Here we are at the beginning of month ten in Botswana. It is absolutely crazy how fast the time has gone! This past month was quite incredible to say the least. My team plus two other teams were able to partner with El Shaddai Ministries, an orphanage and school at the very top of a mountain. There were many areas that needed help at the ministry like in the garden and doing construction, however, the biggest need was at the school that enrolled not just the orphanage kids but also those from the community from grade 1 to grade 7. ESM is quite popular for racers, but we were the first team to be allowed into the school, a trial team to see how we would do. Normally I wouldn’t choose teaching, but due to my accident in Cambodia I couldn’t do manual labor or be exposed to the sun, so into the classroom I went. It was one of the most challenging but most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. Due to a teacher leaving for maternity leave, the fifth grade had no teacher. The first week there were just four of us and I got assigned to do grade five alone. I was to teach every subject to this class of thirty one students who could barely understand English for five hours a day. What?? It was a challenge, but due to all the circumstances that lead me there, I felt it was no accident, I was in that classroom for a purpose. The next week Lauren joined me in the classroom. It was very hard for us at first because the students didn’t listen at all and we couldn’t seem to gain their respect. The Principal told me it was because the other teachers beat the children, which sadly we witnessed, and they knew that we wouldn’t do that. Once we got our footing and became more confident as teachers, they started listening more. We opted for positive reinforcement, candy and dance parties for doing well on test, which worked like a charm. About halfway through it hit me that these children haven’t been exposed to Jesus, at least not the ones who were not at the orphanage, and that we now had this awesome platform to bring the News. Grade five was the only class without a permanent teacher which had been a burden we thought, as we had no help or structure, but then we realized we can take the class in any direction we wanted. We had free reign to do as we wished. This allowed us to move slower, spend more time on things they didn’t get, and put focus on the crucial areas they would usually be moving quickly through but not comprehending. The biggest thing of all though was that we could talk as much about Jesus as we wanted to. Most of the schools we have had access to on the race haven’t allowed that. So during religion, we told Bible stories and had the kids act it out which they loved. None of the outside children had heard the stories. Most of the children I’ve talked to on the race know the stories because they are involved in churches or have heard from other missionaries. Not these children. We were walking in an untouched region. Something I knew about but hadn’t seen. Side note, there were marijuana farms and witch doctors all around the community. We continuously told the kids how much they were loved, that they mattered, that they are beautiful. We dove into hard issues with them like stealing, gangs, drugs, and other issues that are problems at the school. We saw an incredible increase in grades. When we got there most of the class were failing simple addition and multiplication, things they were supposed to have learned in previous grades and by the end over half the class passed! Lauren and I fell in love with those kids and we are so happy that another team is coming in this month and will hopefully water the seeds we planted. We didn’t leave the mountain once this past month. We could have but nobody wanted to. Between the beauty surrounding us with the mountains and sunsets, and all of the children we got to love on, we could have stayed at El Shaddai forever. This month I will be in a small village called Seronga on the northwest side of Botswana. We will be doing outreach/evangelism, children’s ministry, and Bible studies for the community. Thank you for your continued support and prayers! Also, thank you for your prayers regarding the accident. My shoulder is fully healed and the cuts on my face have recovered nicely. Thank you! “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27
