Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Seventh Edition

Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Seventh Edition
“I’ll miss you Botswana”

May 21, 2009

Greetings from an increasingly colder Gaborone, Botswana!  Yes, it’s coming around to my favourite time of year here in Botswana...winter!  Honestly, winter is the best time of year.  The weather doesn’t get too hot (maybe 20-25ºC by midday) and the temperatures drop quite dramatically at night (between 0ºC-5ºC).  I always sleep better in the winter.  In the summer when night time temperatures can still be above 30ºC, it can get pretty uncomfortable.  For the lucky ones with air conditioning (like me) sleeping at night is a little easier, but nothing beats the naturally cooler weather.  Perhaps the reason I like it is because it’s just nice to have a change in weather.  It is hot here so often that when the cool air comes it’s just nice to feel something else besides the blistering sun.  As nice as winter is you have to enjoy it while you can.  Winter weather only sticks around for 2-3 months and then it starts heating up again.  I’m glad my last days here will be spent during the winter months.  Perhaps my flight home won’t be delayed by a thunderstorm this time.  J

Many have been asking about my departure dates and exactly when I’ll be where.  I haven’t sorted my summer out quite yet but I now have a confirmed arrival date in Edmonton.  First, I’ll give the rundown of how I’ll get to Edmonton.  As I mentioned in my last letter I will be leaving Gaborone, Botswana on June 25^th.  I will arrive in London, England the next day and spend a little over a week with some friends there.  On July 6^th I’ll fly from London to Toronto and spend a few days at the SIM Canada head office.  On July 9^th I fly from Toronto to Edmonton and am do to arrive at 8:43pm.  There have been some who have expressed interest in meeting me at the airport.  If you’re interested and able I’ll be flying with Air Canada on flight AC1161 scheduled to depart Toronto @ 6:25pm.  If you do meet me at the airport there is one condition, you must bring either a slurpee or Tim Horton’s Iced Cap for me.  The more the merrier!  J

A few people have asked me what I’ll miss most about Botswana.  To me that’s an easy answer...the people!  However, when I thought about it some more I wondered what things I’d be surprised that I’ll miss.  Like for example, will I actually grow to miss the crazy driving?  I’ll admit some of the things you see on the road make great conversation pieces.  For example, just the other day a combi (local van taxi) cut me off and then stopped in front of me and waved at me asking for my approval.  What?!  How was I supposed to react.  “Sure.  Go ahead and cut me off combi driver, oh, and by the way, I appreciate that you asked for permission after the fact.”  I just ignored him.  I was annoyed at the time but when I look back it was actually pretty funny.  The other thing about the driving here is learning the “code” of the road.  Driving on Botswana roads is alot different than it is in the west.  Hazard lights and high beams are used for all sorts of things that they aren’t used for in the west.  A common thing to do if someone is pulling over to allow you to pass on the highway is to flash your hazard lights as a “thank you” once you’ve completed the pass.  I’ve had people flash there high beams at me in the middle of the day which apparently was supposed to mean “you can go”.  So if you’re driving in Canada and someone starts flashing there high beams at you in the middle of the day, don’t worry, it’s just me.  J

One thing I know I will definitely miss is the tuck shops.  This is something that simply won’t be able to be replaced back home.  For those who don’t know, I typically go “hunting” for lunch during the week days and I’ve always enjoyed going to local tuck shops (or a “Semausu” in Setswana) to purchase food from the local people.  Two of my favourite tuck shops have been “Lady M’s” and, well, I’m not entirely sure what the other tuck shop is called.  I usually call it “Segametsi’s” cause that is the name of the lady who own’s it.  Lady M’s is owned by a lady named MmagoB.  Our Initial Ministry Coordinator, Tina Kort, who has been a missionary in Botswana for nearly 30 years, is an old friend of MmagoB and it’s because of Tina that I found this gem of a tuck shop.  My favourite thing to buy from Lady M's is “Koko le reisi.  Ke rata sehuba!”  (Chicken and rice.  I like the breast!)  I haven’t been able to get food from Lady M's in a while though.  Her tuck shop is located in front of a furniture store and she was asked to move.  She ended up moving across the street but has since moved again.  I’m not sure where she is now.  The government is beginning to introduce new rules which make tuck shops more difficult to run.  In the meantime I’ll just have to enjoy my chicken and rice while I can.

Chicken and rice is usually what I order from the tuck shops but you can get different varieties of traditional food as well which I sometimes have.  Some of the traditional food, like “Madombi” (a large dumpling, kinda like a cinnamon bun without the cinnamon) is very filling so I’ll only get that if I’m extra hungry.  I find the best part about the tuck shops is the ”meet and greet” style that each tuck shop has.  I’ve always enjoyed heading out to the shops to practice my Setswana.  There is never an abundance of white people at the tuck shops so I think locals enjoy it when one comes out, especially if you can order in Setswana.  Yep, I’ll definitely miss the tuck shops when I’m back in Canada.  Anyway, I guess that’s enough about food for now.  There were a few big events during the last two months so let me get back on track and tell you about them.

Flying Mission recently acquired a new plane, a King Air 200, and we had a dedication ceremony for the plane in mid April.  We also had another ambulance dedicated to us by the Rotary Club so we now have 2 ambulances, one stationed in Francistown the other in Gaborone.  So growth has definitely been happening in our aviation program.  Praise the Lord!

Shortly after the dedication I was able to make a trip up to Zambia to say farewell to some of my friends up there.  It was great to reconnect with people that I haven’t seen in such a long time.  I was even able to play on a worship team together with my manager, Richard Wheatley.  We used to play together on the worship team at OBC G-West as well as in the band we were both a part of “Audience of One”.  So it was great being able to play together one last time before I head off.  I was able to visit SIM Zambia while I was in Lusaka as well.  A former Flying Mission co-worker, Diane Vos, is now working for SIM in Zambia so I went to visit her and she showed me a bunch of the work SIM is doing there which was great.  I was only planning to be in Lusaka for just over a week but plans changed when I attempted to leave Lusaka on a bus.  A task easier said than done.  J

The plan to get me home was as follows.  I needed to take a bus from Lusaka to a small village called Choma.  In Choma I was supposed to meet a man who would drive me from Choma to an even smaller village called Macha.  I would stay overnight in Macha and in the morning a Flying Mission plane would arrive that was heading to Gaborone.  I know it sounds like a big hassle but its alot better than sitting on a bus for 24 hours, which is what I did to get to Lusaka from Gaborone.  So, on Monday morning I got up nice and early and headed to the Lusaka inner city bus station to catch the bus to Choma.  A local friend, Eddy, drove me to the bus station and helped me find the right bus to get on.  I bought a ticket and they said that the bus would be leaving by 7:30am.  It was currently 6:30am so I only had 1 hour to wait which didn’t seem that bad.  So, onto the bus I went to wait.  Well as expected 7:30am came and went.  No problem. Things usually run late in Zambia anyway so I just continued to wait.  Well 8:30 came.  Then 9:30.  Then 10:30.  The bus was still at the station!   Ok, this seemed kinda strange.  So I went to the guy who boarded me onto the bus and I asked him what the hold-up was.  Well it turns out the bus doesn’t actually leave until it’s full.  Great.  So I asked the obvious question.  “When do you think the bus will fill up?”  “Only God knows”, was his answer.  Indeed. 

At this point I’m starting to get a little concerned.  I’m supposed to be meeting a guy in Choma at 2:00pm to drive me from Choma to Macha.  At the rate things were going I thought I may need a backup plan in case I don’t make it on time.  I text messaged the people I know in Macha and they suggested 2 things.  One suggested I take a cab from Lusaka to Choma.  This was going to be expensive.  It’s like a 4 hour drive!  I didn’t really want to do that.  The other option was that if I got into Choma late I could take a cab from Choma to Macha.  This seemed like a good idea but I thought my chances of catching a taxi would go down the later it got.  So I made a decision.  I’ll wait until 12:30pm.  If the bus still hasn’t left, I’ll call the trip off and sort out another way home.  Well, 12:30pm came and the bus still hadn’t moved.  I had now been on a bus for 6 hours that hadn’t gone anywhere!  I think my patience has increased since moving to Botswana!  J  I called Richard and told him what had happened.  He said he would be able to pick me up on his way to the FMZ office.  So I collected my luggage and went to return my ticket office to get my money back.  Well, it turns out that was more difficult than I expected as well.

I went to the ticket office and explained why I had to cancel my trip and asked if I could get my money back.  The guy behind the counter said that they don’t give any refunds for cancellations.  That seemed strange.  I looked at the back of the ticket and it explained that if you cancelled your ticket you were subject to “a small fee”.  When I pointed this out to the guy he still said that they don’t do that.  I was beginning to believe that this guy was trying to cheat me.  After 6 hours of waiting on “the bus to nowhere” my patience had pretty much worn out.  I got angry and called the man a liar and for that I was pretty much ignored.  Richard was coming for me so I didn’t have time to argue further.  I told him I would be back later with the police. 

After returning to the FMZ compound and looking at all the stunned people who had expected me to be in Botswana, I explained what had happened.  Everyone believed that I was entitled to some money and if this man wouldn’t give it to me that I should get the police involved.  So I decided to do just that.

The next day Eddy and I were back at the bus station.  Eddy’s recommendation was to talk to the police before we approached the ticket office.  As it turns out, there was a police station right at the bus station.  So, off we went.  When we got to the police station there were 2 police women there so we explained to them what had happened.  They both agreed that this man was wrong and owed me money.  They decided that this is what should be done.  “Go to the ticket office, find the man who owes you money, and bring him back here.”  Are you kidding?  Ok, I decided I would clarify exactly what it is that she was saying.  I said, “Let me get this straight.  Are you giving me the authority to bring this guy in to the Police?  What if he doesn’t want to come?  Do I have the authority to force him?  You may want to give me a badge and a club.”  Well, they ended up changing their minds.  They decided they would give me a “call out” instead.  In plain English I would call this a “summons”.  Basically it was a letter from the police to this man requesting his presence at the Police station.  Apparently if he refused this he could get in big trouble.  It was like admitting you were guilty.  So off I went with the letter to the ticket office.  I didn’t recognize any of the men behind the ticket office so I explained what happened the day before, laid the letter down on the counter and said that one of them would now have to join me at the police station.  Well none of them wanted anything to do with me at this point.  They didn’t want any trouble, “We just work here” was their reply.  It was decided that I needed to talk to the “big boss”.  As it turned out the big boss was on his way to the ticket office so we waited for him to arrive. 

The big boss arrived before long so I once again explained what had happened.  The big boss went on to tell me that I didn’t understand how the buses ran in Zambia and that the bus doesn’t run on a schedule.  I explained to him that this is something that should have been explained to me before I bought a ticket.  I also pointed out to him what his ticket said on the back and he did end up coming over to my side.  He said that due to my “specific circumstance” he was willing to depart with some of his money and pay me back 40,000 Kwacha (about $10 Canadian).  The bus ticket only cost about $20 Canadian so it wasn’t a whole lot of money I was fighting for.  To tell you the truth, the money didn’t matter to me.  I just thought it might be fun to try and get it back!  J  I wasn’t disappointed.  So the big boss offered me the K40,000 and I figured that wasn’t a bad deal so I asked him what he needed.  He said he would need all my papers (receipts, the callout, etc) he would go over to his main office and come back with the money.  I was about to hand him over all my papers when Eddy stopped me.  He thought that the man may run off with all of my papers and never return.  Without the papers I have no proof that I purchased a ticket.  I agreed with Eddy.  Well, this didn’t make the big boss very happy.  He accused Eddy of calling him a thief!  Then Eddy and the big boss started to argue in Nyanja (the local language in Lusaka).  Eventually Eddy turned to me and said that we should go to the police station to sort this out.  That is why we were given a call out in the first place.  The big boss then turned to me and warned that if we did go to the police that I wouldn’t get my money, that they would laugh at me, and other such things.  Frankly, I didn’t believe that.  The police seemed to be on my side, they already gave me a call out.  I figured we would go test his theory.  So, off we went back to the police station.  I could see why the big boss didn’t want to go to the police station.  When we walked in the police women I had spoken to earlier recognized him and began shouting at him in Nyanja.  Eddy translated the argument for me and said that the police women had heard that he only wanted to give me K40,000 and they were arguing that I should be getting back more!  At one point the big boss got mad at the police women and started to yell at them.  From what I understand that is a great offense in Zambian culture.  When this happened an upset looking policeman appeared from an office at the back of the station.  He went up to the big boss and started to argue with him.  He then grabbed the big boss and forcibly caused him to sit down on a nearby bench.  Apparently the officer wanted this guy to calm down, and boy did it work.  Once the room quieted down I decided it was my turn to speak.  I explained to the police women that I was happy with the K40,000 and that we didn’t need to argue about that any further.  The big boss told me to just give him my papers and he would get me the money.  This is where I decided to test something I had heard about Zambians. 

I had been told that in Zambian culture relationships meant more than paperwork.  If you want to really get something done all the paperwork in the world wouldn’t beat a personal relationship.  It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.  I thought this would be a good test for that.  I had built a relationship with these police woman.  They knew who I was and they knew who had cheated me.  If I gave up these papers now it shouldn’t matter since the relationship is now there.  So that’s what I did.  I gave up my papers to the big boss and said to him “I trust you.”  At that we headed back to the ticket office.

When we got to the ticket office the big boss asked me to wait at the ticket office and he would be back shortly with my money.  So off he went.  At this point it appeared the big boss was now ignoring us.  He was off doing everything but getting me my money.  At one point he walked past us with some money and was getting change from the guy behind the counter.  Eddy asked him where my money was.  “It’s coming!  This isn’t yours!  Be patient!”  So we waited.  Finally, the big boss walked towards me and handed me K40,000 and said to me, “The game is over.”  Indeed, and we had won.  J  I didn’t actually say that but I wanted to.  One thing I have learned in Africa is that you need to “save face”.  For those who don’t know what that means it basically means that you shouldn’t humiliate someone even if they have done a great wrong to you.  So I thanked the manager for the money and told him he made a good business decision.  He in turn told me that I was right to go to the police.  It was an honourable finish.  However, after the big boss had spoken to me, he looked at Eddy and said something to him in Nyanja.  I didn’t know what he said, but by the way he said it I could tell it was something bad.  Eddy handled it well and didn’t retaliate.  Once we had walked away I asked Eddy what the big boss said to him.  He said it was difficult to translate into English but it was something like, “Why are you helping the driver when he forces you to sit in the trunk?”  The big boss had thought that Eddy was my worker and the only reason he was helping me was to save his job.  I wish I had known that earlier.  I would have given the money to Eddy in front of the big bosses face.  That would have changed his view of things I’m sure.  I did end up giving half the money to Eddy anyway.  He had endured some hardship to help me so I felt it was the least I could do.

When I got back from Zambia, Flying Mission held its AGM (Annual General Meeting).  This was a big deal this year because we were going to vote on our new CEO candidate.  John and Yvonne Lubbe are planning to leave there position as CEO to Flying Mission so we had setup a search committee to find suitable replacements and those replacements were to be introduced at the AGM.  After much talk and deliberation it was decided that the candidates, Mike and JoAnne Webb would be accepted as our new CEO.  Please pray for them as they prepare to come at what I hear will be the end of August.

Another tidbit of news that I should have mentioned earlier is my school application status.  As it turns out I didn’t need an interview in the end and was accepted to the program without any issues.  I am due to start classes on September 8^th.  However, I was told that I was lacking in one area of expertise, something called “Cisco training.”  The department head felt I should do some studying on that before I start in September so I’ve gone ahead and applied for an online course.  This will enable me to study here in Botswana and at home before my classes start.  Please pray that I’d find time to do this necessary studying to best prepare myself for my upcoming course.

With that said I think it’s time I wrapped this letter up.  Once again I’d like to leave you with some prayer requests so I’ve listed them below.

1)     My mother – some of you have asked about her status.  They have abandoned the idea of fixing the problem with her heart and feel a transplant is the only solution.  She sees a doctor on Friday (May 22^nd) who will decide if she is a candidate for a transplant.  If this is denied there is nothing further that can be done.  Please pray that the Lord would allow her to go on the transplant list.

2)     5 weeks left! – Pray that my last weeks here in Botswana would be good ones.  Pray that I would end well both in my work, ministries and relationships.

3)     Zambia trip – Praise that I had the chance to see my Zambian friends before I left.

4)     Online Course – Pray that I would find time to master the information I need to know before classes start in September.

5)     Accepted! – Praise that NAIT have accepted me into the IT Management program

6)     King Air 200/Ambulance – Praise that FM was able to get a new plane and a new ambulance.  Pray that both assets would be used to bring God glory.

7)     The Webbs’ – Pray for our new CEO couple as say their good-bye’s (they are from Idaho) and prepare to come to Botswana in August.

Lastly, I would like to take this time to say thank you to all who have supported me during the last 5 years.  It’s been quite the adventure!  Speaking of support, most of you may know that I will continue to be an SIM missionary while I’m at school so if you feel led to continue supporting me during my study leave that would be most appreciated.  I will be covering my own school fees so only my monthly living costs will need to be covered so I’ll make that information available to you once I know what my needs will be. 

Thanks again to all of you for being so supportive during my time here in Botswana.  I look forward to seeing most of you in person very soon!

Peace and prayers,

Graham “Rapula” Crawford <><

For more info on SIM Canada visit:  www.sim.ca

For more info on the Flying Mission visit:  www.flyingmission.org

Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Sixth Edition

Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Sixth Edition

“The Home Stretch”

March 26, 2009

Greetings one and all from a sunny Gaborone, Botswana!  Yes, it appears the rains are finally beginning to subside, although one never knows here.  The weather can be very unpredictable at times which is why I guess the weathermen on BTV (Botswana TV) only use 3 guesses as to which might happen; warm, hot or rainy.  Speaking of weathermen, while I was in Cape Town over the Christmas holidays I was watching the news and started laughing when I noticed that the weatherman was talking with a southern American accent.  Part of me wondered if people even understood him because he was pronouncing the names of some of the cities very strangely.  I wonder what it would be like to have a South African with a thick Afrikaan accent as a weatherman in say, Tennessee?  I’m assuming a few of the locals would struggle with that accent as well. 

Anyway, I think that’s enough about weathermen for now.  I’ve had a few people ask me about how my school application is going.  To tell you the truth, not much has happened.  Last month NAIT “acknowledged” my application which basically means they received the application with all the bits they needed and could now go through the process of acceptance.  Last week I received an e-mail from the department head’s assistant requesting an interview with me.  This was supposed to happen either Thursday or Friday last week but the interview never occurred.  I’m still waiting for the department head to confirm a time for the interview.  This is where things sit at the moment.  I would appreciate prayer that the interview happens soon, that whatever technology we use to communicate (whether it be via the internet or phone line) would work as it should, and that the interview would put me in good standing.  I’m not exactly sure what kind of questions they will ask during the interview.  They didn’t specify the type of interview it would be.  I’ve never been interviewed by a school before so I’m not sure exactly how it will work.  Anyway, your prayers would be appreciated for that.

Flying Mission has once again been blessed with safety during an emergency landing that occurred at the end of January.  One of our pilots from Zambia (Rick Rempel) was flying from Livingstone, Zambia to Gaborone, Botswana when a problem occurred with the engine of the plane.  After trying to remedy the problem without success Rick decided that he would have to land the plane immediately.  His hope was that he could land in Kasane (a large village at the northern border of Botswana) but he was unable to make it and was forced to make an emergency landing in an open field.  The plane sustained some heavy damage during the landing but everyone on board was ok.  Little did Rick know but the landing wasn’t the end of his adventure for the day, but just the beginning!  There was an ELT (emergency locator transmitter) on the plane which was activated during the rough landing telling the airport the exact coordinates of where the plane had landed.  Shortly after this the BDF (Botswana Defence Force) search plane was able to do a fly-over and confirmed the planes location and that all on board were ok.  The plane returned to Kasane and mobilized the police department to send some vehicles out into the bush to rescue Rick and his passengers.  Unfortunately this task was easier said than done.  During their attempts to reach Rick and his passengers one of the search vehicles had a flat tire, (it’s likely there was no spare) another broke a tie rod, and the rest all got stuck in the muddy ground, a result of the fantastic rainy season we’ve had this year.  Meanwhile, FMS (our flight operations in Botswana) received word here in Gaborone that one of our planes went down near Kasane.  So, our Aviation Manager here in Botswana, Mark Spicer, got into our King Air 90 Air Ambulance and flew to Kasane to help with the rescue process.  Rick and his passengers ended up spending all night in the wrecked plane in the middle of the African wild.  Eventually a BDF helicopter arrived on site around 9am the next morning.  The helicopter transported Rick and his passengers to Kasane were they were all examined and found to have no serious injuries.  Our operations in Zambia had also heard that the plane had gone down so two of our personnel there got into a plane and flew to Kasane.  After Rick was cleared by doctors he was then taken back to Zambia in the plane that FMZ (Flying Mission Zambia) had sent down.  The damaged plane was insured so it’s likely we will receive an insurance settlement which should cover the loss of the plane.  Praise the Lord for his goodness and grace!

I’ve also had a few people asking about when I’ll be returning home.  SIM has booked my flights and I will be leaving Botswana on June 25^th.  From Gaborone I will fly to Johannesburg, South Africa and then to London, England.  I will be spending some time in England visiting with friends and am then scheduled to leave London on July 6^th.  I arrive in Toronto the evening of the 6^th.  I’ll be in Toronto for a few days at the SIM Canada head office for debrief and then I should be heading to Edmonton.  The flight from Toronto to Edmonton hasn’t been booked yet because I’m not sure how long I’ll need to be at the SIM office for.  Once that is sorted I’ll know my arrival date.  I’m guessing it will be around July 9^th. 

Once I’m back in Canada my summer schedule should look something like this.  I’ll be visiting my supporting churches in Fort Saskatchewan, AB, Fort McMurray, AB and Parksville, BC during July-August (no fixed dates yet).  I’ll definitely be spending some time in the lower mainland and may also make a trip to Calgary if time allows.  Classes begin the first week in September so I’ll have to be back in Edmonton by then.  I’m finding it hard to believe that I’ll be back in Canada in only 3 months.  I will definitely miss Botswana but I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with friends and family back home after almost a 2 year absence.

Some of you have been wondering what will happen as far as my status as a missionary while I’m attending school.  As far as Flying Mission is concerned I’ll officially be moving on as I’m uncertain as to if or when I’ll be returning to Botswana.  They are currently searching for a replacement for me so continue to pray that someone would be found before my departure.  I will continue to be a member of SIM and will have my membership status changed to “on study leave”.  During study leave I can continue to receive support and once the study break is over I can immediately resume work with SIM.  My hope is that with this new training from NAIT I’ll be able to better serve the mission community as an IT person.  I’m not exactly sure as to what capacity I’ll be able to do that yet but SIM has said that there should be plenty of opportunities in the future.  I’m not certain what my needs will be during my schooling but I can tell you that I should have enough to cover my school fees but may need some assistance paying for personal living costs during the school year.  These details probably won’t be sorted out until July so I’ll keep you posted on the details as they become available for those who may want to continue supporting me during my study leave.

On a more personal note, some fellow missionaries here in Botswana, who also just happen to be Canadians, have lent me a book called “Faith Like Potatoes”.  The book is written by Angus Buchan and it’s been very inspirational to me.  The man has gone through some very tough things in his life and it’s been a blessing to see how his faith has brought him through each and every trial.  It’s reminded me of my own journey over the last number of years and how I’ve been able to lean on God through all the ups and downs.  I’ll admit that it hasn’t always been my first instinct to pray when trouble hits, but this book has been reminding me of the power of prayer and how it should be the first thing we do.  If you have time to read it I would highly suggest it.  There is apparently a movie called Faith Like Potatoes as well for those who aren’t big into reading.

Well, this letter may be shorter than you’re used to but this is about all I can think of writing for now!  J  Anyway, before I go I’d like to leave you with a few prayer requests.  Here they are in no particular order:

1)     School Interview – Please pray that my interview with NAIT would be scheduled soon and that it would go well.  Pray that the school will accept my application.

2)     Emergency Landing – Praise that nobody was injured during an emergency landing in Northern Botswana last month.  Pray that things will get sorted out with the insurance company

3)     Flights – Praise that my flight home has been booked

4)     Wrapping Up – Please pray for me as I slowly begin to wind down here in Botswana.  Time has been moving quickly so please pray that I would finish well

Once again I want to thank you all for being such a supportive team to me during my time here in Botswana.  I feel so blessed to have you all in my life.  I look forward to seeing many of you in a few months time!

Peace and prayers,

Graham “Rapula” Crawford <><

For more info on SIM Canada visit:  www.sim.ca

For more info on the Flying Mission visit:  www.flyingmission.org

Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Fifth Edition

 

Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Fifth Edition
“The only guarantee, is change”

January 14, 2009

Greetings to all from a very dark and cloudy Gaborone, Botswana!  Rapula must be back in town because the clouds have gathered and the thunder has begun so I’m assuming we will be getting “Pula” (Pula is Setswana for rain, my Setswana name “Rapula” means Mr. Rain) any minute now.  It’s a welcome relief.  About a week ago temperatures were soaring into the high 30’s which is definitely not my cup of tea.  One thing is for sure, you definitely know when it’s raining in Botswana.  We never seem to get what we would consider back home as “light showers” or “drizzle” or whatever you call it.  I've heard it said that the Batswana have 2 words for rain.  I can’t remember the words but directly translated it’s something like “Male Rain” and “Female Rain”.  Apparently male rain is rain that seems to be of the garden variety here, hard and fast.  On the other hand, female rain would be Botswana’s equivalent to a light shower which in my time here has rarely happened.  What boggles my mind is how hard it is to determine whether it will rain or not.  The storm clouds will appear, the wind will pick up, the temperature will drop, thunder will crash, and not one drop of rain will fall.  However, it likely meant that rain fell somewhere in town.  Extremely isolated showers are a common occurrence here in Botswana.  So as plausible as it looks right now no rain may actually fall.  Oh well, at least it’s nice and cool!

Well, enough about the weather it’s high time I given you all a little update on what’s been happening here in Botswana.  It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 months since I’ve written you.  Although, now that I think about it, a ton of stuff has happened since I last wrote to you so I shouldn’t be surprised by how much time has passed.  Perhaps it’s best if I just get right into it before this letter becomes a novel.

As usual a number of comings and goings have happened since I last wrote you.  A new couple, Matt and Jessica Cressman have come to work for Flying Mission Services.  Matt is a Pilot/Mechanic which is a welcome relief since we are in desperate need of airplane mechanics these days.  Jessica has been helping out with HR in the Flying Mission office, something we have also been in need of.  We had a new short-termer arrive from the US, Adam Darlington.  He is a super good rugby player and came to take part in some sports ministries here.  He was scheduled to be here 9 months, but due to issues at home he’s heading back early.  He hopes to one day return to Botswana once things have been sorted out back home.  Monica Kribs, a former co-worker of mine here at the Flying Mission office, returned to Botswana to volunteer and help out with the ministries in Old Naledi.  Old Naledi is the poorer area of Gaborone, what some may call “the ghetto”.  Monica did a lovely job taking part there, especially with the orphan kids at the Tlamelo project.  Monica left in December but I’m thinking this will likely not be the last time we see her here in Botswana.

We lost a few key roles here in Flying Mission over the past few months.  Bob Patterson, one of the co-directors of Flying Mission Services returned to the US to help get Flying Mission USA going.  Luke Saffarek, my former roommate and the Short Term Coordinator for Flying Mission left for Mauritius to do discipleship training with a local church.  Gerhard Venter, our Chief Finance Officer took a position with SIM  in Cape Town, South Africa.  Peter and Joanna Shaw (along with their 3 children) returned to Australia after serving 2 years with Flying Mission.  Peter was heavily involved in discipleship and helped create a bible study course which has been used by some of our abstinence clubs as well as other groups.  The Shaw family attended the same church as me (Open Baptist Church G-West) and it was cool to see how the whole family was involved in the ministries of the church, from preaching to powerpoint, from bible studies to Sunday school lessons.  One of my favourite things about being a missionary is having the chance to meet great people from all over the world.  As much as I’ll miss all these people it was great to have met them and to have had a chance to minster together with them.

Speaking of farewells, November marked one of the saddest months in Flying Mission history.  A new couple here with Flying Mission, Keith and Cheryl Kowalski had to say good-bye to their 18 month old son Johnathon.  Tragically, Johnathon managed to wander off alone and ended up falling into their swimming pool and drowning.  Johnathon was rushed to the hospital but passed away the next morning.  The funeral was held at Open Baptist Church G-West, which is where the Kowalski’s have been attending.  As heart wrenching as it must have been, both Keith and Cheryl decided to make the funeral a celebration of Johnathon’s life and filled the  funeral will songs of worship.  One of the songs we sang at the funeral was “Blessed Be Your Name”.  Part of the lyrics of that song are, “Blessed be your name, on the road marked with suffering, though there is pain in the offering, blessed be your name.  You give and take away, you give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name.”  It was awesome to see a couple live out the words to that song.  In the midst of their greatest loss they were able to have hope and declare the goodness of God.  It was a powerful testimony.

With the change of the year comes another big change in my own life.  In July I will be returning to Canada to take a 2 year course on IT (Information Technology) Management at NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) in Edmonton, Alberta.  The reasons for taking this course will be to learn management skills to enable me to manage an IT team on the mission field.  I’m not sure where or when I will be able to return to the mission field but the hope is one day I will return.  So, until the way becomes clear, July will be my last month in Botswana.  Botswana has been like a second home to me for over 3 years and I hope one day I’ll be able to return.  The second year of the course is a work experience year meaning I will get a job with a company or organization and do on the job training.  It’s possible that I could do the work experience portion of this course with SIM or perhaps even Flying Mission.  This will likely be a question that won’t be answered until next year.  I’m not sure of the exact requirements of the work experience so this will have to be discussed with NAIT personnel.  I’ll be updating you on this new development as information becomes available.  Please pray for Flying Mission as they seek a new System Administrator (my current job title) to fill in the gap I’ll be leaving.

Please don’t read anything into this decision.  I’m not leaving because I hate Botswana or Flying Mission or anything like that.  This decision came about in a very unexpected way.  This past year has been a challenge for me.  Richard Wheatley, Flying Mission’s IT Manager, decided to move to Zambia to build an IT infrastructure for our mission base up there.  When he left it was up to me to keep things running here in Botswana.  For the most part things have worked well but I’ll admit I’ve felt a bit inadequate at times.  I talked to Richard about this and we both agreed I could use some training.  I looked at training options in Botswana and South Africa and didn’t really find anything that suited my needs.  It was then that Richard recommended I look for some management training.  At first I had been mainly concerned in taking courses which would increase my technical skills so Richard’s recommendation caught me a bit of guard.  I had to admit though, it sounded like a great idea.  With this new direction I wasn’t sure exactly where to look for training.  I decided I would start looking at some possible bible school courses which teach leadership.  I didn’t find much.  The courses revolved more around pastoral leadership which wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.  For some reason (I believe it was God’s leading) I decided to look at the school I went to for my computer training, NAIT.  As it turns out NAIT had the perfect course which met both the technical and the managerial training we were looking for.  Both Richard and John Lubbe, the CEO of Flying Mission agreed it was a great opportunity so I decided I would go for it.  I love doing mission work and hope to be able to relate these new skills I’ll learn back onto the mission field.  As I’ve already mentioned, exactly where I will go or when I’ll leave is still uncertain, but I’m excited to see what the Lord has in store for me!

So, how can I possibly top that little tidbit of news?!  Well, I’m not even gonna try.  Did anyone notice that I referred to Luke Saffarek as my former roommate?  Yep, when Luke left I was in jeopardy of having my bills and rent double.  Yikes!  Thankfully there was another single guy within Flying Mission that came to the rescue.  His name is Ryan Cole and he is a young pilot working with Flying Mission Service (FMS).  Ryan moved in with me in November but his days appear to be numbered as it’s beginning to look like he’s going to be moving to Maun (northern Botswana) to help with our operations up there.  This isn’t a major concern as it appears a new pilot is coming to Botswana soon who will likely take Ryan’s place.  So, it looks like it will be musical roommates this year!

In December I had a chance to attend my first “Bogadi” ceremony.  The Bogadi is a traditional ceremony where the price for a new bride is paid.  I was asked to be the official “cameraman” for the ceremony which turned out to be a real treat.  Early in the morning the groom comes to the house with the cattle that the family of the bride has asked for.  Once this occurs the family of the groom enters the house of the brides family.  This is done with lots of shouting, singing and dancing.  Once the families have been seated the “theatre” commences.  Basically this is when the bride price is negotiated and agreed upon.  Of course this has already been decided elsewhere by the uncles of the two families so it’s more of a drama than anything.  Once the decision has been made more shouting and singing and dancing occur.  Then things conclude with a meal. 

Some of you may be wondering about the bride prices.  Bride prices are negotiable but from what I hear a typical price these days is 8 cows for an “unblemished bride” (meaning the bride is still a virgin).  Weddings can be a devastating financial burden for the husband and his family.  I’ve heard it said that once all is said and done a man could spend up to P40, 000 – P50, 000 ($6000-$8000 CDN) to get married.  I don’t know of any local man here in Botswana that could easily pay for something like that and yet marriages happen all the time.  It’s anyone’s guess where the money comes from.

Speaking of weddings we had a Flying Mission wedding recently.  The oldest daughter to John (the CEO of Flying Mission) and Yvonne Lubbe, Nathania Lubbe, married TJ Mvungama at a beautiful ceremony in the luxurious Grand Palm Hotel.  It was quite a separation from the typical weddings I attend.  Usually I’m spending my day in the hot sand in a neighbouring village, not enjoying an air conditioned ballroom!  I’ll admit, it was hard to complain and a lovely time was had by all.

Some of you may be wondering what I did during the Christmas holidays.  Well, this year I had the chance to travel with some good friends to Cape Town, South Africa.  It is such a lovely city!  I went with some “locals”, Benny and Marlain Londt, which was great because they knew so much about the area and were excellent hosts.  It was great to be with a family that embraced me as one of their own, especially during such a family oriented time as Christmas.  Some of the highlights of the trip were “Christmas Karaoke”, Cape Point, climbing Table Mountain and attending my first cricket match.  Fortunately, it wasn’t good bye after the holidays as some of Benny and Marlian’s relatives will be coming up to Botswana for a visit before I leave.  Now I’ll have a chance to play host!

Unfortunately, after returning from a magnificent 2 week holiday I came home to find thieves had once again decided to visit my house.  Our back door and 2 interior doors had been broken and my roommates laptop was missing.  Fortunately, most of my things weren’t in the house (I have been house sitting for some friends from church so my things were there) and I didn’t end up losing anything.  Since the alarm didn’t seem to scare off the thieves (we found out the alarm had been activated at 8pm on January 2^nd) we felt it was in our best interest to increase our security at the house.  I talked with a friend of mine from Zimbabwe called “Delani”.  Delani has done some odd jobs for me around the house and I thought perhaps he knew how to make some steel burglar doors to put in front of our front and back doors.  He came with a friend of his and they were able to build us some nice security doors for our house.  I’ve called our new security doors “Delani doors” much to the delight of Delani and his friend.  I'm sure the money I gave Delani was greatly appreciated as he had spent most of his money during the holidays while back home in Zimbabwe.

Well, with that said I think I’ve come to the end of this letter.  I apologize for keeping some of you on the edge of your seats for so long.  Many of you have been asking where I was so obviously too much time has passed since my last update.  I’ll try to keep you better informed in the future. 

As usual, I don’t want to end any prayer letter without prayer requests.  Here they are in no particular order:

1)      Break-in Part 2 – Praise that nobody was hurt and that Ryan had insurance for his laptop.  Praise as well for Delani and his friend for building new security doors for the house.  Pray that God would continue to protect us and our neighbours as thieves continue to visit our neighbourhood.

2)     Rain – We’ve been blessed with good amounts of rain lately.  Pray that the rain would continue so the farmers will be blessed with a good harvest this year.

3)     Personnel – Pray that Flying Mission would be able to find suitable people to replace those that have left.  This includes a replacement for me as I will now be leaving in July.

4)     Course – Praise for the opportunity to take some management training.  Pray that the training would better enable me for IT mission work in the future.

5)     Kowalski Family – Continue to pray for the Kowalski family as I’m sure the loss of their son, Johnathon, will be felt for some time.

6)     New Roommates – Praise that the Lord has provided me with roommates preventing my rent and utility bills from doubling in size.

7)     Christmas Break – Praise that the Lord kept me safe during the long trip to Cape Town.  Praise for the rest and relaxation I was able to enjoy during the holidays.

Thank you again for all your prayers and financial support.  If it were not for such a supportive group of people I would have not been able to last these 3+ years here in Botswana.  Belated holiday wishes and may God bless you in the new year!

Peace and prayers,

Graham “Rapula” Crawford <><

For more info on SIM Canada visit:  www.sim.ca

For more info on the Flying Mission visit:  www.flyingmission.org

Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Fourth Edition

Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Fourth Edition
“Ups And Downs”

October 15, 2008

Greetings from the desert!  With temperatures now approaching the high 30’s on a daily basis I think it’s safe to say that summer has officially hit.  As predicted the complaints about the heat have already begun.  I was talking with a Motswana woman today who works in the same building as me and her reaction to the 36 ̊C heat was “Go molelo!” which literally means “It’s fire!”  Ironically enough, this isn’t very far from the truth.  At present there are a number of fires blazing in northern of Botswana.  This is affecting farmers, wildlife and in some case even threatening some historical sites.  Oh, how we desperately need the rains to come!  Please pray that God would bring rains, especially in northern Botswana to extinguish the fires up there.

I was looking on my calendar today and began to think, where has the time gone?  It’s already been over two months since my last prayer letter.  There is a very good reason as to why I've been delayed which I will explain later.  For now leet me just summarize by saying there will be plenty of things to talk about in this edition.  So, without further ado, here is the latest from Botswana, Africa.

I guess I’ll start by talking about the trip I took to Namibia in August.  I mentioned in my last letter I had some company on the trip.  Nicola Hofmann (Germany) and Debi Urech (Switzerland) joined me as we traveled all the way to the Atlantic coast stopping in Windhoek and then staying for the majority of the trip in the coastal town of Swakopmund.  The short story is it was a great trip and I had alot of fun.  One major highlight would be (get ready for it) my first official skydive.  ???  Yep, you read that right.  I went skydiving!  To belittle it slightly it was what they call a “tandem” jump.  What that means is instead of skydiving alone you jump with a professional skydiver who does important stuff like make sure your parachute opens and that you land where you’re supposed to.  For those who may want to know the details, I jumped out of the plane at 10,000 ft and enjoyed a 30 second free fall.  After that, the skydiver pulled the chute and I just sat back and enjoyed the view.  Shortly after, we performed a textbook landing of what not to do.  All I know is when we landed, I somehow ended up on my rear end instead of on my feet.  For those who want a good laugh, I have a dvd copy of the riveting event.  So be sure to ask me about it when I return to Canada next year.

Other highlights were things such as sandboarding, quad biking in the dunes, riding a camel, eating fresh live oysters in Walvis Bay and petting a seal.  Let’s just say each day was a new adventure.  I hope to one day get my act together and post some of the pictures on my picture gallery.  I’ll let you know when that happens.

So after all that fun I was hoping to just head home and relax a bit before my family arrived.  Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.  The next night after arriving home from Namibia, my roommate (Luke) and I headed out for a farewell dinner with a few friends (the Swiss gal Debi was leaving the next day).  After dinner some of us decided to head off to play some pool but Luke was tired so he decided to head home.  When he got home a disturbing scene was there waiting for him. 

When we left for dinner that night I was the last one out and had forgotten to set the house alarm.  DOH!  To be honest this has happened a few times in the past to both Luke and I.  Unfortunately, this time somebody capitalized on my mistake.  Someone had taken a crowbar to our front door and literally broke a chunk out of it.  We always lock a middle door inside the house to slow thieves down but their crowbar made quick work of that as well.  Once inside our rooms they took our laptops, my ipod and Luke’s really nice camera.  A few other things were missing but not of any value.  So upon finding this out Luke called me and together we filled out a report with the local police.

So with that said some of you might have asked, “Why didn’t you tell us!”  Well, without my laptop it was difficult to do that.  My laptop was both my personal and work computer.  Luckily, I had done a backup to an external hard drive just before leaving for Namibia so most of my data was intact.  I did lose some of my e-mail contact database but luckily I had some mail server logs of a recent prayer letter I had sent logging all the e-mails addresses I had sent my letter to.  From that I was able to fill in the blanks in my database.  It was a little embarrassing though.  There were a few e-mail addresses I couldn’t match to people I knew.  So in an attempt to find out I sent a few e-mails out asking, “Sorry, but who are you?”  Luckily they were all people I knew and were gracious enough to understand my predicament.  Thanks for going easy on me guys!  J

So with my ipod and laptop stolen you think all would be lost, right?  Wrong!  What happened next was so cool!  This may sound weird but the timing of our break-in couldn’t have been better.  Within 2 weeks my parents and my brother were due to arrive in Botswana.  Laptops here in Botswana are more expensive so it would save me alot of money to have one come from Canada.  Had the break-in happened 2 weeks later I would have been forced to buy one locally.  God is good!  When my parents went to get a laptop for me at the store my mother explained what had happened to me and why she was buying one.  When the salesman heard the story he was so touched that he decided to lower the price of the laptop by $400!  Wow!  Also, when my brother-in-law (David) heard about my break-in he realized that he had an old ipod in his house that he wasn’t using and decided he’d give it to me.  So when my parents came to Botswana, there was an ipod for me!  Thanks Dave!  I had planned to pay for the laptop with some savings my grandmother had given me earlier in the year.  She turned 90 this year and wanted to do something nice for her grandchildren so she gave us each some money for our savings accounts.  Well, my parents thought about it and decided it would be best if they gave me the laptop as a birthday/Christmas present since I’d be in Botswana for both of those events.  So, within two weeks a laptop and an ipod had re-appeared in my room.  Praise the Lord!

And it wasn’t just me who was blessed.  A fellow Flying Mission co-worker was leaving this month and wanted to sell his laptop before he went.  When he heard about what happened to Luke he decided to sell it to him for a really low price.  So without spending much Luke was able to replace his laptop.  Also, a mutual friend to both me and Luke had just replaced his old camera with a digital one.  When he heard Luke had lost his nice film camera he decided to give Luke his old camera.  Luke actually thinks the camera he has now is even better than the one he had.  So, does God sometimes take things away from you to give you something better?  It sure seemed to be the case in this instance.  God truly does take care of his sheep.

So after having a great time in Namibia, to having a tough 2 weeks dealing with the break-in, the roller coaster ride of emotions continued when my family arrived in Botswana on September 9^th.  My family stayed in Botswana for 10 days and then headed back to Canada via London, England.  While they were here we did quite a variety of things.  Firstly they were able to meet some of the people I work with in the Flying Mission.  They had a chance to see where I live, where I work and where we keep our planes.  We had a day out in Jwaneng where they saw one of the largest diamond mines in the world.  They had a chance to meet some of my friends and experience an African “braai” (BBQ).  They were able to attend my local church and meet some of the elders as well as some of my friends in the congregation.  They got to do some local shopping in the markets as well as take in some of the history of the country at the 3 “Dikgosi” (Chiefs) monument.  After all that we took some time to go out in the bush and see some of the wildlife in Mokolodi Game Park and Madikwe Game Reserve.  So considering all that happened in 10 days, I think we did pretty good!  I felt really blessed to have my family around and to be able to show them the country that I’ve been living in for 3 years.  Next time my sister and her family will have to come out!

Speaking of my sister she had a baby girl (Hannah) at the end of August so I’m an uncle x 2 now.  Having a niece is a big deal in Botswana culture.  Typically it is the uncle who arranges the marriage of his niece.  I’m sure Hannah is grateful that this won’t be the case for her!  J

So after my family left, life returned to normal for the most part.  One thing I was really looking forward to in October was something called the “Tsoga Festival”.  I believe I talked about it in my last letter, but basically the Tsoga Festival was an evangelistic outreach event planned by my mother church (Open Baptist Church) and led by a fellow Canadian Christian musician Sam Rowland.  The band I play drums for , “Audience Of One”, opened and closed the night for Sam.  All in all the event was a great success.  All who came were blessed to have been there.  I didn’t get exact numbers from OBC’s pastor but he said between 25-30 people came to Christ that night.  Praise the Lord!  OBC is hoping to do a similar event next year.

Last weekend was Canadian thanksgiving so a few of us fellow Canadians gathered to attempt a thanksgiving dinner.  There wasn’t any turkey to be had, but we had a nice big chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes and my favourite, pumpkin pie!  Of course one of the main things we talked about was the upcoming Canadian election.  I looked online today and saw that, although some ground was taken, we still have a minority government.  I was glad to see Harper win, but still not sure what to make of this minority government.  Who knows, perhaps this will force some of the parties to play nicer together.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Well, I see that this letter is starting to get long so I think I better close.  I didn’t mention many prayer requests during the letter so I’ll do that now.  Here they are in random order:

1)      Rain – Please pray for rain.  Fires are blazing in northern Botswana so rain would be of great help right now.

2)     Praise – Praise the Lord for the ways in which he has provided for Luke and I after our break-in. 

3)     More praise – Praise the Lord for the time I was able to spend in Namibia and with my family when they were here visiting last month

4)     Direction – Please continue to pray for me as I sort out what God is asking of me.  I feel he wants me more involved in evangelistic activities.  Pray for patience during this process.

5)     Stress – Work has been very busy lately.  Pray that I would cope with the stress of getting things accomplished for the mission.

I want to take the time to thank each and every person who makes a difference in my life.  Thank you for your prayers.  Thank you for your e-mails/letters/packages. Thank you for your financial support.  Thank you for your friendship.  Thanks to all for the different ways in which you have blessed me through the years.  God bless you! 

Peace and prayers,

Graham “Rapula” Crawford <><

For more info on SIM Canada visit:  www.sim.ca

For more info on the Flying Mission visit:  www.flyingmission.org

Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Third Edition

Botswana Bulletin – Thirty Third Edition

“Is It Summer Yet?”

August 7, 2008

Greetings one and all from an increasingly warmer Gaborone, Botswana!  Yes, it appears winter is finally over and soon all will be complaining about how hot it is instead of how cold it is.  That’s one thing I’ve noticed here in Botswana.  People are always saying it’s either too hot or too cold.  We never seem to be able to have a day where the temperature is just perfect.  Perhaps it’s because the weather is trying to teach us something about life.  We never seem to be content in life.  We’re too busy, too lazy, too lonely, too bothered.  Perhaps that is why the Holy Spirit led the apostle Paul to write in Phillipians 4:12, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  Are you wondering what Paul’s secret of contentment is?  Just read the next verse.  “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  Ah, that truly is the secret.  So whether cold or hot, rich or poor, Botswana or Canada, if our strength is found in God, who NEVER changes, we can be truly content.  If my happiness was governed by how much money I had, or how lovely the weather was, wow, I think I’d be a very miserable man!  What a blessing it is to know God.

Wow!  I wasn’t planning to start off with a sermon but I guess it’s too late now.  J  Either way I hope it encouraged you.  Ok, let me get back on track and give you some brief updates on how things have been going here in Botswana.

There has been a lot of comings and goings during the last 2 months.  I believe I’ve mentioned this in previous e-mails but I’ll mention it again in case I didn’t.  The pastor of Open Baptist Church G-West, the church I have been attending here in Botswana, returned to the United States back in June.  Jonathon Larson had led the church for a number of years, at first as an advisor and then later as our pastor, and has left a massive hole in leadership both spiritually and practically.  However, Jonathon did his work well and helped build up a group of elders to help lead the church in his absence.  It has been a tough transition and not without its ups and downs, but the church has been managing to get by.  We are now looking to the future and anticipating the Lord will provide another pastor for us soon.  Please pray for the existing leadership that they would be able to handle the burdens of leading the church and that a new pastor would be given to us in the near future. 

As most of you already know I’ve been staying in a 3 bedroom house with a fellow Canadian, Luke Saffarek.  Luke is in charge of our short term program and helps plug new people into the different ministries that Flying Mission is a part of.  He recently had a chance to travel back to Canada to attend his brother’s wedding which gave me a chance to have the house to myself.  Sometimes we don’t realize what we need but (and no offense to Luke, he’s a great roommate) it was good to have some time to myself.  There has been something bothering me a bit lately and I wasn’t really able to unpackage it fully until I had some time to myself.  What I managed to find out is that I’ve been bothered by the lack of direct evangelism in my own life.  When I think of the entire reason for becoming a missionary I think back to the fact that I wanted to be involved in expanding the kingdom of God.  My role with Flying Mission does this to a certain extent but I’m feeling a bit removed from the ministries that directly relate to evangelism.  I’m not exactly sure what God is asking of me at this time.  Perhaps it’s a conviction to be doing evangelism more in my own personal life.  I’m not sure.  It’s hard to explain because I’m not exactly sure what it means myself.  I know that’s not much to go on but I just want to ask for prayer that I sort out what God is trying to tell me.  I’ve talked with my parents and some friends about it but I would appreciate your prayers as well.  Perhaps God is preparing me for something new!

Flying Mission was blessed to have quite a number of short term volunteers this year.  Last month we said “Auf Weidersein” (Good Bye in German) to Stefan and Christian, two short term volunteers from Germany.  Both Stefan and Christian brought unique spiritual gifts and we’re nice enough to share and use them while here in Botswana.  Thank you very much gentleman for coming and serving so well here at the Flying Mission!  We now have the difficult task of saying farewell to two more of our short termers.  Nicola (Germany) and Debbie (Switzerland) will be leaving at the end of the month to return home.  Nicola is a trained nurse and used her skills masterfully in the Flying Mission Care Ministries.  Debbie came as a more generalized short termer but with plans to become a social worker back in Switzerland she was very willing to “get her hands dirty” in the ministry.  As kind of a farewell to these wonderful ladies I will be joining them on a trip to Namibia in about a week and a half (Aug 17-26).  I feel privileged to have known both these girls and to have a chance to spend some time with them before they go. 

One of the ramifications of Pastor Jonathon Larson leaving Botswana is that we lost our “Worship Coordinator” as well.  Jonathon would organize the songs, the order of service as well as play the guitar for our Sunday gatherings.  So as you can imagine, when he left we felt a little bit lost.  Fortunately, one of our elders, Peter Shaw, was put in charge of organizing the worship of our church and decided to allocate a roster of worship coordinators to help organize the practices and Sunday services.  And guess who he picked to be one of the worship coordinators?  Yep, me!  So I’ve been struggling through exactly how to lead a worship team as a drummer.  It’s been an interesting challenges and I’ll admit I’ve been frustrated at times, but God has given me a gracious bunch to work with.  Luckily, nobody seems to be expecting perfection from me so in a way it’s been a good work environment.  Please pray for me and the other worship coordinators as most of us have never lead a music practice and are by some standards relatively unskilled at doing it.  I even did the unthinkable one Sunday and put the drumsticks down and switched them for a mic.  I think the last time I sang on stage at a church was 15 years ago.  So yah, there was a little rust on the vocal chords that’s for sure!  Anyway, please pray that the coordination of the worship would go well and that the church would be blessed by our efforts.

Last month I had the opportunity to visit one of the mines here in Botswana.  I’ve told many people that Botswana’s main source of income comes from diamonds, yet after almost 4 years I’d never seen where they come from!  So one of our short termers who I mentioned earlier (Debbie) organized a tour of the Jwaneng mine which is about 150kms west of Gaborone.  The mine reminded me a lot of my hometown, Fort McMurray, AB.  The only difference being in Fort McMurray the large trucks haul sand filled with oil instead of diamonds.  Anyway, it was good to finally see one of the mines that are responsible for the stability and progress of this country.  As the country continues to develop we can pray that the money from the sale of the diamonds would be used wisely.  Botswana's leaders have been known to be a lot less corrupt than its neighbouring politicians and you can see it here by the way the leaders actually care for the people.  May God continue to provide good and honest leaders to ensure that this trend continues.

Luke and I were surprised one day to have a visitor from BHC at our door.  What is BHC you ask?  BHC stands for the Botswana Housing Corporation and is an organization that was developed to build affordable housing for the people of Botswana.  I know they have something similar in Canada but I’m not sure what they are called.  Anyway, the house Luke and I rent is owned by BHC.  They are supposed to do maintenance on the house once in a while but by the looks of our house it looks like it had been neglected for a number of years.  Anyway, one day this guy from BHC comes to our door and says he wants to inspect our house because they are going to have a crew come around and paint.  Awesome!  Well, as it turns out it wasn’t all that awesome.  What was decided is that they would come and paint the walls on our house and fix a few other minor things.  Well thankfully we did get the walls painted and a few other things fixed.  However, it was a total nightmare!  They made a real mess in our back yard slopping paint all over the place.  It took forever for them to do the work (almost a week).  Numerous times we had BHC guys come and look at the work and all of them were unimpressed.  So yah, if I had to do it all over again I think I’d just have BHC buy the paint and then do the work myself.  Eventually we did get the walls done and the backyard cleaned up so the house looks a lot nicer now.  The real bonus is it didn’t cost us a dime.

Last month I also had the privilege of having some time off so I took advantage of it and travelled down to Lesotho to visit some friends.  Lesotho is a small mountainous country which is completely surrounded by South Africa.  It truly is a very beautiful country.  I visited my friends Peter and Carrie Koens whom I met when they were short term volunteers here in Botswana.  One of the highlights of the trip was travelling up the Maluti Mountains to see the Katse Dam.  The Katse Dam is the main source of income for Lesotho as the water is sold and piped to South Africa.  It was quite a sight to behold.  The other highlight was going on a flight with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) Lesotho to visit some of the remote villages in the mountains.  I was surprised by how well I did in the language.  Luckily Sesotho is a lot like Setswana so I really confused a few of the locals with my ability to speak the language even though I’d only been in Lesotho for a few days!  Thank you very much Peter and Carrie for hosting me and showing me the beautiful country of Lesotho.  Your welcome back in Botswana any time!

Although August has just begun I’ve already have a highlight to report.  Those of you who remember my first letters from Botswana will remember that I spent a short time in the village of Kumakwane.  This small village has become to me what many local people would describe as my “home village”.  The pastor of the Christian Assembly church there in Kumakwane (Pastor Cain Malizimba) invited me to a fundraiser braai (BBQ) last weekend.  They are currently building a new church and are requiring money to buy cement and gravel for the foundation.  I have had little chance to visit my home village since my return last year which in this culture is a terrible thing.  So, I was fully expecting to have people upset at me that I hadn’t visited in such a long time.  Fortunately for me, the opposite was the case.  Upon arriving at the tiny church in Kumakwane (I almost got lost as the road I usually turn on was blocked by large rocks) I was warmly greeted by MmaThabison and her mother-in-law Mmashinga.  They thought I had left for good when I went home in 2006 so they were pleasantly surprised to see me.  After a long absence I was finally able to see MmaBella, the lady who gave me my Setswana name, “Rapula”.  She was happy to see me and happy to hear that my Setswana had gotten better.  I was glad I was finally able to see the newlyweds Tops and Thuli.  Thuli is the sister of our Flying Mission receptionist Lilian so I had been planning to attend their wedding upon my return.  As it turned out, I was late returning so I missed the wedding.  Tops and I had met at a previous wedding in Kumakwane and we had gotten along really well.  One of our Flying Mission staff members still bugs me about Tops.  In Botswana culture it is acceptable for two men to walk down the street holding hands.  It simply shows a sign of friendship.  Tops proved this to me when he walked me hand-in-hand to get a Coke at the shops in Kumakwane which was at least a 15-20 minute walk.  As a westerner who hadn’t fully integrated into life in Botswana, it was extremely awkward.  I don’t have any problems with it now.  So if you ever come and visit me don’t be offended if I hold your hand for long periods of time.  I’m just showing you Botswana culture!  

I was also able to visit with my friend Antony while I was in Kumakwane.  Antony is a real character and I always enjoy taking time to talk with him.  I’m just gonna tell you a quick story about our conversation last weekend and then I’ll close.  We had begun eating so a group of us younger men had formed a circle and we were talking together.  One of the guys in our circle, Casper, told me that my belly was looking a little large and that I should share part of my plate of food with him.  Of course he said these words loud enough so the whole group could hear.  Another part of Botswana culture is that people are very open about calling you fat where as in the western world you would never say something like that to someones face (although I guess mentioning it in private isn’t all that good either).  Anyway, knowing this and knowing a bit about how much you are expected to respect your mother in Botswana culture, instead of answering his question I told him a story.  I told him that there are times in a mother’s life where she may have difficulty feeding her child.  For whatever reason the child will not eat what she gives it.  This brings trouble upon the mother and she may even get emotional about it.  In Botswana culture, I’ve heard it said that if you bring tears to your parent’s eyes you are cursing yourself.  So obviously this is a grave offense.  The men sitting around me knew this so I continued in my story.  My mother told me that when I was little, eating was never a problem.  I happily ate everything my mother gave me.  Sometimes I was so excited to eat that I didn’t even chew things properly and would choke myself.  I carried on enjoying eating into my adult life because often my mother would call me and would want to make sure I was eating enough.  So you see, the reason for my large belly is simply because I want to please my mother!  At this the whole group laughed.  Antony replied with the comment that, “Ah, Rapula!  This man knows how to defend himself!”  There are times when it definitely pays to know the culture.

Well, with that I think I will close.  For those who are still with me thank you for taking the time to read my prayer letters.  I have been flattered by the comments people have made about my writing.  I try to make these letters enjoyable and informative which is at times is a difficult balance.  I’m glad that more often than not people are pleased with my efforts.

Ok, so before I go I’d like to leave you with some prayer requests.  I had a few scattered throughout the letter but I’ll summarize them here for you.  Here they are in no particular order:

1)      Please pray for the leaders of Open Baptist Church G-West.  Pray that they would be able to handle the leadership of the church in Jonathon’s absence and that a new pastor would be sent to us soon.

2)     Please pray for my concern at being more directly involved in evangelism.  Pray that the Lord would guide as to how he wants to use me.

3)     Praise the Lord for the great short term missionaries he sent us this year.  Pray that the Lord would send us more!

4)     Pray for me as I help with the worship coordination at church.  Pray for the other coordinators as well as most of us have never done anything like this before and are feeling a little ill-equipped.

5)     Praise the Lord that even though it was a headache, Luke and I were able to get our house painted…for free!

6)     Praise that I was able to travel to Lesotho last month.  Pray that MAF Lesotho would be able to bring the gospel to the people living in very remote villages.

7)     Praise that I was able to visit a lot of old friends in Kumakwane last week.  Pray that the new Christian Assembly church would have sufficient funds to continue building.

Before I close I want to take the time to thank each of my supporters for their help in my ministry.  Your prayers and financial support are deeply appreciated.  May the Lord bless you and keep you as we serve Him together.

Peace and prayers,

Graham “Rapula” Crawford <><

For more in on SIM Canada visit:  www.sim.ca

For more info on the Flying Mission visit:  www.flyingmission.org