After celebrating the New Year at Mikolodi lodge with the entire Squad, our team needed some training. Being the UH coordinator on my team, I felt a little lost as to how to lead us into the month. Thankfully, we ended up spending a few days with our sisters of Konsrey at their ministry location in Molepolole. While there, we were trained for UH month (by the beautiful Margaret Kloess), set team goals and roles, and began research. Typically, UH teams get a list of "leads" to start with, giving them a city in which to begin. Our team, however, did not receive one. This meant that we had to do some serious listening prayer for God's direction (how else do you figure out where to go in a country you know nothing about, besides that there are more cows than there are people, and safaris are the main source of revenue?). Upon awaking that Sunday morning, the city Francistown was on my heart. Hearing God's voice is a practice I am growing in, so I wasn't quite sure if it was me or Him. I decided not to tell anyone until we gathered in worship and listening prayer. Maybe God would confirm through my teammates? Well, as we sat in silent prayer, asking for the Lord to reveal our 1st destination, a lot came to me. I got a vision of us starting in a city, then moving all around the country – packing and unpacking, tenting, a campfire, a river, then ultimately reaching a place with one big hut surrounded by the community, the clearest, starryist sky you've ever seen, and us all dancing with locals around a fire filled with unmeasurable joy! Even DANICA was giggling and dancing, uninhibited! 😉 I also got the words "you're not bound by the budget" and "needle in a haystack". As we gathered to share if God had spoken, I had a lot to share, and was thinking, "Lord, is this all from you or am I getting in the way?" What happened next was pretty incredible. Kelsie got the image of two rivers meeting, Danica saw a map with an X on it, and I shared the city Francistown. Multiple people felt like we would be heading north, some saw trees and stars, and a few of us really felt a sense that we would be doing a bit of traveling to find a gem of a ministry in the bush somewhere who could be blessed by having a team serve alongside them for a month. Well, we got to work and once we began research, we found that the "X" was located right where Francistown is, and that the city is called "the city where two rivers meet". YES! We had our first step! God is awesome.
After researching the area and the country, we quickly realized we would be tenting and traveling often. The three women decided to each take their day packs, but only take ONE big pack (condensing 3 large backpacks down to 1 took much longer than they expected, but they did it!). 2 tents, 3 sleeping liners, 2 sleeping pads, clothes, sporks, instant coffee packets, shampoo, toothpaste, and bodywash – nothing but the essentials. Bibles, journals, cameras, pillows, water bottles, rain jackets, small toiletries, and tablets in their daypacks. The men kept their big packs, and Sam chose to wing it with a daypack alone. With 6 bodies, 6 daypacks, 3 backpacks (with 4 tents), we were ready to go!
On Monday morning, January 5th, we jumped on a bus for Gaberone, the capitol city. After a 2 hour layover, we caught the next bus out to Francistown for another 5 hour drive. Not knowing where we would spend the night (most campsites are out of our budget), we figured we we look around once we arrived. BUT, God is pretty cool and figured it out for us. Kelsie became friends with the woman sitting next to her (which is pretty normal – Kelsie has an incredible gift for connecting with people, and with such ease!), and she told us that she has a friend who runs a lodge where they might be able to let us pitch tents in the back yard and that she would take us there. We caught 2 taxis and followed her lead. As we pulled up to a quaint little lodge not too far from the city, and met Lucie & Desmond the caretakers, we felt right at home! They only charged us per tent, keeping us UNDER budget, and said we could use the shower, kitchen, and common area! We couldn't believe it. We stepped out in faith not really sure of anything once we arrived, but God provided (as He ALWAYS does) a terrific place to rest, to pray, and to fellowship. We set up our tents, picked up groceries, cooked dinner, and went to bed. The next morning, we awoke ready to step into whatever the Lord would bring…
On the edge of your seat? So are we! Stay tuned for what comes next!
