Our sweet girl turns 4 today (June 29). She is such a blessing in our lives and we love her so much! Happy Birthday, sweet Taylor!!!
Above: When sweet Taylor was born
Below: 1 year old
Above: 2 years old
Below: 3 years old
4 years old and such a great big sister!
We were very blessed to have our home church, Providence Baptist Church, in Raleigh, NC come with 10 team members to do ministry here in Botswana for 1 1/2 weeks. After a long flight, they arrived on June 15 and hit the ground running on June 16 and did not stop until they got back on the plane on June 25. What a great group to work with and the Lord blessed in so many ways.
On June 16-18, we went to a village called Solemosessy just outside the city of Gaborone. We partnered with Gaborone Baptist Church and normally had about 8-10 people from the church each day helping with interpretting. The team started by prayerwalking throughout the village and inviting kids to the VBS that they would do later that day. During the prayerwalking many people were saved…it was so amazing! They had about 200-400 kids each day at their VBS.
On June 21-23, we went to the village of Molepolole to work with Calvary Baptist Church and the pastor David Thokwane. The first day, they visited with the chief/headman to ask permission to do the VBS in the village. During this visit the chief/headman and many in his family got saved. We can’t even begin to tell you how huge this is to have the headman saved, praise be to Jesus!!! They also were able to visit with many sick folks from the church to be able to encourage and pray for them. In the afternoons, they held VBS and they had again 300-400 kids each day.
Providence Baptist Church team with Andrew their interpreter
They started each day with a game, this day was follow the leader (above and below).
They also did a bible story each day and acted out their stories (above was David and Goliath)
They did games with the kids using parachutes and balls and face painting (below)
Afterwards they had the kids line up for drink/snacks. It as such a special treat for the kids. (above and below)
Many moms also came to watch as their children enjoyed the activities. They too were able to hear about the love of Jesus.
We had the privilege of cooking many meals for the team during their time with us. We had an African meal for them one evening with Impala African stew, Pap, and a green called rape. This night our neighbor Mmampho and my friend Bantle helped cook our meal. It was so good and the team actually enjoyed it.
I had to throw in a shot of Taylor. She also was able to enjoy VBS and had a great time with the team. They spoiled her like crazy when they were here and she misses them greatly. Thank you Providence Baptist Church for ministering to the people here in Botswana!
If you or your church are interested in doing a mission trip to Botswana, please contact us at bltast@hotmail.com
While Providence Baptist Church was here they were able to take a day and do a safari at Madikwe Safari Park. They all had a great time and were able to see some amazing animals.
Above: 3 young brother lions were being lazy but still acknowledged that they were being watched.
Below: Zebra
The elephants were enjoying the water. Below you can see how close one got to the vehicle.
Above: Hyenas coming out at dusk
Beautiful African Sunset
On June 11, Brent was able to attend the wedding of a friend whose name is Ribs from Lobatse where we attended language classes. The wedding was held in the home village of the bride and groom in Selibe Pikwe which is about 4 hours north of where we live. Weddings are such a huge event here and it was an honor for Brent to be able to attend.
Above: Ribs and his new Bride
Below: The bridesmaids
Above: The Reception
Some days it is nice to just get away and we are so fortunate to have a game park about 20 minutes from our house that we can go do a self-drive and do a picnic. Last Saturday was a beautiful day so we took the afternoon and went to Mokolodi Nature Reserve. Here’s a few of our favorite shots from the day.
Above: Zebra
Below: Giraffe
Rhino are very endangered here due to poaching problems. We are fortunate enough to have 6 rhinos at Mokolodi.
Where we live now, we can actually walk to a grocery store. The other day I (Amanda) took the kids with me…Bradyn in the stroller and Taylor holding my hand. When we walked in the store, immediately the ladies at the checkout started looking at the kids, smiling, and talking in Setswana. One word that I clearly understood as they were talking about Bradyn was “Ditsebe” (Dee-tsay-bay). This is not the first time I have heard this word around my kids and I actually knew what it meant. I went back to the lady who said it and I nicely said “Ditsebe, you are talking about my sons ears”. She was stunned and everyone started laughing b/c I understood what they were saying. I went about my shopping and when I got to the counter to check out, everyone just kept saying “she understands ditsebe”. Believe me this was all in fun and everyone was smiling even me. I plainly said in Setswana “Ke bua Setswana gole go nnye. Ke itse ditsebe” which means “I speak Setswana very little. I know ears.” They all started laughing, I think I made some friends and they will remember us. I love my kids so much, especially their Ditsebe!
While we were home we had a photo shoot with the grandchildren on the Turner side. It was such fun and turned out great.
Above: Our nieces and nephew: Noa, Ainsley, and Ian
Below: Taylor and Bradyn
Love these kids!!
