Flying Mission E-memo October/November 2014

Botswana Bulletin #63

Botswana Bulletin #63

"When Disaster Strikes"

November 8, 2014

Prayer Requests

1)  Eyitayo family - Please be in prayer for Pastor Eyitayo and his family.  Pastor Eyitayo is the pastor of the church (Open Baptist Church) I attend here in Gaborone.  Thieves broke into his house and attacked him and his family.  As a result his teenage son Elisha was killed.  Please pray for the Eyitayo family as they mourn the tragic loss of their son.

2)  Setswana Lessons - Praise the Lord that I was able to pass my Level 1 class in Setswana with flying colours.  Please pray that next year I’ll be able to pick up from where I left off and continue in my learning of the local language.

3)  Richard & Marlene - Please pray for my boss Richard and his new wife Marlene as they settle into their new home.  They were each living in their own house and have now moved into a new place together.  Its alot of work to take on such a task so please pray that they would settle into there new place soon.

4)  Support - Praise the Lord for the success of the Ride For Refuge fundraiser!  Over $2000 were raised through the fundraiser.  The plan is to split the funds between my support account and Flying Mission’s ministries.  Thank you to those who participated in the event either by riding or by giving financially.  A big thank you to those who gave directly to my SIM account as well.  I currently have enough funds pledged for another year of ministry in Botswana!  Glory to God!

5)  Rain - Please continue to pray for rain to fall here in Gaborone.  We have had a few showers here and there but nothing that has made much difference.  Pray that God would open the heavens and provide adequate rain to fill up the dam and replenish the cities water supply.

Introduction

Greetings one and all from Gaborone, Botswana!  Wow, it’s been too long since I’ve written to all of you.  I apologize for that.  Things have been quite hectic over the last few months so taking time to write a prayer letter has had to take a back seat.  However, I’m happy to announce that I’m here now and ready to update you all on “the haps”.  So without any further delay let me get straight into it.

Earthquake

On August 5^th I had a first time event in my life.  As I age I seem to get less and less of these but it was actually a moment that almost passed me by without me realizing what it was.  I was in the Flying Mission office working when the ground started to shake a bit.  It wasn’t anything massive.  I actually shrugged it off thinking a large truck outside was driving by.  After the shaking happened I went into the common area of the office and people started asking me if I felt the earthquake.  Earthquake?!  Was that what it was?!  So yah, not much drama there but after looking it up online apparently there was an earthquake in South Africa and we were feeling the after shocks in Botswana.  Upon investigating earthquakes online I also came across some earthquakes close to home in Alberta.  It was a while back now but I seem to remember there was one near Rocky Mountain House.  These are places I never really considered as places where there would be an earthquake.  I remember people talking about earthquakes when I lived on Vancouver Island but it was the first time I had felt one.  Who’d a thunk that my first earthquake experience would be in land locked Botswana, Africa?  Anyway, I’m grateful that no major disaster followed any of these earthquakes.  However, it was a reminder that disaster can strike at anytime in our lives.  How fortunate I feel to have a loving God who will be there with me no matter what trial may come.

Eyitayo Family

As many of you know I have been attending Open Baptist Church here in Gaborone.  What many of you probably don’t know is that the current Pastor of Open Baptist Church is Adekunle Eyitayo.  Pastor Eyitayo is originally from Nigeria but has been living in Botswana for a number of years with his wife and children.  As I mentioned in the last story we never know when disaster may strike in our lives.  One night some thieves entered the Eyitayo home and attacked Pastor Eyitayo and his family.  As a result of the attack Pastor Eyitayo’s teenage son, Elisha, was killed.  As you can imagine as a church family we were shocked.  However, it was powerful to see the strong faith the Eyitayo family had during this very difficult time.  Elisha had become a believer a number of years before his passing so there was reason to have hope that he was with the Lord in glory.  After taking some time off Pastor Eyitayo is back preaching in church again.  It is good to see that even though tragedy came into their lives, the Eyitayo family have been able to endure through the grace of God.  Please continue to be in prayer for this family as the deal with the loss of Elisha.

Setswana Lessons

As many of you know, ever since I came to Botswana I have been trying to learn as much Setswana (the local language spoken here) as I can.  I’ve had some lessons here and there but have not been actively learning the language.  Well, I happened to have a chance encounter with a friend at Open Baptist Church.  His name is Peter and he is the...well I guess you’d call him Multimedia Guru for the church.  Peter is originally from Kenya but is now settled in to life in Botswana.  He found a lovely Motswana woman and they married and have started a family.  I don’t remember exactly how the conversation went but somehow learning Setswana came into a conversation I once had with Peter.  He told me he had taken some lesson at “Alliance Francaise” which is a French school here in Gaborone.  Apparently they had hired a Setswana teacher and had classes there for a reasonable price and Peter said the classes were very good.  Before I knew it I had enrolled in class and was once again learning Setswana.  The Level 1 class ran for about 2 months and we had our exams at the end of February.  Not to brag or anything...but I did very well in the class.  In fact I was graded as having “Advanced” knowledge in Setswana.  As encouraging as this was it was alot of work.  So when I was asked to start Level 2 classes the very next week I actually passed.  I thought I would take a little break from Setswana and start up again next year.  Hopefully I won’t forget anything too quickly!  Please pray for me though as I continue to tackle learning the difficult but beautiful language, Setswana.

Khutse Game Reserve

In between learning Setswana and working hard at Flying Mission, I did take the time to relax and go camping with some friends in the Khutse Game Reserve.  Khutse, which translates into “where one kneels to drink” is about 250km Northwest of Gaborone, but it took us most of the day to get to because most of those kilometers are on rough sand roads.  We took two 4x4 vehicles but one of the vehicles four wheel drive failed to engage so we had some tough spots on the road where we got stuck in the deep Khalahari sand.  However, we were always able to pull ourselves out of the sand and get moving again.  We saw lots of African animals during the 4 days we were out in the reserve but I think the highlight was having a Brown Hyena come into our campsite.  He first showed up while we were around the fire at night but got spooked off when we noticed him and shined our flashlights on him.  However, he later reappeared while we were sleeping and actually tried to carry off our propane tank!  :-)  All in all it was a great trip and I can’t wait to head out into the bush again.

Khutse Game Reserve Main Gate

The deep sand roads of the Khalahari

Richard & Marlene’s Wedding

Well, as it turned out I had another first at the end of September.  As some of you may know my boss, Richard Wheatley, was recently married.  Richard would sometimes go on weekends to Francistown to preach at a local church there.  It was there that he met a nice lady by the name of Marlene.  Well, suffice to say they hit it off well and before too long they were engaged.  I had the honor of being asked to be Richard’s best man.  I had never had the pleasure of being someones best man before but as it turned out it was an awesome experience.  Richard and Marlene had a great wedding.  In fact, it was probably one of the most laid back, kinda “chill out and enjoy” weddings I’d ever been too.  We didn’t even have to wear suits.  Richard and Marelene had these lovely African shirts made for the men in the wedding party.  Please be in prayer for Richard and Marlene as they have had to move out of their individual houses and move into a new place together.  There is alot of work involved in their move so please pray that they would get settled in their new place soon so they can concentrate on simply enjoying life together as a couple.

Zambia Trip

After having a great time in Khutse Game Reserve and at Richard & Marlene’s wedding, reality struck once again.  This time it was the Flying Mission server in Zambia.  Zambia was experiencing long power outages and because of this our server was being turned on and off quite regularly.  Well, before long files on the server began to become corrupted to the point where the server stopped working.  The server was brought to Gaborone during the wedding and I was able to get it back up and running shortly afterward.  Then I had to board a plane to Zambia to set it back up at our office in Lusaka.  To my delight the server booted up and worked great straight away!  However, it wasn’t all fun and games then as Zambia had a number of other jobs lined up for me while I was there.  In between work I was able to visit with a number of our people in Zambia including some new people that had recently arrived.  I’m looking forward already to my next trip up to Zambia!  Hopefully it won’t be because of an IT disaster this time.  :-)

Ride For Refuge/Support Update

In previous prayer letters I mentioned the fact that my support levels were critically low and that I was planning to take part in a fundraiser called “Ride For Refuge”.  The Ride For Refuge bike ride happened on October 4^th and was a huge success.  My sister Lori Reid and her husband Dave did a great job in helping organize this fundraiser to make it such a success.  Total funds raised through the Ride For Refuge was just over $2000.  The plan is to put $1000 towards my support needs and give $1000 to Flying Mission ministries.  A big thank you to my team “Graham’s Goons” who did such a great job raising the money.  And a big thank you as well to all of the people who gave so generously to help support myself and Flying Mission.  A number of people also gave directly to my support account at SIM Canada.  Thank you to all of you who were willing and able to do that.  My support account is looking very healthy again.  So much so that I currently have enough pledged funds for another year of ministry in Botswana!  So even though my support situation looked disastrous, God was faithful and provided the needed funds.  Glory to God!

My team of fundraisers.  They lovingly called themselves "Graham's Goons"

Graham's Goons hitting the road

Trip Home

For those wondering when they will be seeing me in person again I have a short 8 week trip home planned at the beginning of March next year.  My plan will be to travel around and visit as many of you as possible.  I don’t have dates setup yet for where I will be and when but thought I would just give you a heads up that I will be in Canada during March and April next year.  I’m especially looking forward to staying in the new home my Dad and sister are currently building together in Fort Saskatchewan!

Conclusion

Well, I think that pretty much sums up what has been happening in my life over the past few months.  Thanks to all who continue to support me in prayer and financially.  I have been so humbled by the response to my support needs recently.  You guys just simply amaze me!  And I know this is early but just in case I don’t get another update in until next year - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  (It seems so weird to be saying that already).  Until next time!

Peace and prayers,

Graham Crawford <><

Online donations can be made at:  www.sim.ca

(My missionary number is 24460)

Please visit my blog site at:  botsbulletin.blogspot.com

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.

Flying Mission E-Memo September/October 2014

Flying Mission E-Memo August/September 2014

Flying Mission E-Memo July/August 2014

SIM Magazine Article

Last year I was approached by SIM Canada to write an article for their magazine "SIM Now" under the theme "Winning More People To Christ".  I was excited by the opportunity as I'd never written something for a magazine before.  In January 2014 the article was published and I thought I would pass it on to all of you to enjoy.

Blessings,

Graham Crawford

Botswana Bulletin #62

Botswana Bulletin #62

"A Time To Laugh"

July 19, 2014

Prayer Requests

1)  Re Rotlhe – Praise the Lord that myself and a group of Flying Mission colleagues were able to go to the Re Rotlhe day care facility and distribute warm clothing for the children as well as some books and cooking supplies.  Pray that Re Rotlhe would be able to recruit more volunteers to help with the child care as well as raise more funding so the project can continue to develop and become self-sustaining.

2)  Financial support – I am very thankful to God for providing cheerful givers to cut my financial shortfall in half to $250/month.  Please pray for a fundraiser I am currently organizing called “Ride For Refuge” (see rideforrefuge.org for more information).  I am hoping to raise $5000 to help cover the rest of my financial shortfall as well as provide funding for Flying Mission projects.

3)  Setswana Classes – Please be in prayer for me as I have recently started taking Setswana Classes.  I have been able to pick up some of the language during my time here but it is a difficult language to learn and I am far from fluent.  Please pray that I would pick things up quickly.  My dream is to one day speak fluently in the language. 

4)  Clothing Donation – Praise the Lord for a donation of used clothing from a local dry cleaner.  We have given away some of the clothing to Sedibeng Sa Lorato (a Flying Mission project located in the village of Gabane) and are hoping to sell the rest at a yard sale.  If all the clothing sells we are expecting to make around $2000 to be used for Flying Missions different ministries.

Introduction

Greetings from a sunny but cool Gaborone, Botswana!  As I write this letter it’s about 9am in the morning and the temperature is around +7C.  Nothing near a bitter winter day in Canada but it can feel cold here at times considering there is no central heating to keep the house warm.  I was hearing about the hot summer days in Alberta and was thinking how nice that was considering people were pretty sick of winter when I was home earlier this year.  However, I’ve also heard about the devastating forest fires near Banff and Grand Prairie which have made it tough to celebrate the warm weather.  Sometimes life is just tough.  You feel like you’re getting kicked while you’re down, that sort of thing.  Life can be tough in any context.  You don’t have to be oversees to have that feeling.  It’s something we all live with from time to time.  With that in mind I thought I’d reflect more on the lighter side of life.  Sometimes we all just need a good laugh to lift our spirits.  So in this letter I’m going to share a few funny stories as well as give you a bit of an update on what’s happening with Flying Mission and what’s happening in my own life.  Well, at least I hope it will be funny.  Read on to find out!  ;-)

Re Rotlhe

Last month I had the opportunity to travel to the village of Seherelela to visit the children at one of our day care projects called “Re Rotlhe”.  Re Rotlhe in English means “We are together” which seemed fitting as a large group of us from Flying Mission were able to travel down together in two separate vehicles.  The purpose of our trip was to bring some donated items to the day care, the biggest items being warm winter clothing for the children.  However, as nice as it was to give warm clothing, cooking supplies and books to the day care, it paled in comparison to the joy the children received from a 4 year old boy from England.  Paul and Tania Tanner are relatively new with Flying Mission as they only arrived about a year ago from England.  Paul is our new Public Relations Manager and Tania keeps busy looking after their two children Thomas and Arthur.  Since the Tanners have arrived, every time I’ve gone out to Re Rotlhe the Tanners have come along and always bring their children with them.  Thomas is a bit of a novelty to the children.  Arthur is still quite young and fragile but Thomas is a very rambunctious kid and the village children love playing with him.  They will all crowd around him and Thomas will just run around bumping into them while the children scream and laugh with joy.  It’s quite a spectacle to behold but it reminds me that as much as children need warm clothes, books to read, and cooking supplies, they also need to play and laugh.  God provided that laughter for them through something unexpected, a 4 year old English boy.

Thomas doing what he does best

Now if we could just teach him to preach...

Ride For Refuge

In my last letter I mentioned that I had lost some of my monthly support and that it may result in me coming home sooner than I had expected.  Well, I’m glad to announce that a few generous people have responded and have cut my current need in half to $250/month.  Praise the Lord!  On the day I discovered that my monthly support was running low I decided to take the need to the Lord in prayer.  Almost immediately I received an e-mail from someone I had never met.  The guy who e-mailed is named “Mika” and he works for a fundraising organization in Canada called “Bluesea Philanthropy”.  He let me know about a fundraising opportunity that Bluesea was organizing called “Ride For Refuge”.  Ride For Refuge is a cycling fundraiser that supports all sorts of different Christian charities that work with displaced, vulnerable and exploited people.  Mika was wondering if this would be something that Flying Mission could be a part of.  Having never met Mika I started an e-mail dialogue with him to see what this event was all about.  After speaking with Mika, SIM Canada and with Flying Mission, I have officially been accepted as a partner (through SIM Canada) and will be able to raise funds through Ride For Refuge!  We’ve set a goal of $5000 which will go towards my support shortfall as well as towards Flying Missions ministries in Botswana.  Things are still in the early stages but I hope to have more information on how you can either sponsor someone riding or get involved as a rider yourself.  The event will be taking place in Edmonton on October 4^th.  There will also be other Ride For Refuge events happening throughout Canada so feel free to check out their website (rideforrefuge.org) if you are interested in participating.  To see the page they have created for me visit http://rideforrefuge.org/partner/simcanada.  I’m excited to see how God uses this event to help and encourage myself and Flying Mission!

Interesting Article

Someone recently forwarded me an interesting article titled “10 Things Missionaries Won’t Tell You”.  It’s a great article and I thought I would pass it on to you to read.  It really does give an insight into how it can be difficult to communicate certain things to people while living and working as a missionary.  You can read the article at the following address: http://www.trinitykenya.com/10-things-missionaries-wont-tell/ .

Setswana Classes

Since I arrived in Botswana I have been fascinated with the local language spoken here called “Setswana”.  Over the years I have had an opportunity to pick up some of it but it’s been difficult to learn more than just the basics.  Through a friend at church I discovered that Setswana lessons were being offered at the French school here in town called “Alliance Francaise”.  I went to the school to get more information and was able to enroll in their Setswana class.  I’ve had two lessons so far and I’m really enjoying it.  Theie are two classes a week for 10 weeks so I’ll be busy learning until about the middle of September.  Please be in prayer for me that I will be able to pick up what is being taught quickly.  My desire is to one day speak fluently in Setswana.  Mastering the local language will be helpful in building strong relationships with local people and hopefully open up opportunities to share Christ with them.

Clothing Donation

Flying Mission recently received a donation of used clothing from a local dry cleaner.  Apparently even in Africa people drop clothing off at the dry cleaners and then never return to claim them.  The clothing we were given had been sitting at the dry cleaners for 3 years!  So, to make room in the shop the dry cleaner decided to give the clothing away to a local charity.  We were the lucky recipients!  We sorted through the clothing and were able to give some to one of our projects in the village of Gabane, Sedibeng Sa Lorato.  The rest of the clothing we are hoping to sell at a yard sale.  If all the clothing sells at expected prices we are hoping to raise $2000.  The money we raise will go towards various Flying Mission ministries.  

Feather Fireworks

One morning I was driving in my car on my way to the Flying Mission office.  There was a car ahead of me travelling at a high rate of speed.  I remember thinking to myself that this guy is likely going to hit something orsomeone if he keeps driving like that.  Just as I had finished my thought, a puff of bird feathers surrounded the car.  A bird had tried to cross the road but was unable to make it across before getting hit by the car.  I had assumed the bird would be dead but it wasn’t!  Instead the bird was, for lack of a better word, naked.  I didn’t see a single feather on it.  It was just walking around like someone had plucked out every one of its feathers.  This bird was going to have some explaining to do once it got home.  “Honey!  You’ll never believe what happened!”

Traditionally Built

After the rainy season ends it is quite common to see people on the side of the road cutting the long grass that has grown during the summer months.  I’ve heard local people call these people “slashers” because they typically use a long hand held blade and swing the blade back and forth in a slashing motion to cut the grass.  Once again I was in my car heading to the Flying Mission office when I saw a group of “slashers” cutting grass on the side of the road.  I didn’t think much of it but as I got closer I couldn’t help but laugh at what I saw.  Quite often there are older woman among the group of people slashing the grass.  One of the older women in the group was what we call “traditionally built”.  For those who have read or watched “The #1 Ladies Detective Agency” you know what I mean.  For those who haven’t, traditionally built woman in Botswana are usually quite round and typically have a large back side.  This woman was particularly “gifted” in the back side department.  In fact, she was so gifted that as she slashed at the grass some of it had begun to collect on the top of her large bottom.  It was almost as if her bottom had a top shelf and she was collecting grass on it.  It looked like she was growing a feather tail made of grass.  I can’t imagine anyone dared tell her, because how could you without laughing?  J

Creative Caller

I see all sorts of things during my daily commute to the Flying Mission office but I was quite amused by what I saw on this particular day.  As I was driving down the road I noticed someone had their hazard lights on and were driving slower than the rest of the traffic.  As I approached the slow moving car I looked to see if I could see the reason for this guy driving with his hazard lights on.  I didn’t see any issue with the car but when I looked at the driver I just started laughing.  He was talking on his cell phone.  As in Canada, it’s illegal to drive while talking on your cell phone in Botswana, a fine that I have paid once before.  This creative individual seemed to think that flicking on his hazard lights was all he needed to do to remedy the situation.  I’m thinking it wouldn’t get him very far with the police but at least he was trying to be safe. 

Let Us Spray

A few weeks ago I was at church and the pastor had gotten up to the mic to start his sermon.  Before preaching he said the familiar words, “Let us pray”.  As the room gave way to silence, and before the pastor could utter the first word of his prayer, someone decided this would be a perfect time to blow their nose.  Now, if it was a quieter nose blow I don’t think I would have even noticed.  Nope.  This was one of those fog horn type nose blows.  So just after the pastor uttered, “Let us pray” someone lets loose a howitzer… FFFRRRRRT!  It sounded something like the horn on an 18 wheeler.  I couldn’t help it.  I think I laughed through the entire prayer.  The first thing that came to my mind was that the person misheard the pastor and thought he said, “Let us spray”.  J

Conclusion

Well folks, I hope you enjoyed reading my letter as much as I enjoyed writing it.  I’d like to thank all of you who continue to pray for me and for Flying Mission as we serve the Lord here in Botswana.  Thank you to those of you who have given sacrificially with your finances to allow me to even be here in Botswana.  I am so grateful.  I imagine many of you are enjoying your summer holidays now.  I pray that it will be a safe time as many of you will be driving long distances to see family and friends.  May you all have a blessed summer with many opportunities to laugh!

Peace and prayers,

Graham Crawford <><

Online donations can be made at:  www.sim.ca

(My missionary number is 24460)

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.

Flying Mission E-Memo June/July 2014

Botswana Bulletin #61

Botswana Bulletin #61

"Winter Is Coming"

June 22, 2014

Prayer Requests

1)  Support - I have recently lost some of my monthly financial support due to life/financial situations.  I currently don’t have enough financial support to cover my costs for the duration of my time in Botswana (I was planning a trip home in March 2015).  My current shortfall is about $4000 ($500/month).  Please pray that the Lord would provide the funding needed so I can continue serving Him here in Botswana.

2)  Maun Trip - Praise the Lord that I was able to head up to Maun, Botswana and help move the Flying Mission office up there to a new facility without issue.

3)  Annual General Meeting - Flying Mission recently held it’s Annual General Meeting.  It was a long but peaceful meeting which was a big answer to prayer.  Continue to pray for unity within the mission.

4)  Open Baptist Church - Continue to pray for me as I serve on the worship team at Open Baptist Church most Sundays.  We are very short on team members so pray that we won’t all get burned out.

Introduction

Greetings all from a chilly Gaborone, Botswana!  Yes, winter has officially arrived in Gaborone.  During the rainy season the surroundings change quite dramatically.  The grass grows, flowers bloom, and the Khalahari desert seems to come alive.  The same thing happens during the winter but the change is different.  Warm hats (toques for my Canadian friends ) appear, winter jackets, gloves, and people exclaiming, “It’s freeezing!” even though the temperature is only +10C.  Currently it’s about +16C outside but inside my house it feels colder than that.  Living in a brick house causes the house to stay cooler longer.  Basically the house never really heats up.  All the more reason to head outside during the winter.  It seems like the opposite type of behavior you’d expect during winter but its actually more pleasant to spend a cooler winter day in the warmth of the sunshine.  Oh, and by midday its usually around room temperature (~+21C) so its definitely a comfortable time of year for myself.  Not to worry though.  By August the days will start getting longer and the long hot days of summer will be back.  Speaking of “back” it’s good to be back writing to you.  It seems like its been a while so let me get you all caught up on what has been happening here.

Support Issues

Normally I don’t like starting my letters talking about financial issues as it can put people off but its an issue that is currently at the forefront of my mind so I thought I’d share it first.  As I mentioned earlier in the prayer requests section of my letter I have recently lost some of my monthly financial support.  It is a significant enough amount of money that I will likely run out of funds by the end of December (I had planned to stay in Botswana until March 2015).  The current shortfall is $500/month which amounts to around $4000.  I am asking you to prayerfully consider whether the Lord is calling you to partner with me financially.  For the last 9 years the Lord has supplied all my financial needs through a fantastic group of supporters.  I’m trusting that He will be faithful yet again and confirm to me that this is where he wants me.  If you are interested in doing this please talk to the friendly people at SIM Canada (1-800-294-6918) who can step you through the different ways in which you can give or go online to their website at www.sim.ca.  I want to say a big thank you to all of you who continue to support me in prayer and financially.  I could not be here without you.  Thank you so much!

Maun Trip

During the first week of June I had a chance to go up to Maun, Botswana which is located in Northern Botswana right at the base of the Okavango Delta.  Flying Mission has an office there where we currently have 3 pilots doing alot of flying into the delta.  The flights are mainly tourist flights but they allow the mission to generate income to fund the rest of the missions activities.  I didn’t get the whole story but for one reason or another Flying Mission needed to vacate the current office they were in and find other accommodation.  Suitable accommodation was found only about a block away from where they were currently staying.  Since the office had a computer network to move including phone and internet lines the decision was to send me up to Maun to help with the setup.  The moving of the office itself was relatively straight forward but in order to move the internet and phone lines I knew I would have to deal with the Botswana Telecommunication Corporation (BTC).  This was a bad thing.  For my friends in Canada, you’ve probably had some issues when dealing with Telus or Rogers or whoever provides you with your phone and internet connections.  Take that experience and complicate it by a factor of 100.  This was now my reality.  The other reality is that phones and internet connections have now become crucial to running a safe and efficient operation.  Without them we are at a severe disadvantage, as would any office.  Keith Kowalski, a fellow Canadian and Base Supervisor in Maun, had already done some foot work with BTC so they knew we were moving but unfortunately he hadn’t had much success getting anyone to tell him when a BTC person would come and help us.  So in the words of the Apostle Paul “in great fear and trembling” I tried contacting BTC to see if I could organize a technician to help us move the lines. 

As expected I didn’t get much help and was getting directed from one person to another who were all giving me different stories.  The effort I was putting into making this a reality seemed futile.  So, when I wasn’t on the phone I was helping Keith move the furniture and we ended up setting up most of the office during the first day, minus phones and internet.  With one day down I only had one day left to see if we could get the lines moved before I would head back to Gaborone.  The situation looked grim.

The next day after more futile phone calls were made one of our local staff members, Linda, suggested I go to the local BTC office in Maun and see if I could get more accomplished in person.  Linda went along with me in case a more fluent Setswana voice was needed.  Well, I don’t know if it was my large stature, my loud voice, or Linda’s persuasive Setswana, but meeting the BTC staff in person seemed to work because the next thing I knew a technician was on-site to do the phone switch.  By lunch time that day our office was fully operational with a phone and an internet connection!  Praise the Lord!  This may seem like an over-exaggeration to be thanking the Lord for phones and internet but it is such a blessing to have and something that we need to do our work here.  Sometimes I find myself praying for immigration forms and for the power to come back on and it seems petty because I’m not praying for a lost soul.  However, Jesus said in Matthew 6 that “the Father knows what you need before you ask him.”  God knows that we needed these things and He helped us to obtain them so I give Him the glory. 

Annual General Meeting

Last weekend Flying Mission held its Annual General Meeting (AGM).  I’ve attended the last two AGMs and both were fraught with disunity and arguing.  I had been praying that this year it would be different.  To everyone’s delight, I believe it was.  The meeting could have definitely been shorter, but by the end of the meeting I think we all were able to breath a sigh of relief that no fireworks went off.  In fact, I was encouraged by the departmental reports which are usually my favorite part of the meeting.  It’s great to review the year and see all the things the Lord has done through us as a mission.  I’m excited to see where Flying Mission will be by next years AGM.

Open Baptist Church Worship Team

Please continue to be in prayer for the local church I am a part of, Open Baptist Church (OBC).  As I’ve mentioned before the church has gone through some tough times which resulted in the senior pastor resigning.  This caused a ripple effect in the church and caused a number of church members to leave as well.  This crippled the worship team and as a result the team is down in numbers.  To bolster the team I was invited to depart the sister church (OBC G-West) and attend OBC Bluetree (the mother church) and play the drums for the worship team there.  I have really enjoyed being a part of the worship team but it is very tiring.  I play almost every Sunday and which means a 2 hour Thursday night practice and getting to the church at 6:45am to prepare and partake in the two morning services.  Its alot of work and some of the worship team members who have been doing this for a long time are starting to feel the burn.  Please pray that as the church heals, more volunteers would become available to help with the leading of the worship.  Pray that the people involved in the worship team would not go into “cruise control” but that the Sunday services would be a blessing to them and uplift their spirits as they sing praises to God.  May the church be edified by the efforts we put into leading them in worship.

Flying Mission E-memos

Flying Mission has put out two “e-memos” since I last communicated with you.  If you haven’t already received them and would like to check out more of whats happening at Flying Mission feel free to scroll down to the last two posts.

The Lighter Side

I know I’ve mentioned this before but I really love living in Botswana.  There are things that bother me from time to time (I’m sure that happens anywhere) but for the most part I love it.  One of the things I love most is how much the Batswana love to laugh.  I think it’s one of the main levels at which I connect with people here.  They love to laugh, and so do I.  To some people the things I see that make me laugh maybe wouldn’t make sense to them as its something they see everyday.  However, I’d like to take a moment to share with you some of the things I’ve observed over the last 2 months that made me laugh.

I was driving down the road one day when the license plate on the truck in front of me caught my eye.  All license plates in Botswana start with the letter B.  There are variations to what comes next, but most license plates then have a pattern of 3 numbers followed by 3 letters.  The license plate on the truck in front of me had fallen off so the guy decided to “fix it”.  He decided to make his own license plate number using some cardboard and a felt marker.  Unfortunately, as he wrote out his license plate number it became obvious that he was going to run out of room.  So instead of starting over, he simply crushed the last 3 letters together at the end of the license, basically making it unreadable.  He then placed it at the back of his truck with a tie strap.  Fixed!

For some of you reading this letter finding chickens walking around in front of your house when you got home may sound weird.  Not for me!  Actually, its not uncommon for people here (even living in a residential area of the city) to have chickens in their yards or even “around” their yards.  My neighbor across the street has recently gotten some chickens including this massive hen.  The hen looked so much like the hen on the front of boxes of Corn Flakes cereal that I named the hen “Corn Flakes”.  Now every morning and evening when I’m coming and going from my house I get to greet Corn Flakes.  At least she’s a neighbor that I know won’t rob me!

Here in Botswana one of the most favorite places for people to shop is at what is called “Chinese Shops”.  The reason for its popularity is one of the reasons I don’t frequent them very often.  Often the products sold in these stores are very cheap.  He problem is, it’s usually for a reason, most often poor quality.  Anyway, alot of people enjoy buying clothing from these stores.  Once again something I don’t often do.  Not because the clothing is necessarily poorly made, but simply because I am too big to fit into most of the clothing they sell.  Also, it can be very embarrassing wearing these shirts because the English written on the shirts is often lost in translation.  Recently, I saw my friend with a shirt on that had something written on it but I couldn’t quite making it out.  Approaching her I asked her what was on her shirt and she said she couldn’t really tell me.  I wasn’t sure what she meant so she pulled at the bottom of her shirt to show me.  To this day I still don’t know what it means.  The shirt simply read, “JUST IT FORGIVEN ISN’T?”  I guess we’ll never know the answer to the question.

Conclusion

I think that is the bulk of the news for now.  Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.  I’ve been humbled over the years at the kind words I’ve received from people who read my letters.  I’m glad you enjoy them.  I’ve changed them a bit over the years and that’s mostly due to the advice I’ve been given by people as to how to make them better.  If you have any advice I’d love to hear it, or if you just want to say, “Great job” I wouldn’t mind hearing that as well.  Thanks again to all of you for your continued prayers and financial support.  God bless!

Graham Crawford <><

              

Online donations can be made at:  www.sim.ca

(My missionary number is 24460)

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.