Field News
Tumelo Play Park opens
Department: Mercy Ministries
In mid-September the Tumelo Play Park opened again with a total of 15 children. Bogolo Mosimanyana has joined us as an assistant, and she is working very well with Siw as the lead teacher and Junior and Ketty as the other two assistants. The children are enjoying their time with us and continue to grow in all areas! Just this week all the children were washed, dressed and ready to leave when we came to pick them up, which is the first time and shows that the families also really value having their children at the Play Park.
September also marked the start-up of our second Abstinence Club which meets at OIS. The students are very eager, and this week we had boys coming for the first time as well.
Rachel Houweling has also joined us as a volunteer. She is a pilot’s wife here in Maun, and is devoting herself and her car (which is a great blessing!) to Mercy Ministries. She has been assisting Zhie in her work, and as an occupational therapist she is bringing in a lot of experience and expertise to our work.
We have also expanded our counseling services on HIV/AIDS with Rosinah Maitshego joining us as a counselor. She has felt the stigma of openly being HIV-positive herself by being fired from her workplace, but has great strength and knowledge on these issues. She is available for counseling five days a week, and people have already started accessing this service.
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The New Women's Ministry!
Department: Village Church
We are very excited and look forward to venturing into this part of ministry! Friday 12 August marked the official kickoff date. We take great pride in the diversity of the people who make us what we are – a church of many cultures, languages, backgrounds and experiences. We want our woman to get to know each other, to bond, love and cherish one another. We believe that these differences will bring us together and make us stronger. We believe in helping women to better their lives and also in discovering their mission, gifts and assignments, in other words stewardship – which is using our God given talents to achieve a kingdom purpose. It is our desire to accomplish our goals in the following ways:
Hospitality
- Wedding committee
- Baby showers
- Pre natal class
- New mother’s class
Single support group
- Self confidence
- Economic empowerment – house wives, single parents, youth
- Enrichment classes – unskilled, unemployed, homemakers
- Income opportunities
- Job placements – unemployed, better jobs
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Special Women's Conference
Department: Village Church
We have extraordinary news to share! We recently held a conference on 16-17 September facilitated by a team of ten ladies from Ohio, USA. The first night we had worship and Pastor Angelle Jones brought the Word which was timely and blessed every woman who attended. Saturday we held workshops that were open to the business and women leaders in the community. A well known business woman attended on the first night and she came back the following morning for the workshops and remained through them all. That afternoon she gave her life to the Lord and returned again that evening for worship. She is still excited and desires to learn more about the things of God. We thank the Lord that the team did not labor in vain! The whole conference was a great success and bonds were made with all who attended!
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The Evangelism Explosion Conference
Department: Village Church
The Evangelism Conference we attended in Gaborone was really a great time of refreshment and also a time for renewing our vision for our evangelism team. So the three of us that were there came back on fire and ready to explode. As a result we have encouraged at least 16 people to come attend our training in evangelism. Two young ladies were so eager and we began the training with them. They completed 16 lessons with practical's in 3 days, took the test and both passed. During the training we shared the gospel three times and one lady was saved. These ladies are so excited about sharing the gospel now that they too are helping us recruit more people to train. On Saturday we had three men and two ladies attend our training and we expect more in the coming weeks!
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Taking A Cool Splash
Department: Village Church
Twenty-nine people were baptized on the 25th September 2005. Praise the Lord that twenty-one of these baptism candidates were from our discipleship group. What is even more exciting is that at least twelve of these precious souls are now part of our evangelism training program. God is so faithful and He continues to answer our prayer for souls who are thirsty for God.
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Pastor moves into full time postion
Department: Village Church
Pastor Sonny Seane will move into the position of full time pastor beginning in October at the Sehitwa Village Church! Pastor Seane is stepping out in faith that the Lord will provide a salary for him in this new position. Funds for his first year as Pastor are currently being raised. If you'd like to take part in this milestone event - CLICK TO DONATE ONLINE. Be sure to note that monies are designated for the Sehitwa Pastor Support Program.
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Thank You For Your Generosity
Department: Okavango International School
We were able to give our friend, Gift, P300 after Bandana Day last month! Thank you to everyone who contributed so willingly. This month we will have a civvies day on 27 October with a P2 donation for the “Gift” fund. The cake sale raise over P750 towards the shaded area in the playground. Thank you also to the Wortz family from Michigan, USA who gave the hockey team P1000 to spend on kit. We are very grateful for all this support!
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Successful Hockey Clinic
Department: Okavango International School
Maun Sports Complex was the venue of a development hockey clinic held recently. One hundred students from six schools spent the day learning the basic skills of Field Hockey from the coaches, Bongani Nsumiwa and Wycliffe Opany, who convened the clinic under he auspices of the Botswana Hockey Association. Both men currently represent Botswana in the national squad which traveled to Namibia earlier this month and convincingly beat the Namibian Masters Team. These development officers also have the distinction of having represented their own home countries in hockey, namely Zimbabwe and Kenya. The clinic was further made possible by the assistance of fifteen teachers who helped with the coaching throughout the day.
Hockey is the fastest growing sport in Botswana and it is hoped that regular training sessions will be set up in the region in the near future. Thanking the coaches and the Botswana Hockey Association for including Maun in the itinerary of regions visited as part of the development programme, the principal of OIS said that "The organization of sporting activities such as these assists in the fight against AIDS as young people are gainfully occupied over weekends." She also encouraged all the young people present to continue playing hockey and said that "Some already show potential and could represent Botswana in the 2010 Olympic Games if they continue to show interest in the game."
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A Busy Start To The Term!
Department: Okavango International School
This term has started on a very positive note with ten new Dell computers installed throughout the school. With all the classrooms now having internet access computers have been blocked to screen any unsuitable material available on the internet. THe computers will be an invaluable teaching resource at OIS.
OIS will host a development hockey clinic held in conjunction with the Botswana Hockey Association. Two coaches will introduce players to the fundamentals of field hockey at the Maun Stadium.
This is Vision 2016 month and we are encouraging all our students to be caring and compassionate young people and have a little fun at the same time. On 23 September we will have Bandana Day and everyone is encouraged to wear a bandana to school and donate P2, which will be given to our disable friend, Gift, to enable him to attend Moremi School. Bandana Day is for the whole school community. Let us all show that WE CARE!!!
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Student Wins Trip To The Delta
Department: Okavango International School
A Form III student, Divyang Joshi, the lucky winner of the Parent Body raffle, enjoyed a great trip with his family during the holidays courtesy of Mack Air and Guma Lagoon. Thank you to our sponsors and all those who participated in this event!
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Parent Body Helps Out
Department: Okavango International School
A wonderful shaded play area is under construction in the junior playground thanks to fundraising efforts of a dedicated group of the Parent Body committee. The parents initiated and designed the lapa and gave up precious weekends to get the frame work completed. We hope to have lattes on the roof very soon. Craftsmen at LBOM fabricated the very smart fence around the play area. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped to develop the junior playground.
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