Preaching at Mantshwabisi

Today Jeff & I drove to a village about 1 1/2 hours outside Gaborone for Sunday Service at Mantshwabisi Baptist Church. Angie May, a missionary with "Reaching the Unreached" invited Jeff to preach. She has been ministering to this village for quite a few years. Last year Jeff took a college mission team from Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in the U.S. to this desert village. We took Gofaone Kehumile, our church receptionist, with us to translate. As we took the long dirt road to the village we passed many groups of cows. I remarked to Gofaone about the collar with a bell around the cow's necks. She said that each bell had a different ring, and the owner could identify his cows by the tone of the bell ring. This reminds me of John 10:27, where Jesus said that he knows His sheep and they follow Him. I am forever thankful that Jesus does know me!

When we arrived at the church, Angie told us that after being away the previous week she arrived on Friday to find that someone had ransacked the small room she stays in off the Church building and taken most of the food supplies she had. However, she still offered us bushtea (minus sugar which was taken) and 2 ladies from the church came later to cook us lunch consisting of canned sardines and "pop", their staple starch made of white cornmeal (similar to grits). We were very humbled and very thankful for this sweet church family. Jeff preached to a small group on 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, about the importance of each and every one of us to step forward and use the gift that God has given to us. The church body as a whole works so much better when there is unity and we all work together with our particular giftedness. After service Angie and Jeff walked around the village visiting church member homes. They stopped by at the home of an older blind man. We had visited him last year and noticed that his small thatched hut was in disrepair and the door was rotted out and did not close properly. His house was empty and he slept on the floor but his only complaint was that the goats could get in the door and were sleeping with him! The door was repaired last year by a mission team member but now he was getting a new home constructed out of cement blocks. We continue to praise The Lord for all his provisions.

I will try and post additional photos to our online web album and also to facebook (if I can figure out how to do it!). Posted by April

Sunday service at Molepolole

Today Jeff and I visited Pastor David and his church, Molepolole Calvery Baptist Church. Jeff was invited to preach at the morning service. Since we have been in Botswana, Jeff has been mentoring Pastor David and assisting him as he tries to reach out to people in Molepolole with the Gospel. In October, 2010, T.I.M.E. Ministries visited Molepolole for a week and trained Pastor David and members of his church how to tell the story of Jesus thru the use of puppets and short skits. 10 people were baptized during Sunday Services while they were here (a previous blog was posted about their visit). This morning Jeff preached to a group of around 50 about encouraging fellow believers and lifting them up. He spoke about de-emphasizing the blemishes on each other and instead focus on gifts and attributes used in our walk with The Lord. Four people came forward to accept The Lord as their savior. After service we were privileged to talk and pray with members of the congregation as well as share a delicious meal prepared by women of the Church.

Please join with us to pray for Pastor David, his wife and Molepolole Calvery Baptist Church. Since the T.I.M.E. group was here last year the church membership has increased in size. Space is a real concern and since they do not own the church building now they are unable to make improvements to the building. Therefore Pastor David has to transport all the chairs, sound equipment etc. to the church every Sunday so it is not stolen during the week. He then makes numerous trips into the village to pick up people wanting to come to service since no regular public transportation goes in the direction of the church on weekends. He has approached the owner of the land about buying it, as well as looking at another spot closer to the village near the hospital. He is praying and waiting to hear word about either spot. After that, money will need to be raised to purchase the plot and then a permanent structure built. In the mean time, money is needed to purchase up to 40 more plastic chairs to be used during service. They also are trying to get a children's program developed. Please pray that volunteers from their church will step up to help with this and initial start-up material will be provided (crayons, paper, etc). At the present time, Pastor David's wife is teaching the children on Sunday but additional volunteers are needed. The T.I.M.E. group did leave puppets for their use which has proved very useful. They are still making follow-up calls and visits to the hundreds of people that expressed interest during the T.I.M.E. Ministry visit but money is needed to make phone calls and for transportation costs to visit these people. They also want to start a sewing ministry to teach women to make and sell clothing. Many women are unemployed, taking care of their children/grandchildren and since David's wife is a seamstress, she is willing to train others but machines and material is needed for this.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us while we are here in Botswana. And thank you for your additional prayers for Pastor David and his Church. We will continue to keep you posted regarding other ministry opportunities so you will better know how to specifically pray. We can never underestimate the power of prayer, but must also remember that The Lord already knows our needs before we do, and has promised to take care of us according to His Will. Of this promise, we will forever be thankful.

Posted by April