10. Hitchhiking is not only accepted and legal in Botswana, i’d go as far as to say that it’s the most dependable, and most common form of transportation in the whole country. We got stuck in a town about three hours north of Ghanzi because the public bus system in Africa is well – less than stellar – and wouldn’t you know it, we found a school teacher willing to drive us the 200km for the price of gas. Rachel and i sat in the truck bed with the luggage as the rest of the team graded health tests in the extended cab. hitchhiking is so great…if only it werent illegal, and there weren’t so many creepers in the states.
9. Bush Ingenuity. Our contact this month was brilliant with coming up with unique ways to power and run life in the middle of the Kalahari desert. He had 5 gallon buckets on pullies that we’d fill with hot water, and then open a slow spicket to take bucket showers. He put used tea bags in kerosene and would use those as fire starters each meal. He had some pot stands for the fire that i can’t explain in a blog…and finally he had everything rigged up to run off of solar panels and deep cycle batteries. lights in his home…solar powered. the CD player or DVD player and TV in his home – solar. the computer – solar. pretty amazing.
8. 4×4’s. Word to Africa buys all the military vehicles at auction at the end of the year. a lot of our driving was done off road to get to villages, and Mahopa was no exception. i’m sure the village we were in isn’t on a map because the nearest road was 100 miles or so from the village. But our missionary’s 4×4 was a gift from a stranger who handed to his father in law as he prepared to come and visit his children in the bush. But isn’t that kind of how God works – blessing us if we’re faithful? it’s a fine line, not being faithful to be blessed, but i believe it to be true. (p.s. darci isn’t really mad in this picture, just making a face for the fun of it, promise)
7. Grace. remember how i wanted a free ride to Botswana? well we didn’t get that, but you’ll read a few ways that God showed us the two rental cars we bought were exactly what we should’ve done. We drove from Jo’Burg to Lobatse our first night, and just prior to the border felt like we needed to stop and pick up a hitchhiker. a little old lady got into our car and introduced herself as Grace. immediately, she said, “i prayed just a minute ago that God’d send some of his children to come help me out.” We were able to drive her about an hour and a half to a funeral she was going to be sharing the gospel at. her family welcomed us and sent us off with gifts, but without a doubt, we were the answer the Lord provided for her prayers. We couldnt have done that on a Greyhound.
6. Hearing God Speak. my theme this month has been twofold. first, shut up and listen. second, hear God when He’s speaking to me, and obey no matter what. i knew he was going to talk to me, but i didn’t know what that’d look like. funny, because this month he seemed to speak through other children of His, namely Dries. Dries spoke a lot of truth into my life about church planting, about brotherhood, about marriage, about trust, about having a hobby, and about everything else under the sun. and because God uses us to bring His word to others, i listened…
5. Dave Boogaard. I haven’t seen Dave in about 6 years. he and i lived on the same floor at moody for two years, and i always liked him. he grew up a missionary’s kid in Papau New Guinea and went to moody to become a missionary pilot. He and his wife now live in Gabs – which just so happens to be the city we had to return the rental cars in during the month. (just so happens = providence of God). Dave and i got in touch a day before i dropped the cars off and were able to spend time together, get a meal together, and just catch up. I think it was a blessing to him that a familiar face could come and just be outside of the drama that is everyday life. he and his wife were a blessing as they encouraged us and just loved us and showed us great hospitality. pray for him as he continues to be faithful flying in Botswana, waiting to get hours to eventually join Jaars flying for Wycliffe.
4. STARS! so i had to pee every night. maybe that’s too much information, but it was like clockwork. every night at two in the morning, i’d sit up in bed and walk through Dries’ yard out to the outhouse. but it was always a slow walk, because the moon wasn’t up yet and the stars in botswana were brilliant, as gorgeous, bright and magniificent as anywhere i’ve ever been (yep, even beat Haiti). i figured that it was God showing off…and after a few days was really excited for my midnight trip to the toilet (no one in africa calls it a bathroom or restroom…you have to ask them where the toilet is…).
3. African Travel. So sometimes buses come. Sometimes they dont. Usually they’re about four hours late, but sometimes (like the one we caught in Nakanang) they’re two and a half hours early. If you miss your bus, you probably have to wait until the next day to catch that bus. On the bus, odds are you’ll have someone standing in the aisle leaning on you, the stranger next to you sleeping on you, and you’ll probably also have about five people fitting into a seat designed to hold three. So, as stated earlier, hitchhiking is the way to go!
2. DRIES. i already mentioned he spoke a ton of truth into my life. i see him as a brother. even though i know we’ll never be as close as matt and i, he and i really connected. some of the quotes he spoke into my life last month that stick with me are “dont do missions work for God. that’ll lead to failure. do missions work WITH God.” or “Give God your hands and let him do the rest.” that was his philosophy on fixing things in the bush. he knew the need, and didn’t have the skill, and let God show him how to repair a diesel engine or a solar panel or lay a concrete slab or …. well, whatever it is he’s done in the bush, he wasn’t taught it apart from God being faithful to show him how to live and be a good steward of what God’s given him. 1. God blessing us. So i asked for stupid trust and asked God to meet our needs last month. We didn’t get free transport, but our cars did allow us to be an answer to Grace’s prayers, and allowed me to come in contact with a friend from moody – exactly when we both needed. Apart from that expense, almost everything else that month was given to us for free. between the 12 people in Botswana, we only spent $50/person for 18 days of living…including lodging, transportation, food and any other misc. expense. God doesn’t always answer like we hope, but He does love to give good gifts to His children, especially when they trust Him to meet and satisfy their needs. so good…
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just missing the list was doing things that made me feel like i was a guy. we did a bit of construction projects, laid tile and a slew of other things. it was good honest work. that’d be number eleven, p.s.
