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!

Saturday bible study

On Saturday mornings, the kids and I walk to the neighborhood right beside of ours and do a children’s and ladies bible study. In November, the children finish their school year and then most of them leave the city where we live and go to the villages where their families are originally from. Before the kids left, we did a Christmas party  and gave them toothbrushes/toothpaste (from Glenwood Baptist Church in NC), chips, and a frisbee (from Sewell Valley Baptist Church in WV). They decorated their frisbees and then they didn’t know what to do with them. So we taught them how to throw a frisbee and then there were 20+ frisbees flying through the air creating sheer chaos. It was fun though. They learned about the story of baby Jesus this day and we pray that each of these children one day will ask Jesus into their hearts.

This is Mma Simba. She is one of the 4 ladies who attends Saturday morning bible study each week. She is a seamstress and makes very beautiful dresses. This is her 2nd born child-Neka.

Batswana Missionaries

I want to introduce you to two very special young men-Jones and Thato (Ta-to). If you heard us speak during Stateside, you have heard about Jones who is Brent’s friend and ministry partner. In May of 2013, Jones and Thato committed to serving as missionaries within their own country of Botswana for 6 months. They stepped out in faith and are fully supported by the current Baptist churches here in Botswana. These are the 1st national missionaries to their own people.

They are serving in 2 small villages-Kang and Hukuntsi (Hu-Koon-t-see) in southwestern Botswana. They have been working with Kang Baptist Church in spreading the gospel in that village and helping strengthen the church. They also have just recently planted a church in the village of Hukuntsi.

Brent recently went out with two young men-Lesh and Sets- from our church (Gaborone Baptist Church) to go out and encourage Jones and Thato as well as going out and doing ministry with them. Below you can see them at the small house Jones and Thato are staying in.

Above: Lesh and Thato-walking house to house spreading the gospel

Below: Jones and Sets

Above: You can see an empty “pan” above where the cattle are looking for water. It has not rained here in Botswana for a very long time. We are in a severe drought and need rain. Please pray for rain!

Below: (from left to right) Jones, Thato, Lesh, Sets

Above: This is Kang Baptist Church

Below: Jones doing bible study at the church

The Heavens Declare His Glory!!

We ask you to pray for the people here in Botswana that they would become more and more open to the truth of the gospel. With less than 2% Christians, it is a unreached people with the gospel. BUT there have been so many seeds planted over the years and finally we are seeing folks come to the Lord like never before. We give all the glory to God for what He has done and will do!

Ballet Recital-“Seasons”

Taylor had her ballet recital this past weekend. It focused on all the Seasons and Taylor was a strawberry to represent summer. Amanda had the privilege of helping backstage before the show in getting all the strawberries ready for their big night and got to capture some fun shots.

Above: Taylor’s missionary cousin was also in the recital. Lili is in the middle.

Below: Daddy brought his little strawberry some flowers

Below: We had some of our mission family come to watch the recital as well. Taylor was so happy they were there.

10k/1k and the mountain pass

This past weekend we traveled to South Africa to run a 10k (6.4 mile) race with some friends outside of Pretoria. We had beautiful weather and a great run.

Taylor has also been training for her 1st 1k race. She got to run it on Saturday as well and did great. She was so proud to get her very own medal. Below-Taylor running with her friend Ridge.

After the race, we had about a 4 hour drive home. We decided to take the scenic route home and take a mountain pass road called the Magelies Meander. The kids loved all of the bumpy roads and getting out and exploring. Sometimes it is just nice to get on the path less traveled and take a breather.

Before entering the road that went to the top of the mountain, we saw this warning sign.

What a fun weekend away together as a family with our dear friends!

Youth meeting

We love having the youth from Gaborone Baptist Church over to our house. This past Friday we had just the guys come over and instead of “pizza night” like most youth in the States have, they had “goat head night”. Yep, that’s right, they were given 2 goat heads from the dedication last weekend at our church and they cooked them up in a big pot outside. They ate everything as you can see from the last picture below except for a few bones. Tongue and eyeball were even eaten! Even though we did not stomach trying it, they had fun :)