Every month of the World Race teams typically go into each country with a set ministry plan and a place to stay for the month. I say typically because there’s this one month called Unsung Heroes where ministry and lodging are completely up in the air until you arrive in the country and you find it for yourselves. Unsung Heroes month is a month full of listening to the Holy Spirit and being fully confident that the Lord will lead you into places and put people in your path that will help you find those ministry contacts for Adventures in Missions to potentially use in the future. We prayed about how many contacts we wanted to try to make while in Botswana and we all agreed on a goal of 7 contacts. Starting out the month it seemed like it was going to be so easy to figure this whole thing out. My team of 5 began praying for the Lord to open doors and to put us in contact with someone who would allow 5 random people to stay with them for a short time. A day later we already had a place to stay in a village in Mochudi for a reduced price that worked within our budget for the month and we had no idea how to trace how that contact happened other than the goodness and provision of God. Upon arrival we were taken to our place and got to know the two other Americans who were living in the staff house working with Youth for Christ Botswana. We thought this could be a great contact and we’re already off to a great start!
A couple of days into this month we were shopping for groceries and some random guy walks up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder and asks what organization we are working with. I told him about the World Race and he shared that he was a pastor so we all immediately think, “yes, another ministry contact!” He offered to take us home and after a little talking we came to find out he had already hosted a team in the past so that was a clue that he was no longer in the running to be new ministry contact. For whatever reason, he planned this huge day for us to learn more about his ministry but unfortunately we weren’t able to partner with him because he was already on the “Friends List” meaning AIM already knew about this ministry. We had to inform him we couldn’t partner with him and wouldn’t be able to spend the entire day with him but he insisted on coming over to talk with us. So, he came over and we shared our testimonies with him and he began preaching about all sorts of things and saying things about the Bible and believers that most certainly didn’t line up wth the Word of God and I was getting really antsy about it. You know that weird feeling in your gut you get when you feel like God is wanting you to speak up and say something but you’re doing everything you can to push that feeling away? Yeah that’s what was happening to me during his spill. I finally spoke up and told him he was wrong. Imagine yourself telling a local pastor that his teachings about the Bible are wrong. I was shocked too that I said anything, believe me, but I definitely feel like God gave me the words to say in that moment. I couldn’t even tell you what I said but I was laughing at how God worked the entire time. We are sitting in our living room with a pastor and I’m sitting there telling him the truth of the word of God instead of him telling us. It’s funny to think I was having a biblical debate with a pastor but sitting in that moment I was saddened knowing he’s leading a congregation that just believes what he has to say.
One night on one of our long bus rides home there was a blind man named Fred that Lene was able to share the Gospel with and learn a little bit about his story. He told Lene that was the first time he had ever had someone share the Lord with him without asking for money. There were several things that he shared with her that made me sad, but he was such a nice genuine guy and even though he was blind he had so much joy. About a week before we were leaving Botswana I had a vision of me standing with Fred and I had my hands on his eyes praying for healing. I immediately knew that I had to pray over him and do just what I saw in that vision so the day before we left we had the opportunity to do just that and share about the plans the Lord has for each of our lives and for him as well.
We also met a sweet lady name Esther at a coffee shop. She shared with us that the Lord told her to go sit in the coffee shop because he was going to send someone her way. She had just started an orphanage and school for children in her village who didn’t have families to care for them but she needed people to come help her. Funny how God works because we went out that day in hopes of God sending another contact our way to partner with Adventures in Missions. We were able to go and see the sweet children and learn more about her vision for her ministry and give her all of the information about the possibility of partnering with AIM.
Our last weekend in Botswana was one of my favorite weekends. The church we were apart of went into villages a couple times a year to pass out food and share the love of Jesus and we were able to be apart of that ministry while we were there. We went into two villages and passed out bread, lunch meat, fruit, and drinks to the community. I’ve never seen so many people so happy to have things that I take for granted everyday. To see the joy on their faces and hear the songs they were singing about how happy they were was a nice reminder of the reason God sent me on this journey.
There were several friends who the Lord brought into our lives this month who took us under their wings and provided so much for us. Whether it was having a braai (grilling for those of you who aren’t from South Africa), taking us out to dinner, having us over to hangout and swim in their pool, providing transportation to save us some money, letting us stay the night at their place, or take us out on a safari in the bush of Botswana. There were so many times I wondered if we were in the right place or making the right decisions about our location since we could move throughout the entire country, but I am certain the Lord brought us to Mochudi for a purpose within that community and for specific reasons for our team and as individuals. We didn’t meet our goal of 7 contacts like we had hoped, but we all agreed that 5 contacts was a solid number and walked away from the month looking at all of the ways the Lord showed up in finding those contacts and all of the really amazing people the Lord placed in our path that either ministered to us or who we were able to minister to along the way. At times I felt like we weren’t getting anything done or ministering to anyone, but looking back over our time there I see now just how much impact we had on the people we came in contact with. I also realized that there were so many things the Lord revealed to me about myself through that time that I may not have learned otherwise if I were in another location doing the typical routine of ministry everyday.
