Botswana Bulletin #45
“How Quickly Things Change”
March 19, 2011
Greetings from a dark and overcast
Gaborone, Botswana! Just when one thinks
the rainy season is over, God decides it’s not!
Just goes to show how quickly things can change. That is the theme for this month’s prayer
letter as a lot has seemed to change in my life over a quick period of
time. Anyway, there is a lot to update
you on so let’s jump right into it shall we.
ACHAP
Skype Call
Back in January I had the opportunity to speak
to a classroom of kids in the USA via Skype and a webcam. The opportunity arose through a friend of
mine (Jacob Johnson) who works at the US Embassy here in Gaborone. Jacob planned a week long “chatfest” with the
kids who got to hear from a number of different people from a number of
different backgrounds who live and work here in Botswana. The project was coordinated by ACHAP (African
Comprehensive HIV And AIDS Partnerships) and one of the things they wanted to
do was have a missionary from Botswana talk to the kids to give them some
insight into what life is like here for a missionary. I talked with the kids for close to an hour
and shared with them the experiences I’ve had here as well as the work Flying
Mission does and how I’ve been a part of that.
Things went really well and I even spoke to one of the kids who hopes to
become a missionary after finishing high school. Thanks to Jacob and ACHAP for this wonderful
opportunity!
Comings
And Goings
There have also been a few departures recently
here at Flying Mission. For a few months
we had a volunteer, Jean Jimbo, working with me and Richard in the IT
department. Jean is originally from
Kenya but has lived a lot of her life here in Botswana. She had volunteered with us while she was
waiting to hear back from a number of schools she had applied to as she was
planning to take her Masters degree in computer sciences. She received notice that she had been
accepted at a school in England so once she received her visa she left for
schooling. Study hard Jean!
Andrew Anstey (Pilot for FMS), one of my
roommates and a fellow Canadian, left at the beginning of February to return to
Canada. We really miss him here at the
short-term house. Andrew was an
excellent cook and a great person to talk with if you needed advice. We miss you Andrew! Come back and visit some time! J
There was also a temporary departure during
the month of January. Richard took some
time off to go on a holiday is South Africa.
I was left alone in the IT office as Jean had already left for school in
England. I was glad to be able to cover
things at Flying Mission for Richard so he could have a relaxing holiday. Richard has often been alone in the IT department
so it’s good that he can leave and have confidence that someone here on site is
able to deal with things as they came up.
Botswana
Immigration Issues
One of the delightful things you get to do
as a missionary serving in any foreign country around the world is deal with
the local immigration office. From what
I understand this is a difficult process in any country so it is no surprise
that things aren’t any easier in Botswana.
I had to laugh at the latest issue I’ve had recently with immigration. Perhaps this is an issue that is
unique to Botswana.
I’ve been “living on days” so to speak
since arriving in Botswana back in September.
I can’t speak for all countries, but for a Canadian you can come to
Botswana on a free visitor visa for a 3 month period. If you’d like to stay longer than 3 months
this requires something called a residence permit. So knowing that I’d be staying longer than 3
months I applied for a residence permit as quickly as possible. It took several months to get approved and I
actually had my days extended past 3 months because the wait time was longer than
that but finally in February we were told my permit was ready. So we headed to immigration to pick up the
permit but when we arrived we were told it hadn’t been printed yet. Actually, this is a cool new thing Botswana
immigration has done. Before they had
hand typed permits that they would issue which was fine but the paper document
got quite tattered over the years making it a difficult document to keep in
good condition. Now they print out
sticker permits that are placed into a page in your passport. I thought that was pretty slick! Anyway, so they told us the sticker for my
passport hadn’t been printed yet so we sat and waited for them to print it. After a short wait the lady returned and I
could tell by her face that something was wrong. “Mathata!”, was the word that came out of her
mouth (which means “Problem” in Setswana).
Great. A few ideas popped into my
head as what the problem could be but I guarantee none of them came close to
what the actual problem was. The lady
explained to me that once they printed my permit and took a look at it, they
noticed that a significant portion of my head had been cut off. What?!
I guess that’s one of the problems with new systems is that often it
takes time to get the bugs out of it. So
I asked the obvious question, “Can you just print another copy?” Well, it turns out they can’t do that for
security reasons so my permit would now have to be logged as “needing
correction” and would be sent to the appropriate corrections department. I was told this would take about 2 weeks to
resolve. It’s been 2 months now and I
haven’t heard from them. Thankfully,
immigration has issued me something called a “waiver” that enables me to stay
in the country legally until the issue is resolved. However, there is a due date on the waiver,
April 27th. Unfortunately,
this date occurs before I leave the country on April 30th. Basically what this means is at some point I
will need to obtain 3 extra days to stay legally in the country. The hope is that my permit will be ready
before then and all will be well. It may
not be an urgent request but please pray that immigration would be able to
“unchop” my head and issue me a proper permit before the end of April.
A
Little Piece Of Americana
In February I also had the opportunity to
experience a little slice of Americana…the Superbowl! I’ve never been a big fan of NFL football but
enjoyed the game despite the fact that it began somewhere around 1:30am here in
Botswana. My friends Matt and Jess
Cressman were gracious enough to host the event and did a great job considering
it ended up lasting all night. Thanks to
Matt and Jess for a great evening of fun and food! J
Internship
Update
Currently things are going well with my
internship here with Flying Mission. I
have 3 assignments left to hand in and I will officially be done my degree
program. Assuming all goes well with
those assignments and I pass my credit work experience course, I will be
graduating May 6th at the NAIT Convocation in Edmonton. For those in the Edmonton area who may be
interested in coming to my graduation I apologize as it will be a ticketed event and tickets are limited to 4 per graduate which have already been allocated to family
members. However, if you want to watch
the convocation it will be live streamed online on NAIT’s website. Somehow I doubt anyone would be interested in
watching it but if you are interested here is the link:
And just so people are clear on dates I
will be leaving Botswana on April 30th and arrive in Edmonton the
next day, May 1st (only six weeks left!). I will be arriving on a late flight (arrival
time 10:41pm) so I’m not expecting anyone to show up to see me at the airport,
well, except for my parents who I’m hoping will be gracious enough to pick me
up. J As far as plans go from there, things aren’t completely settled yet.
Flying Mission has let me know that there is an invitation to return if
the Lord so leads. At the moment I’m
just praying about it and letting God work in and through me to lead me to the
right place. Another option has been to
try again to go to the US but there have been some issues with getting a
visa. The next section of this letter
will explain that further.
US
Visa Issues
As most of you know I attempted to cross
the US border unsuccessfully last year while on my way to the SIM International
office in South Carolina. This resulted
in me applying for a visa to enter the US which would allow me to work with the
IT department at SIM’s head office. I
applied back in October and not much has changed since then. We did receive an update at the beginning of
March that US Immigration required some further documents in order to continue
the application process. This has at
least told me that they’ve looked at my application and realized some
information was missing. At this time
I’m not aware of what information they require but SIM International is dealing
with it. All I know is at this point in
time my application is suspended until US Immigration receives the necessary
information they require. So potentially
this could be a setback and for how long is any ones guess. This leaves the option to go to the US still
up in the air. So as usual I will put
this matter in the hands of the Lord and see how he leads and guides through
the results of it. Your prayers
regarding this matter would be appreciated.
Audience
Of One Update
As some of you may remember the worship
band I’m a part of, Audience Of One, was planning a praise and worship concert
on April 1st. This concert
has now been cancelled. I’m disappointed
that we had to do this as it will likely be my last concert with this band for
the foreseeable future. However, we have
continued to practice as a band and I have to admit, it’s nice to have the
pressure of the concert off our shoulders.
I think it has freed us to just praise and worship our God on a Monday
night and not have to worry as much about the technical details of getting the
songs down musically. I will definitely
miss our Monday night practices when I depart Botswana next month.
Is
Graham In A Relationship?
Well folks, I’ll admit this is probably the
hardest thing I’ve had to talk about in a prayer letter before. The answer to the question is yes, I was in a
relationship here with a local woman from Botswana named Bojelo
(Bo-Jay-Low). We met about 2.5 years ago
when she started working at Flying Mission as a receptionist. Back in December an interest grew between us
and in January we began meeting together for lunch. In February we decided to begin dating but
after one month of dating some issues sprung up and it no longer felt right for
me to be in the relationship so I made the tough decision to end it. I feel awful that this had to happen the way
it did but I know in my heart it was the right decision to make. Please pray for Bojelo and I during this time
of healing as feelings were definitely hurt on both sides.
Brother’s
Engagement
On a happier note I would like to announce
the engagement of my brother Gord to his girlfriend (now fiancée) Yiyan
Ma. Unfortunately I had to hear the news
via Facebook instead of from Gord himself, but we have planned a Skype conversation
tonight so I should know all the details by the end of the day. Congratulations Gord and Yiyan! The Crawford family is growing! J
Health
Issues In My Family
Speaking of family issues, some health
problems have arisen and I would appreciate your prayers. Surprisingly, for those who may be guessing
that it’s my Mother, she is doing fine.
My Father however has been diagnosed with Vasculitis which I’ll honestly
say is a condition I know very little about, even after reading on the internet
about it! Anyway, he is feeling a bit rough and has been going for testing to find
out what is causing this so your prayers in this matter would be appreciated.
Also, my 5 year old nephew, Caleb, recently
had surgery to have his tonsils removed.
I know this is a relatively simple procedure but the reason for the
surgery is a much more serious issue.
Caleb has been having trouble breathing properly when he has been
asleep. They are hoping that by removing
his tonsils he will have a clearer air path making it easier for him to breathe
while he is asleep. He has already had
the surgery and is recovering well but please pray that this procedure will
help Caleb get the rest he needs.
Conclusion
and Prayer Requests
With that said I think I have come to the
end of my updates for now. I just want
to thank each and every one of you reading this letter for your prayers and
support over these last…is it 7 years now?!
Good grief, you guys are amazing!
J
I know for a fact that I couldn’t be doing what I’ve been doing for 7
years without you. Thank you so much for
giving me this opportunity to serve the Lord.
As usual I would like to leave you with
some prayer requests that I have mentioned throughout the prayer letter. Here they are:
1)
Botswana Immigration Issue – Please pray that
I would be able to cover the 3 days that I’m currently missing to stay legally
in the country. Pray that my “chopped”
residence permit would be fixed and issued to me soon
2)
Internship – Please pray that I
would be able to finish the 3 assignments I have left by the beginning of
April when they are due. Praise for the
great time I’ve had with Flying Mission during the 7 months I’ve been here.
3)
US Visa Issues – Please pray
that the Lord would lead with regard to my US Visa. Pray that we would get an answer soon on this
whether it be a yes or a no.
4)
Relationship Issues – Please
pray for Bojelo and I as we’ve recently ended our relationship together. Pray that the feelings of disappointment and
sadness would fade.
5)
Family health issues – Please
pray for my Father as the doctors try to sort out exactly what is wrong with
him. Pray for my nephew Caleb that his
breathing would improve now that his tonsils have been removed.
Thanks again for your support. I miss you all and hope to see you all again
soon once I return to Canada. God bless!
Peace and prayers,
Graham Crawford <><
For more info on SIM Canada visit: www.sim.ca.
For more info on Flying Mission visit: www.flyingmission.org
The opinions expressed in this letter are
my own opinions. They are not
necessarily the opinions or views of my employers, SIM or Flying Mission.
No comments:
Post a Comment