Country: Botswana
Ministry: Riverside Church
City: Francistown
Songs on Repeat: “Steady Heart” by Steffany Gretzinger

When I was in elementary/middle school, I went to a very small private, Christian school: Peoples Christian Academy. When I say “small,” I mean “6 people in my grade” small. It used a curriculum called Accelerated Christian Education.

When I switched schools before 8^th grade, I never saw or heard of the program again. Until Botswana…

Our ministry for this month was to help teach class for different small schools in the area. I taught school with the missionary family we worked with.

Her class was 1st-2nd grade and they were incredibly adorable. They were goofy and had some trouble listening, but I found myself really enjoying my time with them.

On numerous occasions, I was the peacemaker. They fought about if certain TV shows were bad and if they were going to hell if they watched them. That was a crazy conversation.

We continued learning about prayer and accepting others.

It was a really sweet time with them through the month.

I spent a handful of my Sundays and evenings teaching Mercy, a woman staying in our housing complex, how to play guitar. Really, I formed the chords, she strummed and we would worship together. It was really encouraging.

We also spent our afternoons building relationships with the different employees of the restaurants we frequented, specifically Ocean Basket and Wimpy. We even built relationships with some shop employees. It was a really special time.

We hung out with the missionaries too. Claris, Shirley, and their son, Jacob, are from South Africa and moved 20 years ago to minister to those in Francistown. We also spent time with missionaries, Jason, Deborah, and their kids who are from Wisconsin.

{We were able to go to a FIFA qualifier soccer game between Botswana & Eritrea with our missionary friends}

{Jason got us to try chicken liver and gizzards at the FIFA game}

We were blessed to be able to participate in a weeklong missions conference, Kairos. For me, it was so refreshing to learn. This was the month the Lord re-ignited my heart for the 10/40 window.

I grew up being blessed with hearing missionary stories of what God was doing throughout the world. And I’ve been blessed to go on 10+ mission trips. I wouldn’t say I was burned out on missions. However, I’d say that I needed to re-focus and get another idea of what it COULD look like, to hear of what God was already doing.

It was a breath of fresh air to sit 9-5 Monday – Friday to hear, learn, envision what missions could be in these unreached areas. It was one of my favorite weeks on the Race. 

There are more stories from this month that I’d love to share. However, they’re better shared face-to-face. If you’re interested, let’s find a time to share.

Here are some more pictures:

{When the Cardinals lost to the Cubs}

{Celebrating Nicole’s birthday. The day started with a 6am birthday song}

*Stay tuned for the LAST installment of my"TBT" Blog series. Month 11!