-God has already been so faithful in providing religious freedom in Botswana, allowing many churches and Christian ministries to establish themselves in this country. Pray that He would strengthen the laborers in His Kingdom who are already in Botswana. Because of this, we can be confident that God is already moving in Botswana and He has already gone before us and prepared a way for the ministry we are going to do there! So thank Him for that! The Tswana -The Tswana are a Bantu people in Africa who were among the first to respond to the Gospel. However, today the majority of the Tswana people are Christian in name but not in lifestyle. Unfortunately, there is widespread immorality and a breakdown in the family structure of the Tswana, including a high number of illegitimate children. The Tswana have a high socio-political influence in Botswana and other people groups resent them for it. Please pray that the Tswana will come back to God and follow Him wholeheartedly again! AIDS Epidemic -Again, AIDS is extremely prevalent in Botswana, and it has the 3nd highest rate of AIDS in the world after Swaziland. “The disease has stolen 28 years of the nation’s life expectancy and created a situation so dire that a recent president stated, ‘We are threatened with extinction.’ “ -“Over 100,000 AIDS orphans exist in the country, a staggering number for such a small population.” Pray for those children! -“The government has fast-tracked a program that makes anti-retroviral drugs available thru the public sector, drugs that will keep many alive. Pray that the government might have wisdom to know and do what is right. Pray that people will make use of these services in a way that effectively prolongs their lives.” – There are many ministries in Botswana working with AIDS victims and orphans to share God’s love. Pray for these ministries – that they would show compassion to the suffering and present effective prevention programs among those not affected, including youth abstinence programs. – Pray for the church congregations. “Not a single church exists whose membership is unaffected by AIDS. Pray for the ending of any stigma towards sufferers and for congregations to work together for mutual support and prevention.” Churches in Botswana -Again, pray that the Body of Christ in Botswana will love it’s congregations well, particularly those affected by AIDS. -“Most mainline Protestant churches were established by Western missions in generations past, but now are generally in decline. Some suggest that the mainline churches’ struggles today are a legacy from the early missionaries’ failure to contextualize the gospel to local culture; this has resulted in pervasive nominalism. Both local congregations and denominational structures are affected. Pray for revival among these historic churches.” The Lesser Reached/Unreached People Groups -“The Kalanga live under the cultural dominance of the Tswana. While mission churches have not penetrated the Kalanga areas, many African Initaiated Churches and Pentecostal churches are involved with these people. Most can speak Setswana, but the Bible is now available in Kalanga (Lutheran Bible Translators). There are very few other written resources in Kalanga. Pray for this people and the impact of the gospel among them.” -“The Yeyi (20,000) of the Okavango Delta have had little exposure to a living Christianity, and that only thru the Tswana language. The efforts of Love Botswana Outreach, Word to Africa and Calvary Ministries are now seeing response.” -“The Nambya (15,000) of the northeast are more numerous and better evangelized in neighboring Zimbabwe, but are still the 3rd largest group in Botswana with less than 2% evangelicals.” – The San have suffered the almost complete destruction of their desert-adapted way of life, due to the development of ranching, mining and tourism. There are no longer any purely nomadic San ��” all are resettled in poverty on the fringes of towns and villages. Response is slow, but several thousand San may now be Christian in about 20 congregations through the efforts of a dozen agencies. Pray these agencies may be able to help the San adapt to modernity, yet retain their cultural heritage and, above all, find their identity in Christ.” Our Ministry In Botswana -Of course, lift up the ministry that God is going to give us in Botswana. Pray for the conversations we will have and that we will see many salvations in Botswana. Pray for signs and wonders!
How God is Already At Work
Thank you to Raychel Manko and Ryan Graydon for all the research you put into this. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed your prayer points for the blog…I just want everyone to be aware of what we will encounter in each of these countries
