This month in Botswana my team and I were partnered with Delta Cross Ministries and the Booyse family in Seronga, Botswana.
Koos Jooste established Delta Cross Ministries in 1998. It is situated right on the eastern edge of the Okavango Delta in northwestern Botswana. In 2006 Willie Booyse and his wife Estelle were given leadership of the ministry and they have been running it with their three daughters, Arista, Karlien, and Simone, ever since.
The main focus of DCM is the evangelism of the surrounding villages. They have 6 churches and 6 missions points established throughout the region and are currently the only ministry working on this side of the delta. Witchcraft, ancestral worship and ‘traditional’ doctors characterize the beliefs of this region. The Spiritual warfare here makes their ministry incredibly difficult, but the Booyse family and DCM are dedicated to bringing the love of the Lord to these people.
Based out of Seronga, the ministry has recently become very much a family affair. Arista, 21, helps direct much of the children’s ministry in the afternoon. She prepares lessons and helps minister to the children on a daily basis. Her life long dream has been to work in animation, and her artistry is amazing. Although she has yet to have much opportunity in that field, she is able to channel her gift towards lessons and projects for the children.
Karlien, 21, manages the ministry’s office. She helps to organize the books, events, and logistics of the ministry, and she is incredibly brilliant at it. She has a gift for administration and organization. She has aspirations to travel and loves working in the business realm. She very much enjoys taking part in the family ministry, but, like her sisters, she is hungrily searching for her God-given purpose, and His anointing on her own life.
Simone, 19, helps maintain the family’s vegetable garden (amongst several other things), and I got the huge honor of working alongside her this month. The garden comes in handy when hosting short term missions teams, of which we are already the third this year, (and there are two more coming within the next two months). Simone’s ultimate dream is to attend beauty school and become a hairdresser. She’s already blessed several people on our team this month by providing them with much needed hair trims.
Long story short, I love these women. I love this family. I’ve had the pleasure of baking cookies on a Friday afternoon with Arista, gardening all morning long with Simone, watching movies and drinking coffee with Karlien. These women are brilliant, gifted and beautiful daughters of the Lord, and they have blessed me abundantly by opening up their hearts to me this month.
Willie and Estelle have done nothing but offer up their entire home to my team and I. Not only is the ministry doing wonderful things for this region, but also this family has done wonderful things for our team. Simone prepares incredible coffee for us in the afternoon and before bible study, Estelle makes us unspeakably delicious lunches every day, and Willie never turns down an opportunity to give advice and encouragement to us in our ministry and relationship with the Lord. We pile into their comfy family room on an almost daily basis to watch movies on their projector, they treat us to popcorn and a family movie night every Friday, we gather around their outdoor table every evening for Bible Study by fire light. They provide us with blankets when we’re cold, medicine when we’re sick, coffee when we’re tired, and love when we’ve got nothing left. I have been blessed with some absolutely remarkable contacts thus far on the Race; Pastor David in Nicaragua, Pi Emmi in Thailand, Pastor Bipin in Nepal, and CCH in India, but DCM and the Booyse family are definitely up there at the top.
They have loved us incredibly well, made us feel at home and comfortable when most of us are losing steam, they have encouraged us in our walk with the Lord, and have inspired me abundantly with their amazing gift of hospitality. Estelle has helped show me what I want my home to be like one day, she has shown me what sacrificial love, generosity and the presence of a strong woman of God can do for a family and a community.
I love this family, I thank God for this family, and I pray He continues to bless them abundantly in their ministry. I pray that He blesses Arista, Karlien and Simone, and that He honors the deepest desires of their hearts. I pray that He covers the Booyse family with His absolute protection, and that He moves in radical ways throughout Seronga and the surrounding Okavango Delta region.
Please pray for DCM and the Booyse family as they continue to host short-term missions teams, and spread the truth of God throughout Botswana.
I tried to attach photos, but the internet wasn’t strong enough. However, snippets from our month can also be found on DCM’s Facebook page: Delta Cross Ministries
More information on Delta Cross Ministries can be found on their website:
