Language in Lobatse! November 22, 2009

Just a few more days and we are done in language in Lobatse.  We are waiting on our house to be completed in Gaborone and we will be moving there in the next couple of weeks.  Our family is so ready to finally set up our home and begin ministry.  Upon moving to the capital of Botswana, we will continue our language learning and begin contacting churches from the states and here to mobilize them for the spread of the gospel.  Some church in the US are already planning to come and we are excited to see what God will do.

Most of you know that we are expecting our fourth child and we are elated to know that we are having a girl.  Grandparents are already buying things for her and she will be a blessed little girl in our family.  The boys are excited to have a sister and already planning on helping me take care of her.  Whoooo three older brothers… wow she will be protected not to mention from her daddy as well haha. 

Rhett got in Broadhurst and was tested Friday to see what “standard” grade he will be in.  We are planning on him going into standard 5 in January.   He got to tour the campus with other missionary friends and he is excited to get involve starting the first of the year.  Ridge is 2nd on the list and Reid is 7th.  The school is saying that it will probably be May for Ridge and Reid will not get in until next January 2011.  We are so thankful that Rhett got in.  Please be in prayer for the boys as Rhett starts a new school and Ridge and Reid will still be homeschooled. 

 Thank you for your continued prayers as our family serves here in Africa.  God continues to bless each day and we are so thankful we serve The Almighty One.

September is Halfway Through? September 15, 2009

Since our last post our family has done many things. On August 13, Ridge had his 7th birthday. We celebrated at his favorite resteraunt, “Spur” and received many gifts from abroad and from here.  God has truly blessed us with a wonderful, energetic, loving boy named Ridge. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhett has become a hunter while living here.  He has been out numerous times and the last time he brought home food for the family!  Not much to look at but really good to eat.

The Mighty Hunter

Reid is doing well in school and is learning how to read.  He is excited to learn new things each day.

Living in Botswana August 2, 2009

Serviettes, robots, hooting your hooter, boot, and fizzy drinks are just some of the few things we are learning here. Along with learning our new language we are having a great time. Since our last post, as anyone may expect, we have experienced many things in the last two months.

Our house is located on several plots. At the north end, there is a missionary couple, The Fortenberry’s, who have been here for many years. Upon our arrival, we heard that Mr. Robert was an avid hunter and that he would take Brandon and Rhett hunting soon. The first month here, Brandon and Rhett have been hunting several times. Brandon killed an impala and Rhett is still working on the warthog.


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Our first little get-away was visiting a game reserve in Pilanesberg, South Africa. The Fortenberry’s, two summer volunteer missionaries and our family went. There were many animals seen through our game drive, we just were not able to see any elephants. Later that afternoon, we drove through the game park in our own vehicles and were able to see a herd of elephants in a distant. We waited to see if they would cross the road and we were able to get very close to them. They were absolutely beautiful! 


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In the begining of June, two summer missionaries from Union University and Mississippi College came and stayed to work here in Lobatse.  Jewel and Katherine worked in the schools teaching them some True Love Waits and other programs to the children here.  The Lord also placed them here to minister to us.   They have been the boys’ playmates along with being our friends.    We hope that they will come back and work along side with us again!  Thanks girls!!


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Sundays we have attended different Baptist churches, churches in villages and churches in the city.   Each one having its own personality, however each one all worshiping the one true God.   The first one in Tswagare was about a 45 minute drive.  The first attempt, we drove for about two hours looking and well our family had church needless to say–in our car.  The next week we found it only to find that the pastor was not there.  We did get to visit with one faithful church member who was ready to worship. Another church in a village we visited is in Digawana about 30 minutes away.  We arrived to find the pastor and five other people there.  The pastor was very encouraged by our presence.  Brandon and I both could invision teams working with this church and this village.   We have also visited the church in Gaborone, Gaborone Baptist Church and the one here in Lobatse, Lobatse Baptist Church.   These churches are growing and impacting the local communities.  Just today when we attended Lobatse Baptist, Moruti Jack the pastor, had everyone go out into the community to pray for and with the local people.  Brandon and I were paired up with a national lady and we visited, encouraged, and prayed with three different families.  We were well received and they were happy to allow us to pray for them.   Our family asks you to pray for these different churches as we will go along side of them to help minister to the people.  Also pray for God’s Will in your own life as opportunities to serve our Master are great here. We also will go out to villages that do not have a baptist church and try to start one.   Many people here have not heard the gospel and we must pray and be prepared to share with them the true love of Christ.


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Last week we were approved for resident status. We are official!! We will stay in Lobatse until December and move to the captial, Gaborone then. Until then, we will continue learning Setswana and learning how to live in Africa. We want to thank you for all your prayers.



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Our Homestay June 2, 2009

We were told that we were going to be able to stay in an urban setting for our homestay. The homestay included that we were to stay with a Zambian family for three nights living as they live each day. When we heard about the urban stay, Brandon and I both wanted our homestay to be in the village. We knew that we wanted our boys and us to experience that. I went to our director of 40/40 and let him know that we would love to be in a village setting, and that if anyone wanted to live in the urban setting we would be willing to switch. Then after I told him, we started second guessing, saying what did we just do to ourselves. Then the day came and they announced that we would be staying in the village and the director said, “You get what you asked for!” OH NO I thought…. I am not sure I want what I asked for… haha We arrived in a village about 30 minutes back in the bush to the home of Mr. and Mrs Tembo. Our day would consist of getting up around 5:30 and Brandon would immediately head to the garden where Mr. Tembo owned a huge garden to work and water the plants. The boys and I got up around 6:30 and bathed with a huge tub of warm water then we got dressed. They had fixed us breakfast of bread and jelly with some juice. Then I and Mrs Helen Tembo went to the fields. The fields were maize and ground nuts (what we would call peanuts.) It was time to harvest ground nuts and Mrs Helen, her two daughters and I went to work. It was a cool morning and I enjoyed my time visiting while picking the ground nuts off the vine. A few hours later Brandon and the boys walked out to the field, which was about a 20 minute walk, and we were finishing up there. We headed back to the village and they started preparing lunch for us. Lunch consisted of Nshima (which I really can’t explain it) tomato based soup, cabbage, and hot tea to drink. Nshima is their staple food, which is a starch, and they would ball it up in one hand and eat it by scooping the soup or cabbage with it. After lunch, we sat in chairs outside under a tree visiting. Then Helen and I went to wash clothes. She took me down to a natural well to wash. She would feel the tub up with the water and put soap in it and begin scrubbing the clothes. Reid and I tried to help her haha with our clothes. There was one pair of shorts of Ridge’s that I thought I would throw away after 40/40 because they were just stained so bad that I thought it would never come out. When Mrs Helen got through with them….. they looked new… really. So needless to say, I won’t be throwing them away. When we got back, there were some men around Brandon and he was leading a Bible study time. This went on for about 2 1/2 hours, they were so hungry to know the truth. Around 5:00 our bath water was ready and I bathed the boys and then myself. Then Brandon finished up his Bible study and took a bath as well. Some of the women sat around and visited until supper was ready and we just talked and talked. When it was supper time, it was completely dark outside. There were many stars, it was beautiful. We were also able to see the Southern Cross, a constilation I never knew. Supper was ready and we sat in the floor by one candle light. Prepared was rice, soup, and some kind of relish… cabbage like. It was all very good. Each meal that was prepared, the boys ate it up… they wanted more. By no means did we go hungry. After supper we headed to bed by 7:30 and the boys were out like a light. Brandon and I would ususally read and then go to sleep. The next day was about the same. One day I was able to make some peanut butter. That was interesting. The Africans have a giant wooden cruciable and a large stick and would pound and pound the ground nuts til is was like crunchy peanut butter. It was hard work, but it was fun and the peanut butter was delicious. Our stay with the Tembo’s was very enlightening to see how true villagers lived. I asked the boys if they could live like that and they said that it was fine except the toilet situations. There was none. It was just a whole in the ground and we would just have to squat down… calling it a squatty potty.haha. The boys favorite was all the animals. There was a baby goat and all of them would catch and want to hold. The Africans would just look at us funny… they didn’t play with the animals, they would raise them and eat them. I asked Mrs. Helen if she suffered like most Africans say they do. Her response was that God had provided things for her and her family and that she did not suffer. And in her context she didn’t. In Africa, they have to depend on Him for everything, and really see Him for who He is. Some of them are scared to let go of their traditions, afraid that they will make the ancestors mad. When they truly give their life to Christ, they have a personal relationship surrendering to Him fully. Living with the Tembo’s was a great adventure and we were very thankful for our time there. I pray that they will continue being a light in the community to bring glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ.



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Bush Living May 28, 2009

We headed to Bush Camp May 4th. 71 of us traveled in a charter bus and was supposed to have a toliet, tvs, and air. All of us did fit in the bus, however no toliet, no tv, and no air. The weather was cool that day so we were comfortable during our travel. Our DFA included many things in the bush. We were split up into small group and met with government officals. We met with the director of education for Petauke. The officals were very friendly and took time to teach us some things about their culture. Another day, the men met with the chief and the women met with the chief’s wife. Our visits were very formal and included an agenda that was closely followed. The Sunday that we were in the bush, the group separated and we visited different churches in the area. Some went to Jehovah’s Witness Churches, some to Pentecostal, Catholic, and different religion just to see what people were being taught. At the end of our stay,in the bush we rethought our testimony in a different light. As Americans we relate to an innocent vs guilty based culture. Here in Africa they relate more to a power vs fear and shame vs honor based culture . We went out to share our story in that context. They were very open to here the gospel and many came to know him through our testimonies.
Our living area in the bush consisted of tents. Our family had one military style tent and one “pup” tent for our luggage. We were very comfortable and felt very safe. Each morning we would get up and get dressed and head for breakfast to be served at 7:00am. 8:00 we would have small group devos and head off by 9am for our DFAs. By 12:30 or 1:00 we were back for lunch and then would debrief. Most of the afternoons we were free. During that time Brandon would go pump the water from the well and go heat it for the shower. 45 minutes later, we would all shower. Then the boys would go play frisbee and wait for supper. After supper, we would usually head to bed around 8:00 and start the next day the same way. While we were doing our DFAs the boys would have school and on Saturdays they would go on field trips.
Bush Camp was not as hard as I had thought. God has really been good to us!

I will continue our 40/40 adventure Saturday. We have to head to Johannesburg tomorrow to pick up the boys homeschool curriculum. So we won’t have internet until we get back. Then I plan to finish our journey of 40/40 telling about our homestay and Ibis Gardens. Thank you for following our family and praying for us. The Lord really has been gracious to us and has allowed our family to adjust well to Africa.



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We Are Back! May 27, 2009

We have made it back from 40/40. 40/40 is an orientation of living and doing ministry in Africa. The first 12 days were were living in the guest house in Lusaka Zambia. Our Daily Field Assignments (DFA) consisted of observing the people, learning how to greet people, asking people what they thought a missionary was, and discussed there health care. One day we learned the Creation to Christ and went and shared it with the people in the compounds. That was one of my favorite days in Lusaka. There is one story I would like to share that I think is awesome. One day we were learning about death and funerals. We had a helper to set up a time with a person that had been through a death of a family member. We were to present a gift to them for their willingness to share their story. As we were buying the gift, I asked our helper if we could buy her some mealie meal (their main staple) and she thought that she needed some other things so we bought juice, washing powders, cooking oil, and something else small. As we were finishing up our visit, I asked if we could pray for her and she said that she needed some mealie meal. Immediately my heart sank, thinking in my head… I will go and get her some when we leave.  We prayed for her and presented our gifts to her and she was so thankful.  She gave us a hug and we headed out.  As we were walking out the door, we were met by a man and woman with a huge bag of mealie meal to give her.   She looked at us and we looked at her.  She said, “The Lord provides!”  I was amazed that God allowed me to see that He does provide for our needs. 

I will write again tomorrow about the next 12 days in bush camp.



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Here are some pics in Lusaka

April 19, 2009

Click to enlarge

Our Journey to South Africa April 16, 2009

We left “Gabs” which is Gaborone Botswana Wednesday. Traveling through the border and driving 120 kilometers per hour on a two lane road with 4 lanes of traffic. I just had to shut my eyes and pray that we all got there safely. Finally, all stressed out, we arrived 6 hours later to Johannesburg South Africa. We checked into a beautiful hotel and are enjoying meeting all the other people who serve in Southern Africa. We head to Zambia next Wednesday. Our internet is not what we have expected, we thought it would be better so I am not sure if we will be able to post anymore. I will try. Our conference is over Monday and we move to another hotel and that may have better internet… i hope

First Few Days April 13, 2009

Well, we arrived in Gaborone, Botswana a little after noon on Saturday after leaving the states Thursday at 3:30pm. We had good flights and the boys did great! We were met at the airport by many of our team members and as soon as the bags were loaded, we were off to lunch at Nando’s. Sunday I was up before everyone and walked outside so I wouldn’t wake anyone up. I walked around around and visited with the gatekeeper, Balak, and watched monkeys run on the rooftop and in the trees. We attended Gaborone Baptist Church and had a huge pot luck with the team that afternoon. All of the kids, 15 or so, played hard, hunted eggs, and had a great time.
Today was a busy day. We had a couple of meetings before lunch learning about all the logistical stuff and how we are going to study the Setswana language. After lunch, I had my first driving experience with Bill, our Logistics Coordinator. After we had driven for a while he asked if I felt comfortable taking the vehicle. I said sure, so he gave me directions to get back to another house and off I went. Within three minutes, I was as lost as I could be with no way to know where I was. I kept driving and eventually saw two combi’s (taxis) traveling one behind the other down a road and figured that it had to be a popular route if they were both looking for business. After they pulled into a bus stop area and I continued, I saw a petrol station, turned in, made a distress call on the borrowed cell, and got new directions. Before long, I had arrived and within an hour I loaded up the family and we were off again. This time, Torie had the directions and led us right to where we needed to be with me at the wheel. It is amazing how tired driving on the opposite side of the road makes you after only a few hours.
All of us are doing very well and adjusting to the time change without much problems. We head to South Africa Wednesday morning and hope to have a better internet connection where we can post some pictures. Thank you for your prayers. We praise God for the grace He has extended to us through this transition!

Our Visits in Arkansas April 8, 2009

We arrived in Arkansas March 26th after driving 15 hours straight from Virginia. Our first stop was in Brinkley to see everyone that we could. We had a wonderful visit with our friends there and had to move quickly to see my folks. The next day we traveled to Heber Springs to stay a few days at my parents lake house. The boys were able to have an early Easter with the Smith’s dying eggs and having an Easter egg hunt. My mother even bought them Easter outfits for them to wear to church that Sunday. All the boys were so handsome and they new it! My brother and sister-in-law also came up to spend some time together and it was lots of fun. Rhett was able to explore the creek that is close to the house with an eye out on his brothers. They went up and down that creek moving rocks and doing was boys do best… get dirty. During the end of the stay, with Pop’s help, they made a fire pit out of rock down by the creek. Just being outside enjoying the weather and being with family made it unforgettable!!


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April 2 we headed down to Texarkana to see Brandon’s family. It wasnt long and we were headed to a ball game. Braden (cousin) was playing and pitched a great game. The boys loved it! Saturday there was an airshow in town. We loaded up and watched many different kinds of planes take off and land. Rhett even got to see his favorite plane, the A10. Sunday we celebrated Easter again. The church had a church wide Easter egg hunt. There were three golden eggs and Ridge and Reid found two of them. They were excited to find 5 bucks in them. The next day we were off to another baseball game to see Matt (cousin) play his high school game. The boys sat up front and center and watch him.


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We have had a great time seeing our friends and family and now our time here is over. We leave tomorrow for Botswana Africa. It will take us two days to get there. As I think back to how long we have prayed for this I can only see the hand of God. There is no way we could have done this by ourselves. With much prayer from you all our journey is now here. Brandon and I want to thank all of our prayer warriors. I know the Lord has heard us all and will continue to go ahead of us to prepare for the harvest. Please continue to pray as we transition into a new way of life and pray for the Tswana people to know the love of Christ!