreach leaders, Art, and his church bible study group. They have been studying the book of Job and wanted to interview me on my views on suffering and God after my accident and dad’s unexpected death. The internet connection quit in the evening though, as is usual, so they called me instead. I was thankful for that opportunity to share some of what I’ve learned and experienced over these past few years.

I’ve found it also helpful in my one-on-one ministry with young people here who are going through hard times to be able to share some of what I’ve learned through my experiences. Right now, if you think of it, Slim could really use some prayer for encouragement. She’s had some trials and setbacks as of late and it’s been getting her down. Please pray for her faith to remain strong and for her to continue to cling to the Lord. Tumelo could also use prayer--unfortunately her counselor is booked up with the running of the Face the Nation AIDS-Prevention program these next few weeks, so she cannot counsel Tumelo. During this break from counseling, please pray for Tumelo’s reconciliation with her mother and that she would make wise choices and come closer to God.

Take care…gotta finish planning for the next volunteer training tomorrow in Gaborone!

Blessings,
Em

Outreach to a Remote Village!!

Dumelang!

The big news I’ll focus on this time is that this weekend I’m going on an outreach with 8 Batswana staff/volunteers from YFC to a remote village called Oliphants Drift. I hear it’s a 5 hour drive along a dirt road to reach the village, which happens to be on the famous Limpopo River! I am the driver for our team, and due to heavy rains lately, the road may be somewhat precarious or even water-covered at points. Please pray that the rains hold off the next few days so the road is passable and safe.

I am quite excited to go because since late August, I’ve felt like the Lord has been leading us to go there. Here’s how that story began…I was sitting in my bedroom in late August, looking at the map of Botswana on my wall. I noticed Oliphants Drift, a village I’d never noticed or heard of before, and for some reason was really drawn to it. I had a desire to go there sometime. Then later that same day or the next day, at the weekly prayer meeting, Maruping brought up as a prayer item the village of Oliphants Drift! He said that there is not a single Christian church there, and that a local church in Mochudi has a desire to help plant a church there. So we began praying for Oliphants Drift, and my desire to go there was strengthened.

The very next day, while a man was presenting during a collaborative meeting of NGOs who are fighting AIDS, I was thinking how Oliphants Drift and other outlying areas may not have as good access to the HIV drugs. As the same presenter continued, my eyes happened to glance down at the day planner of a woman sitting two seats away from me (her planner was in my field of vision as I looked at the presenter). My eyes glanced down at one point to see that her day planner was open to the day where she’d written in large letters across the page: Oliphants Drift! I nudged Twila next to me to point it out—I had already told her about how it had come up the day before and how I feel like perhaps I should go there sometime. We both smiled in amazement.

In the month or so after that, E.J., the YFC National Director, shared with us at a staff meeting that he really felt the Lord putting a burden on his heart that we need to go on an outreach somewhere—to share the gospel in other places in Botswana. He asked us to pray and make plans. I immediately thought of Oliphants Drift, and talked to Maruping about it. He agreed that we could go on an outreach there to precede the work of the church from Mochudi who would be trying to plant a church. So we set the date for mid-November for the outreach. However, accommodation fell through so we had to cancel the trip until after the new year.

But meanwhile, the same week in which we would have been on the outreach there, Franzi and I went on a little exploratory journey on the drive home from church, ending up driving past the turn-off toward Oliphants Drift, designated with a sign. That was when I first saw that the road leading there is dirt!

In March, we planned to go there with a visiting South African dance & drama team to do an abstinence rally, but then the team was unable to come up from South Africa, so that never materialized. Instead, we held the abstinence rally in Mochudi, and interestingly, right afterward, as I was about to drive Slim home from the rally, she told me that her family was all camping in Oliphants Drift right then! Slim had never mentioned Oliphants Drift to me, nor did she know we were hoping to minister there. It seemed that we weren’t supposed to forget about Oliphants Drift, but keep seeking the opportunity to go there. And finally, now is the time!

Once I heard of this outreach opportunity in Oliphants Drift, I knew I wanted to be a part of the team to go. They actually needed one of us foreigners to drive since none of the Batswana staff/volunteers have their driver’s license. So I will be driving, as well as helping with music and going house to house (or hut to hut) to share with people about Christ if they are interested, and inviting them to the new church that is forming. Apparently a body of Christian believers in Oliphants Drift has banded together since the new year and has been meeting in a school, though they have no pastor. So we hope to strengthen, encourage and support their fellowship, as well as invite others to join them, especially children and youth. Church leaders from Mochudi and Gaborone are also coming on the outreach to help the ongoing church to grow. We leave Mochudi tomorrow (Friday) around 11 am for the 5ish hour drive. Saturday we will visit people at their homes and hold an outreach for children. We will leave Oliphants Drift after the church service on Sunday.

I am excited to see what God has in store, and I covet your prayers—for protection, that the Holy Spirit would guide our words and ministry, that the people’s hearts would be open to receive the gospel and embrace Christ, and that the Body of Christ would be built up in that village.

I know I am already a missionary…but this feels like I’m really a missionary, if that makes sense! It reminds me of my first 2-month mission trip to Botswana in 2004 where we reached out in similar ways in 2 remote villages in northern Botswana. We helped plant a church in each of those villages, which, to my latest knowledge, are still meeting to this day. In fact, I found out while mentoring one of the students at Bethany College of Missions that she had actually gone back to one of the villages two years after I had been there, and her team had helped to build the actual church building for the church we’d planted 2 years earlier!

Thanks for your interest and prayers. It does make a difference!

Oliphants Drift-Bound!

~Em

Leading Worship...Awesome Camp...Teaching in Schools!

Greetings all!

Transformer Camp!

The camp last weekend went really well. It was a one-day evangelistic camp that we put on three days in a row. We had a full worship band, dramas, dances, games, rap, “magic” show, and speakers. Last Friday, April 8, it was for the whole student body at the school. Then Saturday and Sunday it was opened up for youth from outside the school, mainly from Gaborone. There were about 550 youth from outside who came, and then 365 secondary students from the school.

So all told, about 900 youth experienced the camp that was run by the visiting mission team from the Philippines, with help from local Batswana, the school staff and me. About 200 of the youth decided to give their lives to Christ. A group of counselors (which included me) then followed-up those students who prayed to trust in Christ as their Lord and Savior by counseling them and explaining the gospel clearly again, answering their questions, etc. It’s cool that one of the Filipino guys who did the “magic” and ventriloquism used to be a pickpocket and steal cell phones in the Philippines, but he attended one of the same camps in 2007 there and came to faith in Christ. Now the Lord is using him around the world to bring joy and to be a living testimony of Christ’s power to transform lives. One of the students who rapped about Jesus came to faith in Christ through the camp last year.

Girls Club Field Trip to the Camp

In Mochudi, we recently started up a Girls Club at the YFC office on Saturdays. I am not officially part of the planning team for that because often on Saturdays I have volunteer trainings and events in Gaborone (and also the abstinence club at 2:30pm). However, I like to go when I can just to interact with the teen girls and build friendships. I invited the Girls Club to come to the camp in Gaborone last Sunday. The girls were so excited when they heard about it, they screamed and jumped up and down! It’s not often that young teens from Mochudi can go to Gaborone at all, let alone for a free camp! So I drove a handful of them in our YFC SUV so they could attend the camp. Five of them went forward to pray to receive Christ! Praise God! They really loved it.

I also invited Tumelo, the girl I’ve been taking to counseling. At that point she had been living at a friend’s house all week due to a disagreement with her mother. She wanted to come along, so she came to the camp as well! Though she did not pray to trust in Christ, it was a positive sign that she wanted to come to a clearly Christian camp. A few days after the camp, she moved back home with her mother, but she could really use prayer. I won’t go into all the details, but just pray that she makes wise decisions and that her relationship with her mom can be reconciled. And let’s continue to pray that all the seeds that have been planted regarding Christ can take deep root in her and that the flower of faith (tumelo in Setswana) will come forth.

More Opportunities in Schools

We already had it worked out that we would be teaching in two different schools—one in Mochudi, and one in a nearby town called Borwa—last week and this week. Last Monday at noon, the school in Mochudi asked if we would be willing to come and teach 4 separate classes the next morning at 7:55 am on a different Lifeskills topic. So we rose to the challenge of the last-minute opportunity and four of us prepared to teach on goal-setting – helping them to discern their vision/dreams in life and how to set goals to achieve their vision. Then on Wednesday, I taught at the school in Borwa on self-esteem and their value and worth. So last week, I had the opportunity at these schools to teach youth that they are not a mistake, but rather they are of extreme value to the God who created them and has a purpose and a dream for their lives. Those are lessons I love to teach!

Begging for more teaching!

At Borwa, I finished my lesson as the class period ended, but the students were still sitting there as if class wasn’t over listening attentively and waiting for me to continue. I asked what time the class ended and they said, “Oh, don’t worry, keep going!” I looked at my watch and confirmed that class was over. I found out that their next class was there in that same classroom and their teacher would come to teach them. “Do you want me to keep teaching until your next teacher comes?” I asked. “YES!!!” they yelled back enthusiastically! So I kept teaching, sharing the dangers of premarital sex, even with condoms, in this country where the HIV rate is so high, and that if they know their value, they can stand against the peer pressure to engage in risky behaviors like that. Then once the next teacher arrived, I concluded and left, as they waved and yelled “Bye!! Wow…that was an encouragement that my lesson was not too boring, or even just bearable for them, but actually enjoyable. It’s times like those that I remember why I like to teach. I am scheduled to teach that same lesson today, tomorrow, and Wednesday at that school in Borwa to different classes.

Volunteer Training in Gaborone

Last Saturday morning, I led another volunteer training in our centre in Gaborone. It was cool to see this week on facebook, that one of the volunteers had put a quote from the training as her facebook status:

“One of the greatest joys of life is knowing that a teenager or person in whom you have invested has grown up to be a mighty man or woman of God.”

All-Night Praise & Worship Event at YFC!

This Saturday, I didn’t lead a volunteer training because I was up all night Friday night…literally. We held an All-Night Praise & Worship event at the YFC office in Mochudi. Despite the rains, people showed up in large number. We didn’t actually count how many were there, but we had 90 chairs and they were pretty much all filled! At one point, everyone started dancing what seems to be Botswana version of the Electric Slide. It was cool!

I helped lead the worship for that, and also spoke in the beginning to encourage the youth from different churches to join together to pray regularly. I shared how God had really been putting it on my heart, and also Maruping’s, to restart up the prayer movement at our Mochudi office. So we will start it again on Tuesdays at 5:30pm.

Saturday (after sleeping til 1 pm after the All-Night Praise & Worship), we led the Real Life Revolution club at the Senior Secondary School in Mochudi. It went well—I think the students enjoy it and will find it a place where they can be ‘real’ –discuss real life issues that affect them and find positive peer pressure to encourage them to do what’s right. Pictured below are some of the members--

So, all in all, God is at work here! E.J., the YFC director, said recently that right now is the most ministry that YFC Botswana has ever been doing at once in its history. We just gained two three new Batswana staff to help us, which is a huge answer to prayer. Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement. It is making a difference!

I hope you have a most blessed Easter, recalling the loving sacrifice Christ made for us to enable us to have life to the full…and then life eternal. He has triumphed over the grave, and so shall those who are connected to Him!

Blessings, Em

P.S. Here is an intriguing reflection on the Triumphal Entry celebrated yesterday on Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and all the people were shouting “Hosanna!” and laying down their palms on the ground before him:

From The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer --

“It’s ludicrous for any Christian to believe that he or she is the worthy object of public worship; it would be like the donkey carrying Jesus into Jerusalem believing the crowds were cheering and laying down their garments for him.” –Charles Colson, p167

“Rise, O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life itself. Let me sink that Thou mayest rise above. Ride forth upon me as Thou didst ride into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of an ass, and let me hear the children cry to Thee, ‘Hosanna in the highest.’”

Namibia trip, Worship band!

Greetings all!

Today is a most stellar day!! It’s my 28th birthday…and also the first time I played in a praise and worship band in Botswana! I’m helping to lead worship for a camp this weekend at a Christian school here in Gaborone. It’s the private school where I spoke to the whole student body (K-12) last September about my accident/recovery story.

A visiting team from the Phillippines is putting the camp on this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and the school leadership asked if I’d like to help. I was planning to help last year, but I got sick that weekend. There were over 800 kids from Gaborone that came last year though! So a similar turnout is expected this year, many of whom are unchurched kids. Yesterday I stopped by to meet the Filipinos and see how I could help out. They told me the different departments I could volunteer in, and when they mentioned the praise and worship band, I knew that’s where I would fit! After meeting the Filipinos (who are AWESOME people, by the way…I love working with them!), I watched several of their dramas that will be performed during the camp—powerful. In the afternoons, the Filipinos are teaching the dramas to students from the school who want to learn them…so the dramas will be performed by those Batswana youth. How cool that people from a former/current missionary destination (the Phillippines) are now going on mission trips to other places around the world? That’s how it should be. And it’s cool to partner with them, and to see their love for Jesus and the ways they can reach youth worldwide.

This morning, we had praise and worship band practice. They asked me to bring along songs I have, so I ended up providing all the music. For those who are familiar with the songs, we are singing “Trading my Sorrows,” “Every Move I Make,” “Taste and See,” “We Want to See Jesus Lifted High,” and “Go gona ya Tshwanang le Jesus” (There’s no one like Jesus). It turns out the other two band members that were recruited to help besides me and J.R. (Filipino) are Batswana guys I know from church who are also new YFC volunteers that I’m training! So that was cool to see them walk in and then we jammed together. So I play acoustic guitar and sing, J.R. plays keys or acoustic guitar depending on the song, Moses plays drums, and J.B. plays bass. It was truly an amazing birthday gift to be able to play/sing in a full praise/worship band again – as I said, it’s the first time since being in Botswana (and for that matter, the first time since December 2009 when I left Bethany College of Missions and my church in Minnesota). So yeah, a true blessing! And they have a really nice Yamaha keyboard, so I was able to play that for awhile too…and Moses played along with the drums which added a sweet effect. Students from the school were there with us, singing along and listening. They were making up worshipful lyrics to my original piano compositions while Moses added the beat. It was epic, haha. I’ve really been “itching” to use my music gifts more here in Botswana, and even on Sunday I was thinking how much I miss leading worship in a full band (not just myself playing guitar)…and then this opportunity came! God is so good.

I enjoyed some KFC and an ice cream in Gabs before I headed back to Mochudi for a run in the bush during a gorgeous sunset—one of the most beautiful I’ve seen in my time in Botswana, where the clouds across the sky turned a soft pink/orange contrasted with deep blue around it. And now the stars are amazing. My American housemate Katie baked me a chocolate cake and found Pillsbury chocolate frosting with which to ice it. A blessed birthday indeed.

Namibia!

My weeklong trip to Namibia was amazing! Five of us international YFC staff/volunteers (2 Americans, 2 Canadians, 1 Dutch) left our house at the lovely time of 5 am to catch the bus in Gaborone, whereupon we rode “cramped-style” for 12 hours to Windhoek, the capital city. We spent one night there in a hostel, then caught a combi (van) for another 4 hours through the Namib desert to the coastal town of Swakopmund. This experience altered my definition of desert. Botswana is largely the Kalahari Desert, but here you find shrubs and thorn bushes and some trees. This was sand. Purely sand. What came to mind as we drove through what seemed very desolate sand – no green anywhere – was, “It’s easier to endure the desert when you know the ocean is on the other side.” Fits with hard times in life too.

We did arrive at the other side of the desert, greeted by the Atlantic Ocean. Swakopmund is an old German colonial town, so there is ample German influence and architecture. It was a very beautiful, quaint town with a nice boardwalk pier out into the Atlantic, a lighthouse, markets, huge sandy beaches, and many nice restaurants. One is on the pier and another just next to it in a converted old ship. We spent most of the time relaxing on the beach, swimming (the first time I’ve swam in what is officially the Atlantic Ocean—the English Channel is, well, the English Channel and not technically the Atlantic), reading, journaling, praying, watching sunsets over the Atlantic, etc.

One morning we went “sandboarding” with a local company. It’s like snowboarding or sledding on sand, reaching speeds of 70 km/hr. I was not stupid enough to do that with my somewhat more delicate neck. But I went along to watch the others and to see the scenery. So they drove us out of town where it is the Atlantic on your right and endless sand dunes to your left. We hiked up into the dunes and the view was just amazing. It was like mountains of sand as far as the eye could see one direction and the ocean the other—a stunning juxtaposition.

I posted more pictures on facebook if you are on there in “Namibia trip” folder. The instructor invited me to go down with him both sitting on a board on a very safe, slower dune. So I enjoyed that one trip down, a free unexpected gift.

The next day I “enjoyed” a one-day flu or food poisoning experience (3 of us felt gross but I was the worst), so I stayed at the hostel that day. Besides the couple times I was really sick and felt gross, it actually was a really relaxing time where I spent a lot of time with God, listened to sermons on my iPod, and journaled. The others went 4-wheeling on the sand dunes that day, but said it probably would’ve been too rough for my neck anyway.

The next day I was feeling fine again—went swimming in the Atlantic again. I swam in part next to a break wall, so I could just float in the ocean. Never done that before because the ocean is usually too wavy—and I love to just float and relax. But I also like to wave crash, so Twila and I went further down the beach to where the waves were crashing and enjoyed jumping over/into the waves for a bit.

That morning, I also got my hair cut for the first time in Africa at a salon we found. Really great quality for a very reasonable price. That’s what I’m talking about! I saw a massage therapist’s office near the salon, and my neck and back told me to inquire within. I signed up for a half-hour neck/back massage (also reasonably priced). Amen. I used to get massage treatment twice a week for my neck/back until I left Minnesota, so this half-hour of course did not iron out all the knots and tightness I’ve accumulated, but it felt great and loosened me up a bit.

The last morning in Swakopmund, I walked/jogged out to the edge of the desert, where the sand dunes start at the edge of town, to see the sunrise and the river. The locals told us that there hasn’t been a river running there for 30 years because it’s been so dry, but this year the river is flowing due to abnormally high levels of rain. People were marveling and taking pictures of it earlier in the week, like the others saw a busload of people stop and get out to take pictures or something. So I figured I’d go take a gander too. Reminds me of all those scriptures about how God makes rivers in the desert, or streams in the desert (i.e. Isaiah 35, 43, etc).

Then it was another lovely 4 hour combi ride to Windhoek. I realize that sometimes I use the word “lovely” in all sincerity and other times I am being facetious. This would be an occasion of the latter. It wasn’t horrible, but “comfortable” isn’t a word I would associate with our drive. We stayed at a different backpackers’ hostel that night in Windhoek and got up wicked early again—a taxi picked us up at 5 am to be taken to the bus stop for the 12-hour journey back to Gaborone. All told, it was worth the long travel excursions for the beauty and respite we enjoyed in Namibia. After some really busy weeks of ministry lately, it was a welcome break for us all. Growing up on Lake Huron, I miss large bodies of water…so it was refreshing to be at the ocean.

Hope you are doing well!

Blessings,

Em