This is My Life!
The other night I was throwing food over the fence (leftovers and trimmings that we were leaving out for the birds to eat) and I was thinking this is my life!
I am living in
Botswana, cooking over a fire, we live day by day hoping the water works, living in a tent, sharing my life with 13 other people and sharing Christ with this country.
It was a moment of WOW!! This is really my life!
As most of you know me pretty well this is nothing like what I would have ever imagined my life to be but I wouldn’t change it for the world (maybe having cleaner feet would be nice).
Yes these are my feet (20 minutes after showering) and that is not all dirt but my tan line! You should see my farmers tan!
We started ministry here in
Maun,
Botswana on Monday.
We spent the day planning on doing ATL (Ask The Lord) where we devote a day praying and going out and meeting people and trusting the Holy Spirit to lead us where we needed to go.
We divided into small groups so Casey, Elizabeth and myself went into town (which is a kilometer walk and a quick kombi ride to get there) and we decided to walk around the market and meet some of the people working.
We would just walk through and start talking to women (mainly they are the ones working) and ask them questions.
About their families, homes, churches, etc…
We met a couple of women and we were able to pray for them and learn more about their lives.
We have learned through our contacts that many people in
Botswana belong to the ZCC (Zion Christian Church).
This church from the outside looks good they preach Christ is the only way for salvation, good morals and family values but once you get more involved in the church you learn that it becomes more like a cult.
They pray to the “pastor” as if he is a god, very militant about tithing, works and earning grace and salvation, etc…
So many of the people we are meeting belong to this church and it is very hard to make them understand that what they believe on the surface is good but once you dig deeper it is false teaching.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-23 that there will be many who claim to know Him but did not.
I pray that God will open their eyes to see the truth of the false teaching and turn to Him alone and the Bible alone for the truth.
Tuesday of this week our teams went to a new abandoned baby house and painted murals on the walls.
This house is waiting permits to open so they can take care and love on children who are abandoned at birth.
I wasn’t able to go with them b/c I came down with my first World Race detox program (24 hour stomach bug).
Thankfully it didn’t last more than that and I am feeling much better now.
Wednesday we went to the local prison to minister to the inmates who are living there.
Our teams were blown away by the men there and their heart and desire to know God and share the gospel with others.
These men have been brought to a saving faith and deep devotion to Jesus while in prison and it was a great blessing to be apart of.
Thursday Casey and I spoke in front of the international school that is located at Love
Botswana and told the students about what we were doing on the World Race.
We carried our packs in with us and shared with them what we were doing and how God led us to the mission field.
They were amazed at the weight of our packs and that we carried our whole life in 1 bag (well 3 for me).
As the day progressed Casey, Christey and I went back into town and revisited the women we met on Monday and touched base with them again to see how they were doing.
I also met another woman named Maggie in the market and we began to talk and I was able to share Jesus with her.
She says she can’t attend church because she cannot afford the kombi ride and she doesn’t have a bible in her own language so we are going to be working on getting some bibles in Setswana to give to those we meet.
On Friday we spent the day at a local nature park and we were able to spend time together and alone with the Lord marveling as His amazing creation in
Botswana.
So far life in
Botswana has been good.
Please pray that the Lord will continue to open doors and soften hearts in this country. It is the middle of the desert so cold nights and HOT days but no rain which is nice when you are in a tent.
Here are some pictures so that you can see that I am alive and well in this beautiful country.
These termite hills are all over Botswana and they are as hard as concrete!
Me, Casey and Heather enjoying the view in the bush
I told you they are huge!
