Botswana Bulletin – Third Edition

Botswana Bulletin – Third Edition

“E-mail?  What’s that?”

November 21, 2004

Greetings from the desert!  It is once again a hot and dry day here in Gaborone (yesterday it was about 39°C).  We have been praying for rain in this area but God has provided little more than a few drops.  It appears we have to pray individually for each raindrop here in Botswana!  There is a general cause for concern because for those who don’t live here don’t realize that all the rivers dried up long ago.  The only water here in Gaborone is provided by the main dam (Gaborone Dam).  Last I heard the dam was at about 20% capacity.  The rainy season is supposed to be right now and without the rain the dam will dry up.  Now, before everyone gets hysterical nobody here seems to be as worried as I am.  Apparently they have had troubles with dam capacity before and the rains have come so nobody is too concerned…yet.  However, we continue to pray that God would be merciful and send rain. 

I thought I should apologize to those who have been unable to receive some of my e-mails, or in some cases, not receive my e-mails at all.  First let me explain the problems I have been having just getting internet access.  Internet access is very expensive here in Botswana.  The only internet access available is through the phone lines.  For those who don’t know, phones are also expensive here in Botswana.  In Botswana you do not pay a flat rate, you pay by the second.  That’s right THE SECOND.  So, when you are on the internet you are paying the phone cost (per second) as well as an internet fee to your provider (mine is called Botsnet which is like Telus or Shaw back home).  It is for this reason that I have been limiting my access to the internet ON PURPOSE.  My original belief was that I would have internet access at the Flying Mission office.  Well, it’s true we do have internet access at the office but its been understood that when you use the internet it will be for business use only.  Our IT Manager (my boss) has set a steep price on any personal use of the internet in the office because he is attempting keep our office from becoming an internet café.  So just financing internet time has been difficult. 

Secondly, internet providers here in Botswana aren’t quite as, well, predictable as they are in Canada.  Sometimes it takes a while to connect, sometimes you can’t connect at all, sometimes if it does connect its really slow, etc, etc.  Without going into great detail I’ll just say sometimes sending 1 e-mail takes you literally all day.  So in a nutshell that sums up the problems I've been having with sending e-mails.  Hopefully things will improve in the future.  Anyway, on to the updates!

November has been a good month so far.  I’ve had lots of different experiences and there are plenty of things to tell.  I have been to 2 weddings so far this month and another one scheduled for next week.  I’m hoping to get some more pictures of a Botswana wedding considering the last one I was at my batteries died in my digital camera.  Sometimes technology can let you down.  Weddings are so great here in Botswana.  There is lots of dancing and eating, but they can sometimes go a little long.  Be prepared for lots of speeches during the reception. 

Last weekend I had a chance to go down to South Africa for Flying Mission’s Annual Retreat.  We camped in a place called “Magaliesburg” which is a small town in South Africa.  I say “camped” but it was actually more like a dormitory.  We had cabins and a dining hall and a large meeting room to have our services.  It was a very special time for me.  I had a chance to meet more of the Flying Mission family as well as spend some time relaxing.  Believe it or not, missionary work can be tiring.  Some of our staff have been stressed lately with the demands being put on them so it was good that most of them had a chance to rest. 

After returning from South Africa I celebrated my first African birthday (my 29^th in total).  Unfortunately, there is nothing too fancy to tell you.  Nobody slaughtered a goat or did some strange ritual.  Just some food, some cake and the familiar tune “Happy Birthday”.  My boss Richard had a few of us over at his house to play “Settlers of Katan” which some of you will know.  My family has enjoyed that game in the past so it was great that my boss would choose that game for us to play (even though I lost).

I had a chance to give my testimony to a small group of Botswana youth this month.  Some of our Flying Mission staff host a get together with a group of students from the Agricultural Brigade every Tuesday (basically a school where they teach agriculture).  They seemed very interested in my life story and asked a lot of questions afterward. 

This week had me slightly worried but I had faith that God would work things out.  After returning from South Africa the lady that stamped my passport upon entering Botswana reduced the amount of days that I was allowed to be in the country.  Originally I had been given 90 days and in that time it was up to me to apply for the necessary paperwork to become a resident.  Well, while I was still in Canada the Flying Mission sent me the resident permit form which I filled out and returned to Botswana.  When I arrived, the residence permit was one of the first things I asked our immigration staff member about and she said she would take care of it.  Well, as it turns out my forms were never sent in.  They were still sitting in my file! 

So, with 1 week left on my passport I had to go to immigration, hand in my forms and hope that they would extend my time in the country while I am waiting for my residence permit.  The day before I went to the immigration office we had our weekly prayer meeting.  The Flying Mission staff prayed that things would go well not only for me but for another member of our team who was also going to immigration.  The next day we went to the immigration office and began to wait in line.  I have been told that going to immigration can be a stressful task.  Sometimes the lines (or queues as they call them here) can be very long (I’ve heard waiting periods of up to 4 hours) and sometimes the immigration officers can be very rude.  There is also the struggle of keeping your place in line.  I had my back turned as I was talking to the person behind me in the line and as I was talking a black couple budded in line in front of me.  I quickly turned around and tapped the man on the shoulder.  When he turned around I asked him why he had cut in front of me in the line.  He pointed to the man in front of him and said, “I’m with him”.  The man in front of him was Chinese and I found it hard to believe they were together.  As it turns out we were able to get our space back.  While I had the couple distracted the other Flying Mission staff member I was with walked up to the counter in front of them and handed her forms to the immigration officer.  I guess sometimes you gotta fight fire with fire! 

Besides that minor set back things went really smoothly.  The other Flying Mission staff member I was with briefly misplaced her original residence permit (she was renewing hers and needs to submit the original) so there was a few moments of panic.  After calming her down and going through the places where she might have left it she ended up finding it inside her passport!  She had forgotten that she had put it in there to cross the border during our retreat to South Africa.

So, once all was said and done I was able to get my forms stamped and completed and I now have an extra month of time in the country.  My residence permit should be ready before then so things are looking good, thanks be to God.

This weekend has been busy and at times a little stressful.  I was invited to play the drums at the official opening of a Christian Assembly church in a neighboring village yesterday.  We didn’t play a lot of music but it was great getting to see some of my friends from the village of Kumakwane again where I had spent my initial ministry time.  However, things got stressful once I returned home to Gaborone that night.  I left for Gabane (the village the church opening was in) at about 9:30am Saturday morning and when I got home around 10PM that night I noticed the dog “Wilson” (the house owners left him behind) was nowhere to be seen.  I noticed that the house gardener had been at the house while I was gone and thought that maybe he had left the gate open and the dog had fled.  Wilson has done this before but usually he doesn’t go far.  I phoned 2 other Flying Mission staff members in the area to see if Wilson had come over to there house to play with there dogs (something he has done in the past).  Neither of them had seen him so I grabbed a flashlight and went out looking for him (it was close to 11PM by now).  As I was walking around the neighbourhood looking for him a large army vehicle with about 8 army soldiers drove up beside me.  They seemed curious as to why a white man would be out walking by himself late at night.  I explained to them that I was looking for my dog.  They replied to me by saying, “Go home before someone beats you and robs you.  Your dog will come back.”  Well, I wasn’t about to argue with 8 armed soldiers so I headed back home still not able to find my dog.  I called him a number of times from the yard thinking he was maybe just lying in a dark corner but he didn’t respond. 

The next morning I headed off to church and was hoping that when I returned Wilson would have found his way home.  Well, I got home…still no Wilson.  I figured that I might as well just relax and wait him out so I went inside and starting writing this letter.  As I was typing this letter one of the Flying Mission personnel who lives just down the block came over to the house because he needed something from the “servant quarters” which is a little shack/house in the back yard.  When he went over to the servant quarters, there was Wilson!  I assume what happened was when the gardener came he locked Wilson in the servant quarters while he was doing his work.  I never even thought to look in there since he has never been put there in the past.  I was so relieved.  The owners of the house and of Wilson are returning in March.  I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell them when they returned that I had lost there dog.  I was grateful to have found Wilson but felt pretty stupid that he had been on the property the whole time.

Well, times running short so I better get going.  A church here in Gaborone has invited our little “Flying Mission Worship Band” to play during their Sunday night service.  We did such a great job leading worship during our retreat that they wanted us to come and lead worship at there church.  We agreed so I should get going as my boss Richard should be picking me up soon.  Once again before I go I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you for supporting me prayerfully and financially.  It’s a great blessing to have such a great support group and I thank you for that.  Keep the e-mails coming!  I do get around to them….eventually!  So until my next letter “Tsala Sentle”! (“Stay well” in Setswana)

Peace and prayers,

Graham Crawford.

PS>  Almost forgot my prayer requests!  Please pray for the following issues:

- my Setswana - I’m still struggling in my language learning.  Pray that I would be motivated to continue in studying it

- my moving – I have moved almost every week that I have been here in Botswana.  It is tiring but I realize that it is necessary because of the families that keep coming to visit the Flying Mission.  Pray that I would have patience.

- my emotions – believe it or not I’m beginning to miss home!  I have really enjoyed Botswana but there are people and things I am beginning to miss.  Pray that the Lord would comfort me during this time of separation. 

Thank you so much for your prayers, they definitely do make a difference.  Ok, now I’m finished.  Go Siame! (“Good bye” in Setswana)