The Gospel Girls aka GG’s have made it safely to Botswana and are getting settled in for the month. We are flying solo for the first time since starting this crazy adventure 3 months ago!!! I am so blessed and thankful for these wonderful women and I cannot wait to see how this month not only changes the dynamics of out team, but also the community we’re immersed in.
On our way to our ministry site after a 6 hour bus ride, followed by a night in our tents, followed by another 10 hour bus ride! We may be a little bus-lagged, but we still have smiles!
This month, my team and I will be partnering with Love Botswana. Today was our first full day at Love Botswana Outreach Mission here in Maun, Botswana. We had the privilege of getting a tour of the grounds and hearing more about what the ministry does. Love Botswana is a faith-based Christian organization founded by Doctors Jerry and Jana Lackey back in 1987. (Fun fact: Jerry Lacky was ordained by Joel Osteen…how cool is that?!) Their vision is to develop Christian leaders in Africa by providing and implementing programs that help move people and communities from a state of crisis to self-support. They have 31 programs as of now and man, oh man, are their hands all in this community. Here’s a small handful of ones I could remember/that I took notes on:
Operation Blessing: provide food, clothing, water, and other necessities to those in need on a weekly basis, especially the disabled as they are hidden in society due to shame and therefore not registered citizens, making it impossible to obtain help from the government. We were told that we will have an opportunity to aid in this program during our stay, so I’m excited to share with you all what it’s like!
Lorato House (House of Love): a shelter that provides caregivers and necessities to orphans, abused, and neglected children from the ages of 0-10 in and around Maun. Sadly, many children are kept here longer than desired because adoption and fostering is a veeeerrrrry long process as it can take up to 10 years for any progression of paperwork. My team and I are currently staying here, sharing a wall with the nursery and hope to interact with all the adorable kiddos soon.
Babelegi Mmogo: a program aimed to go out into the local villages, educate them and bring awareness to the risks and side effects of child abuse. Sadly, child abuse is way too common in this area and the hope is to promote a unified community that will help raise, support, and advocate for every child.
Reach 4 Life: a program that educates students starting in the 1st grade about abstinence due to the high incidence rates of HIV. Statistically, children become sexually active around the age of 6-7 and it’s not uncommon to hear about child pregnancies and abortions. Since reckless sexual activity is so common, spreading awareness about HIV at a young age is hopeful to tame the number of active and pregnant children.
Okavango International School: Christian K-12 school very close to Love Bostwana’s base, which provides Godly direction and education to the youth here in Maun. Christian schools are very rare here in Bostwana, so it’s awesome to see one thriving and impacting so many lives.
The Village Church: nondenominational, multiracial, multinational church locate right here in Maun. There are 13 branches living out the mission of sharing the love of God and impacting the lives of everyone that walks through the doors. My team and I will have the privilege of attending this church while we’re here and maybe even leading some worship?! Stay tuned for updates on that.
As you can see, there’s so many opportunities for the Lord to do amazing things and I’m so so so excited to be teamed up with this ministry this month.
Please read up on their ministry here https://lovebotswana.org/ because I only touched on some of the things they’re doing!
That’s all for now…love you guys 🙂
~A
