Missions Conference

Matthew 28:19-20  "Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Today was the start of the first annual Open Baptist Church Missions Conference here in Gaborone. It was great to see all these ministry leaders coming together to hear the vision of the church. A missionary from Uganda said he has been in ministry for 20 years and has never attended a conference such as this. He couldn't believe the church was hosting it and got very excited when we expressed that our pray was for the church body to grow in it's awareness and understanding of our ministry partners and to invite them to participate in their ministries. After two days of meetings with our partners the church body will be invited to attend

 two days of fellowship, food and services.

Pastor Bryant Wright and others from

 Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Atlanta,

Georgia are here to encourage us as we

 pursue God's call in our lives.

                                                                            

World Missions

Last Sunday Pastor Norman preached on Acts 13:1-4. When he read verse 3, his comments were "this was the beginning of world missions". He then went on to say that the Church needs to deliberately send out missionaries and we have fallen short of the mark! He said that in the life of OBC, we had sent out many short term missions, & supported many mission groups, but had never sent out a full time missionary. This was de ja vu to me. It was about 1 year ago that I heard the same thing from our Pastor in Tampa. At that time, Pastor Craig went on to ask us if we would consider going to Botswana, Africa, as the first fully supported, full time missionaries from South Tampa Fellowship. He wanted to take our Church to a new level, the next step up from sending short term mission groups. As Missions Director at STF, Jeff had been on many mission trips but Pastor Craig saw his passion for missions and wanted STF to quit "falling short of the mark"! Because of Pastor Norman's & Craig's insight, we were able to follow our passion and obey God's calling. And as a Church at OBC, we are joining our fellow congregation in praying about sending out our own full time missionary to the field. What an exciting time! Help us pray for "Kez" that she would see God's will for her life and follow obediently in whatever direction He has for her.

A recipient for a PET is found!

My car has been in the shop for over a week so last Saturday I dropped Jeff off at work so I could use the car to go grocery shopping. When I picked him up he had a PET which someone had borrowed to show their Rotary group and loaded it in the SUV to take home. As we were leaving the Church we drove past a man in a wheelchair pushing himself down the long road from the Church to the main road. We could see that he obviously had no legs which was the reason for the wheelchair. We looked at each other, and then immediately turned around to talk with the man. His name was Ditshupo Mandefu and 2 years ago had become very ill. He developed gangrene in both legs. Because of this they both had to be amputated. After speaking with him for quite some time we decided to visit his home to further evaluate his need for a PET. He lives in Mura Pula and his only means of transportation is the wheelchair he was using. We have previously seen him most Sunday's pushing himself up a very steep dirt road to go to a church near ours. He sells phone cards for a living and most days tries to get himself over to the nearest shopping center to do this. After much evaluation, Jeff decided he would be an excellent candidate for a PET and asked him if he would like this. His face lit up with a big smile and it was quite obvious that he was very pleased to accept. By this time, many people from the area had assembled to see what was going on. Jeff told everyone that we were donating the PET to Ditshupo as a gift from Jesus Christ. He also explained about the volunteers in Tampa, Florida who gave their time and money to build this PET and send it specifically for someone in need like Ditshupo to help make his life a little easier. We left Ditshupo with a huge smile on his face and also with a huge smile in our hearts.

Cultural training!

(April & Samantha visit the farmer's market)

This week we had a special visitor to our home for 3 days for "cultural training" weekend. Actually, we weren't the ones getting the training, we were helping Samantha Sylvia Myambo with her homework from a missions course she is taking. Samantha is an intern with Open Baptist Church, working with the children and also taking Seminary classes. Her assignment was to visit with a family from a culture different than her own. Samantha is from Zimbabwe and her culture is vastly different than ours. However, I think we ended up learning as much from her as she did from us. Isn't that what usually happens on mission trips?! She arrived on Friday with a very open mind, willing to try anything; from food to pets, she really got an education. Since we attend the same church, we were already friends with Samantha, but soon learned that there was so much more to her than we knew. What a sweet, beautiful, kind hearted, Christian woman! She had let us know ahead that she was very afraid of dogs, which presented a problem since we own 2 high energy, spoiled 4 legged creatures. However, they soon won her over and I think she left realizing what great companians they make and why we allow them to have the run of the house, inside and out! She even gave them both a bath, and commented "my Mother will never believe this"! Well Mom, believe it! Because we have the pictures to prove it (check out our photo link). We spent the weekend cooking, shopping, & relaxing just as we normally would and Sam pitched right in. Samantha went home today and we miss her infectious smile already! Come visit soon Sam. Lucky and Sophie miss you!

"Petunia" for Elizabeth

On Thursday we had 3 visitors from Namibia spend the night. They were on their way home from a Conference in South Africa and stopped off to see us midway. Mike Dunne has been in Namibia for 2 years with Missionary Ventures and Nan Parker (along with her daughter, Elizabeth) also with Missionary Ventures has been there for over 4 years. She had adopted her daughter a few years back from an orphanage in Namibia. Jeff had gotten to know them when he had taken a mission team from our church (South Tampa Fellowship) in 2006 and then returned to visit in 2009. Elizabeth has lost the use of both her legs (not that it has slowed her down) and we had just received a shipment of 6 PET's when an American family recently moved to Gaborone and sent a container with their household goods. The PET workshop in Tampa went the extra mile to make sure the PET's got on the container since there was a little extra space. Jeff decided that there could be no better recipient for a PET than Elizabeth because her mother often has to carry her from the nearest town to their home when a car is not available. This way, she'll be able to peddle herself and even have room to help her mom with some of the groceries! We can not describe how excited Elizabeth was to receive her PET which she promptly named "Petunia". What an inspiring example of how The Lord plans everything to the last detail, long before we even know what is needed!

Construction at Old Naledi

Last week a mission team of three men from Alice Drive Baptist Church of Sumter, South Carolina, came to Gaborone to partner with Old Naledi Fellowship to begin construction on a new kitchen at the church. Open Baptist Church (OBC) in Gaborone came along side to offer logistical support. Ajay Gotru, the church builder from OBC helped Jeff to coordinate efforts in planning and ordering materials, and with some local help, the construction began. This past week they were able to lay footers and pour a slab where the kitchen will be located. Over the past few years, a feeding station in Old Naledi has been operating with financial support from Manna Worldwide through a partnership with "Close Connections" out of Atlanta. This feeding station was located a short distance from Old Naledi Fellowship, but with the new kitchen it will be moved to the church grounds allowing for a closer connection with the church. This next week, a group from Freedom Fellowship of Greer, South Carolina, also partnering thru Close Connections has arrived to continue the construction.