Our Flower Garden!

Update from Operation Botswana

It's been awhile since we have given any updates from this part of the world.  The days are going by quickly, we are already into October!  What has happened in the first 9 months of this year?  Actually, quite a bit.

In January, we moved to Kumakwane and began building a small house since we feel that The Lord has opened up ministry opportunities here.  In April we were able to move in although the interior was not quite complete.  Jeff continues to build wardrobes and cabinets in the evenings and weekends.

We have already been able reach out to more people in the village than in Gaborone.  People seem to have more time and are very willing to listen.  We have started a small group that meets in our home every Wednesday evening.  Up to 15 people from 6 different countries gather to fellowship together and learn more from God's Word.  Jeff is currently spending 5-6 weeks teaching us more about discipleship.  Last Friday we had movie night at our house and invited children from the village.  Jeff set up the big screen in our driveway and over 35 children came.  We watched "The Jesus Video for children"  in Setswana together while enjoying popcorn, cookies and juice.  Although we didn't understand the language, the children did, and seemed to enjoy it very much.  It was beautiful hearing them praying in their language at the end, we didn't need much translation for that!  We will continue to look for DVD's that would be relevant for them so we can continue and hope to have an "adult" movie night also.

In July, Jeff was invited to Chegutu, Zimbabwe to preach and teach at a Pastor's conference there.  He spent 3 days teaching the pastors about "conflict within the church", and continued developing relationships with people he has met in his past few trips to Zimbabwe.  

In August, Open Baptist Church held their 4th Annual Pastors Conference with over 120 people in attendance.  The pastors delved deep into The Word focusing on Discipleship, Apologetics, Missions and the Book of Philippians. They each received a "Messenger", a solar charged digital audio playback device with not only the entire New Testament on it but also 36 sermons by Dr. Charles Stanley.  These were donated by "In Touch Ministries".

In September Jeff headed back to Zimbabwe for 2 weeks.  The first week was spent in the Victoria Falls area with a mission team of 11, conducting leadership training, outreach in evangelism, and through a sports ministry.  The second week he went to Harare to assist at a Pastor's Enrichment & Encouragement Conference.  Ken Galyean from "Call to Africa" flew in from the States along with Dr. Phil Roberts, Pastors Larry Wright & John Crocker.  Along with our Pastor, Norman Schaefer, they helped to equip the  pastors there with a greater knowledge of God's Word and offered a time of spiritual rejuvenation.  The "Messenger" was also given out to each pastor attending courtesy of "In Touch Ministries".

Next week Open Baptist Church will be having their annual Missions Conference.  Many missionary partners with OBC will be attending the conference and will share information about their work so our congregation can learn more about each of their ministries.

As we settle into village life, we are starting to find ways to spread God's love.  We have acquired 12 laying hens and are using the eggs to reach out to our neighbors and get to know them better.  Jeff is hoping to reach out to a few men through woodworking,  helping them learn a new skill and at the same time feed them with God's Word.  We are trying to start a vegetable garden but the art of compost and proper care just might get the better of us.  At times like this, we really wish April's Dad was nearby for much needed input.  Most mornings will find Jeff reading God's word with Raizer, the young man who helps us with our yard work.  He has a short devotion with him before starting work. 

We continue to grow in God's word day by day.  Much like our flower garden, it takes water, fertilizer, weeding, pruning and loving care to produce beautiful flowers. And without God's grace, we would never flower!  Thank you for your prayers and support during this growing time.

From the Field,

Jeff & April Sukup

New Roots

New Roots

For the last four plus months we have been living in the small village of Kumakwane. We have been praying for a long time whether the Lord would direct us to stay in Botswana on a more permanent basis. In the two years we have been here we have learned a lot and experienced even more. Fact is it’s just the tip of the iceberg. We felt drawn to continue serving in the amazing ministry of Open Baptist Church and reaching out in whatever new areas the Lord would show us.

Long time administrator of Open Baptist Church, Allan Megaw and his wife Gloria made the offer for us to come live at their property in Kumakwane. In the beginning it would be in a small one bedroom cottage until we would confirm what other structure would be suitable. It didn’t take long with Allan’s persistence, knowledge and generosity to propose a new building on a portion of his property.

Decisions on everything from the ground up had to be made along with the follow up to see them through. We didn’t want anything fancy, I was actually hoping for thatch roofing to get a real village feel. In just three months the home was completed and the first week of May we are moving in.

We do have hopes to better learn the culture, even to speak more of the language; this has been a struggle since coming. Unlike Gaborone the capital which carries a lot of western influence and people from many nations, the village life is Batswana. Most everyone else is indigenous to Botswana. Mainly all dirt roads, small modest homes, domestic farm animals run loose throughout the day and just a slower paced life style in general.

We have several new friends and acquaintances here and everyday those relationships grow deeper. Now that we will be in our new home with a little more space we hope to start a home fellowship group which would study and grow in God’s word. We also hope to branch out in other areas of ministry and connect with some of the village churches.

Your prayers are much appreciated and we will try to make regular ongoing updates to keep you informed.

Blessings, Jeff & April

God opens doors this last month

It all started with the pastors conference which Open Baptist Church hosted August 8-12. God was definitely at work way before this came about. He laid it on the hearts of many people to provide for every detail. The church stepped up with donations to provide everything from welcoming gifts to cookies and serving ware for the meals. They once again opened their homes to host the excess people that we didn't have room for at the inn. Then the Lord assembled an awesome group of lecturers coming from partnering churches in the U.S. Those included Pastor Craig Rees from South Tampa Fellowship, Pastor Joel Carwile from Valley View Baptist Church,  Dr. Phil Roberts from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Pastor Todd Fleming, Beth Beal and Chylene Burdick from Alice Drive Baptist Church.  Ric & Terrie Weibley also joined us from South Tampa Fellowship. They all joined our Botswana based staff to challange, encourage and equip nearly 200 pastors and other church leaders from Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Participating pastors continue to communicate how great this ministry was to them and their churches. The fact that we had more pastors from Zimbabwe than anywhere else confirmed our decision to bring a pastors conference there in 2012.

This past week a follow up trip to the northeast district of Botswana and into the southern portion of Zimbabwe also proved fruitful. Upon reaching one church the pastor which attended the Children's Leaders Ministry training had put what he learned to use. He trained the lay leaders of his church the program and the day we arrived was conducting a vacation bible school with 70+ children from the community. This is the start of something big!

The trip had a second purpose which was to make arrangements for a short term mission team from OBC and the U.S.. Ken Galyean with Call to Africa will bring a team the first week of October to host a pastors encouragement conference in this remote region along with a soccer clinic and tournament. Before going we had a lot of questions about the logistics of what would occur. This is where God once more open doors in amazing ways. We were introduced to Pastor Linda Monkhouse with Mt. Beulah Church and her understanding that we desired to equip and encourage pastors in building God's Kingdom said it all. When we didn't have a confirmed venue with needed space it became available. When we were not sure how or who would cater the meals, provide for the team's lodging, make available tables and who would assist with our worship; God provided. Just the week before a worship leader from another village hundreds of kilometers away conveyed that it was time for the Masunga village and area to have a crusade. She stepped up to the plate and confirmed her participation. This same thing happened in Zimbabwe by two outdoor venues availing themselves in areas where local evangelistic outreach is needed. How exciting to see God direct us and provide for every detail.

It has been a busy month here in Botswana but we have seen God's hand at work in so many ways that we have continually been affirmed in our mission and blessed to be a small part of His plan.

Our Mission Trip to Zimbabwe

A few months ago Pastor Norman started talking with Jeff about exploring Zimbabwe as the next mission field for Open Baptist Church.  After another successful Pastor’s Conference in Zambia for the 8^th year he thought the church was ready.  Because of the political, unrest most people were leaving, not going to Zimbabwe.  OBC has a Pastors Conference planned in August for the 3^rd time.  Interesting to note that one of the guest speakers is our own “Craig Rees”!  Pastor Norman’s vision was to invite the pastors to our conference this year and possibly next year have a Pastors Conference in Zimbabwe.  Rather than send e-mail and letters, Jeff thought it would be much better to personally give out invitations.  When it came up at one of our “lunch at home” times together, I felt better about it when Jeff mentioned that his friend Hillary, a Zimbabwean, would travel with him.   It was a few weeks before leaving that he casually said that Connie (Hillary’s wife) and I should come and we could all spend a few days at their lake home.  It is on Lake Kariba, which is a man-made lake between Zambia and Zimbabwe.  Jeff assured me that they often travel there with no problems.   I was excited about seeing  Kariba Dam with Jeff since this was a place I had seen as a child growing up in Zambia, so I prayed thru my fear and forgave Jeff for late notice.

Since we were driving our vehicle, we picked them up at 5am, June 9^th and headed for the border.  We were having a great time when 3 hours later it was discovered that our friends didn’t have their passports.  This was a big problem!  Upon calling home, both passports were discovered on the kitchen table.  Each thought the other had picked them up!  I was just glad that Jeff always takes care of ours!  Hillary called a friend who picked them up and then waited at a bus stop on the main road for someone coming our way.  We kept driving knowing that God would work it out.  An hour later we were informed that he had found a man, Matthew, coming our way and had given him the passports to give us when he caught up to us.  I was quite shocked that they would give passports to a stranger but, low and behold, Matthew finally arrived at 3pm.  It was another hour drive to the border where we discovered that we needed the blue book for our auto which we had never heard of nor had with us!  However, we called and got someone to go to our house to look in our paperwork.  We then went to a motel to wait for a fax.  Thankfully they found it although it was neither blue nor a book, but it got faxed all the same.  However, “All in God’s Timing”, because as we waited for the fax, Hillary started talking with the motel receptionist and brought her to talk with Connie and myself.  After much sharing I was privileged to lead “Masego Titus” to Christ!!  We finally arrived at our first destination in Zimbabwe at 1am, having to cancel the meeting we had set up with a group of pastors in Bulawayo.   Just another day in Africa where time is irrelevant!

Over the next few days, things just got better.  We stayed overnight at a town called Kadoma at a guest house provided by a friend of Hillary’s.  There we headed to Grace Bible Church where there were 21 pastors waiting for us.  They were excited to hear about the conference and 2 even signed up, with payment!  We then went to Chegutu Baptist Church where to our surprise we were met by over 80 people of which 35 were Pastors and the rest were lay leaders and youth.  Two of the youth had been to our church 2 years prior attending OBC’s “Face The Nation”.  They were so excited to see us!  They also asked about hosting a Pastors Conference at their church next year.  From there we headed to Harare, where we met with leaders of church groups.  They said they would pass the news on to the many rural pastors they are responsible for.  We spent the night with Hillary’s brother and family. 

The next day we travelled on to Kariba to spend a few days and were astounded at how beautiful the lake and dam were.   What a view from our friend’s mountain home!  And better yet, we came across elephant, baboon, zebra, kudu and impala while driving around!  What a beautiful world The Lord has made!  Of course, Hillary and Connie have so many friends there and it is considered rude not to stop in to see them for tea and cake.  We sure did have a lot of delicious cake!   We attended the Community Church of Kariba on Sunday where we were once again greeted warmly and were able to share the reason for coming to Zimbabwe.

At each stop I shared about the project my father started while in Zaire and continues to run today.  This is the P.E.T. Project, building wheelchairs for the needy in 3^rd world countries.  I left applications with each group in case they knew of any recipients.  They assured me there were many and would get them back to me.  On our way home from Kariba we stopped in at the church we had missed on our 1^st day and met with Pastor Jeff from the U.S..  He had only been there 5 weeks but already knew of a van load of people he thought would be coming.  We called the pastor of the church in Chegutu to let him know we were headed home and looked forward to seeing him in August.  He asked us to stop on the main road (that’s how things are done in Africa) so he could meet with us.  He turned in 21 registrations (6 paid) for the Conference along with 4 P.E.T. applications w/ photos of the intended recipients.  He also had gifts of hand carved wooden bowls for us!

Throughout the entire trip we were welcomed very warmly.  Not once were we concerned for our safety. The comment we heard several times was there were several conferences in Zimbabwe each year but they were more about emotions and very little actual teaching.  Get ready Pastor Craig, people are waiting anxiously for your teaching and curriculum!  And we are looking forward to seeing you too!

(Check out our picassa web album for more pictures!)

Posted by April

Zambia, Home of the past.

The past month we saw a prayer come true. After a year in Africa and hearing about April's childhood of growing up in Zambia we actually made it back there to see the changes that have taken place. Our main purpose in going was to participate with a short term team from Open Baptist Church and conduct a pastors conferenence at Pastor Boston Mwebela's church, Light House Community. We drove for two days north, crossing over the Zambizi river by ferry to enter the lush, tropical highlands with rolling hills and copper mines north of Lusaka the capital city. April's parents spent their first four years in Kitwe which lies in the heart of the copper belt. Even so there is a great amount of crops in this area and once an agricultural college where her father Larry Hills once taught. We were blessed to stay at the U.M. New Life Center, now overseen by Pastor Delbert Groves and his wife Sandy. Two ministries form the main stay that being a print shop and a P.E.T. workshop. It is extraordinary that this wheel chair workshop produces up to 50 P.E.T.s a month. They even have a Wood Mizer which cuts logs into boards which are further formed by the jointer and planner before being used on the wheel chairs. Pastor Charles and Josephine help keep things going and during our time there they were hosting a conference of over 100 pastors meeting in their hall; they have dormitories to host up to 200 people. Every morning we would wake to them singing hymns and let me say the African people can sing! No need for instruments or a sound track, just acappella. What April remembers isn't quite the same, many of the building have gone up over the 40 plus years since she lived there. Although one thing that hasn't change is the smiles and friendlyness of the Zambian people. They wave to you as you drive by in the car, they say hello and hug you without any hesitation. Next trip up we will have to make it deeper into the Kafuee flats to see where April spent the later years of her childhood.

Our friend Charlotte

Wow, a month has gone by since our friend Charlotte Ott has landed to come and stay with us. What a huge blessing it has been to have her here. She has been busy visiting with a number of missionaries serving here in Botswana, both with me as I travel and solo with them. This has taken her to a couple of remote villages, where life is much simpler. While out there she has understood aspects of the culture that we haven't caught ourselves. This is helping us better understand how to conduct ministry in the future. We will be going together to Zambia next month to serve at a pastors conference and look forward to see what God will do through everyone on the team. Please pray for the team to be used mightly in serving these pastors of Zambia. Thank you for your prayers and support! Jeff

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

Just Another Day At Immigration

Jeff has been at Immigration for a few days now trying to turn in paperwork for our residence permit. The first day, after waiting a few hours, he spoke with someone who told him to wait and she would get to him. After waiting another 2 hours, he saw her collecting her bag and when he questioned her she stated she had forgotten him and to come back in the morning. Needless to say, it's a week later and we are still trying to get results. I thought maybe it would help if I went, so yesterday we arrived at 7am to see only 7 other people. However they didn't have the usual numbers to give out so we were told to keep track ourselves who came first. By 8am we were speaking with a lady who gave us a form to fill out and said to come right back to her. Five minutes later we returned only to be told they had found the numbers and were given #88. By 10am it was our turn only to be told that Jeff's photo was too large (the photo shop told him it was the right size!). We were told to get a smaller photo and return with a typed letter stating that he is totally supporting and in control of me! By 11am Jeff was back with the items only to be told they had lost the paperwork! By noon it was found but he was told the computers were down. They wouldn't allow him to take the paperwork with him so he stayed there to make sure they didn't lose it again and to keep his place in line.  At 4pm he called to say he was coming home.  The computers had not come back up so they told him to come back on Monday.  Of course the papers were left with them so who knows where they will be on Monday!

As Believers we should constantly strive to be more Christ-like.  We might have lost track of that during our frustrations of the day, but we reflect on Romans 5:3-4; "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces patience; patience, character; and character, hope" and resolve to try again on Monday! And as we read Matthew 6:25-34 once again, we know that God REALLY will take care of everything and if He wants us in Botswana, the paperwork will get taken care of.  Of course, there is that little thing about "His perfect timing..."!

(Posted by April)

Back Home in Botswana!

Well, it’s been a long time since I have posted anything.  While we were home on furlough in the States I often thought it was harder to get on the internet than here in Botswana but I must have been having a brain lapse.  Since we arrived here last Friday, our internet at home has not been working and is sporadic at church.  Last night we went to Wimpy’s for coffee because they supposedly have WiFi.  However, it said we had a connection but never did connect so we enjoyed our coffee and came home unable to send any messages home to the States.  I am typing this blog in anticipation for the next time I might actually get connected!

Our flight from Atlanta to Jo’berg was uneventful except there was a delay because a lady was having a panic attack about flying so they called the paramedics. Eventually she disembarked and we were able to head out.  Because of that we missed our connection to Gaborone.  Delta was kind enough to put us up in a nice hotel and fed us dinner and breakfast.  They said they rebooked us at noon the next day but when we arrived Botswana Air informed us that we couldn’t leave. They could see the tickets on their computer but Delta had somehow flagged them so they couldn’t issue boarding passes. The Delta counter didn’t open until 4pm so we might make the 6pm flight.  Since it was only 10am, we were a little disgruntled but a lady that worked for the company that was holding our luggage went out of her way to connect with a Delta representative off site and we boarded just as they were closing out the noon flight.

Thato (the young man staying at our house) met us at the airport.  Before he learned of our delay the night before he had gone to the airport where he met Pastor Adekunle (from our church here) who had come with lots of food that his wife had prepared.  Thato had put it in our fridge.  What a wonderful surprise!  That afternoon I decided to go to the grocery store to restock.  On my way there I was almost thru an intersection when a lady shot thru hitting me on my left rear side hard enough to spin my SUV almost 90 degrees!  Thankfully no one was hurt but upon exiting the vehicle I was greeted in Tsetswana.  Not only was I a little tired from travelling and couldn’t understand what anyone was saying but Jeff’s cell phone was not working, and our other vehicle had a dead battery.  I felt a little worried because I didn’t know who to call.  Gabi, Norman and Desmond were all out of the country and no one would tell me how to reach the police. Luckily 2 policemen happened along and helped tear off the side bar which was up against the rear wheel so I could drive my vehicle.  They told us to go to G-West police station which I’d never heard of so was told to follow the lady that hit me.  I felt like a lamb being led to slaughter as I followed her, making so many turns that I wondered if we actually were going to the station.  We did arrive there and I was able to reach Jeff.   I was given a breathalyser test and we all returned to the scene so the officer in charge could determine what happened. The other driver was then charged and ticketed P500. This all took over 3 hours and I still hadn’t gotten to the store!

I was ready for bed at that point but our landlord came over and since it was dinnertime, I needed to feed everyone.  Thank goodness for Pastor Adekunle and his wife.  She certainly cooks great food. It fed 4 hungry people with some left over and was delicious!  And even though we still don’t have internet we are thankful for God’s protection and for good friends for fellowship, who also help us in times of need.  Once we get settled in we will keep you updated on our ministry here in Botswana.

A sweet surprise for Christmas!

Merry Christmas

It's been a long time since I have posted anything on our blog (since we returned to The States on furlough) but I thought Christmas is a great time for reflection.  We've been home for over 2 months and a lot has happened.  Starting off with a great week at STF for their annual mission's conference and at the same time a conference with "Close Connections", the group of churches that support the ongoing mission effort through Open Baptist Church in Botswana.  Pastor Norman and his wife Gabi, along with Pastor Modise attended this conference from Botswana. I visited our son Greg and was then priviledged to spend a week at my best friend's mountain home in North Carolina.  Jeff and I then travelled to South Haven, MI to visit with my "2nd parents", Tom & Dorann Fleming, & then over to Northern Ill. to visit Jeff's family, including his Mom, 2 sisters and their families.  After that, back to Tampa for a week to visit with friends there and then up to Jacksonville to spend 2 very relaxing weeks with my parents, Larry & Laura Hills, at Penney Farms Retirement Community.  While there, our daughter Nicole with her husband Kurt & our other daughter Linda with our grandbaby Raya flew in to visit. Then back to Tampa to spend Christmas with daughter Diana and son Jon.  Each time we returned to Tampa we were put up in luxuious accomodations at Bob & Zan Walter's guest house. As I type this now, Diana and Jeff are busy cooking dinner consisting of French onion soup, prime rib, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and a few more tempting items.  I have already gained 8 pounds from all our eating out so am looking forward to getting back home just to loose that extra weight!  We are listening to Christmas music and enjoying family time.  Although all our travelling has been somewhat hectic and even tiring at times we realize how lucky we are to have friends that care for us and family that loves us.  However, in all the busyness we try not to forget that there are many people that are not eating much if anything today and there are babies crying that have no family to hold them.  And even worse, there are many people that do not have the comfort of knowing our Lord, Jesus Christ and the security that brings.  Knowing this, we are very anxious to return to Botswana, not only to reconnect with our church family there but also to continue to reach out in faith and follow the path that God is leading us down.  We reflect on the message that Pastor Craig gave in last night's Christmas Eve Service.  And remember that along with all the peace & tranquility surrounding the birth of Jesus there was also much suffering.  But the salvation message that comes with His birth is meant for all and at this time of year as we celebrate His coming we should be reminded especially that we need to work harder than ever to spead the Good News to all the Earth!  Merry Christmas from The Sukup's in Botswana temporarily in Tampa, Florida!

T.I.M.E. Ministries visits Botswana

A group of 5 people from T.I.M.E. Ministries recently visited Botswana.  Lead by Pastor Larry Wright, their mission is to evangelize thru the use of drama (short skits) and puppets.  Jeff took them to Molepolole, a large village about 50km from Gaborone, where they used impact evangelism in local marketplaces, prisons and hospitals to reach the local people.  They were joined by 3 people from Old Naledi who helped them with the puppets and skits.  Pastor David Thokwane from Calvary Baptist Church in Molepolole and his wife joined them.  T.I.M.E. Ministries trains the local Pastors and leaders on impact evangelism and the many that were lead to Christ filled out cards so Pastor David will be able to follow up with them.  Hopefully they will connect with his church (or another local church), and continue on with their walk with The Lord thru discipleship and fellowship with other Christians.

PET recipient visits OBC!

Just an update on our latest PET recipient, Ditshupo Mandafu. To our surprise and joy, last Sunday he showed up at Open Baptist Church for the 8am service. He got there in his new PET and was very thankful to have it. The only problem he has been having was that his backside was getting a little sore from continually sitting in the PET. The Lord does provide: he connected with one of the ushers, Bryson, who works in the "prosthetics and orthodics" department at Princess Marina Hospital. He has promised to fit him with a specially made orthopedic cushion to help alleviate this problem. We are very thankful that he is making use of his new transportation and especially that he visited the Church! We are also thankful to Bryson for his demonstration of Christian love. Quite often when Jeff is driving to work, he sees Ditshupo sitting outside Choppies (similar to 7-Eleven) selling phone cards. We continually pray that the PET will allow him to have a changed life and it will help draw him nearer to our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Coincidence, I think not.

It has been a busy week at OBC with our missions conference and great things were happening. Fellowship and networking amongst the various ministries along with building ministry awareness and understanding within the congregation are evident. Then a battery of attacks seem to come. First the Church's only photo copier breaks down with more copying still to be done. Then the vehicle we're using to transport the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church team around in is having several mechanical problems and this is just after we had the van serviced last week. Then I accidentally left my side bag with my passport, credit cards, licenses and cash in the van while the team went to the mall and it was stolen as someone broke into the vehicle. Then as we are setting up for our Saturday evening fellowship and service, the lock to the kitchen is defected, looks like a key was broken off in it and none of the electrical outlets in the room will work so coffee can't be made. Now that it is 10pm and I desire to get a good night's sleep, the neighbor is having a party with music blairing across the yard. I'm pretty certain we have come under attack. All I can think of doing is praying and preserving in Him and His word, to stay the coarse and forget all that is behind as there is a greater hope in Him alone. Please pray with us.

Tea 4 Three

For several weeks now Thato, a young man who attends Open Baptist Church with us, and I (Jeff) have been meeting in the mornings once a week. We are reading through John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life" We had taken a short term mission trip out to the dessert village of Mantshwabisi back in July and found a joy in one another's company. Thato came to know Christ when he was a teenager, completed university studies and now has been working for the Ministry of Finance for several years. He is surrounded by unbelievers at work and does notice that others see a difference in him. He feels God has something more planned for his life. On this occasion of meeting, Pastor Andrew of Mosojane Baptist Church was in Gaborone for the OBC Missions Conference and joined us in the park for tea and biscuits. The park is a beautiful setting with lovely foliage and song birds right outside the president's residence. Please pray for Thato to discern God's will in his life and that Thato will stay the course. Thato is in the center of photo.

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!