3 plane rides (8-12 hours each), an 8 hour layover in Qatar, a new age, 3 days in Johannesburg, South Africa, 30 hours worth of bus rides later, and a short very ride later… we made it!!!!!! We may have brushed our teeth with cups at a bus stop, not changed clothes for 3 days, scarfed down LOTS of apples, oranges, and carrots because we thought they couldn’t cross the border, and slept for maybe 4 hours, but we are here in one piece.
we, 2 teams from my squad, 12 girls, are living in rural Botswana, in a village where the grocery store is a 2 hour car ride and a 10 minute ferry ride away. (i honestly love that drive to the grocery store, especially because we’ve seen elephants twice.) we live on the Delta, where the sunsets every night. we cook together and eat together and sleep together and laugh together and kill exotic bugs together. the community is great— a place where we have space to say whatever is on our hearts and minds and we’re called to a higher place in our faith (they threw me a surprise 19 years + 20 days birthday dinner since my real birthday was only 10 hours long and spent partly on an airplane and partly in the Qatar airport— what a girl gang!!!!!! Also, it was supposed to be right along the Delta, beyond the barbwire fences, but a hippo crashed, so it had to be moved elsewhere. Hilarious.).
We expected this month to be full of intense spreading the gospel, being with an established ministry in Botswana, one that this family has worked with for the past 14 years reaching the unreached and changing the way that people in Seronga and beyond view the Gospel and the Church. But that has not been the case. The first 2 weeks we hardly did any ministry, we did evangelism training in the mornings and started to do children’s ministry in the evenings starting the second week. We were to be training for reaching people who had never heard the Good News, or were being falsely taught this news in church, but after a week of training, we had not gone to any houses nor talked to anyone about Jesus. Instead, we spent a whole morning measuring 812 meters for fencing on an island that was gifted to this family (what a cool gift, right?). That is our ministry for the next two weeks and, weather permitting, the following four: putting up property markers, fences, the foundation for a home, and plowing and planting. Our days are long and in the sun, spent in dirty shorts instead of our predicted floor-length skirts, being much more sore at the end of the day than expected.
Our ministry for the month is nothing like we have done before and nothing like we anticipated. We are living here with a grieving family. They are grieving the loss of a daughter/sister and a father/husband all in the past year and a half. Willie, the late husband and father, ran this ministry, Delta Cross Ministry, and passed away only a month before we came here. The family was, though mourning, adamant on having a team during this season of life; they truly believed that this is what God was calling them into, so they obediently took it and ran with it. Talk about some faithful servants…
I really started to question God on how this was affecting people’s eternity, the weight of other people’s glory so heavy on my shoulders and I can’t really do anything about it. But that, evangelism, is not what the Lord is calling us into for these next two months (or at least for right now). He is calling us into weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who rejoice. We’re here to serve this family that is trying to figure out life without people so close and vital to them. We’re to walk in empathy and gentleness and kindness and service and selflessness and compassion.
Honestly, it is hard to watch sometimes. Tonight, for instance, broke my heart. The family’s water pump broke a couple days ago, so we, 15 people, are in a bit of a water shortage. After many trips to the biggest town nearby (2 hours, the same town with the grocery store), many attempts at changing the pump, multiple unsuccessful pumps, and some borrowed water from the neighbors, nothing. Nothing but teary eyes and frustration from the whole family and a sprained ankle of one of the sisters. The family decided that children’s ministry wasn’t going to happen today, too many other insinuating circumstances and emotions going on that took priority over playing soccer and limbo with children. This is the first time the family has had to deal with a real issue since the passing of Willie, the head of the household who handled all matters of these sorts. So our teams took this given time to make cookies for and give space to the family, and, a couple hours later, worshipping with them in song, most of the songs chosen geared toward comforting the family in their current tribulations. This is what these next 2 months are for: lots of cookies and lots of worship; serving one another, serving this family that is trying to get back on their feet after the passing of one of their beloveds.
And what a sweet time it is to be able to do so. Fun fact: it’s about to be rainy season here! That means that ministry will probably slow down to almost a halt. We won’t be able to really do anything during that time because everything we do, except sleep, is outside. And even sooner, the kiddos will be heading off to the fields to start plowing to get ready for said rain season, so the attendance will be low in children’s ministry and evangelism will be difficult with everyone the fields and not at home. So will building. So for now, we are serving the family by building on the island, something they’ve been needing to do for 2 years, and children’s ministry in the evenings. With the rain stopping building and hanging out with the guppies, we will have lots of down time, aka time to serve the family to the best of our abilities. Another cool timing thing: it’s the holiday season!!!!!! we get to serve and love on this family in this time of the year where family and thankfulness is emphasized tenfold. I don’t believe in a God who does coincidences, therefore this isn’t one. The stars aligning of the seasonal timing and us being here was all divinely laid out by the Creator of the Universe who knows what is best for his children.
I feel overwhelmingly blessed and humbled to be a part of one of two teams that was chosen to serve this family these next 2 months. Even in their lowest valley, this family wanted to serve the Lord and not pass up in joining The Body. Our squad mentor, in our email to us about our ministry, said that it is a “high and holy honor” for us to be invited to join this family during this time. And what an honor it really is— I am already seeing this and can only imagine that viewpoint expanding, and I cannot wait for it to.
I really pray that this month brings comfort and love and light to this family. they are our priority. we may be doing evangelism and kids ministry, but our main focus is to be with this family and serve them to the best of our abilities. Ma Willie, the mother and widow, says that she already feels blessed by the laughter and chatter she hears throughout her house and property. We cooked her and her 2 daughters Thanksgiving dinner and she was overcome with gratitude and was choking back tears as she was speaking of being thankful for us. The first night she said that now that we are here, we’re her daughters now. It’s nice to feel at home when you haven’t been and won’t be for awhile, and it’s even nicer to feel so during the holiday season. i hope they feel the same: that they have a huge family to fall back on in times of need and to celebrate with during the holidays despite the loss of family so recently.
