My Kitchen Curtains

You knew it wouldn't be long before I had to redecorate something around here... :)

This house had some unique challenges. Of course, it needed a good scrubbing and a bit of TLC, but there were some further problems to be addressed. One of these problems was a set of shelves needed for the office supplies. My brother and I rigged up a 3-tiered bookshelf by taping together three paper boxes and setting them on their side. It works for now, but is starting to get a bit saggy. We may have to look into it a bit more. LOL

The first time we walked in the house, it was around 4 o'clock, and the afternoon sun was streaming (beating) in the kitchen window, heating up the entire house. From noon until the sun goes down, the sun shines straight into these windows in the back of the house.

My solution? I found an extra bed sheet (there were several sets of twin sheets already in the house), some clothespins, some strips of cloth to tie it back, and a pair of scissors to cut it up. The result:



I'm pretty happy with the results, although it wouldn't really work as a long-term solution. But it works for us, and the red of the sheet against the butternut yellow of the walls goes perfectly with the couple of Autumn towels we brought with us.

Here is the rest of the kitchen:

Friday, October 30

Being on this missions trip has been completely different from any other one I've had. Other trips have been centered around three main endeavors: mass literature distribution, childcare, and computer/office work. It's given me a lot of experience and made me fall in love with country after country. My love of travel and new experiences make missions trips very exciting and memorable, but this time, even though we've only been in Botswana for a week, I can tell it is different.

This is the first time I've been so involved with the people. Already I can feel my heart falling in love with this place and these people - even though outwardly it is probably the ugliest country I've been in yet (in terms of scenery, etc). In just one week, I've had so many opportunities with the people like I haven't had on any other trip. I scheduled a study for Monday and it cancelled. It was a bit of a discouragement to start the week, but I chalked it up to "this is Africa" and the week moved on. By the time today ended, the number of studies I have done this week stands at five, with three different ladies, not counting some of the serious discussions I have had while handing out literature on the street. I have three more scheduled for tomorrow, and next week is filling out the same way. These are not normal Bible studies like I usually have in the States either - these are ladies hungry for the Gospel. It is like they hang on every word I say, and they ask so many questions! It is very humbling, very exhausting, and very exciting!

Already I am dreading our departure date.

I can't give very many specifics on the blog for privacy reasons, but I do appreciate all of those who have been praying for us! Your prayers are being answered daily! If the first week has been this exciting, I can't wait to see what happens in the coming months!!! :)

Wednesday, October 28

It's a breezy, sunny morning here in Francistown. All 5 guys got in safely yesterday and I can hear them now, having a planning meeting in the other room. There are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up, and we need some sort of schedule and plan for moving forward. The task seems too big and unattainable at this point, but where we are unable, God is sufficient. I really say that sincerely, because we are working with some odds against us. We are in a different culture, a different weather (exhausting heat), and a different time zone. Many things simply take more time to do and keep up with, just given the nature of this country.

I compiled a book of contacts yesterday, using a book that had previously been put together, a stack of postcards with scribbled notes, and several pages of names and phone numbers taken down by other people. These contacts range from already saved and baptized converts who have been studying the Bible since the beginning of the year to people just met on the street last week. The book numbers at around 70 people, all who we need to contact, meet with, and try to set up weekly or daily studies while we are here in the country. I think I am most overwhelmed by the number of ladies in the book which is almost equal to the number of men. My mom and I are responsible to contact all the ladies, but there are only two of us, where there are currently seven guys in the house to contact the men.

We also organized the correspondence courses, getting a workable system set up so that they will not take too much time each week. The post box must be checked every couple days, the returned studies graded, certificates printed, new contacts added to the database, and all the new studies mailed out. I've done correspondence schools in a couple different countries, but it is always an interesting challenge to learn a new postal system. There was quite a bit of literature in the house, spread around and not very organized. It all had to be inventoried and boxed up, the boxes numbered, and stacked in the garage. With so many people coming and going, it is good for us to be as organized as possible.

On a different note, I did my laundry this morning. :) There isn't a washer or dryer here in the house, and though we do have the option of taking clothes to a laundry service, this of course costs money, and it takes them a couple days to get everything done. (As an interesting side note - when you take the clothes to the laundry service, they dump them into a huge burlap bag, then hook it up to a giant scale. You pay by the kilogram, 11 pula for wash/dry/fold and 14 pula for wash/dry/iron/fold. [12 pula=$2, and a week's worth of laundry for the four in my family weighed 19 kg.] They then dump the bag out and inventory every item by type - socks, pants, shirts, etc. You pay up front and are given the list of items, then come back a couple days later to take it all home.) Having limited clothing available to begin with, I think we are going to try to handwash as much as possible. This takes me back to my days in Thailand, when our washing machine decided to randomly streak our clothing with blue and red stripes. If I remember correctly, we finally got it fixed, but not before we spent a couple months handwashing items every day. It isn't too bad if everyone takes care of their own clothing, and if you spend a few minutes every morning to wash your clothes from the previous day. If you let it build up too long, it becomes a bit overwhelming, as you can probably imagine. I don't mind handwashing my own clothes, but I hope they don't give me the job of handwashing everyone's clothes. :)

October 25, 2009

Botswana is definitely not the same as South Africa.

It is strange, really, because I expected it to be. And in a lot of ways they are very similar, but there are some marked differences that I have noticed - just in my two days of being here in Botswana.

For one, the people are much friendlier. That is not to say that the people in South Africa aren't friendly, it just seems that there is a greater level of friendliness. There seems to be more of a trusting of white people, a friendship mentality, rather than a server to the greater.

There aren't many white people, though we have seen a few. This is very different from South Africa, where the towns are mostly inhabited by the whites, and the villages by the blacks. In Botswana, towns and villages are inhabited by the blacks, with a few white people sprinkled throughout. From those we've talked with briefly, it seems that most of them have fled from Zimbabwe for the time, or have moved here from South Africa to get away from the busyness.

Botswana is much more laid-back than South Africa is. (And that, right there, is saying something!) Things don't happen fast. Lots of people still ride donkeys and mules, though that is mostly outside of town.

The house we are staying in is very nice, though in need of some TLC. The yard and house exterior is pretty run-down, and the bathrooms could use some updating, but for the most part, it is a beautiful house. Not new, but not old - tiled throughout, four bedrooms (all will be very full after Tuesday), two bathrooms, and a good-sized living area. When we arrived at the house, it was in need of a good scrubbing (after a year of short-term missions trips, mostly men...you can only imagine) and organization. As usually happens, everyone who came left something behind. Over time, it just became a grand unorganized mess. But it is all righted now...and we are happily situated.

There is internet at the house (yay!) but bandwidth is limited, so there will be no loading of pictures and videos without first locating an internet cafe for the bigger projects. When I do locate and visit the cafe, I will try to upload some pictures, however...I need to take them first. :)

Today we met with some of the people and had a Bible study service. We also went grocery shopping and stocked up on everything we need. Tomorrow is busy with some more errands as we try to find things around town and the first of the Bible studies (I think we have some scheduled every day this week). Then Tuesday we get five new workers - two from Chile, one from South Africa, and two from Pennsylvania. My mother and I will be the only females in this group, so your prayers and sympathies are much appreciated. :)

We Made It!

We are here. And I am online. :)

I really don't even know where to start because we've done so much over the past week...it's been insane, but so much fun! I guess I'll just give a run-down for those who care to know:

Sunday - church, potluck lunch and afternoon service. We got home with the evening stretching before us, so we went over to some friends' house and watched a movie instead of packing.

Monday - packing and last minute details. Left Bandit at Chris and Jackie's. *sniff, sniff*

Tuesday - all sorts of last minute details were brought up on Tuesday morning. We said goodbye to the rather large group who had gathered, and left for the airport at 10:30. We opted to fly from the small airport near our home, and I can't believe how easy it was! A twenty minute drive, and then twenty minutes from curbside to sitting at our gate. Nice! We flew to Detroit, then Atlanta (where I bought and consumed my last Pumpkin Spice Breve of the season), and then Joburg.

Wednesday - pretty uneventful as most of the day was spent on a plane. My brother and his family picked us up from the airport.

Thursday - spent the day in Pretoria with my brother and his family. Much too short...

Friday - drove to Pietersburg and spent the day with the Wilhites, another missionary family from our church. They are actually headed home for furlough in a few days, so we will see them in PA when we get home in January.

Saturday - left Pietersburg and drove to Botswana. It took about 8 hours in all, with an uneventful border crossing. We found our house in Francistown and spent most of the afternoon and evening cleaning, organizing, and unpacking. This is home for the next couple months!!!

I really should go to bed, so that's all you get for now. :)