What have the past four weeks here in Botswana looked like for our teams?
As of recently, ministry has looked a lot different than I could have anticipated. Good, but different. We came here to serve our hosts and to serve God as best we can, so that’s what we’re doing. And that service has come in many different ways, beyond evangelism. Over the last couple weeks, we found a need for our host family. After the recent passing of two of their family members, the family has had to adjust to working as a unit of 3 instead of 5. The family was given a piece of land a while back, but due to a law that starts in 2018, the property must be developed and have some kind of building on it with fencing around or the government will take back the property. This would be a difficult task for only 3 people, but luckily there are twelve of us eager to work and serve this family. So these past couple of weeks have looked like us filling up the trucks with supplies and hopping in the back to drive out to the “island”(think lots of farmland with cows and donkeys and small children). We’ve measured out the land, dug holes and put logs in the holes to mark the boundaries that belong to the family. *fun fact: we couldn’t make a fence for this part, because elephants would knock it down* Then we marked out the boundaries for the property where we will build the small house/shed. We spent days clearing out trees, mixing cement, and putting up fencing and now we are laying the foundation for the building. Our host family told us that eventually, they hope this land can be used for something similar to a retreat for worn-out pastors. It’s really exciting to see the progress we’ve made and know that this family and God will use this land for His good. There’s something satisfying about driving home in the back of the pick-up truck, covered in dirt and scratches. Sun-kissed and little worn out. It’s how I want to end every day. We are laying a foundation for people to find rest and seek God. Like I said, it wasn’t the ministry I anticipated, but it’s still good. My friend Lillabea put it this way…Most of us came on the race to reach the unreached. Maybe we aren’t evangelizing every day. But we are serving a family that is experiencing extreme loss. They fought for us to come, because they didn’t know if they could handle another month of grieving alone. Their family is in another country and they are learning how to run a ministry without a husband; a father. In a way, we are reaching the unreached, because we are coming alongside this family and serving them in their time of need.
