Week 1, August 30

We started our first full week in country with an orientation during which our team gave us information on culture, language, and the Cru movement. Taffy told us one in four students who hear the Gospel here accepts Christ, but only about 40% of those new believers stay connected and begin to grow in their faith. Within my first three hours on campus, five of the five girls I share the Gospel with came to Christ! FIVE girls moved from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light! My prayers to see fruit were immediately answered. I spent some time reflecting on the seven years I spent tilling hard soil in Pittsburgh without seeing the fruits of my labor and rejoiced at the Lord’s kindness in allowing me to see fruit on my first day on campus in Botswana. I have been reminded that our God is big and the prayers I pray are too small (like when I asked the Lord to let me see 20 students come to Christ this year). I am so excited to see what the Lord will do as I step out in faith and trust Him.

We walked home from campus one day, as Taffy had our van, and it was quite an adventure. The University of Botswana is fully enclosed by a gigantic wall (like every campus, business, church, and home here), with access only through a few gates. We walked the whole way to the edge of campus near our house only to find the gate closed. We retraced our steps and found another gate near the center of campus (near where we had started). This gate led us to a “road” on the back side of campus. We trudged through thick mounds of dirt/sand with the campus wall on one side and bush on the other side. It certainly did not feel like we were in the middle of the biggest city in the country. We saw cow tracks, dog tracks, and what might have been the tracks of a big cat. By the time we made it home, sweaty and covered in dust, the sun was beginning to set. While it was only 3 ½ miles, I don’t think we will be attempting that adventure again any time soon.

The back side of campus looks an awful lot like the bush

We have all driven the van a few times. Because I drove every day last summer, it was just like riding a bike for me, but Steph and Sarah found driving a very large vehicle on the left side of the road a bit challenging. I laughed a knowing laugh when they flipped on the wipers instead of the turn signal. “Oh, I’ve been there.” There were several instances of people running over curbs, and one person did a doozy on the van by scraping a gate as we passed, leaving giant scrapes down the full length of the van. I reminded her that dumpy looking cars are rarely the target of thieves, and jokingly told her it was a great security feature. There have been many near misses and lots of backseat driving as they figure it all out.  I am so grateful for a vehicle, as it gives us a lot of freedom. We will be using it to transport other staff members to and from campus, and we will drive students home after BotsCru weekly meetings. We are already spending lots of time giving rides, as most people here take public transport. The vans, known as combis, are crowded, smelly, and unreliable. In addition to all that, it’s unsafe to stand at combi stops at night. During one such shuttle run, I took our teammate Mpho to run an errand. The distance and rush hour traffic (called “prime time” here) gave us plenty of time to share our stories and get to know one another better. I cherish that time. And though driving students home after BotsCru makes for a really long day, I think we’re going to enjoy it.

We spent a lot of time (and money!) on settling in this week. We bought things for our flat, like sheets, lamps, towels, a night stand, and dishes. I bought a local phone and the other girls had their US phones unlocked so they could use a local SIM card. We can finally communicate!  All we really need now is a washer. That will come eventually… hopefully before we run out of clean clothes!

I got to check out two of our student-led small groups this week. One of the groups listens to a podcast from Marian Jordan Ellis and discusses it. I immediately recognized her voice, as she does a lot with Cru in the US, and I spent three days with her when she came to speak in Western PA way back in 2009. That day at the small group was my first time inside a local dorm room, and I took it all in. Most things are similar but different; familiar but foreign.

We have quickly found that the immigration process will be difficult and slow-moving. We have already gone through the formality of meeting the Chair of the Board for Campus Crusade for Christ Botswana, a local pastor. Our agent, Colin, came to the office today to check on us. We gave him the piles of papers we brought with us – birth certificates, passport photos, transcripts, letters of recommendation, training certificates, and letters from Cru in the US – and had him look over our applications for residency. We naively thought we’d be able to submit our packets that day. Then we found out we needed several letters from BotsCru, to be signed by the Chair. So we spent hours on the letters and visited the pastor a few times to get his signature. And then we found out we need to go to a local doctor to be checked out and have him sign an official form. I’m thankful our partnership coordinator, Lois, told us we should expect the process to take a very long time. Since we started it so early, we should have plenty of time to submit and get approval before our 90 day tourist visas expire. Please join us in praying for smooth sailing!

This week, the student leaders decided to do a movie night during the weekly meeting time, and we scrambled to do publicity, gather the tech equipment, and find a new room. Though it was definitely less efficient and less organized than a US event, sixty students made it by the end of the movie. We had lots of tech problems – from sound to lights to the playing of the movie, but none of the locals seemed to mind. We watched “Do You Believe?”, a (cheesy) Christian movie designed to get people talking, and we finished the night in discussion groups. I’m not sure how the students think it went, but lots of people heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. By the time we dropped everyone off all over the city, it was after 10pm. It was a great night in the end.

Our teammate, Taffy, and his family are from Zimbabwe. They have been here in Botswana for five years, and they have been fighting to get their residency permit renewed for over a year. It has been a long and stressful process, but we are thankful they are still here! They will be moving to South Africa in December to serve with Cru’s ministry to executives. Next week, Taffy has to travel all the way to Harare, Zimbabwe to submit his family’s paperwork for their residency in South Africa. It’s a twelve hour ride on a crowded, hot, smelly bus (each way!), and he’ll have to wait in line at the embassy. Pray with us that his travels will go well, and that they will accept his application without any problems. In his absence, the STINT team will be shuttling his little boy, Zayne to and from school. Please also pray for us, as it will mean early mornings and hours of driving each day. We are honored to help! 

We were more than happy to spend time with the littles

Taffy and Gracious celebrated nine years of marriage this week, so we volunteered to watch their kids so they could have a date night. Babysitting is viewed quite differently here, as the only people who babysit are uneducated and unable to find other work. Asking someone (even a student) to watch your kids is a deeply cutting insult. As a result, Taffy and Gracious miss out on what is a clearly advantageous connection to college students for Cru staff in the US. The pool of possible sitters is great, but the opportunity to employ is non-existent. We excitedly welcomed their littles into our home for a few hours Friday night. Heidi (6), Zayne (4), and Anyssa (nearly 2) are such sweet kids! We had a dance off, they showed off their beatboxing skills, we ate dinner, and we watched Despicable Me. Before we knew it, their parents were at our door and we sadly had to say goodbye. I have fallen hard for those little ones. It will be really hard to say goodbye. (It will also be really hard to say goodbye to their parents, just in case you were wondering and feeling offended on their behalf.)

We had the amazing opportunity to attend a traditional wedding in a village called Mmankgodi this weekend!! Our teammate, Mpho, invited the entire staff team to her cousin’s wedding in their home village (about 45 minutes from the city). 

Traditional Dresses (from left: Kirstin, Stephanie, Sarah)

It is apparently completely acceptable to invite people who know neither the bride nor the groom, and we were welcomed with open arms. All three of us STINTers wore our pretty, new traditional outfits. 

Side Note: buying my skirt was quite an ordeal. The seamstress I went to promised it by Wednesday. After a few days of many failed calls, I had some teammates come to the shop with me. Friday afternoon (less than 24 hours before we were to leave for the wedding), my sweet teammates talked to the seamstress in Setswana and pressured her to make good on her promise. I picked it up the morning of the wedding, less than an hour before we had to leave. Apparently, this is totally normal. Phew!

The wedding reception was again similar but different, familiar but foreign. The gigantic tent stood above lots of nicely dressed tables, and a sound system provided music. The floor of the tent was outdoor carpet, which covered the dry and dusty ground. The bride and groom and their wedding party arrived in honking vehicles as people gathered. But it seems the entire village joined the festivities, some in traditional dress, some in wedding attire, and some in sweats. The bride and groom danced their way from the family’s compound to the tent, doing a traditional dance that everyone knew. They were flanked by their many bridesmaids and groomsmen, wearing outfits you’d find at any wedding in the US. And along the edges of the processional, old women dressed in traditional dresses, headscarves, and shawls danced too. 

The old women were ululating (a pretty familiar celebratory sound. You should Google it.) The processional took a very long time, with the song replayed many times. After they had been seated, family members made speeches and offered lengthy introductions (all in Setswana). Our team had a table in the back, and we laughed and joked and made memories together. Then a dance troupe of little girls started to do a choreographed dance beside the tent. They were really good, and their hips moved in ways mine never have. The little dancers kept us entertained as the dinner was served. 

Dance Troupe in yellow. Old women in foreground.

A traditional wedding meal, complete with pap (a mealy, porridgy starch, beets, coleslaw, seswa (pounded beef), rice, and chakalaka (something resembling cold, spicy baked beans with veggies). 

Taking turns at the outhouse.

We later walked through the family compound and took a few pictures for you. 

The wedding kitchen.

As we walked, the old men gave us drinks and the old women taught us how to ululate (and laughed when we tried it). Steph eventually jumped in to join the little girls in the dance troupe. As a professional dancer, she had no problem picking up the steps. The crowd quickly grew as the Lekgowa (White Person) danced like an African. There is a pretty big possibility that the couple’s wedding photos and videos will include just as much footage of us, the white strangers, as it does the family and wedding party. By the end of the wedding, people were no longer sneaking shots of us (which we clearly noticed) and had become bold in taking photos inches away from us. We loved it and laughed about it. 

We watched the sun set as we traveled home.

What a day! What a week!

August Snapshot

Monthly Snapshot      Volume 10, Issue 1   The 2015-2016 Botswana STINT team: Kirstin, Stephanie, and Sarah What a Whirlwind! This month has been crazy. First, my financial deadline for my year in Botswana was on August 7. The Lord brought in hundreds of dollars in monthly support and over ten thousand dollars in special gifts to cover one-time expenses... just in the nick of time! (It seems He always waits until the last minute.) Just before 5pm that day (the day before I was to leave my parents' house en route to Botswana), I got the go-ahead to buy our team's tickets and scrambled to connect with the Cru travel agent to order the tickets just before she left for the weekend. Phew! That weekend was full of last minute details and really hard goodbyes. A trip I called my "Farewell Tour" led me to several towns and cities across Pennsylvania to say goodbye to family and dear friends. I said my last really hard goodbye to my best friend, Lisa, at the Philly airport and headed to Chicago for STINT briefing. STINT briefing gathered hundreds of Americans serving overseas with Cru for a one-year commitment, coaches, and cultural ambassadors for a week of training and vision-casting. I was diagnosed with a double ear infection and a sinus infection sixty hours before we were to spend an entire day flying to Botswana, so I missed half of the conference and barely made it through the rest. Thank you for praying for me! We made our way to Botswana without any major issues (though there are some fun travel stories on my blog). We jumped right into ministry as we battled jet lag and fought hard to remember the names of all of our new teammates and student leaders.  People here are much more open to the Gospel. The national director of Cru in Botswana, Taffy, told us one in four students who hear the Gospel will make a decision to follow Christ. Of those that make that decision, about 2/5 will stay engaged and go through follow-up. On our first full day on campus, FIVE girls prayed to receive Christ with me. FIVE! That's more women moving from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light than I saw in seven years in Pittsburgh, where most of our evangelism was actually tearing down walls in order to make room for the Gospel. If that wasn't enough excitement, our first ten days were full of adventures, from hiking Kgale Hill (the highest peak in Gaborone) to driving on the left side of the road to initiating the laborious immigration/residency process to attending a wedding in a nearby village.  You can read more on my blog: kirstinheyne.blogspot.com! Praise and Prayer    * Please join us in praying for RAIN! This is the driest year of the past ten years of drought, and water outages are a constant part of life. Our friends on one end of town only have water for 12 hours each week! If this continues, all of the rivers and reservoirs in the southern part of the country will run dry by 2017. * Pray for our immigration process. We have been working on it since before we left, and it may still be two weeks until we can submit our paperwork. Our prayer is that our applications will be accepted the first time, as it is expensive and we only have 90 day tourist visas. * Praise God for the eight students who gave their lives to Christ during our first week in country! Six girls and two guys! Pray that we would be able to meet up with them to do basic follow-up. Join the Team Copyright © 2015 Cru, All rights reserved. Thank you for joining me in taking the Gospel to the ends of the Earth! Your prayer support is crucial.

Week 0, August 23

We boarded our shuttle to the airport at 3am Chicago time (after a two hour nap). We were sleepy but excited. Steph, Sarah, and I had just spent a week at STINT briefing, drinking from a fire hose of information. We had learned about cross-cultural ministry and caught a greater vision for what God is doing around the world through Cru. I fought a double ear infection and sinus infection that kept me in bed for half of the conference. Now, as we prepared for twenty-four hours of travel, I prayed fervently that the Lord would protect my hearing allow me to avoid excruciating pain in the air. Lots of friends and ministry partners had promised to pray along with me. (Thank you, prayer warriors!)

The 2015-2016 Botswana STINT Team with the Botswana Flag
from left: Kirstin, Stephanie, Sarah

My college small group leader, Lisa, and I shed a few
tears and shrieked as we celebrated
God's answer to our prayers to send me to Africa.

Waiting for our airport shuttle at 3am.

I was anxious and nauseated as we sped down the empty highways in the predawn darkness. I wondered if I was really ready for this... if I had made a wise decision. We arrived at the ticket counter, Steph literally bouncing with excitement, Sarah sleepily joyful, and me feeling ponderous and fearful for my ears. We stood in line for an hour before the ticket counter opened, giving me enough time to weigh my bags and shift things around so that each checked bag was exactly fifty pounds. Many people in line were clearly anxious, occasionally wondering aloud if we should go find someone so we wouldn't miss our flight. Most of the anxious people were traveling with calm people who constantly reassured them that we would be fine. The same was true within our little party of three. I really love to use my sociology background to people-watch in airports; it fascinates me!

The security line was long and slow, with only one person checking boarding passes and the bin runner missing in action. We made our way to our gate with just enough time for one last trip to Starbucks (as Botswana has somehow been protected from the globalization of Starbucks and McDonald's). The sun started to rise as we taxied to our runway. "Ready or not, here we go."

My seatmate on the two and a half hour flight to New York was a Chinese college student studying in Michigan. We talked for the first hour, and my heart was full as I drifted off for a little nap. How sweet of the Lord to place us next to each other! I've found that most of the Chinese students I have talked to and ministered to have had bad interactions with Americans, finding us to be impatient and unclear communicators. As I head to another country and cross cultures myself, it's encouraging to remember all that the Lord has done to prepare me. He has brought me a loooong way from my senior year of high school when I interacted with non-Americans (exchange students) for the first time.

When we landed at JFK, I waited in line at an info desk for twenty minutes before giving up and asking everyone around me for help. We had no idea how to get to the international terminal, much less which gate we needed. They were really helpful, and we booked it to a terminal a ten minute train ride away. Our layover was less than two hours, and we were determined to make that flight. When we finally found the South African Air counter, they made me and Steph check our bigger carry-ons because they were over the weight limit. We hastily shifted our stuff again and prayed the bags would make it Botswana with us. I regrettably left all of my spare clothes in the big bag because my backpack was far too small. Having lost my bags for a few days last summer, I prayed against a repeat. Thankfully, they didn't charge us to check the bags, and we rushed to the security line. The dreaded "this long from this point" sign (like those at amusement parks and inducing the same sort of anxious anticipation) told us it would be a twenty minute wait. Our flight was to begin boarding in ten minutes. We prayed, and hurriedly texted some friends to pray with us, that we would make it to our flight. It was a lesson in providence, y'all. As we wound our way through the long line we came to a bend. To our surprise, the guy redirected us, sending us into a new line. We ran through the empty queue (like a scene from Shrek), back and forth back and forth until we reached the front. You may be thinking, "Why didn't you just lift one of the stretchy ropes and go under?" Firstly, because we're rule followers, but really because a lady behind us tried to lift a rope and got yelled at. New Yorkers who work at the airport must be one of the groups that helped to establish the stereotype of gruffness, because we were barked at a few more times. Then, miracle of all miracles, we were ushered through the x-ray machines without having to remove anything at all and took off for our gate. We made it through security in FIVE MINUTES! We took off for our gate, with our carry-on bags stuffed full, and boarded with no problems. Praise God.

Waiting in line in Joburg.

Our flight to Johannesburg was mostly empty, and we all got aisle seats. I forced myself to stay awake until 8pm Botswana time to help fight jet lag. But in spite of our exhaustion, we all struggled to sleep on the fifteen hour flight.  Even with two empty seats next to me and a full sized pillow, I woke and shifted every hour or so. The great thing, though, is that South African Air feeds their passengers very well. Not only did we receive two full meals, they often passed through the aisles with snacks and drinks. When we arrived in Johannesburg, we waited in more long lines but we had no problems. 


Our gate was the farthest from our arrival point, and poor Sarah had to lug two carry-ons. Steph and I cheered her on all the way, but she wouldn't let us help her carry anything. She was a trooper. We finally made it to our bank of gates, and Sarah delighted in the giant giraffe statue that awaited us, seemingly forgetting the journey she had just been on. We only had to wait about ten minutes before the bus that shuttled us out to the tarmac arrived. Piling onto the crowded bus, I bumped a man with my backpack. I turned to apologize, and he struck up a conversation. He asked us if we were with an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization, often of a charity or aid nature). I asked why he guessed that, and he said we "have kind eyes." Oh, Lord, may I always have kind eyes! He was a South African Jew who works for a drug company that created an all-in-one antiretroviral drug to fight AIDS. I told him stories of our time in the Old Naledi neighborhood in Gaborone, working with AIDS orphans. Steph led the conversation toward spiritual things, asking him questions about how his faith intersects with his work. She shared with him, and then suddenly, we were at our little plane.

Sarah boarding our last flight

We were so close but not home yet. Our last, shortest flight was not great. Every time the flight attendant passed, she slammed into me because the aisle was so narrow. My seatmate spilled his juice on me. And the landing was by far the scariest and bumpiest I have ever experienced. Even though I travel a lot, and I love to fly, my mind reeled with emergency scenarios and responses. But we landed! And as we stepped out onto the tarmac, into the hot sun and dusty air, I felt like I was home. 

Our first photo in Botswana, on the tarmac

Our welcome party, comprised of Cru staff, volunteers, students, and kids waved and held sweet signs up to the window as we passed on the tarmac. The long wait for our bags in the empty airport was painful. I knew our friends were just on the other side of the wall. We were greeted with hugs and flowers, it was so great to see old friends. As we made our way to the parking lot, Mpho (the Batswana intern) reminded me of the conversation we had in that same parking lot almost exactly a year ago. When we were saying our goodbyes last August, I told her, "If you come back, I come back." She is joining staff, and I have returned on STINT. We laughed and hugged as we celebrated the fulfillment of that promise. 

After lugging our stuff up to our third floor flat (apartment), we all gathered for lunch at the Campus Crusade for Christ Botswana national office, which is really close to our flat. I was tired and dirty, but building relationships with our staff team was super important to me. Taffy, the national director from Zimbabwe, took us to the grocery store. Most of the products are completely familiar, and the layout is the same as a US store. But due to our utter exhaustion, we were unable to process any new information and spent most of the time staring blankly at the food on the shelves. When we finally made it home, we were given a few hours to shower before heading to campus for our first BotsCru weekly meeting.

We felt like zombies, and I prayed that the students would be gracious with us. We all struggled to stay awake during the meeting. The games were fun and engaging, but I quickly forgot every name I learned. After the meeting, I got to catch up with PD, a student who had joined us for our Summer Mission last year. I was so grateful for the comfort of an old friend. At the end of the night, we happily collapsed in our beds.

We were up bright and early for our first staff meeting the next morning, and ten hours of sleep proved to be too little. Immediately after staff meeting, we headed to campus. Taffy's philosophy is that we should jump right in. We were pleasantly surprised to find that a full tradition meal costs P15 (or $1.50). The meal was exactly the same as every lunch and dinner we ate on campus last year, and I smiled as I thought of my Summer Mission team and our meals together. Good old Moghul. When the rest of our staff team joined us in dancing at the lunch table, I knew we would fit right in! They're so much fun!

To help us transition, we took time that first weekend to visit the Three Dikgosi (Chiefs) monument , hike Kgale Hill (which included terrifying boulder fields), buy traditional dresses/skirts at The Show (a fair featuring food, rides, and local handicrafts), check out a local church, spend time with our staff team, and play with the national director's adorable children. After an afternoon of imaginary play, Zayne (4) leaned over and called me Auntie Kirstin for the first time. I nearly melted.

I conquered Kgale, boulders and all! You can see the 

nearly dry dam in the distance.

Hilariously bad selfie at the top of Kgale
back: Sarah and Taffy (staff), middle: me, Dorcas (student),
Mpho (staff), front: Steph (staff) and Malebogo (student staff)

The Three Digkosi (Chiefs) Monument

We are clearly still in the honeymoon stage, and we haven't faced any challenges yet, but I really, truly love it here.