Field News
August/September 2006 Update
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A Look into Botswana's exciting future - Vision 2016
Department: Mercy Ministries
Vision 2016 was celebrated this year in Sehitwa as we marked the 10th year of our country’s vision and assessed how well we are achieving our goals. The day was filled with important people speaking and mingling through the various booths. The President of Botswana came and toured our booth, shaking hands with Jana and Jerry and listening to the explanations of each part of LBOM. Jerry and Jana were publicly greeted and recognized before the president during the proceedings. It was exciting to be able to spread the word of LBOM throughout various factions of Botswana and to be a part of a vision that will take Botswana into its successful future!
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As third term begins, Cambridge preparations are under way
Department: OIS
The OIS students started the term by celebrated Botswana’s 40th Anniversary. We have been a free country for forty years! The children came to school dressed in the colors of the flag, blue, black and white. We enjoyed time together as the junior students had the opportunity to learn what ’independence’ meant and some interesting facts about their country.
It is exam time here at Okavango International School. Though this does not affect the junior students, the form V students are busy preparing for the Cambridge exams that will start in October and Form I wrote the PSLE. The PSLE is an exit exam that a student writes to assess the student on how they are doing in their education.have They need to be knowledgeable in all the information covered in the last four years of study. The Cambridge exam, (UK based) is a highly competitive examination that is used to attend universities all over the world.
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Morris and Carol Ruddick come to mobilize and bless our community
Department: Love Botswana
Morris and Carol Ruddick came to Botswana to share their wisdom and expertise with the Maun community. The Ruddick’s are long time supporters of LBOM. Morris has been a board member of our stateside board, Lackey Ministries for several years. Mr. Ruddick is a businessman and lecturer and his wife is a psychotherapist, specializing in trauma counseling. Morris taught a workshop on how to achieve business success in Africa through Biblical principles. He informed over 90 people on how to start your own successful business and even challenged the attendees to work out their own business plans. The attendants appreciated the information and wisdom he shared and many are excited to start developing their own business. Carol took time to counsel with a number ofmpeople on traumatic issues they had been facing in their lives. She was able to show many individuals how to rise above their circumstances and continue their lives through the Word of God. It was a blessing to have the Ruddicks with us and we appreciate all that they imparted to the people we work with.
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Village Church children are presented with VBS for the first time
Department: Village Church
A gift came from the US—Vacation Bible School! Back in August an outreach team from Texas, Woodlands Methodist Church, brought VBS to the children of Maun. They came to bless our children with toys, gifts, and the love of God. Every day the children, ages 6-12, would show up to the church by walking or having their parents drop them off. The came together for praise and worship, then broke out in age groups to enjoy story time, crafts, recreation and finally snack. The week started with 235 children, but by Friday we had well over 400 children coming to explore the love of God! Many of the little ones asked Christ into their hearts for the first time. The energy and excitement of both the team and the children was contagious!
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Samaritan’s Purse offers children Christmas in July!
Department: Love Botswana
This past outreach season, Teen Mania had the amazing opportunity to again partner with Samaritan’s Purse and offer gifts to children in the village of Shorobe. Samaritan’s Purse receives gifts from around the world and sends them to various locations in third world countries for distribution. As the truck rolls into the village, the children bounce around in uncontrollable excitement as to what is in the many boxes. As missionaries start handing out beautifully wrapped gifts, the enthusiasm of the children is unexplainable. The gifts are unwrapped, then the children jump around and hug the missionaries, trying to show them how grateful they truly are for these gifts. Something so simple, as packaging a gift for a child across the world, can make that child feel like royalty for the day! Who is blessed more—the child or the missionaries who had the opportunity to distribute the joyous gifts?
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Inter-Church HIV and AIDS Workshop: Combating the HIV and AIDS Pandemic
Department: Mercy Ministries
When a pandemic like HIV and AIDS takes control of a people and a culture, everyone starts to come together to understand and combat the very thing that is destroying their country. Botho Seboko, the rural church pastor overseer for LBOM, attended an HIV and AIDS workshop in Palapye. It was the joining of various heads of churches, so the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS could be discussed and addressed within the church. The presenters discussed issues including ASRH (Adolescent sexual reproductive health), whereby if we can teach our young people to live healthy sexual lives we will stop the rise of the HIV and AIDS infection rate in Botswana. It was decided that we need a socio-political environment and behavioral change program for our youth. The pastors and church leaders were encouraged to be exemplary examples for the youth in their churches, so each person could have an example to follow. Pre-marital counseling was also discussed as being a means to creating a family that is rooted in God’s Word and with a sound understanding of HIV and AIDS issues. Finally the pastors discussed how they needed to be united in their fight to reduce the stigma that AIDS brings to the people it ensnares, especially in the churches and among the pastoral staff
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Signs and Wonders 2006 - The Hand of God touches the people of Maun and Ngamiland
Department: Village Church
Spurred by the desperate cries of a broken and repentant people, our passioate Savior met us on our knees July 6-8 in Maun. Our tent swelled to overflowing as the masses would not be turned away from the overwhelming presence of the One True God. Powerful and God fearing guest speakers Pastor Charles & Petunia Chiriseri, Bishop C. and Clodia Mufuruse, Pearl Kupe, and Pastor Mark Lucks ushered in the mighty hand of the living God and the prophetic voice of His Spirit.
Breakaway workshops designed to encourage pastors and lay leaders in their leadership and service contributed mightily to the work in and around Botswana. Workshops ranged from practical teaching on pastoring a church to evangelism and discipleship, to practical teachings on the business world and ministry administration.
Even our youth and children were ministered to in a powerful way by Pastor Mark Lucks and his team from Resurrection Fellowship in Loveland, Colorado.
Powerful times of worship and life changing messages bellowed from the Village Church tent as hundreds of people fell on their faces before the Lord our God and the splendor of His majesty.
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All Nations Village Church - Maun is in a new tent!
Department: Village Church
All Nations Village Church - Maun has moved into a beautiful new cathedral of canvas on new property given to us by the Tawana Land Board. We could not be more excited about finally having our own land to build this church on. Also planned on our new property is a state of the art youth center where the youth of Maun can come and enjoy a safe, healthy, Godly atmosphere.
Our Signs and Wonders camp meeting was the last service held in the old tent and the final session of the meeting saw the official dedication of our new tent by Charles Chereseri and Bishop Mafurusa. The conference and the move to the new facility can only be described as God's timing as, without them, we would not be able to embrace the explosive growth in the church.
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Outreach Season comes to a close
Department: Love Botswana
Our outreach season (May through September) was immensly fruitful and timely. God brought over 275 people to Botswana to work with us in reaching the people here with the Gospel. Our primary focus was in Sehitwa where we recently planted a church in a beautiful building given by a local businessman specifically for the church pastored by Sonny Seane. The teams that came ranged from all across the USA.
Faith Family Center - lead by Cheryl Johnson
Resurrection Fellowship - lead by Mark Lucks
Resurrection Life Single Minded Missions - lead by Jackie Fron
Woodlands Methodist Church - lead by John Hull
Thanks to everyone who came with these special teams. Botswana has been served and blessed in a powerful way by the hard work done.
Special thanks to Sarah Lam, Carly Clement and John Emerick for the amazing service they gave in coming to serve with Love Botswana as summer staff. Our outreach season could never have been successful without the tireless hours of service by these wonderful people giving of their time.
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UCB Partners with Love Botswana and launches Studio 7!
Department: Love Botswana
September 22nd saw the official opening of Love Botswana Studio 7, our sound and video production studio right here in the heart of Maun. The dream at Love Botswana to see a national radio station has just taken a massive step forward. Equipment donated by United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) and a sound proofed office space form our Studio 7 prouduction house where we are capable of advanced audio editing and will soon be able to create, edit and master professional video, DVD and audio projects. We hope to use our new ability to reach the talented youth in Maun and bring them in to record, edit and master music tracks written and preformed by the youth themselves.
Standing in front of the newly opened Studio 7 on the mission property, Pastor John Phillip, dean of the Botswana Bible Institute, gave a stirring speach to many influencial and honorable men and women of Maun regarding the great potential and vast reach of the new studio. Our dream and vision is to use this studio and the future radio station housed in it as a hub for litterally hundreds of radio broadcast centers in and even beyond the borders of Botswana.
Blessing Chitsenga joined our team and is our Production Manager for Studio 7. We are pleased to have him aboard and look forward to the dream's fulfillment.
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From The Directors of LBBI
Department: LBBI
We are in our third term at Love Botswana Bible Institute and are experiencing God bringing growth as we focus on the Word, the World and Worship. Last term was a great success with “Old Testament 1” being taught as well as other classes of a very practical nature pertaining to how we relate to God and care for others. We have 31 students enrolled this term, just following last term in the most students we have ever had enrolled in LBBI. We are very excited about the privilege we have in leading these students that come from 6 different nations: Botswana; Zimbabwe; Zambia; Ghana; Guyana; and Namibia. This term the students are being taught New Testament, Church Leadership and Pastoral Development, a study on keeping a Heart Ablaze for God, and Pastoral Ministry Insights featuring the founders of Love Botswana Outreach Mission, Pastor Jerry and Jana Lackey, as well as other special guest lecturers.
Directors of Love Botswana Bible Institute
Michael & Heather Walker
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Mercy Ministries Launches Reach4Life campaign in secondary schools of Maun.
Department: Mercy Ministries
Reach4Life started with a training that was conducted from 12 – 13 January 2006 at Love Botswana Outreach Mission by International Bible Society. The response from the community has been overwhelming! The number of people who want the book and want to join Reach4Life groups has been greater than we could have imagined. Five thousand Reach4Life books have been given away and 700 students have registered to join a group to learn more and grow spiritually using Christian based values and principles.
The campaign succeeds only when young people conform to sustained specified sexual behaviors. For youth to sustain these moral standards, three decisions are essential. First they have to commit to abstinence from sex before marriage and remain faithful to their marriage partners. Secondly, commit to Christ, who provides the moral power to sustain their decision to abstain. Lastly, young people have a choice to commit to ongoing growth through exciting Reach4Life clubs.
This year has been a learning process. We plan to train group leaders so that they will be familiar with the book before starting clubs in January 2007. We also have plans to bring all group leaders together for a one day conference by the end of October 2006, designed to encourage and empower them to lead groups next year.
"Reach 4 Life has indeed breathed hope into the future of those who merely received the book. The response from students, teachers, parents and members of society has left me nearly overwhelmed. I can vividly recall many students coming to me in the streets and in my home at 7:00 a.m just wanting to talk. Walking down the road after this has been a blessing, just to hear students calling out “reach4 life, the choice is yours” from one corner to the other has shown me that an impact is being made. I silently observe my 19 year old brother as he sleeps and wakes with his book at his bed side, moving through the book making marks with his highlighters from page to page. One other student “said reach 4 life can save our nation’s youth if we only allowed it”. Students from different schools who have not yet received this book are making appointment on behalf of their schools; parents are coming to us for training on behalf on their children who are not with them, and schools out of our region (Maun) are booking in advance and pleading for this book."
Angela Smartt
Program Officer, Reach4Life
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