Week 6, October 4

We submitted all of our papers at the immigration office. We've applied for 3-5 year work and residence permits as volunteer missionaries with Cru (because we are paid by Cru in the U.S. not CCC Botswana). The lines were really short, and the process seemed to be easy. We made friends with some girls at the windows, and we hope to maintain our relationship with them. Join us in praying they approve us before our tourist visas run out!

This is what heaven will be like: people from
every tribe, tongue, and nation. I'm praising God
for a tiny glimpse of that at the immigration office!

                           

                             Commissioner of Oaths
                             signing our applications

                           




















This week, I treated one of the student leaders to lunch on campus. She's very quiet in large groups, but I can tell she has insight she's not sharing. As we chatted, we shared our life stories and talked about school and family. We talked about ministry and her role as hospitality coordinator. When I asked her if I could disciple her, she got really excited. She told me she had been hoping I would disciple her, and she couldn't believe I was actually asking her. We will be walking through Cru's discipleship material, The Compass. I went through the material with my disciplers as a student, and I've lead countless students through it, including some naturalized citizens... but I've never walked through it with an African in Africa, in her second language. Please pray for us as we dig into Scripture together and do ministry together on campus. Pray that I would shepherd her well and help her to become an even stronger disciple and leader. I'm pretty excited to finally have a student to pour into on a regular basis!



That night, we were surprised by the elaborate fireworks show just outside our complex. The Independence Eve celebrations at the national stadium happened almost in our backyard, and we stood in our parking lot, surrounded by our neighbors, and celebrated Botswana's 49 years of independence. Our littlest neighbors, Tevin and Tatiana, shrieked with joy at every boom, and we joined them in singing songs and cheering. There was such a fun atmosphere, and we got to know our neighbors better. 

On Wednesday morning, my teammate Sarah and I woke up at 3am. On purpose. We were told that the national stadium fills quickly on Independence Day, and we definitely didn't want to miss that cultural experience. In the still of the night, with only the pale light of the moon guiding our way, we followed a really bumpy dirt road behind campus to avoid the traffic everyone told us to expect. When we reached the paved road on the far side of campus, we were the only car on the dark road. We decided to risk the main road to the stadium and again found it mostly empty. There was a police barricade blocking the road to the stadium, and they told us to park a kilometer away in a shady neighborhood... in the dark... in an unfamiliar city. We graciously thanked them but made our way to a gate to campus. The guards there had stopped the car in front of us and turned them away, so we nervously rolled down our window when they approached us. When asked why we were trying to get onto campus, we wished them a Happy Boipuso (Happy Independence Day) told them we needed a place to park. They hesitated before reluctantly letting us onto campus. We sped through the empty campus streets, thinking the detours had made us late. But when we arrived at the stadium at 4:30, only bored-looking police greeted us. Not the crazy crowds we expected. Nor the students who told us to arrive so early. After messaging a bunch of people, one of our student leaders arrived to lead us through the gates. But first we had to wait until 5:30, when the stadium opened. The food vendors stared at us with amusement and suspicion as they started to set up their stalls. It turns out, the stadium was not meant to even open until 6, but they let the 50 of us standing around come inside to sit down. We shivered and watched the brilliant colors of the sunrise dance across the sky. 

      

4am: We must be crazy

5am: Empty stadium

6:30am: Pretty sunrise

Celebrating Botswana

And then people finally started to arrive; by the end of the program, we were packed in like sardines, with people sitting on top of one another and pressing into every available space. We were thankful for our painfully uncomfortable seats. The military guys acting as seating ushers made us move a few times before our friends finally arrived. The event started at 8:30, 4 hours after we had arrived. And the stadium was

Squished

still mostly empty. We laughed at our ignorance and naivete. The program was

fascinating. The Botswana Defense Force did parade drills on the soccer field for the first few hours, and then school children used boards to create giant works of art in the far stands while dance and gymnastics groups performed on the field below. Then there was a very long parade featuring lots of different industries that wound around the track and out of the stadium. And, the big crowdpleaser, some flyovers by the

School children created impressive, well-timed
scenes with giant boards. This one
celebrates agriculture - cattle and crops - while
hundreds of girls move onto the field for a dance.

BDF Air units. There were collective gasps and cheers as the fighter jets, prop planes, and troop movers flew over us.


We had plans to return an hour after the program ended for the soccer game. We really want to see a Zebras game, but we were completely exhausted, so we ran home and collapsed for a quick nap. That evening, we had a surprise party for our teammate, Clive. We went to a small place that offers karaoke and $3 steak meals. Our staff team and other friends gathered in a back room and waited for Clive to arrive. He was surprised but had been suspicious of his brother's proclaimed desire to do karaoke. We ate and laughed, and I was even convinced to sing with my STINT teammates. Karaoke is one of my 
                                                                                          greatest fears, but I ended up having fun. I 
                                                                                          consoled myself with the fact that half of                                                                                               the people love me no matter what and I'll 
                                                                                          never see the other half.

The old folks in their special seating area

The next day was also a holiday, so Sarah and I made our way to a village called Ramotswa an hour from Gabs. Steph and her dance company, Mophato Dance Theatre, had a performance at a festival for the elderly. We tried to follow the choppy directions Steph sent us as her group drove and ended up getting a thorough tour of the village and even saw South Africa through the border gate. Someone finally sent us coherent directions, and we found ourselves outside of what appeared to be a small house. There were about twenty

Making tiny friends

guests sitting under one canopy and about thirty old people sitting under another one. We couldn't understand a word being said and wondered when the dance would begin as the heat sucked away our energy. We chatted with the other dancers and played with some toddlers who were fascinated by us. Finally, two hours after their scheduled performance time, Steph's group took the "stage." They made space in the dirt at the front of the canopy, and they did really well under the conditions. It was fun to see Steph perform. We left immediately after they 

Mophato

finished dancing, as we had made plans to meet students on campus earlier in the day. As we drove, we chatted some more with the dancers (most of whom are not Christians) and sang loudly, as we often do. We look forward to continuing to build relationships with our dancer friends.





In place of our regular weekly meeting, we opted to have a sports night on campus. Most students had gone home or traveled to see friends during the mid-week holiday, and very few were on campus Thursday night. We played volleyball (my favorite!), soccer, basketball, and netball. I couldn't stop laughing during the netball game. My teammate, Sarah, and I were paired. Neither of us had ever seen a netball game and were completely confused by the rules. We just laughed and ran in circles together. I am certain we should have been penalized for breaking any number of rules, but the refs (students involved in Cru who play for the university netball team) were gracious with us and actually laughed with us.

Netball at Cru's Sports Night

Friday was our monthly Day with the Lord, adding to the already unusual schedule this week. Our team met together in the morning to sing some worship songs and pray together. We separated for segments of the day, meeting up between the segments to pray together some more. By the time we broke the fast at the end of the day, I was weak and mildly sore from the sports night the night before. 

On Saturday, we ventured out to find a swimming pool. People had told us hotels allow people to swim as long as they buy food from the hotel restaurant. The first hotel we tried, Avani (formerly and famously known as the Gaborone Sun), turned us away with an indignant no. But we found a sympathetic host at the next hotel. He said they don't let people swim in their pool, but we obviously needed help in the heat. So he let us swim! We had the secluded pool to ourselves, and it felt like heaven! The sun was scorching hot, and the water was pleasantly frigid. We had lunch and worked on our tans. It was awesome! Now we know we can survive the impending heat of the summer. And the workers are really kind. We will definitely go back!