Hey everyone!
Can you believe I’m half way through my race?! I sure can’t.
My team and I spent last month in a small village in northern Botswana called Ngarange, right on the Okavango River Delta. We were partnering with an organization there called Adore Little Children, which was started by our hosts, Mama Paula and Auntie Maggie (two INCREDIBLE women who we learned SO much from!).
Most of our days there were spent helping out with the feeding program at the Kindergarten and just getting to love on the children there, making home visits to people in the village who had disabilities to bring them food and other necessities, and other random jobs like painting, organizing, clearing out storage rooms, etc.
___________
During our home visits we had the opportunity to meet two amazing women, Ntusong and Njungu.
I’d love to share a little bit of their stories with you!
Ntusong was born paralyzed and has spent her whole life lying on the floor of a dark mud hut. She can barely speak and has been subjected to years of physical and emotional abuse, rape, and neglect. After Ntusong’s mother died, her aunt became her primary caretaker so that she could receive 300 Pula per month from the government. Her aunt, however, struggles with alcoholism and often uses the money to buy alcohol and even sells Ntusong’s food to buy alcohol as well.
Volunteers from Adore visit her home every day to bring her food, bathe her, and just shower her with the love and hope of Jesus that she so desperately needs.
It was such a beautiful thing to be a part of, and I wish you could have seen the smile on her face when we would sing to her and when we got her up off of the floor and into a wheel chair. It was something I will never forget!
Please pray for REDEMPTION!
Please pray for Ntusong as she is still currently in the care of her aunt. Pray for her aunt, that the Lord will soften and transform her heart and show her the freedom she can have in Him alone!
____________
Njungu is another woman we made home visits to who is nothing but inspiring.
She became paralyzed from the waist down when she was a little girl. Her parents were practicing witchcraft on her when she suddenly became paralyzed, and she’s been that way ever since.
But Njungu doesn’t let that stop her, and her story is one of beautiful REDEMPTION!
She gets around completely on her own and does not let her disability get in the way of caring for her sweet, sweet children; the love she shows them is SO evident. She earns a living by making baskets from long grass and plastic bags, which Adore provides the materials for, and she even taught us how to make them!
Life has been a lot more challenging for her since her husband died a couple of years ago, but her determination and perseverance is so inspiring, and her JOY is radiant. Since her husband passed, she’s started following Jesus and we were able to encourage her in her walk with the Lord whenever we would visit.
We were even able to bring her to church with us for our last Sunday there—something she hasn’t been able to do on her own because of her disability! Seeing her sitting on the floor of the church dancing and praising Jesus with a huge smile on her face was by far one of my favorite memories from the month!
Njungu and my beautiful teammate, Brittany!
_____________
I learned a lot from my time in Botswana.
I learned about the power of prayer, I saw my teammate healed from sickness, I learned new skills like basket making and how to build a reed fence, I got to witness the beautiful STRENGTH of the women in the village, and even got to be there when my teammate, Sam, was baptized in the river!
Our team definitely faced some challenges last month.
There was a power outage across the entire Delta, so for most of the month we had no electricity. Our village and the surrounding villages ran out of drinking water, so we had to go and get our water from the river for part of our month.
But the challenges we faced were just a small glimpse into the challenges that these people face every day of their lives.
We saw a lot of darkness in the form of witchcraft, alcoholism, and spiritual and physical poverty. Through seeing all of this, I was struck with the realization that I truly have no idea how these people do it without Jesus.
But then, that’s exactly why we’re doing this, right?
Getting to share His TRUTH, PEACE and JOY with them and show them even just a small glimpse into the Father’s love for them was well worth EVERY challenge and EVERY bit of darkness we faced!
__________
I’m so thankful for the time I got to spend in Botswana.
Please be praying for the work that Mama Paula and Auntie Maggie are doing through Adore Little Children, that the Lord would continue to work miracles in the village of Ngarange!
Photography by Sam Mann
