Tooth fairy for Bradyn

So who said the tooth fairy doesn’t visit 3 year olds? She has frequented our house for 2 nights…let me explain.

On Thursday, Bradyn was outside swinging on his tummy when all of a sudden we hear screaming. He had went face first over the swing and hit our concrete porch with his mouth. Immediately we notice his top front left tooth had popped out root and all and he was bleeding so much. We rushed him to the one oral dentist we knew of in our city and he doesn’t even take a look in his mouth, but sends us home with pain medicine and an antibiotic and tells us to come back in 5-7 days. We are in shock and try to settle him down some more and take him home. We speak to a friend and she refers us to a maxilofacial surgeon from Germany, so we called him and he agreed to see us immediately. He tells us to come back the next day (Friday morning).

At 9am Friday, we show up at his office and he assesses Bradyn’s mouth. He recommended surgery that day to most likely remove 2 more of Bradyn’s teeth and to get an x-ray of his top palate to assess any damage done to his permanent teeth that will come in later in his life. Unfortunately, he did not have any surgery time, so he recommended we go with his colleague who was a Batswana doctor and an Asian anesthetist for the surgery that afternoon.

Needless to say we were a little worried about someone putting Bradyn under that we didn’t get a personal recommendation about as medical care here can sometimes not be very good. So we called the nurse with our organization and she said we needed to get details about what kind of anesthesia they would be using on Bradyn. For 2 days the Setswana word “phutego” kept running through Amanda’s mind not knowing why it kept coming up, she meant to look it up after all of the drama was over to see what it meant. When they went to call the Batswana doctor who would be  performing the surgery, Brent handed Amanda his card…his name was Dr. Phutego. It was a clear sign from the Lord that this was in His hands already and that we just needed to trust Him.

When the surgery began at 3:30pm on Friday, they started out with a shot to sedate Bradyn. They were able to perform an x-ray to assess the damage. He had no damage to his top palate or permanent teeth, praise the Lord! They then put him under with gas and were able to see that the 2 teeth surrounding the one that already popped out needed to be pulled due to how loose they were and that infection could set in.

So all in all, Bradyn has lost his 2 top front teeth and the small one next to them on the left. His teeth went through his lip and it is still pretty busted up, but he is recovering so well.

We are thankful the Lord protected our little guy.  We love him and his new smile!

2 Cor. 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for MY strength is made perfect in weakness!"

Taylor’s 1st day

We have homeschooled Taylor for the past 1 1/2 years completing her Kindergarten year and half of her 1st grade year. I have to say that we loved homeschooling and it is still an option in the future, but if you know Taylor you know what a little social butterfly that she is. We felt since we have the option of putting her in an international school with other children around her that that is what would be best for her at this point in her life.

That said she started school this week at the international school and LOVES it. She has to wear a uniform everyday with school starting at 7am and ending at 12:15pm.

Bags of Joy

We were so thankful this year when Brent’s mom came to visit for Christmas time. We miss family so much and during the holidays it becomes even harder so the fact that she and Mike come to visit us during the holidays means so much. This year she teamed up with many from Greenridge Baptist Church, her school, and friends to help make cloth bags and gather fun things to stuff in the bags. She came with 3 extra bags full of toothbrushes, soap, pencils, toys, flip flops, etc to hand out to all of the kids we minister to here in Botswana. What a blessing these bags were to so many!

Below Taylor and Bradyn laid all 70 bags out in our living room floor and helped stuff them.

Below: The first place we gave out bags was in Ledumang (Lay-doo-mah-ng) where we have a ladies/children’s bible study every Saturday morning. Grammy even taught the bible story that day.

Below: Sunday morning brought us to our church at Gaborone Baptist Church. Brent spoke that morning and Amanda and Grammy took the kids for Sunday School. At the end the kids got their bags and were so excited.

Grammy was also able to visit the Children’s Ward at our local government hospital called Princess Marina. We have friends from the States who are the pediatric oncologists here in Gaborone and we were able to give out bags to many of their cancer patients and several other sick kids who were in the hospital

Brent has been working in the village of Mochudi for many years now. We were able to visit the families that he ministers to to hand out bags and remind them of the ultimate gift in Jesus Christ. Below is the Moreki family that we love so much and they were all together this day.

Above: Mma Moreki with her granddaughter and of course Grammy. Two amazing grandmothers!

Below: This is Lydia and Lame (Lah-may). Lame is now 7 years old and has been sick pretty much his whole life. Lydia accepted Jesus in her heart shortly after he was born and faithfully attends bible study. We still pray for a cure for Lame and these bags put a smile on his face this day.

Thanks to all who helped make these bags possible!!

Thokwane Wedding

In 2013, we have had the privilege to attend 2 Christian marriages here in Botswana. I have to admit things are done a bit differently than what we are used to in America, but it has been so wonderful to be a part of these ceremonies.

This is the wedding of Onks (Onx) and Merapelo (May-rah-pay-low) Thokwane (Toe-kwa-nee). On December 13, 2013 they held the Lobola. The Lobola is when the groom comes to pay the “bride price” to her family. In this instance, Onks brought 8 cows to Merapelo’s family as payment for her. The 8 cows was agreed upon month’s prior to the Lobola by the uncle’s of the bride and uncle’s of the groom.

On December 14, 2013 came the 1st white wedding. This wedding is held in the village where the bride comes from and in this instance it was a place called Mochudi. Oh ya, did I mention that our sweet Taylor Grace was a flower girl. Stay tuned for many pictures of her sweet face. She was so incredibly nervous as she had to dance in and out of the church and into the reception. She did great!!

Above: The bride being escorted by her parents down the aisle.

Below: Onks and Merapelo

Above: Onks and Merapelo with Onks’ mother and father.

Below: Amanda with my dear sweet friends, Mmamoruti Thokwane and Mmamoruti Kabika. Most married women at weddings wear a hat or scarf on their heads and then a shaw around their shoulders.

Above: Left Pastor Thokwane and his wife of Calvary Baptist Church, right Pastor Kabika and his wife of Gaborone Baptist Church. These are some great men and women of God. Please pray for them and their churches that they would remain strong and grow in the Lord.

Below: On December 21, 2013 a second wedding was given at the groom’s village. The ceremony was a little different without the exchange of rings and vows but a sermon in its place as they were already officially married on December 14.

At the reception we heard singing and clapping and stomping. When we looked around, we saw tables, chairs, basins, cooking pots, etc being carried on heads. When we asked what in the world was going on, someone told us they were gifts to the bride and groom being displayed.

Below: The cooking is done by family members and those from the church. The receptions are held in the villages at the mother/father of the bride and groom respectively. Anyone in the village basically can come attend so you have a lot of people who stumble in for a meal.

Above: Mmamoruti Thokwane with her mother.

Below: At the end of the last reception and much dancing, the bride and groom and bridal party all changed into traditional dress.

After marriage, the bride is now supposed to go and stay with the groom and his family for a couple of months before they can go find their own place.

Thanks, Onks and Merapelo, for letting us be a part of your day!

Oh and all the pictures are courtesy of my wonderful husband, Brent. He was the official wedding photographer…not too shabby, huh!