Botswana Ministry:
Botswana was our Unsung Hero month, which means we went into the country with absolutely no plans. No contacts, no housing, no “ministry”. We ask the Lord to provide, we ask Him where in the country to go, and we followed the Holy Spirit. By Lené’s family connections (She is originally from ZA), we found a house to stay at our first night. We got connected with the Ng church of Gaborone.
Almost every day we would leave our house, walk or take a combi (public van-taxi), to the bus. We would ride the bus for about an hour, then take a taxi/bus/combi from there to Riverside mall where we could look for contacts or check to see if we have heard back from them. Countless times we were running from one side of the other mall parking lot, up the stairs, over the bridge, down the stairs, to the other end of the other parking lot to make sure we could get home. We made it every time, sometimes just barely, but it always made me laugh at our life!
We saw the Lord work. We saw him in encounters when people told us the Lord told them to go somewhere and find us, when we got rides when we didn’t have money, when we were protected when it could have gone horrible, when we got opportunities to grow. We saw Him work in personal prayers with blessings I never imagined.
We attended the Ng church and the Afrikaans people there have blessed me beyond ways that I even know. They opened their homes, their days off, their cars, their dining tables, their hands, their wisdom, and most of all their hearts.
My heart in Botswana:
On our last weekend in Gabs, we went with the church to a village outreach. They went to two different villages that they sponsor throughout the year. The second village, I had a transforming experience. In short, I was asked to preach in this village of about one hundred fifty people and prayed over them. Before the race I was terrified to even pray in from of people and I was horrified when I went up under the tree to preach to these people. I stood there with nothing to say, and asked the Holy Spirit to take over. And He never fails. Praise the Lamb!
In the village, I spoke about Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Botswana had been in a drought, and every Christian in Botswana had been praying for rain. The night before I spoke, it had poured. We were given much, in that we were given the trust of the Lord to point all of their eyes to Him for provision.
That month I had never been so physically uncomfortable since I came out of the womb. We were lucky if we had running water, even then it wasn’t clean. Our electricity would often go out and we would wake up soaked, completely drenched in our own sweat. There are a lot of things I can handle, but not showering every day and in a constant state of sweat was not one of them (I can handle it more now, thank the Lord!). I learned to truly depend on the Lord, to allow Him to be my living water, and He always comes through.
I asked the Lord to show me the Word in a way that came alive for me. I have never run to the Bible more than when He showed me the power, relevance, and truth that it has. It has changed everything; not just for the race but for my relationship with the Lord.
My team in Bots:
A few of us experienced some intense spiritual warfare. I learned what faith was in a whole new light. I learned what it was like to either be terrified of what was outside my door, or to trust that the Lord heard our cries and would not allow harm to come to us.
Our team also lived out a missional lifestyle. We learned what Jesus really did- that it wasn’t showing up to a place or within certain hours that Jesus calls us to. We learned that it was seeing His people. It’s remembering the name of the produce lady at the local grocery store and joking with her about cucumbers every time we went in. It’s getting to know the waitresses at Mug and Bean when we went to get wifi, and knowing about her family and her giving us Setswana names. It’s calling out things in our teammates, even when it’s awkward and hard and there are tears. It is wearing the armor of light even when you’re surrounded in darkness.
