Pula!

When we first arrived in Botswana 2 years ago, we were surprised when we went to church and they were praying for “pula”. Our currency here is called pula, so we thought it odd they were praying for money so hard. Afterwards we were told that pula is also the word for rain and that is what they actually were praying for. Most of Botswana is desert and rain is much needed this time of year. It has not rained here since about March and the rain has finally come again. The kids enjoyed playing in the rain/mud for our first “pula” of the season.

Bradyn was trying to drink the water, ugh!

Molepolole Baptism

Recently 3 new Christians were baptized at Calvary Baptist Church in Molepolole, praise the Lord! Molepolole is the largest village here in Botswana and there are two Baptist churches there. Pastor David Thokwane and his wife Rose began Calvary Baptist Church many years ago. They have an amazing ministry there in Molepolole and we are thankful to have national partners such as them to work with. They are looking forward to baptizing 6 more new Christians in the near future. Our God is so good!

Above: Pastor David Thokwane

Taylor’s 1st hunting trip

Yesterday Brent took Taylor and Amanda hunting with him while we left Bradyn with Aunt Margaret for the day. We had a blast and Taylor was actually a great little "huntress" and was very quiet. Brent was able to shoot an impala and Taylor was so excited to touch it and watch every bit of the skinning process. I know you are thinking "how could you let your child watch an animal being skinned?" Well we actually put her little chair under a shade tree out of sight of the impala and she picked it up and planted herself front row seating to Uncle Robert skinning the impala. She asked many questions and thought it was the coolest thing ever. WE all had a great time.

Birthday celebration with our mission family

Yes, this is yet another birthday post. It seems Bradyn’s 1 year birthday just keeps going on and on, but this past Sunday we were able to host prayer night at our home with our mission family and we tagged a birthday party for Bradyn on top of it. We celebrated with a baseball and soccer ball cake…I have a new found respect for people who decorate cakes for a living b/c these were pretty pitiful. Maybe on furlough I will invest in a cake baking class. We love our mission family and are so thankful to have them love on our kids so much.

Cupcakes

These pictures are mainly for the grandparents. We wish we could have been with you all for Bradyn’s 1st birthday.

So we stripped Bradyn down to his diaper. He loved his first cupcake!

Above: I love how the party hat flatters his chubby cheeks

Below: “Man, that was some good chocolate!”

Bradyn: 1 year old shots

Our little man is turning 1 year old on October 12. It’s so hard to believe he is already a year old. He is standing on his own, but not walking quite yet. He can say “mama”, “dada”, “tay tay”, and can wave and say “hi”. He has such a sweet personality and is very quiet and contemplative. He loves his big sister and follows her around everywhere. He has 4 teeth and this boy loves to eat. We are so thankful to have Bradyn in our life!

Beautiful flowers

I love working in the garden. Lisa Jones, the missionary who lived in the house prior to us, had such a beautiful garden. Here are a few of the flowers I have inherited and have enjoyed seeing the blossoms this spring.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:1

Swimming and chalk

It’s starting to warm up quite a bit here in Botswana, so we got the kids baby pool out the other day. They had fun crawling in and out and then they found the sidewalk chalk. Bradyn became Taylor’s canvas and below is the result. They had to both be scrubbed by day’s end but they had a great time.

My boys

The boys now have matching Botswana soccer jersey’s. Love it!