Hello Everyone, Sulibonani! We are in Gaborone, Botswana and arrived yesteday, August 22nd. We went to Binga on the 6th of August from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Binga is an area of Zimbabwe, like a state or province. Hope Ministries, which we have been working with, has a compound site that will eventually be a home for orphans. There are no orphans there yet, being that the ministry is in the process of getting approved for having kids at the site. I will post pictures on Facebook. The compound is beautiful. It is in “the bush” as we call it, basically in the middle of nowhere, although I do see a lot of people walking the streets. A lot of homes here are made of clay and straw. This is one of the most remote places we have been on the race. Once we were off the highway, we took a dirt road there and I didn’t see any cars for miles.
We were surprised to see that our living accommodations were quite good. Even better than Bulawayo. They have power and water here and it doesn’t go out! It’s amazing that they have get power way out here but not in the city. Nice beds and benches outside. I won’t say too much more. You can look at my posts on Facebook. This was definitely a new environment. It was amazing there, I love it. No WIFI, which is nice. I can focus on my team and the Lord. In a way it felt like a camping trip.
In Binga we’ve been evangelizing and planting a few churches. We have many testimonies of people giving their lives to Christ. Between Bulawayo and Binga 211 people have gotten saved! We have many stories so I will tell one. A man’s hearing was restored. My team was praying for a group of people to receive Jesus and then we left for the next place. Later that day one of the men that we prayed over in the circle flagged the group down and said that his hearing was restored. “We didn’t even pray for that!” my teammate explained. We have prayed for healing many times this month, but never saw it done in that way. God works in different ways. You will do greater things than me Jesus said and it’s amazing to see fruit.
We also did a lot of preaching this month. I preached at least once. It was a cool oppurtunity for us and for them.
We are in Gaborone Botswana now. We said our goodbyes to some our friends at the compound in Binga. It was hard because none of us wanted to leave. They treated us with a trip to Victoria Falls. It is one of the natural wonders of the world. We had to pay to get in, but they have accommodated us very well to stay in Victoria Falls like taking care of our lodging and feeding us. We were there for two days. After Victoria Falls we went back to Bulawayo and stayed our last night there at our host’s house. I think that I can speak for the whole team when I say that this was on of our favorite months. A combination with the ministry and the people. God is amazing and is coming through for us. I will miss these people very much, especially Miss Auntie who cooked for us and cleaned and got us water when we needed it. She was basically our maid. I had a blast here. I am still working through some things, but I have to trust God with everything. I don’t know what can be better than seeing people get saved and being a part of it is an honor.
We will be in Eswatini (Swaziland) in about a week. We will be here in Botswana for 4 or 5 days in prayer or whatever they want us to do. This is cool because we stayed with this family at the start of the month for a night. They picked us up at the airport and now again coming from Zimbabwe. They are friends with Hope ministries. The other two teams have been here in Botswana the past month together. It will be nice to see them in a week or so in Eswatini.
Prayer Requests: That this race gets better and better!! For our 5 days here in Botswana that the Lord does a work. For PVT (Parent Vision Trip) coming up! Our parents will be with us on the field for a week in Eswatini. Pray that families get saved. I here this week has been something that has always brought healing in the past for racers and their families at PVT. Damaged family relationships can really hurt and leave lasting wounds. Also, be praying for the next month in Eswatini, that God would do wonders!
Thank you all so much. God bless you and keep you!
P.S I’m thinking about doing a presentation after race, about the trip. I love that you all get to hear about what I’m doing with these blogs. But I think it would be cool to let you see first hand what we have been doing these 11 months. Maybe have a presentation with questions and answers. To see the fruit of your prayers! I ‘m not sure when probably around 2 months after the race, but I would love to see what you think. Leave a comment..
