here’s a little bit about our host family in Botswana and what I learned from them:
Willie and his wife Ma Willie have three daughters (all in there early twenties). In the past year and a half, Ma Willie’s father, one of the daughters, and Willie unexpectedly died. Willie and the daughter who passed away, ran the entire ministry. A household of 5 shrank to 3 in a matter of months.
Ma Willie and her two daughters, Simone and Arista, were suddenly left with an entire ministry to run with no instruction or help.
Willie passed away only two months before we arrived. Adventures in Missions (World Race) offered many times to place us with another ministry host so they could have time to grieve and learn how to continue living their lives. The three women were obedient to God and continually persisted in having our two teams stay with them for November and December.
Ma Willie, Simone, and Arista obey God fully, live in constant conviction, and fear Him to an extent I have never witnessed before. They were the definition of “Proverbs 31 women” and it blew me AWAY.
Mondays through Thursdays, all of us would sit in their living room after dinner. We would worship together and then Ma Willie would lead us in a bible study. Some days, they had to completely cancel all ministry because everything was so overwhelming. But every night on those days, after they were unable to leave the house, they would insist on us all still coming over, opening up their home, making us tea and coffee, worshiping God, and teaching us about Him during bible study. No matter the day, they never ceased prioritizing, worshiping, and thanking God.
How many of us can say that we have been that helpless feeling and not only praised God, but brought others into that and taught the gospel?
Why then did God send two teams- 13 girls- into Seronga for two full months during rainy season? There was nobody around, so no evangelizing could be done. It was holiday, so very few kids showed up to children’s ministry majority of the time. Willie had run the ministry, so the family had no direction on what to do with us. The pastor of the church wasn’t preaching because had just lost his child, so there was nothing we could do to help with church. Compared to every other mission trip I’ve been on or heard about, there was no set ministry in Botswana. The rest of our squad in Botswana (30 or whatever other people) were sharing Jesus’ name with people for the first time, praying over people which lead to ridiculously cool physical healings, etc.
Why did you send us there for two months God?
Many of us asked this question during our time there. The answer we all came to was more beautiful than we could have created.
How many times have Christians heard the phrase, “God leaves the 99 for the 1 lost sheep”?
Ma Willie, Arista, and Simone were struck with calamity, had no direction, and I’m sure felt like they were abandoned and forgotten and all alone, in the middle of Africa.
God did not forget them. He sent the 13 of us to be His hands and feet and serve these three women. He revealed to us how ministry is in everything and how to love people creatively and uniquely- like He loves them. Whether it’s running popcorn over to them in the pouring rain because they love to watch movies, building a bench so they have a refuge and place to spend with God, having a conversation over tea and coffee, writing encouraging letters and praying for them for hours, or just sitting next to each other while watching the news.
Our ministry was to love the family. To remind them who God saw them as. It was not “big” and “glorious”, there is not much to be seen from what we did in Seronga. There is not much to say about our ministry in Seronga. What we did was just as glorifying to God as the 15 people healed through prayer just a few hours away.
God is intricate and loving and left the 99 in the care of others for us to tend to the 3.
These months were humbling. They were filled with lessons to be learned. They made us look at our ourselves and ask “because this is important to God, is this important to you?”
In Juarez, Mexico I heard a sermon from Pastor Jorge. It was about how when he became a pastor he wanted to have a huge congregation and change thousands of lives. As he continued his career and life, he realized it wasn’t about the numbers. It was about people and their souls. He spoke about how he learned not to care about the numbers and the glory, if he could change the fate of just one persons soul, He would be thankful. I never fully understood that until Botswana.
I am so thankful God sent the 13 of us to Seronga and gave us this ministry. I am so thankful for what He taught us and how He changed our ideas of glory, love, and a kingdom mindset.
