February 28, 2011

Traveling to Sepopa, a small village in northern Botswana on the Okavango River panhandle was definitely the highlight of the month. We left early on Saturday February12, and arrived in the early afternoon. Pusetso had made arrangements for us to stay at the parsonage with Pastor Reuben. The house is situated on a beautiful piece of land, which is set right on the edge of the Okavango River. When we were there in December, the channel by the parsonage plot was dry and in the photo below, you can see that the waters from Angola had just filled the channel that week. The water will continue to rise and reach Maun in late June.
Even arriving mid day on a Saturday, we found the village so quiet and peaceful. People were going about their daily chores and a young boy was at the water's edge spearing fish for the family meal.
After meeting with Pastor Reuben and his visiting friend David, who was staying to do a crusade over the next two weeks, we went to see Pusetso's mother and explored a bit more around the church property. Colin always is fascinated with the huge cactus plants that grow in Botswana and there was one by the Sunday school meeting hall on the church property.
Pusetso and her friend, Onalenna, had a few other responsibilities to complete before we could meet with them for some children's ministry training. Pusetso had told us in December that she was trying to teach over fifty children with no materials or experience. So after planning ten weeks of lessons and gathering up basic supplies to help with the teaching, we spent the afternoon going through everything. In addition, Julie taught the ladies some children's songs and games that could support the concepts being taught in the lessons.
By the time the training session was over, it was evening and getting close to meal time. When returning to the parsonage, we discovered that the power was out in Sepopa and the two burner hot plate used by Pastor Reuben was not going to be an option for cooking. Reuben and David had already begun roasting a lower cow leg bone to boil in a large cast iron cooking pot over the open fire. In the picture below the two legs look like some firewood, but if you look closely you can see the legs while the fir and hoofs are being burned away. Also, in the back ground is the little church building on the property.
Julie pitched in with an additional pot of cheese and noodles.
In the morning it was time for church. The local children began to gather in the church early and like so many of the kids attending our church in Maun, they carry in little siblings that they are carrying for.
The actual church prayer, praise, and worship service went on for two hours before the children were excused for Sunday school class. It was a very lively service with Pastor David playing a key board that he had brought with him. Everyone attending had such pure joy and never seemed to grow tired of singing and dancing in the aisle. We have attached a short video to give you a sample of a truly African worship service. Pusetso and Onalenna are leading the singing and everyone is singing "Hosanna, Hallelujah..." repeatedly, though it is hard to hear over the keyboard.



The children were up front in church and participating in the service right up until they were excused to walk up the hill to the Sunday school building. Pictured below, they are coming out of the small church structure.
Once settled in, Julie introduced herself and taught the lesson to model teaching strategies for Pusetso and Onalenna. The two Batswana ladies took turns interpreting everything Julie said into Setswana. A mother and a few older children were also recruited as additional helpers for the class time.
When the lesson was finished, everyone went outside to play some games and sing some more songs as church was still in session. It was an hour and a half before the main preaching was finished and everyone returned to the church building for some final music, dancing, and closing prayer.
All in all, it was a 4 hour service and we had to leave shortly after for our long drive back to Maun. Pusetso and her church family seemed genuinely thankful for our visit and we felt truly blessed to be a part of what God is doing in Sepopa through this small group of believers. We have continued to be in phone contact regularly with Pusetso and are looking forward to a follow up trip to Sepopa in mid April.

On the flying front, February was a bit slow for tourists but Colin was asked to pilot a private plane out of Gaborone to a village located in the south western part of the country. The owner of the airplane services boreholes and pipelines, but does not know how to fly. The arrangement with FMS is to basically rent a pilot to fly the plane. This is the second time Colin has been asked to do the flying, but it was his first time to travel to that part of Botswana. He always enjoys making friends with new people, and enjoyed his day with the passengers.
About a week later, Colin was also able to be joined by the son of a good friend for a few hours of flying from the Okavango Delta to Jack's Camp in the Kalahari. Jordan has a strong desire to learn to fly and it had recently been his birthday. So, to fly with Colin for a couple hours was quite a treat for him.
Then as the month came to an end, an FMS affiliate and his wife came to Maun for a weekend visit. Colin was asked to fly them on a scenic flight into the Okavango Delta and Julie was invited to join them.
It was a lovely evening and the lush delta was full of all kinds of wildlife. It was the first time Julie had seen hippos from the air as they rested under the clear waters that are prevalent in the area.
Flying Mission Services has a tracking system to follow the flight paths of all their aircraft. The map below shows the path of the one hour scenic flight that evening. Spidertracks, as it is named, updates every ten minutes and if the flight follower clicks on one of the dots on the red flight line, then the time, altitude, and airspeed can be seen.
Concerning other areas of our work in Maun, we decided to meet weekly with our FMS team for a Bible study at the office since it is the slow season. It has been a very positive time of fellowship and has brought us even closer together while we grow in our faith.

As for direct ministry and teaching, Sunday school continues to grow and the numbers are now getting close to eighty. We are looking at separating the older children of 12 to 14 years and having more age appropriate lessons for them next term. There are fifteen attending regularly and usually thirty weekly in that age group. A young man from New Zealand, that has been attending church regularly, and a few other people may help with that group. If so, it would relieve the overcrowding problem that is currently developing into an issue. Please pray about this with us.

Also, Bible Club is going strong every week with a number of new kids attending this term. Furthermore, Julie and Cheryl are in the planning stages for a 5 day outreach to the children in the Kowalski's neighborhood over the term break in April. The dates will be April 4 through 8. Again, please keep these ministries in prayer and that the children attending will have hearts that are open to knowing the love Jesus has to offer.

Sometimes we like to share just some ordinary and daily experiences of life we have here. For instance, on Colin's last couple of days off he has been trying to help our Pastor solve a problem with Pigeons that have taken roost in the parsonage carport. The birds make a huge mess all over the car nightly, so Colin has had to try to figure out a way to discourage them from setting on the upper beams of the carport. He first tried stretching rows of wire above the beams, but the Pigeons still found a way to roost. The next stage of this project has been to put chicken wire above the beams. So far, Pastor Alex says it seems to be working.
Just for fun, another small day off project included here is a picture of Colin putting new tires on the little Nissan March we affectionately call the "Jelly Bean". If you really look closely at the size of Colin beside the car, and the size of our Pajero next to it, you can see just how small the "bean" is. It is amazing to see Colin cram into and drive the March when needed....

As a continuation on the last couple of statements concerning things mentioned "just for fun" and birds roosting, here is a picture of a Barn owl that has taken up roost in the Maun Airport terminal. We had not seen one before in Botswana, so it is another bird we can check off the list of our Southern African bird book.

In closing, we would like to share a portion from the Blackaby devotional, Experiencing God Day By Day... "There will be times when, immersed in the ordinary details of life, you may be oblivious to the extraordinary that is right next to you. You can be in the midst of a common moment, only this time the activity is filled with the presence of God. There may be times when, in the middle of your harried day, you notice something unusual. Your first reaction may be 'I'm too tired to go aside to investigate this!' or 'I'm not going to disrupt my life for this.' Yet, in that moment you may have the opportunity for a unique encounter with God."

Our time in Botswana has been passing quickly but day to day, week to week, month to month, and now even...year to year, we continue to leave ourselves open to being used of God in whatever He puts before us. Even in the ordinary things of life, we feel God's presence and pray that we can continue to, "...live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Ephesians 5:2