“Fire! Fire! Fire!” groups of teens yelled in hopes of gaining the attention of the youth pastor to win extra points for correctly answering the trivia question missed by a previous group. My second night in Botswana and I found myself yelling right along the teens at their Fire by Night youth gathering. I was told normally there is some worship and then a little study followed by time with small groups. The small groups are generally each called by a House of (insert Biblical tribe). This night was different in a couple way, one it was their end of the year celebration, and two there was a new house, the House of Americans (though it included one Canadian and an African). This group was made up of four Love Botswana interns, two World Racers, two Christian Hip Hop Artists, and one Botswana teen.
We were playing a game very similar to charades, only that you had to act out your answer then give the name of the Biblical person you were portraying. Needless to say House of Americans won this game as well as a House Sing Off. The teen Houses didn’t have much of a chance with the sing off, between the musicians and missionaries fresh from children’s programs…we could go on and on without repeating songs. After the games the Hip Hop Artists gave a little concert intermixed with a message about self respect and abstinence. I was very impressed. The evening then finished with a potluck style meal or Braai.
These teenagers aren’t any different than American teens, I’m not sure why I thought they would be. Maybe because I hadn’t really thought that there would be such a difference between city and bush. This was the age group I was hoping to see in Nsoko Swaziland, the bush, for our teen program. There the teens seemed to have much more responsibilities, whereas here they were free to be children. I’ve really missed being in Swaziland and wasn’t sure how I’d be able to poor my heart into another so soon. Tonight I realized it would be a little easier than I thought.
