Happy Fall Y’all!

Most of you in the States are experiencing fall weather and preparing for Halloween.  We are in summer and It is blazing hot here (currently 105 degrees), but we still try to carry on with some of the traditions we did when we were kids.  So today we got with a couple of other American families and let the kids dress up. We did some fall crafts and baked some yummy sugar cookies. Halloween is not celebrated here in Botswana, so I think if we went out in costume and knocked on someones gate asking for candy we probably would be labeled as “crazy”. So instead we let the kids go from bedroom to bedroom and get candy. They had a lot of fun as did the mommy’s.

The beautiful orange pumpkins you find in the States are pretty much non-existent here. One store had imported a couple of pumpkins and my friend Laura was able to find one the other day so the kids got to carve it. So much fun!

Baba Shop

Everyday we drive or walk past this little shop beside the road and it makes us smile every time. This is a pretty common structure put up that Batswana men get their haircut at for 10 pula (about $1.50). Apparently someone spelled it as it sounded in English “Barber Shop” or “Baba Shop”.

Recently, Taylor and I had a date to get our haircut. This is very out of the norm as I normally trim her hair, but Taylor wanted to go quite a bit shorter so I was a little nervous to do it myself. And no we did not go to the local Baba Shop.

Above: The finished product

Below: Taylor has been training for her 1st 1k run being held on November 9. On our run the other day we took the camera and took some photos on our journey. Below is Taylor sitting on the railroad tracks that run right behind our house.

Above: This is a very common site-a Termite mound. They get so big!

Below: This is one of our car washes that we visit that are set up along the side of the road. The big green tank is called a “JoJo” and is where they store recycled water they use to wash the cars.

Above: We stopped at one of the many stands on the side of the road and visited with this lady. What a fun day out on our run!

Gaborone Baptist Church Dedication

25 years ago Gaborone Baptist Church was started. This past Saturday, October 26, was the official dedication of the completed building. This has been our home church since our move to the capital (Gaborone) of Botswana. Folks from all over Botswana gathered together to celebrate and give God the glory for all He has done.

Above: On the left is Pastor Kabika and on the right is his interpreter Jobe. All services are done in English and Setswana.

Below: Cooking and getting ready for feeding all who came this day. Two cows, 4 goats, and 37 chickens were killed to provide food for the day.

Below: The children were part of the big day. They sang songs and performed some of the bible verses they have been learning.

Prayer of dedication

Official plaque of dedication of Gaborone Baptist Church

Happy 3rd Birthday, Bradyn!

Our little superman turned 3 years old on October 12. He wanted a superman party so that’s just what he got. We are so thankful for this little guy!

God meant it for good

October 9, 2013, we will have lived in Botswana for 4 years. I can still say after all I have seen the Lord do, I still stand amazed at my Savior. We visited a village yesterday that is a story that only can be fathomed by the mighty God that we serve.

About 10 years ago, there was a young girl named “G” about 17  years old who was continually sick. As most people here do, her family turned to the witch doctor for healing. They left her there under the care of him and eventually he raped her. “G” was so scared and didn’t know what to do and she ran away to her family. She soon found out that she was pregnant. She went back to the witch doctor and he gave her the options to either kill herself, to have an abortion, or to come live with him and he would help take care of the baby. She felt she had no other option than to live with him as her family had little to no money to help care for an addition to the family.

After many years of living there and seeing how this witch doctor was deceiving so many she decided to get out.  She kept looking for a job but never could find anything. As she was asking for help filling out yet another job application, Allison and Kasey, volunteers working with the Lobatse Orphan Care Center at Lobatse Baptist Church told her that God would take care of her if she would fully trust in Him. Allison and Kasey had heard that this girl made some beautiful paper bead necklaces and recommended she make some and they would try to help sell them when they had volunteer teams come in from the States. “G” agreed and sold nearly $300 worth of beads to the first volunteer team which is about 3 months wages. She was amazed and really started to probe further about trusting God fully. She had heard about Jesus before but she had so much anger and resentment in her heart towards the witch doctor that she felt like she could never forgive him. The Lord began to work on her heart, and she finally realized how much Christ forgave her and that she did need to forgive him so she could be saved. She did and now here comes the best part…

Genesis 50:20 “But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people.”  Now 10 years later “G” has now started a paper bead necklace making group in her yard to earn money for her family and for those in the village who need help. People from all over the village are now coming and meeting at her house two times a day for bible study. Where once there was such darkness there is such light.

I knew “G” 4 years ago when we first moved to Botswana and she was in the darkness. She accepted Christ about 9 months ago and when I saw her yesterday for the 1st time there was a definite change and a light radiating from her that can only come from Christ. To God be all the glory!

Below are pictures from our visit to the village yesterday to take part in one of their bible studies.

Above: “G” and Allison sharing a teaching from the Bible.

Below: “G” standing in the front of the crowd giving her testimony. Many from the village already new “G” and could see the change the Lord has done in her life.

Above: These are the 4 people who make paper bead necklaces every day. The young man is blind but yet he still can make money for his family.

“G”, her grandmother, and myself

IMPI Challenge

Some friends and I recently signed up to do the IMPI (Zulu for “warrior”) challenge http://www.impichallenge.co.za/ in Hartbeesport Dam, South Africa. The race took place on September 29, 2013 and was 13km (8 miles) with 20 obstacles. We took the weekend and drove down and had a fun time hanging out. On the morning of the race, we woke up and started getting our “cheetah” outfits/faces on. We were officially the “cheetah girls” and by our opinion had the best outfits there.

We began the running our race at 9am. The challenges were some of the most difficult things I have had to ever do physically. They consisted of army crawling under barb wire, jumping 30 feet into a murky lake, climbing up and over a 30 foot rope net, sliding down numerous mud slides, and climbing two 15 foot walls. Unfortunately at one point in the race, a sign was up from the previous day that we followed that took us on the even harder path (this was the wrong way). SO we got lost for about 1 1/2 hours and had to complete some incredibly had challenges that we didn’t have to. All in all, the race took us 4 hours and 45 minutes  and about 18 km total. Believe me, this body is not meant to run and exercise and do challenges for that long. As I lay here on the couch typing trying not to use many of my sore muscles, I look back on that day with many fond memories. It was completed with friends and it was well beyond anything I thought I could ever do. I am thankful for this experience and once I can move again we will start training for the next race!

What great friends (from left to right): Rachel, Torie, Allison, Kasey, Kaitlyn, Amanda.  Torie and I are both moms and in our mid 30’s. These other girls are all in their early to mid 20’s, so it was hard to keep up with them. The four other girls are working with the orphan care ministry about an hour south of the capital of Botswana.

Getting our cheetah faces on

We sure do look tough right? This was the before picture.

Below: Daren Davis (our cluster leader) and his daughter Peyton also joined us on the run. Daren unfortunately broke a rib on about obstacle #3, but he was tough enough to complete the race.

Below: Some of our course below with some obstacles

4 hours and 45 minutes later we finally finished. An amazing time with some amazing friends!!