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 3rd
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 7th. 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 <><
(My
missionary number is 24460)
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.
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