Botswana Bulletin – Twentieth Edition

Botswana Bulletin – Twentieth Edition

“Storytime”

July 23, 2006

Greetings from the increasingly warmer desert of Gaborone, Botswana!  Yes, it appears winter is finally coming to an end here in Botswana.  Short sleeves are starting to appear again as is the warmer weather.  It’s a welcome change for most but all of us will be biting our lips once the 40ºC weather begins again.  It seems that Botswana never has comfortable weather.  It’s either too hot or too cold.  However, I will admit that the warm weather will be nice to have again.

Anyway, in celebration of Botswana Bulletin turning 20 I thought I’d fill this edition with stories.  Actually, I’ve had some really great experiences this past month and there are a few stories I really want to share with you.  So without further ado here is the first story!

On the day I wrote my last Botswana Bulletin to you something potentially life threatening happened to a friend of mine.  Actually, this friend is a short-term missionary, as well as one of my current roommates, Tobias Hayer (or Toby as he likes to be called).  Toby came to Flying Mission from Germany to give a helping hand wherever he could.  What I mean by that is Toby came here to work basically as a “general” missionary doing anything the mission needed done.  He helps with housing, works with orphans, and he has actually become quite the avid soccer player with the kids.  This has brought about his Setswana name, Rabolo, which in English means “Mr. Ball”. 

So, now that you know who Toby is I’ll tell you the story about him.  When Toby found out that a motorcycle was available to use from the Flying Mission he jumped at the opportunity.  Most of you may remember the motorcycle (Mighty Mouse) that I was using last year to get around.  Well, when I purchased my car I gave the motorcycle back to Flying Mission.  When Toby heard about the motorcycle he was very interested in using to get around.  I warned him that the roads here in Africa were quite dangerous and told him he should avoid driving the motorcycle at night.  Well, because he had previous motorcycle driving experience in Germany he felt he could manage the roads of Gaborone just fine.  Heh…WRONG! 

What ended up happening is, well, the World Cup happened.  For those who were unaware of this huge event, the soccer World Cup was on during the month of June and the beginning of July.  Since Toby is an avid soccer fan he would head out at night on the motorcycle to watch the games that were being televised from a local church.  Well, as he was heading to watch a game he was introduced to something he probably wasn’t used to back home. 

People love to drive with their high beams on here at night.  Even when someone is coming towards them!  So what happened is the light from the oncoming car was so bright that it basically blinded him and as the road curved he drove right off into the ditch.  Luckily neither him nor the bike were injured too badly and he was able to ride home. 

I talked with Toby afterwards and he said that at first he was really angry with himself because he felt he was to blame.  The helmet visor was dirty and he felt that had it been clean he would have been able to see the road.  However, after he thought about it some more he realized how seriously he could have been hurt and was thankful to God that his injuries were minor.  Amen to that.

The same night this happened to Toby was the same night my favourite hockey team, the Edmonton Oilers, were playing the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  I was so excited was desperate to at least hear the game that I ended up finding a way to do it. 

Through the Flying Mission I’ve had the privilege of meeting the Genheimer family.  The

Genheimers are missionaries here in Botswana running a Christian bookstore called “Lesedi Christian Centre” (Lesedi means “light”).  Recently Bob (the man of the house) purchased a broadband internet connection for the bookstore.  It’s not as fast as back home but works quite well on receiving radio broadcasts on the internet.  When I found out about this I asked him if he would be willing to let me listen to the hockey game at the bookstore.  Bob agreed!  So that night around 2AM I was able to listen to the hockey game live via the internet.  It was great!  I was joined by a fellow Canadian, Luke Safferek, who is also here in Botswana as a short term missionary working for the Flying Mission (he is also my other roommate).  We stayed up till about 5AM listening to the game.  It was sad that the Oilers didn’t win but I was very proud of how far they got in the playoffs.  I was also able to use MSN Messenger to talk with some of my friends back home in Canada which made the night extra special.  I was really tired by the end of it but thought it was worth losing some sleep over.

My next story happened the very next day.  I was driving down the sand road towards the Flying Mission office when I spotted someone I knew parked on the side of the road.  I didn't know it at first but as I drove closer I realized he had stopped to take a pee.  Now normally this doesn't look all that strange in Botswana but the guy was like a 30 second drive from his office.  Why didn't he go to the toilet before he left?  And, I don't know, there is something weird about a guy all dressed up in his expensive business suit taking a pee in plane view on the side of the road.  The part that I found really funny is as he was doing up his fly he paused to wave at me!  At that moment a phrase entered my mind:  "You can take a man out of the village.  But you can't take the village out of a man."  The next thought I had is how do you embarrass a guy like that?  For crying out loud he's got his pants half open and he took the time to wave at me as I drove past him!  It's just something you have to get used to out here I guess.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this story before in any of my previous updates but in case I have feel free to skip to the next story.  We have had problems with people stealing the phone cable that runs to our office.  The phone cable is made up of about 50 pairs of copper wiring.  Apparently the reason they steal this cable is so they can sell the copper in the cable.  I’m not sure how much they get for it but it appears to be a big business here in Botswana so it must be worth their while.  Anyway, they have usually been getting to the cable through 4 access panels that run along the railroad tracks in behind our office.  The railroad tracks are quite remote and there is a lot of bush surrounding them so it creates natural camouflage for these thieves who also tend to come during the dark of night.  These access panels are made of heavy steel with a big metal bar over top of them.  The thieves have usually made quick work of these by grinding through one side of the metal bar and then bending it out of the way.  The panels are not locked or anything so once the bar is out of the way they are home free. 

We thought and thought about how to stop these thieves and the answer actual turned out to be quite basic but very effective.  What we’ve done is we’ve welded the metal bars to the panels and then welded the panels closed.  That hasn’t worked in the past but for extra protection we decided to bury the panels with sand.  Since we live in a desert and almost everything here is covered with sand it makes for perfect camouflage.  I actually have lost track as to where these panels are located now, which really was the whole point.  As long as I can’t find them, I’m confident the thieves won’t be able to either.

The next story I have to share happened just last weekend.  Since last weekend was a 4 day weekend (Monday was Presidents day and Tuesday was a Public Holiday) we decided it would be great to go to South Africa for the long weekend.  This is something we had been planning for about a month now because that was about the time that we found out that the contemporary Christian band “Casting Crowns” were coming to South Africa.  The concert was last Sunday evening and it was really great.  I had no idea they were so well known in South Africa.  They held the concert at this huge church in Pretoria and I figured there were probably about 8000 of us packed in there.  It was really great.  The rest of the weekend gave me a chance to shop for some much needed clothes.  Wow, clothes are really cheap in South Africa!  Since I’m on a missionaries budget I was extremely happy about this.  I think I spent about $250 Canadian during the whole weekend and was able to get lots of new clothes to wear for the office.  The ladies in the office have been commenting on the fancy new duds I’ve been showing off each dat.  It’s great to finally have some new clothes again as my old ones were getting quite ragged.

This last story is a bit long but I think I’ve appropriately left the best for last.  Last Wednesday before I left for South Africa I was approached by my pastor and our church deacon (we only have 1) with the idea of me preaching one Sunday (today).  Well, to tell you the honest truth I was shocked that they asked me.  I’ve never preached in a church before so I felt it was kind of strange that they should ask little ol’ me.  Well, they both felt this was a task I would be able to do so basically there it was plunked into my lap.  I whimpered a small reply back stating that I was leaving for South Africa for the weekend which would give me limited time to prepare (really I think I was just scared).  However, they disagreed and felt I would have adequate time to prepare so I reluctantly accepted.

So there it was.  I was preaching on Sunday.  Wow, this is huge!  But you know what?  I felt pretty at peace about the whole thing.  And that’s when I felt God telling me, “Your ready for this”.  It was just like when I decided to come to Botswana.  Although leaving my home country for Africa seemed scary, for some reason I wasn’t.  It was the same with this duty of preaching.  Somehow God had given me peace about it.  Anyway, Tuesday rolled around and I was finally back home.  I had thought a little bit about what I could preach on and had already decided on a topic.  However, this was the beginning of a very tough week for me. 

I woke up Wednesday morning with a cold.  I mean it felt like cotton had been jammed into both my nostrils.  Oh no, I’m sick!  Have you ever tried preparing for something when you’re sick?  It makes it really hard to concentrate.  You get tired easy.  Blah!  Anyway, I start working on it Thursday and Friday night.  On Saturday I got up early and started going over what I had prepared.  By Saturday afternoon I felt I was as ready as I’d ever be.  I went out with some friends on Saturday night and watched the new Superman movie.  After the movie we had something to eat and then I headed to Lesedi Christian bookstore and talked to my family for a while via the internet.  I talked with my family until around 10:30pm then I decided it was time to go home and get a good nights sleep.  Heh, easier said than done. 

As I drove down my street I noticed that there was a large party going on right across the street from my house.  Cars were lined up on either side of the road and there were even cars parked by my front gate.  I wasn’t entirely sure how many there were but it looked like there was about 100 people at this party.  They had an outdoor sound system setup and they were just cranking out this lame club music.  People were drinking and singing and yelling…it was a real nuthouse.  Well, needless to say I was mad.  Apparently I wasn’t quite thinking straight either because I went over there to see if I could get them to stop.  By myself!  Which according to my local friends was a pretty stupid thing to do.  Anyway, I walk over there and greet a few people in the yard but make a B-line for the DJ and his music.  When I get to the DJ's desk I try to scream at him over the loud music that I want him to turn his music down.  Well, he can’t understand what I’m trying to say so he ignores me and turns his back to me.  As he does this I reach over to the volume control and immediately crank it down to 0.  Suddenly a hush falls over the crowd.  I yell at the DJ for not paying attention to me and he looks at me with this look of unbelief.  Apparently I now had his attention.  I asked him how long he planned to keep his music on and explained to him that I had to get up early in the morning and needed to get some sleep.  He told me he didn’t know how long the party would go until.  I told him that I would then like him to turn his music off.  The DJ told me that I would have to speak to the owner of the house about that.  I told him to fetch the owner for me so I could talk to him.  He said he didn’t know where he was.  Heh, how convenient.  So I reiterated to him that I wanted the music to be turned off.  He told me that I was “messin’ with his business” and that he couldn’t do that.  I would have to talk to the owner of the house.  At that point I decided that I had had enough.  I said to him, “The only person I’m going to be talking to now is the police.”  I turned around and walked out of the yard.

I walked back to my house and immediately phoned the police.  I explained to the officer what was happening and he said he would send a patrol car down to sort things out.  Sweet!  Maybe things will quiet down soon.  Well half an hour went by and nothing had happened.  So I phoned back.  He told me they were coming soon.  Another half hour went by.  I kept calling back.  Around 1:30AM, over 2 hours later, a police pickup shows up with 5 police officers.  It’s show time!

I walk out to my gate to witness this wild parties demise.  I couldn’t believe what I saw.  The cops did nothing!  All they did was ask the partiers to be quieter.  So the DJ turned the music down a bit and the cops walked out of the yard.  THAT WAS IT!  I couldn’t believe it.  I stomped over to the cops vehicle where it appeared they were filling out some sort of report.  I said to them, “Are you leaving?”  To this question I get a very strange reply.  The police officer yells at me to go away because the people at the party might find out that I was the one who phoned the police.  Good grief!  I told the whole party I was going to do that!  The officer told me it was best if I just go back inside my house.  When I looked into this cops eyes I realized what was really going on.  You know what I saw in his eyes?  FEAR.  These 5 cops were scared of this crowd of drunks.  I walked back to my house realizing that the cops were not going to break up this party.  I was alone in this.  Disappointed and exhausted I got into bed and tried to block out the noise of the party next door.  I simply couldn’t.  Finally around 4AM the music stopped and the party settled down.  With only a few hours of decent sleep I was jolted to consciousness by my alarm clock.  How am I going to preach now when I’m so exhausted?!

As I got ready for church I was reminded of a verse.  The verse was 2 Corinthians 13:4: “For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.”  Even though our physical bodies may be weak, God has given us His spirit of power, the Holy Spirit.  Shouldn’t that be enough?  I was also reminded of Jesus’ temptation in the desert.  After 40 days without food or water Jesus is attacked by Satan.  Was Satan using this fatigue in my body to discourage me?  It wouldn’t surprise me one bit.  Gathering my strength I drove myself to church and was greeted warmly by our worship team.  I was encouraged by those I saw in the morning and how they were telling me that they had been praying for me during the week.  Just before I was called to the pulpit, a lady in our church prayed for me.  Now, if I had to pick anyone in that church who would best exemplify strength in weakness, this lady was it.  The woman who prayed for me is an SIM missionary here in Botswana named Heidi Epple.  Heidi is a single woman who lives out in the village of Kumakwane and works hard everday to provide for the children out there who are neglected and unloved.  These are not orphan children but children who have parents that either can’t or just don’t provide for their childs needs.  This lone woman brings something like 10 kids to church every week in here small little Toyota.  This woman has very little to offer as far as material provision for these kids but abounds in the love she shows to them.  Although she is weak in appearance her love for these kids makes her a tower of strength.  It was exactly what I needed at that moment.  So from there it was time to rely on God.  Physically I was drained, but God showed up.  And that was all that was needed.  

So my first experience preaching will definitely go down as a memorable one.  Well, I sense that this e-mail is getting much too long so I will draw this to a close.  As usual before I go I will leave you with a few prayer requests. 

1)  Pray for my church, Open Baptist G-West – This is a church that is beginning to show signs of growth.  Pray for me and the rest of the leadership that we would be able to make wise decisions as to the direction of the church and its ministries.

2)  Pray for my spiritual well being – In light of the past week I am sensing that it wasn’t simply coincidence that I became ill and had difficult sleeping.  The evil one is cunning and will use any and all weapons at his disposal.  Pray that I may be protected from Satan’s attacks.

3)  Pray for my future – I am feeling a pull to come back to Botswana as a missionary full-time.  Pray that if this is the Lord’s will that he will make the way in which I should do this clear.

Thank you once again for your love and prayers during my time here in Botswana.  I consider myself blessed to have had such a supportive network of supporters.  God bless you all!

Peace and prayers,

Graham Crawford <><