The last three weeks have been crazy. I’m so excited to share everything God has been doing in Gaborone and the amazing moments we’ve experienced! The past few weeks have been filled with Holy Spirit, prayer, worship, relationships, laughter, tears, challenges, exhaustion, fun, and most of all love. We were serving alongside Kingdomcity Gaborone, you should check out my last blog to read about this incredible church!
Let’s start with day 1 of ministry. We first had a Wednesday night meeting where every week the church leaders come together and worship, and then talk about church for Sunday. I loved these meetings. When we arrived they were preparing for their first service, so all talk was logistical and talking about outreach. The other Wednesday night meetings we had talked about what went well and what to improve for the following Sunday. This was an awesome time of fellowship and learning, and we got to see the behind-the-scenes of starting a church and the inner workings. Let me tell you, it’s intense. Give you pastor an extra hug on Sunday when you see him.
The next day we went with Boago, in charge of evangelism and outreach, to the unemployment yard. Here we met people, shared the gospel with the crowds, prayed for people, and had an impromptu worship session. It was incredible. What I first noticed about the people here was that they were starving for hope. As Boago was talking in SiSwana about Jesus and the gospel, everyone wanted to be prayed for. They wanted any ounce of hope. We were able to talk with people individually, invite them to church, and pray. At the end, Boago called us over to pray for a man who has had chronic back pain since 2008, so we all prayed….and nothing happened. We prayed one more time, asked the man to move, and he looked confused…the pain was gone. PRAISE HIM! That man was healed. Amen.
Hospital ministry was next, we went during visiting hours and split up into the different wards. I went to pediatric, some to maternity, and some to medical. This day was really hard. We prayed for every child in the pediatric ward with illnesses ranging from cancer to HIV to TB to burns and broken limbs. We always asked the parents what was wrong before praying, and a common theme seemed to be that the doctors just “didn’t know what was wrong”. Being in that ward with such innocent children was hard, really hard. I came out crying. It’s hard to put into words after going from room, to room, to room, to room, to room, to room and seeing bed after bed of children sick, some by themselves without parents. When we came back the next week it was a lot more light hearted, and we got to worship and have some conversations. Even though it was really hard, I’m super grateful God gave us the opportunity to pray and encourage.
Saturdays we did outreach, which meant meeting at the school the church is being held at, splitting up to cover more ground and not scare people away, and knocking on doors. We went door to door inviting people to church in the area and telling them about the heart of Kingdomcity. I was blown away by the receptiveness of Botswana people. Almost every house let us come in, sit down, and talk with them. It was really cool to hear about their lives and invite them to church, and even cooler when they walked in the door Sunday morning!
Sunday was church, and required lots of set up before hand. I was a part of the welcome team and helped with ushering, so I got to greet people and help make the feel welcome. One aspect I adore about Kingdomcity is their heart for making people feel at home and welcomed. Church was wonderful, every Sunday. There was passionate prayer services before, amazing worship, and then a wonderful message from Pastor Matthews. The service ended with fellowship and getting to know the church members and connecting with them.
Lastly, the few days before we left we were able to go out to Boago’s home village and stay with his parents. Man, this was great. We were able to fellowship with mama and papa, our friend James, Boago’s cousin, and so many more people. We walked and prayed and went to a widow’s home, met with the chiefs of the village, prayed for Boago’s extended family at various homes, and worshipped after bible study. It was an awesome three days of fellowship, love, and food. Lots of food. James cooks a mean chicken curry!
I’m so grateful for the time we spent with this wonderful family at Kingdomcity; I’ve never felt so loved or wanted in such a short amount of time. I will forever be grateful for the stories we shared, the laughter-until-our-bellys-hurt nights, the games of heads up, the bonfires, the worship, the impromptu dance parties and rapping, and the love. So much love. Never did I think I’d be with a group of people who would surprise us at the bus station at 6am as we’re leaving just to say goodbye one more time, especially when it’s below freezing outside. You guys are the best.
So to my Kingdomcity family, thank you for being you. You all taught me more in 3 weeks than you’ll ever know. Just to name a few…I learned from Rhoda how to love deep and make everyone feel so important. I learned from Eugene how to be a humble servant leader, never looking for an ounce of recognition. I learned from Matthews that no matter how young or unequipped you feel, if you have a willing heart, God will use you. I learned from Boago that evangelism doesn’t have to be intimidating, and that all it takes is love. I learned from Phatsimo that serving with joy makes literally everything enjoyable. And trust me, there’s so much more than that. I could go on and on and on…
I love you all, and I’ll miss you like crazy. I know God didn’t bring us all together by accident, so I’m really excited to see where God will take us in the future! It’s not goodbye, just see ya later. Thank you again for your love, support, and for welcoming us into your family. We love you!
God bless,
Jenna
