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

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

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

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

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

Plans to visit the U.S.!

Dumelang!

[I forgot to post this entry on this blog...so I will post it now. I will keep the date from when I wrote it and posted it on my other blog. For the latest post there, which I'll post here soon, go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/emilyjc]

First off, I wanted to let everyone know some of the places I’ll be sharing once I’m back in the U.S.—

For Michigan friends:

I will be speaking at a couple churches in the Blue Water area, sharing about the ministry in Botswana:

Sunday, December 12 at Croswell Wesleyan Church for 10 minutes during each of the two services at 9:30 and 11:00 am. The church is located just on the way out of town to the west: 200 W. Peck Rd Croswell

Wednesday, December 15 at Grace Ministry Center in Port Huron for 45 minutes with time for questions and chatting afterwards. The presentation with stories, pictures and videos from Botswana will start at 6:30 pm.

Sunday, December 19 at Grace Ministry Center I will share the same 45 minute-hour presentation at 9:00 am in a classroom while the first service is going on, and then for a few minutes in the 10:30 am service.

Grace Ministry Center is located at the far end of the Outlet Mall off of Range Road—just off the Range Road exit on 94.

For Minnesota friends:

I will be making a short visit there when I will get my jaw checked out again at the specialist. I will be at the Lessons and Carols service at Messiah at 10:00 am January 2, and I will share a bit after the service. Messiah is located at 1631 Ford Parkway in St. Paul...just a block west of the Ford Parkway & Snelling Ave. intersection by the old water tower.

If you live nearby and it works out for you to come, it will be great to see you! Obviously, I’ll be around more than just those times, so if you really want to get together, let me know. I hope things can work out to see many of you!

Life in Botswana

Nothing too out of the ordinary has happened since I last wrote. We’ve had the holiday program going each day at the office for the Standard 7 (12-13 year olds). I shared one day about my accident and the testimony of God’s presence and healing touch. On Monday this week, I spoke on identity/worth and peer pressure (how having their identity and worth secure can help them withstand peer pressure).

On Fridays, we’ve still been visiting the hospital, talking and praying with the patients and also singing worship songs with guitar if the people in the ward are all awake and want us too. I’ve also been hanging out with the student from the local school who I’m driving to counseling in Gaborone. We had a good talk for about an hour a couple Saturdays ago, and last Saturday we played basketball together at the school. Today I’ll drive her in to her next counseling appointment.

Last Saturday was also the graduation for the daycare orphans & vulnerable children. It was quite the festivity, held here at the office. The little kids even wore graduation cap and gowns—too cute! They performed songs, skits, and dances as well.

The YFC National Directors from all over Africa are still here getting training (it will be a month long, not two weeks as I’d said before). I’ve had ample opportunity, therefore, to experience being a ‘bus driver,’ like my dad so thoroughly enjoyed. Last night, a car-full of them came over to our staff house to hang out and enjoy some fellowship.

Mosquito Net Analogy

Now the other day, I noticed a small lizard on the outside of my mosquito net which covers my bed. This makes me even more thankful for such a net and reminded me of an analogy I wrote up back in May, I believe, but have yet to share with you all. I hope you find it intriguing, and perhaps amusing:

God is my mosquito net (shield and protector)

So as I lay in my mosquito-netted bed the last few nights, I am serenaded by what sounds like a Nascar or Formula 1 car race with the sound of buzzing at different pitches. Though the mosquitos creating such Nascar sounds are but mere centimeters from my head, my heart does not fear and I can rest assured that due to my mosquito net, they cannot harm me. This brought to mind an analogy …that, though my enemies surround me on every side, the Lord is my shield and my defender. Therefore I can rest assured that they can do no lasting, eternal harm.

Yesterday’s Spurgeon devotional read, “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night.” –Psalm 91:5. “He who promised to be a wall of fire around His people: who can break through such a barrier?” [Not mosquitos yo!]

Here is my new application of Psalm 27 –

“The Lord is the refuge of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers [mosquitos] assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall [whence they hit the mosquito net]. Though an army [of skeeters] encamp against me, my heart shall not fear…for He will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle [mosquito net tent]…Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me [and serenade me like Daytona 500 Nascar action].” –Psalm 27:1-3, 5-6

So yes, now I can be all the more thankful that the mosquito net also serves as a lizard net! And yes, some recent nights, the Nascar serenading action has been so loud, it has kept me awake and necessitated that I fall asleep with my headphones in, listening to music to try to drown it out. But at least my heart does not fear my flesh being eaten up!

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow, the seven of us living at the staff house have been invited to have Thanksgiving dinner with an American family who goes to our church and small group bible study. My mom and Chester (the faithful hound) are driving up to be with Ryan in Minnesota, so if you think of it, please pray for safe travels (I heard the roads in MN have been quite icy). Also, prayers are appreciated for us all, as this is the first Thanksgiving since Dad went to heaven and the first time I'm away too.

What will be forever etched in my memory was the prayer before Thanksgiving dinner last year, which we now know was our last all-together as a family:

As Mom, Dad, Ryan, and I held hands, we designated that Dad would pray. We closed our eyes. And waited. And waited… I glanced up to see Dad too choked up to speak, tears of gratitude welling in his eyes. He eventually was able to utter a short yet meaningful prayer of thanks to the Lord who had brought us together and provided for us.

I hope that you will share a blessed Thanksgiving holiday. I know I am thankful for all of your prayers and encouragement along this journey.

Blessings,

Em

Encouraging encounters and stories!

Dumelang!

I have lots of encouraging stories this time. First though, I’ll start with the one slightly discouraging thing—at the school in Mochudi where we had the Scripture Union club a couple weeks back where I shared on eternal perspective, the principal interrupted our club the following week to announce that with the new school schedule it would not be possible to continue the club at the school. It would not be fair for the rest of the school to have to be in class/study and other kids singing in Scripture Union. Apparently, there was a miscommunication between the SU advisor who invited us to come and the principal, but it was the principal who asked us to stop…so we of course, submitted to his authority and told the students to go back to their studies.

Meanwhile, we continue to hold the program daily at the YFC office for the Standard 7 (13 year old) students who are done with school for the year. I will speak for the third time this Wednesday. We also continue YaRona FC (coffee bar) on Saturday nights. This week was my week off from YaRona FC, so I’ll have to update you later on the boys I mentioned last time.

Running into People (twice!) who Need Encouragement

Ok, on to the more encouraging stories. So in late October, I went for a run near sunset and was running down a dirt road on the outskirts of Mochudi when I saw a young teen guy walking in the same direction up ahead of me. For some reason, I just felt like I wanted to say something nice to encourage him or brighten his day. As I got closer and was next to him, I heard, “Em!” I turned to take a closer look. He did look familiar, and truly by the grace of God I believe, I recognized him from the weeklong holiday program we had at the office back in July and remembered his name. We had a little small-talk and then I continued on my run since it was going to be dark soon.

Then I ran to a place I like to call the “bird sanctuary” because there are just tons of birds chirping and flying by a man-made pond (I think it’s for water treatment…but it’s the closest we have to a lake around here, it doesn’t smell, it’s surrounded by green plants and all the birds, so it’s quite pleasant). Anyway, I watched the orange-pink sunset reflecting over the water…the best sunset I’ve seen in Botswana…and as I sat there, I felt like I should have taken more time to talk to that boy. It was a great opportunity to show love and care, but I had just been focusing on getting my run in. Sometimes I notice my task-orientation can override people-orientation, and I’ve been trying to work on that. I think it’s more of a Western mindset of getting things done, tasks accomplished, i.e. exercise completed…when it might be better to put that task aside to show care and genuine concern for people. I wish I’d asked him how he’s doing in his new relationship with Christ…just how he’s doing in life?

I was planning on running a longer route home, but since it was getting dark soon, it was best to go back the normal way home. This would be going on a different road but in the same general vicinity where I’d seen the boy about 20 minutes earlier. In the back of my mind, I thought, Maybe I might see him again? As I ran up the dirt road, lo and behold, there he was walking toward me on that different road! So we talked again, and I was able to ask more how he was doing in life, in his faith, and I invited him to Yarona FC. It was just nice because I’d felt like I got the second chance I’d been hoping for.

Another similar thing happened at the senior secondary school. Three weeks ago on Saturday, I was waiting in the parking lot at the school for the female student who I’ve been meeting with and taking to counseling. For whatever reason, she didn’t come down from the dorm to hang out til about 10-15 minutes after I’d arrived. But in that waiting time, a guy student had met me and was just asking about the U.S. and whether I thought it’d be wise for him to try to go there to get a job. We were talking purely about things like the economy, job markets, etc—nothing spiritual at all.

But then a week and a half later, when I came to the school on a Thursday to pick up the female student to take her to counseling, who should be right near where I parked, but this same teen guy. He came up to me and said, “Emily! I was looking for you on Saturday. I wanted to talk to you. Why didn’t you come?” [I hadn’t come that Saturday to hang out with the female student because it hadn’t worked in our schedules]. He asked what I was doing there, and I told him I was picking the female student up for counseling. He said he could use some counseling and that maybe I could help him by email. He told me some of his issues, which were spiritual in nature. He wondered what to do, so I encouraged him to go to the pastor at the church just down the road. At that point, the female student was ready to go so as I got in the car to leave for counseling, I quickly encouraged him to pray to Jesus and talk to the pastor.

Again, I had that feeling of wishing maybe I’d said more or exchanged contact info with him in case he did want to email or talk more. A few hours later when I dropped the female student off at her dorm, I was driving back through the parking lot and guess who was walking across the driveway right in front of me? The same guy! So I parked and we talked a bit more. He ran and got some paper to write his email and phone number on it. So yeah, yet again I was able to have that second chance to talk to someone when I felt it was unfinished. And remember, this is a school of 1700 students, so it’s all the more cool that I keep running into him. I emailed him a week ago, but haven’t heard back yet (they only really email from internet cafés on weekends though). If you think of it, please keep this young man in your prayers. He is dealing with some serious issues and needs help.

Watching a Life Being Transformed, Bit by Bit

Speaking of the girl I’ve been “mentoring” and taking to counseling, there have been some encouraging things with her too. I couldn’t meet with her last Saturday because we were going to Gaborone to celebrate Twila’s birthday (Twila is one of my Canadian housemates). When I mentioned that, the student said, “Oh, you should stop by on your way back through on Saturday—I’ll have something for her.” She had never met Twila, so I didn’t know that she was really serious. But on Saturday, she called me to remind me to stop by so she could give Twila a present. So, we stopped by the school, and this student, who just a couple months ago was on the verge of killing herself, had made and laminated two cards and wrapped a present of lotions and shower gels for Twila! She hugged Twila and the rest of us as well. She wrote on one of the cards:

“Don’t give up on your dreams. The least you can do is die trying to achieve them. The sweetness of life lies in usefulness, so in life never give up. Live life to the fullest. Be wise. Happy Birthday.”

I know Twila was amazed at such generosity from someone who had never met her…and I see it as a very encouraging sign that this student is now able to not only focus outwardly and do caring things for others, but also to give advice about never giving up in life.

This past Thursday when I picked her up to drive to counseling in Gaborone, she reminded me that she wanted to hear the story of how God led me to be a missionary in Botswana. The week before on the drive home, she had asked why I would want to move to Botswana from the U.S. when pretty much everyone in Botswana wants to move to the U.S.?! I told her that I really felt like it is where God has called me to be, and I could share that story with her sometime, but it’s quite long. We agreed that I’d share it the following week in the car.

When the next week rolled around, I totally forgot about that…but she reminded me and wanted to hear the story. So for the whole drive there, I shared my testimony with her. On the way home, I mentioned that there’s still more to the story if she wants me to continue it. “Yes! Please continue it!”…so for most of the way home, I shared more and we talked about how God works in different ways in different people’s lives, but it’s important to let Him lead our lives. Just her desire and willingness to hear me tell the story that was “laden with God” was a huge step, because a few weeks ago when I’d been sharing more about the accident testimony when her friend had asked me about it, she had said that she didn’t want to hear about God. So, this was another encouraging step. It is cool to watch her heart being softened toward God, bit by bit. Thanks for any and all prayers to that end.

Singing in Hospital and Prison!

A few weeks ago while we were at the hospital visiting and praying for patients, I asked at the nurses’ office if it might be ok for us to bring a guitar the following week and sing in the wards. They gave the go ahead for that, so last week, Modise, Franzi, and I sang worship songs in a couple of the wards. In the first one, some of the nurses were singing along. They followed us to the next ward to sing with us again! After we'd go to each patient individually to talk/pray with them. Afterwards one of the nurses thanked us for coming and told us that our singing really blessed her heart. She invited us to help with their Nurses Christian Fellowship revival meeting they are planning. So we’ll see…

I’ve also been delivering those follow-up bible studies to a Prison Fellowship volunteer who gives them to prisoners at 4 prisons. [As an aside, I kinda feel like it's a drug deal going down each time we meet up in random places to exchange the bible studies, haha--in parking lots, on the side of the road at a bus stop, at a gas station, etc]. A few of us had been feeling a desire to visit prisoners just before this lady had first called me about the bible studies, so we asked if we could visit the Women’s Prison in Gaborone and she worked it out for us to get permission to go in. So last week, four of us joined in their Christian fellowship meeting. It was powerful to hear their testimonies (i.e. a murderer follows Christ now!) and see their hearts truly free as they worshipped their Redeemer. A prison guard joined in the worship too, and we all exchanged hugs at the end, prison guard included. It reminded me of Galatians 3:28-“…there is neither slave nor free…but all are one in Christ Jesus.” A few days earlier, we had led worship with guitar in the hospital wards in Mochudi, and some of the nurses joined in. Then we’d talked and prayed with the patients individually. The nurses said they were blessed by our singing and invited us to come to their Christian fellowship meetings too!

Stirring Curiosity at a Private School

This Tuesday is the last club for the year at the private school in Gaborone because exams start the following week. We will resume there in January with the next term. The music teacher who is the advisor for the group (the one I happened to email from the US in February to ask about buying a guitar in Botswana…and then she ended up being the person who helped YFC get into that school!) said that there is a buzz around the school about the club. I asked if it’s teachers or students, and she said both—people are just curious what we are doing, what the club is all about. So…hopefully, that will translate into more involvement as people check it out.

A Student Finds True Life Just in Time!

During October, I started getting more involved at a Junior Secondary School in Gaborone. YFC has had some involvement there— several students have been doing the follow-up bible study course after we did some assemblies on abstinence earlier this year. Now I am looking to get more regularly involved with the Scripture Union club, which is somehow still meeting despite the school schedule changes.


The student leader of the club sadly told me that one of the students who’d been doing the follow-up bible studies had unexpectedly passed away August 28 of a “bad headache”? I looked at the studies in the deceased teen’s envelope and saw a place where it said, “I have received life through Jesus!” and he’d written his name and the date—August 11, 2010…just seventeen days before he died. I had to fight back tears when I read that and how he described Jesus—“My Savior from sin. He is the way and guider. He is glory and the light.” And now, as far as we can tell, this young teen is now experiencing glory and light with his new-found Savior!

Feeling a bit like my Dad

In the past week, I’ve felt a bit like my dad in terms of how he was a bus driver. I was asked to be a driver on Thursday to help drive the little orphans/vulnerable children from the YFC daycare on their field trip to Gaborone to visit the train station and have a picnic at a park. I don’t often get to interact with the daycare kids, but I always love when I get the opportunity. They are super cute! They were sticking their heads out the window while we were driving ,and so I only wish they speak English so I could have used one of my dad’s famous sayings on the school bus. He would get on the loudspeaker and calmly say, “Please no body parts outside the windows. No hands, no feet, no heads, no if’s, no and’s, no…” :).

Also, this week I’ve been driving several visiting YFC National Directors from countries all over Africa, as they are here in Botswana getting training for two weeks. E.J., the National Director for Botswana, is also the Regional Director for the 10 countries in the Southern Region of Africa. So some of those countries’ directors are here, but also the directors from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania & Zanzibar, and the islands Mauritius and Rodriguez. Now we are here with them at the internet café after church together in Gaborone.

‘Til next time, blessings!

~Em