Botswana Bulletin #67

Botswana Bulletin #67

“The Last Of The Lasts”

December 19, 2015

Prayer Requests

1. Flying Mission IT Department - Please pray for Daniel, Richard and Matthias (IT person in Zambia) as they continue running the Flying Mission IT Department without me.  Pray that Daniel will settle in nicely as my replacement
2. Time With Family - Please pray for Kathleen and I as we will be spending time with each others families.  Pray for good friendships to be made.
3. SIM Status - Kathleen and I are currently focusing on going to Benin by around January 2017.  Pray for Kathleen and I as we transition into a new life together and a new field.  Pray for us as we both work for SIM Canada next year.
4. Time With Supporters - Pray for Kathleen and I as we will be traveling a lot during the next 2 months visiting people and churches.  Pray that we would both make good connections with each others support teams.

Introduction

Greetings one and all from beautiful South Africa!  Yes, even though this is officially my 67th letter this will be the first one that I’ve written in South Africa.  Well, maybe I should check that.  As far as I know this is my first.  As I just said it’s my 67th letter so I may have forgot one or two.  So, to be exact, I’m actually at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.  I have about 5 hours until I fly to Zurich, Switzerland so I thought I’d take time to write a much needed update to all of you.  I had intended to send a letter out earlier but December turned out to be much busier than I had planned.  So without further delay lets get to the newsy newsness.  (Not sure that’s a word)

My Last Day at Flying Mission

Officially my last day with Flying Mission was yesterday (Dec 18th).  However, I haven’t really been working much since November 30th.  Richard (my boss at Flying Mission) agreed that I was free to roam Gaborone and say my good byes after November 30th but needed to be available to help Daniel (my replacement in the IT dept) in case he needed my help.  As expected, Daniel has done a great job on his own and I only spoke to him a few times on the phone.  He has been able to handle whatever has been thrown at him which is a real blessing for me.  Having Daniel there and doing a good job makes leaving that much easier.  Thanks Daniel, I’m gonna miss working with you!

What Are Your Plans Now?

So, this is the big question that most people have been asking me lately.  As with any plans, this could change, but it is the direction Kathleen and I feel is the direction God is leading us.  In other words just put “Lord willing” in front of about every sentence you read from now on.  Here are the details.

Tomorrow (Dec 20th) I will finally be reunited with Kathleen after spending 4 long months on different continents.  I will stay with her and her family in New Brunswick (Geary, NB for those who want to know) until January 8th.  On Jan 8th Kathleen and I will fly together to Edmonton, AB and stay with my family in Fort Saskatchewan.  We will be doing some travelling within Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan to visit friends and family.  We will be visiting my supporting churches as well so that Kathleen gets a chance to meet my support team.  This is our current travel schedule while we are in Western Canada:

Jan 10th - Fort Saskatchewan Alliance Church

Jan 17th - Fort Saskatchewan Fellowship Baptist Church

Jan 24th - McKernan Baptist Church (Edmonton, AB)

Jan 31st - Northlife Church (Fort McMurray, AB)

Feb 6th - Fly to Nanaimo, BC

Feb 7th - Parksville Fellowship Baptist Church

Feb 9th - Fly to Edmonton, AB

Feb 10th - Travel to Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan and back to Edmonton, AB

Feb 20th - Fly to Toronto, ON

Feb 21st - Fly to Fredericton, NB

At some point, which date I will not be sharing in this letter, Kathleen and I will get 

officially engaged.  Yes, there is a ring and a plan.  As Forest Gump would say, “Thats all I have to say about that.”  So assuming Kathleen says yes, we will be full time wedding planners once we get back to New Brunswick in February.

What Is Your Current Status As A Missionary?

For those who may be wondering about support and such (some people have already asked this) I’ll answer the questions here.  I hope I’ve made it clear but in case I didn’t I am no longer with Flying Mission.  I am however still an SIM Canada missionary.  The official status that SIM Canada uses is that I’m on “home assignment”.  I will actually be working for SIM Canada while in Canada.  The details of my job is not quite established yet but I will be having meeting with the SIM Canada office personnel to iron that out in January.  Unofficially it looks like I will basically be a resource to help communicate with people who are interested in serving as missionaries with SIM.  People who are 

interested in serving but have questions and such, I’ll be someone they can talk to.  It 

actually sounds really fun.  So that will be my job for most of next year.   This means that I will be working for the mission and that I can still receive financial support.  My hope and prayer is that my support team continues supporting me during this transitional phase of my life but I understand if some of you don’t.  Unfortunately, I can’t give a current figure on my exact support needs while in Canada, but I will let you all know once this is sorted out.  We should have this figure worked out early next month.

How Long Will You Be In Canada?

The plan is to be in Canada for all of 2016.  I’ll give you a rough sketch of what that should look like.

As I’ve already explained earlier, Kathleen and I will return to New Brunswick at the end of February.  We will be wedding planners/SIM Canada workers until the wedding which will likely be in May.  After the wedding Kathleen and I will go on a 2 week honeymoon (the current plan is to go to…Ecuador!)  This should bring us to about the middle of the year.  In my last prayer letter I mentioned that we were currently looking at the possibility of going to Benin.  Our placement in Benin is currently unofficial, but Kathleen and I are very excited about the possibility.  So, Lord willing, this will be where SIM places us 

after we get married.  For those who don’t know, Benin is a French speaking country.  English is not widely spoken there.  This will mean that Kathleen and I will need to go to language school.  SIM Canada has recommended a school in Quebec which we would need to attend for 1 year.  This is good because SIM Canada recommends that newly 

married couples spend at least a year in their home country before going overseas.  So after Kathleen and I get married, if Benin becomes official, we will depart for Quebec, get settled in there and start attending French School.  French school is 2 semesters September to December, then January to April.  This would likely mean that we would be leaving for Benin in May 2017.  

So You’ll Be In Canada For 1.5 Years?

Possibly.  However, there is another possibility that we are looking at.  The SIM director in Benin has suggested that we could move to Benin in January 2017 and attend a French School there.  This would mean we’d only be in Canada for about 1 year.  This goes against SIM’s recommendation of being home for 1 year though so an exception would have to be made for us.  Kathleen and I both have previous experience in Africa so this may be an easier transition for us.  So, if Benin works out we could leave as early as 

January 2017.  

Conclusion

I’ve thrown a lot of information and dates at you so I hope it wasn’t too confusing.  As I mentioned at the beginning these are all plans that are not written in stone yet.  I wanted to give you as much information as I could though because I want you all to know what is happening and approximately when.  If some of you are wondering how I’m feeling about all this change, I’m totally stoked!  I’m really excited for 2016 and think it has the makings to be one of the best years of my life.  I thank all of you for joining me on this journey I call life thus far.  I hope you stick around a while longer though, cause it looks like the best is yet to come!  

Thank you to all of you who make this crazy life I live a reality.  I could not be doing what I’m doing without your prayers and financial support.  Thank you so much!  I look forward to meeting with many of you during the course of next year and introducing you to Kathleen.  

Oh, and before I go I’d like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Jesus is the reason for the season!

Peace and prayers,

Graham Crawford <><

SIM Contact Info:

SIM Canada

10 Huntingdale Blvd.

Scarborough, Ontario

M1W 2S5

Canada

Tel:  1-800-294-6918

E-mail:  info@sim.ca

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

(My missionary number is 24460)

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

The opinions expressed in this letter are my own opinions.  They are not necessarily the opinions or views of Serving In Mission (SIM).

Flying Mission E-Memo November - December 2015

Flying Mission E-Memo July - October 2015

Botswana Bulletin #66

“Big Changes”

August 29, 2015

Prayer Requests

1) Power/Water Situation - Botswana is currently going through a water shortage crisis.  Power is also off from time to time but the water situation has reached a critical level.  Its not quite as bad in Gaborone as some villages are going without any water for an entire week.  Please pray that something will be able to be done so that everyone can have access to fresh water on a consistent basis.

2) Re Rotlhe Playground Project - Praise the Lord that over $3000 has been raised to build a proper shade structure over the children’s playground.  Also praise that Re Rotlhe now has a new plot and some grant money to build a new facility with.  The existing playground will be moved to the new location and the shade will be built there.  Thank you to all who gave to make this a successful project!

3) Kathleen - Praise the Lord that he has led to me a godly woman!  Please pray that my remaining months with Flying Mission will go by quickly.  Pray for Kathleen and I as we seek the Lord as we plan the wedding and our new life together.

Introduction

Greetings everyone from Gaborone, Botswana!  I’ve finally found some time to get an update out.  I’ll try to finish it quickly before I get distracted by something else!  :-)  I haven’t been able to send an update out since I arrived back in Botswana.  Sorry about that.  I actually have a ton of stuff to tell you guys so let me just get right into it.

Furlough

In case you haven’t assumed already I arrived safely back in Botswana at the beginning of May.  I had a great two months in Canada spending time with family and friends in Alberta and BC.  I even had a chance to make a “special friend” while in Canada.  More on that later…

Power/Water Situation

When I first returned to Botswana reality hit me quite quickly.  The power and water were both off in my house when I arrived at home.  This is something that we’ve had to live with here in Botswana with increasing frequency.  The power situation was really bad for a while.  Most nights I had no power at all in my neighbourhood.  Something was obviously done about that as this is something that now happens less frequently (yet still happens from time to time).  I think what they did to fix the situation was this.  Around about a year ago the Botswana Power Corporation started installing what they call “smart meters”.  These are electric meters that allow customers to buy “credit” that allows them access to the electrical grid.  For example, instead of the meter simply tracking the amount of electricity you use and bill you for it, you “pre-pay” and buy, say $100 worth of electricity and the meter tracks the amount of electricity and slowly eats away at the balance of credit you put in the meter.  Once the meter credit reaches $0, your power turns off.  This took some getting used to but eventually you started to figure out how much power you used in a month.  This I think helped a bit as I heard that there were many people that just never paid there electric bill and the power company never shut off their power so people were using power without paying for it.  The next thing they did is they activated the “smart” part of the meter.  The meters are remotely programmable and the power company has now enforced a specific amount of power that you can use in the evening.  This means that between 6pm-10pm you can only use a few electrical devices in your home.  If you use more power than the enforcement allows the meter starts beeping and you have a short amount of time to turn devices off or the meter turns off your power for 1 hour.  So yah, as you can imagine quite a few of us were having our power go off every night due to over usage.  However, as time went on you got used to it and started to figure out how many things you could turn on in the evening before you’d trip off your power.  Just to give some insight on to what this entailed, to boil a pot of water for tea in the evening I had to turn every single thing off in my house.  I only had enough power to run a kettle!  Nothing more!  So yah, its taken some getting used to but I think these measures have made the power situation more stable.

The larger issue has been the water.  Water is being very restricted these days.  Just this morning when I went to shower there was only enough pressure to shower under what amounted to “drool”.  Some days the water is completely off.  In rural villages I’ve heard that the water can be off for as long as a week.  The city dam is completely dry.  To be honest, I have no idea where the water in Gaborone is even coming from.  My guess is its being piped from dams further north.  I have no idea what the plan is to fix the situation.  Please pray for Botswana that there will be good rains this year as it has been extremely dry.  Pray that the dams of Botswana will be filled once again and that the Lord will be glorified as He provides the rain.

Re Rotlhe Playground Project

In July, SIM contacted me to let me know that I was going to be their “Missionary of the month” for August.  What this entailed was that SIM would highlight myself or a ministry I was a part of to increase its awareness with supporters.  Since my own support team has covered my needs so well, I decided to promote a Flying Mission project on SIM’s website.  I’m sure some of you saw it on the website or were contacted by SIM directly.  The Flying Mission project is called “Re Rotlhe” (roughly translated as “We Are Together”) which is a children's day care based in the rural village of Seherelela.  The

issue that the day care is currently dealing with is their playground.  The playground has been built mostly out of steel and when the hot Khalahari sun hits the metal swings and slides it becomes unusable.  The idea has been to build a structure above the playground to provide shade for the equipment and the children so they can play in comfort.  I am happy to announce that SIM has told me that the entire $3000 for the project has been raised!  In fact, as God usually does, he has provided even more than the $3000!  (I believe its something like $3220 but I haven’t gotten the final amount from SIM yet)  So to those that have given, thank you so much.  I plan to contact each of you individually to thank you for your generous giving.  I imagine SIM and Flying Mission will contact you as well to thank you for your donations.  I also have an update to the project.  As it turns out things are going to improve even more because of a recent development.  Re Rotlhe currently resides in a temporary location (a location they do not own).  For this reason they have been searching for their own plot of land in the village so they can build a proper day care centre.  A plot of land has been recently given to Re Rotlhe as well as some grant money to enable them to build a new larger facility on the plot.  The plan now is to move the existing playground to the new plot and then build a shade structure above it with the donated money we have just received.  So as you can see there are big changes happening at Re Rotlhe!  Praise the Lord!

Who is Kathleen?

This is a question people have been asking me recently.  I finally feel that I am able to answer this question without reservations.  For those of you who don’t know, I met a beautiful woman named Kathleen Davidson when I arrived back in Canada in March.  We met at the SIM Canada head office in Toronto.  Kathleen had recently become a member of SIM and is currently assigned to work as a nurse in Benin.  She was at the SIM Canada office doing her orientation when I arrived to do my debrief.  I was invited to take part in the orientation and give my insights.  This gave me the opportunity to meet Kathleen and get to know her a bit.  After I left Toronto and headed to Edmonton we began communicating via Facebook and then started having regular Skype conversations.  As time went on and I headed back to Botswana the relationship grew.  We made a plan to meet in South Africa earlier this month and spent two weeks together there.  We had a fantastic time!  We are very much in love and we have now decided that we’d like to get married!  The big issue we were facing is how this would be done when we aren’t even living in the same location!  My original plan was to stay in Botswana until the end of April next year and then head to Canada for furlough.  We both agreed this is too long to be apart.  So, we talked about it and I agreed to speak to Flying Mission about coming home early.  After speaking with Flying Mission they agreed that coming home in

December would be acceptable.  I want to leave the mission on good terms and ensure that there IT needs are covered when I go.  The next few months will give me time to properly train Daniel to take over my work.  I also spoke with SIM and they are in complete agreement.  In fact, both organizations are very excited for both myself and for Kathleen.  So my last day with Flying Mission will be on December 18th when the Flying Mission office closes for the year.  The plan from there is to fly to New Brunswick (where Kathleen is from) and meet her family in person.  I’ve had a chance to talk to her parents over Skype already so it will be nice to meet them in person.  This will also give me the opportunity to seek the parents blessing to get married in person.  After spending time in New Brunswick, Kathleen and I will head to Alberta so she can meet my family.  It is likely there that I will propose (sorry, gotta leave a few secrets) and we will be planning the wedding for sometime next year (April or May most likely).  Some of you may be thinking that I’m ruining all the romance by telling you all our plans, but as my supporters you are a part of my life!  I want you to know what is happening and why it’s happening and where things are heading.  Some of you may be thinking, “Isn’t this all happening to fast?”  Well, Kathleen and I talked about that but we also feel that the relationship has gone through natural “progressions” (for lack of a better word) and at this point in the relationship either we need to decide to get married or break up.  We both agreed that we didn’t want to just date.  We wanted to be in a relationship to determine whether this is a relationship that could lead to marriage.  Well, we obviously both agree that this is the case.  So, we made a plan to make it happen.  Some of you may be wondering if I plan to return to Flying Mission and Botswana.  The answer at the moment is, probably not.  Kathleen and I both want to continue being missionaries with SIM.  That won’t change.  However, we do want to ensure that wherever we go we both have ministries that we can be a part of.  Flying Mission has said they would be happy to have me return but when we looked at possibilities for Kathleen in Botswana we didn’t really find anything that fit.  We’ve already talked with SIM and the plan will be to look at a field (preferably in Africa) where we can both serve together.  A possibility at the moment is that we will both go to Benin which is where she was planning to go in January.  SIM has recommended that after getting married that couples spend 1 year together before entering the mission field.  We understand why SIM is saying this but we also want to hear what the Lord is saying to us and obey Him as he leads us.  At this point that is about all I can tell you about the future.  It feels like there are so many things that will be changing in my life next year.  I would really appreciate your prayers as Kathleen and I (with God’s help) figure it all out.

Kathleen and I in Mossel Bay, South Africa

My favourite picture of Kathleen

 Conclusion

So, do you understand now why I was quiet for a little while?  Lots of big changes will be coming in the future.  As I’ve said your continued prayers would be appreciated.  And while we are on the subject of that let me just take the time to thank you all for your prayer support and financial support.  I’m fully aware that these past 11 years in Botswana would not have been possible without your help.  Thank you so much!  So, as I transition into a new phase in life I look forward to continuing to partner with you and going wherever the Lord may take us. 

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 January - April 2015

Botswana Bulletin #65

Botswana Bulletin #65

“Hitting The Road"

April 8th, 2015

Prayer Requests

 Travel - Pray for me as I’ll be traveling for most of the month.  Pray for safety on the roads and that the car would behave.
2)  Support - Praise the Lord that I currently have enough support for another year of ministry in Botswana!
3)  Partnerships - There have been a number of people that have expressed interest in doing project to help Flying Mission ministries.  One couple even wants to come visit me later in the year!  Pray that these partnerships would grow and that we would see hearts and lives changed because of it.
4)  IT Issues - Pray for Richard Wheatley (Flying Mission IT Manager) and Daniel Muir (IT Assistant) as there was a large lightning storm the other night that damaged our office server and phone system.  Its going to take a lot of work to get things back to normal.  Pray that Richard and Daniel would be able to get things working normally again soon.

Introduction

Greetings from an increasingly warmer Edmonton, Alberta!  Yep, the weather here is finally showing signs of spring.  The sun is currently shining and the temperature is finally in the double digits.  It appears its come just in time for me to leave!  Time has been flying by since I’ve arrived in Canada.  I’ve spent most of my time in the Edmonton area but its time I did a little traveling to visit the church that generously support me.  Let me give you the details of where I will be and when.

Travel Schedule

I just wanted to give you all a quick update so you know where I’ll be for the next few weeks.  Here is the plan:

April 9-13 - Fort McMurray, Alberta
April 14-15 - Calgary, Alberta
April 16-17 - Lumby, BC
April 18-22 - Parksville, BC
April 23-24 - Langley, BC
April 25-30 - Edmonton, AB
May 1st - London, England
May 2nd - Johannesburg, South Africa
May 3rd - Gaborone, Botswana

Conclusion

I’m looking forward to seeing as many of you as I can over the next few weeks!  

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.

Botswana Bulletin #64

Botswana Bulletin #64

"Things Are Done Differently Here"

January 17, 2015

Prayer Requests

1)  Rain – The Gaborone Dam which holds the city’s water supply is only 5% full.  Please pray that we receive enough rain to fill the dam to sustain the water supply for the city during the dry season.

2)  Flying Mission Finances – Flying Mission is currently struggling financially.  Nobody really knows what this will mean in the future but our leadership team is working on ways to allow us to continue to do the ministry we feel God has called us to do here in Botswana.  Please prayer for our leadership that God would reveal to them the way forward with the resources that are available to us.

3)  Ministry Endurance – Praise the Lord with me that He has been a faithful God during the last 10 years that I’ve been a missionary.  I am so thankful to my support team for praying for me and blessing me financially.  I know I would not be where I am without you.  May God continue to give us all great faith to trust Him to provide what we need as we serve Him together.

4)  Trip to Canada – I’ll be travelling back to Canada in March and will be around for 2 months.  Please pray that it would be both a restful time as well as a meaningful time as I visit with my friends, family and supporters.

Introduction

Greetings to all of you from a very warm and sunny Gaborone, Botswana!  I’d like to start by thanking those of you that have been praying for rain.  We have started to have a few showers here and there but we can definitely do with more.  According to the last update I heard the Gaborone Dam was only 5% full.  I believe God is a faithful God and that he can fill the dam if we would only ask Him.  Please stand with me in prayer God would be glorified through the miracle of rain in the desert.

By Faith

There is much to be concerned about in our world today.  Just turn on the television and watch some news for an hour and you’ll have plenty to be afraid of.  However, as Christians I don’t believe God has called us to live in that way.  He calls us to be fearless, faith-filled people.  When I looked at my own life and my own situation I realize there are times when I am simply faith-less.  The situation looks too grim.  Too bleak.  How could anything good come out of it?  Right now Flying Mission is struggling financially.  Our leaders are meeting and trying to figure ways to continue doing what we are doing with limited resources.  It’s hard.  There are no guarantees as to how things will turn out.  However, I choose to have faith that God will show us a way.  That way may not be the way we imagined and in my opinion that is a good thing.  Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”  If God’s power is at work within us, more than we can even imagine is possible.  So I’m excited to see how God works during this difficult time.  Will it be hard?  Yes.  But with God all things are possible and I am excited to what possibilities He shows us in the future.  Please stand with my in prayer that God would provide the means for Flying Mission to continue to minister to the people here in Botswana.  That even if this means changing something that we would be humble and realize that He is in control and that it is ultimately his mission and not ours.  I thank you in advance for your prayers for the Flying Mission leadership and for the hard decisions they will have to make.

Leap Of Faith

As I was thinking about the theme of this letter I came to a decision that I would call it “By Faith”.  In September 2014 I celebrated my 10 year anniversary as a missionary in Botswana.  I have to admit it’s hard for me to believe that I’ve been able to do this for 10 years.  When I think of the time I’ve been away from Canada, from my friends and family.  When I think of the finances that were needed during these last 10 years, I am simply amazed at how God has provided for me.  When I think about how it all started, really it all started with a leap of faith.  I had no idea what was going to happen.  Would I fail?  Would it be too hard?  Would the costs emotionally, physically, spiritually be too much?  Yet through it all God has provided as I’ve leaned on Him.  There is absolutely no way I could have done this in my own power.  I needed help from God and from His people.  And the amazing thing to me is there have been times when I have doubted that.  When I thought it may all be over.  Yet, each time I have found myself despairing, God has been faithful.  And you know how I end of feeling?  Foolish.  I feel foolish for doubting that God would call me to a work and a place and wouldn’t provide my needs.  The cool thing about it is He used people.  I am so blessed to have the support network that I do.  Without the backing of the churches and individuals that have partnered with me, prayed for and encouraged me, and gave of their finances, I would not be here.  It all started with a leap of faith and I believe that is how it’s going to continue.  One little leap of faith at a time.

See You Soon!

For those who are missing seeing me in person, fear not!  I will be seeing you soon!  The plan is to depart Botswana on March 3^rd and fly via Dubai to Toronto.  I’ll be in the Toronto area for 3 nights at the SIM Canada office then I’ll be heading to Edmonton on March 7^th.  The plan is to stay in Canada for 2 months before heading back to Botswana for another year.  My plan is to travel to my various supporting churches while I’m in Canada so I hope to see many of you during that time.  I’ll send out a more detailed travel schedule once things are planned so you’ll know when I’ll be in your area.  Looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

Things Are Different Here

The longer I live in Botswana the more I realize how unique of a place it is.  When things happen around me here I can’t help but say to myself, “I don’t think that ever would have happened back in Canada.”  It makes for an interesting life living here and experiencing things other people may never have the privilege of experiencing.  Let me give you some examples.

LALALALALA!

For the people reading this that have never travelled to Africa you may have never had the privilege of hearing a “ululation”.  This is something that is done in other cultures, even the Native community back in Canada, but there is something kind of special about the way it is done here in Africa.  A ululation is basically when someone shouts out a high pitched “LALALALALA”.  It usually requires a rapid back and forth movement with your tongue.  It is something that is often used as a cheer of celebration in weddings and in churches.  Actually, this happened very recently in the church I attend here in Gaborone, Open Baptist Church.  At the beginning of each service we usually have a time of worship where we sing songs of praise to the Lord.  After a particularly jovial session of worship our pastor got up to speak afterward and simply said, “That is a tough act to follow.  I’m not sure where I should start from.”   Almost on cue one of the ladies in our church started ululating, “LALALALALA!”  It was perfect.  In my mind I thought, “Yep.  That is a good place to start.”  However, when I thought about it later I wondered, “Who would do something like that in any of the churches I attend back in Canada?”  I had to simply conclude that things are done differently here.

Is There A Pig Nearby?

Not all sounds that people make here in Botswana are pleasant to the ears.  I love hearing a ululation but there is one sound that I hear quite often here that is like finger nails on a chalk board.  To be honest I’m not even exactly sure why people do it.  I had one friend tell me that he did it to “scratch the inside of his head”.  This didn’t make any sense to me but to him it seemed to be something he needed to do.  Anyway, if you come to Botswana I’m sure you will hear it.  Basically the sound the person makes sounds exactly like a pig.  It’s a grunting sound that sounds similar to the sound you’d make if you were trying to drain the contents of your nose into the back of your throat.  Hopefully that makes sense.  However, it’s not a long big sound like one may make if they had a cold, its short little grunts, like the sound a pig would make.  For some reason this sound drives me nuts.  I guess because it seems so unnecessary.  Like, I have no idea why anyone needs to do it.  Yet, people do it here all the time.  I’ve simply had to conclude that things are done a little differently here.

Oai!

My favourite words in Setswana are the expressive words.  Basically the words that are said that are more a feeling than a word.  In English this may be a word like, “Wow!” or “Zowie!”  Something like that.  Of course Setswana has words like that but they are of course very different.  One of my favourites is the word “Oai!” (pronounced OH-WAH-EE).  If I had to translate what was being said when you say oai its basically “I don’t believe it!”  The most recent use of this word was when I was at a braai and a friend of mine realized that we had run out of boervoers (south African style sausage) before he was able to get any.  When he realized that the sausage was gone and that he wouldn’t be getting any all that he could say was “Oai!”  In my opinion it is a beautiful word that totally sums up how you feel in the moment.  In English I imagine someone would of simply said, “Seriously?!” yet in my opinion it doesn’t capture the emotion as much as Oai.  I guess things are just done differently here.

Awkward Communion

Anyone who has ever attended a wedding here in Botswana will notice immediately that it’s done a little differently here that in the West.  I’ve been to a number of weddings here but recently I attended one where the couple performed communion together during the service.  This is something I am only used to seeing in Catholic weddings back home.  I’ve always thought that it was a really nice thing to add to the ceremony.  That is, until I saw how it was done here.  When it came to the part where they were to eat the bread and drink the cup the pastor asked them to do it in I guess a kind of “romantic” way.  They were asked to feed the elements to each other.  Suffice to say it was probably the most awkward communion I’d ever seen.  I don’t know if it was nerves or the fact that everyone laughed at them when they did it but as they fed each other the elements you just couldn’t help but laugh at them.  I guess things are just done a little differently here.

Conclusion

On that note I’d like to close off this letter.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I’d also like to wish all of you a Happy New Year!  I pray that 2015 would be a great year of blessing for you and your family.  Thanks again to all of you who continue to support me in my ministry here in Botswana.  You guys rock!  Oh, and after you’ve read this update feel free to scroll down and read the latest news from the Flying Mission E-memo.  Cheers!

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 November/December 2014