Field News
New nursery program for the Village Church
Department: Village Church
As the church body is growing quickly, so goes the amount of babies. The All
Nations Village Church started their first nursery program on February 11th.
Each week there are at least 8 children in the nursery to minister to. The
nursery is for ages 0-36 months. Having the nursery will enable the mothers
to be ministered to more effectively in the church setting each Sunday, it also
allows them to feel they are a part of something this important ministry.
The mothers each take their turns being in the nursery or being in the
service.
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Thrive Africa interns come to LBOM
Department: Love Botswana
In early April Thrive Africa sent a team of 13 young men and women to Love Botswana for a week to serve the mission in whatever way possible. We were tremendously blessed by their intense willingness to serve and passionate hard work. What would have normally taken us weeks or months to complete, this team of world changers accomplished in a few days. They also ministered in the Village Church for our Thursday evening service, and Sunday morning in the Children's World.
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Rural church Easter conference report
Department: Village Church
Over the Easter weekend Love Botswana Bible Institute, our Fire By Night youth program and our Reach4Life team partnered together to host an Easter conference in the delta village of Shakawe. It was a tremendously successful time of ministry.
On Good Friday we showed “The Passion of the Christ” and approximately 700 to 900 people attended and approximately 60 people gave their life to Christ. Love Botswana Bible School students along with the rural pastor assisted with follow up of all who gave their life to Christ. Heather Walker gave a salvation message after the film and Pastor Mike gave a follow up commitment message.
On Saturday 80 rural church members attended the first session. Pastor Kelvin gave the message for this first session speaking on was what it means to be a child of God. Pastor Mike Walker ministered for the next three sessions on Saturday. Pastor Gary preached the final Saturday night service which was a combined service of youth and adults. The average attendance for rural church members for the remaining sessions was 134. Pastor Mike ministered for the Resurrection Sunday morning service which combined many several people from the community as well as additional rural church members specifically for the Sunday service.
Twelve out of the fifteen rural church Pastors/leaders were in attendance. Churches that were represented were: Maun, Sehitwa, Gumare, Etsha 1, Etsha 6, Etsha 13, Nxamasare, Shakawe/Mohembo, Ghani, Kaxau, Kauxwi, and Popa Falls (Namibia). We had people from age twelve to 90+ in attendance!
Counting the people who gave their life to Christ on Friday night we had over 80 commitments to Christ. Numerous rededications were made.
The bible school students did a wonderful job. They led worship, translated, and assisted with Altar ministry, acted as adult sponsors for the youth, helped out in any way as needs arose. It was wonderful to see them apply the things they have learned.
Over all the conference was a great success. The rural churches were encouraged and excited that we came all the way up to Shakawe to host a conference. It has been a great inspiration to the rural pastors. They feel more connected and reaffirmed in the calling and ministry. It definitely was a blessed event.
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P.U.R.E youth conference report
Department: Village Church
On Easter, the youth traveled to Shakawe to attend a Camp organized by the Church alongside the Rural Churches Conference. The camp was dubbed Camp P.U.R.E, which stands for Pursuing Uncompromising Righteousness Earnestly. The Camp was aimed at:
- Empowering the youth to lead God-Fearing Lives by Pursuing Uncompromising Righteousness Earnestly.
- Helping the youth to find themselves by finding their identity in Christ.
- Helping the youth understand that they can live God-fearing and God-Centered lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Helping them understand that they can quit addictions and live for God.
The key verse for this camp was from 1 Timothy 6 verse 11 and reads;
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
About a 140 young people attended from all the Village Churches and our Reach4lLife Clubs. God ministered to the young people and some of them even met the Lord for the first time and gave their lives to him. The camp was filled with praise, worship, games and teachings on Purity.
A lot of lives were turned around.
Praise the Lord!
Pastor Gary
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PowerHouse youth ministry and Fire By Night continue to grow
Department: Village Church
Our PowerHouse youth ministry and Fire By Night are still seeing weekly growth both spiritually and in numbers. On average between 70 and 80 young people come to hear the message of purity and holy living on a weekly basis. We also recently held a "Parent's Night" when we invited all the parents of our youth and kickstarted our Mentorship Program.
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Changes within our Human Resources department
Department: Love Botswana
As the Mission grows the Human Resources Department grows with it! With the Mission now serving over 70 staff (employee, volunteer, and missionary) the HR department is vital in keeping everything functioning smoothly among the staff and Mission.
There is never a dull moment in this department as there are constant needs that need to be met. Over the past 6 months the HR department has developed and revised an Employee Handbook which has all the Mission’s policies and guidelines. With a staff of over 70 you can imagine that this handbook was desperately needed. Many countless hours of looking over labor law books and existing policies were put into this handbook. As we grow the handbook grows and therefore we have constant revision. Special thanks goes to Linda Madeksho and Jackie Fron for all their hard work and making this handbook possible! The final draft is in order and we plan on launching the official handbook this month.
The HR department also grew a few staff members! Mr. Letlhogonolo (Lets) Kelesitse began working in the HR Department full time starting in April. Lets is a University of Botswana graduate with a BA in Economics and Environmental Science in addition to a diploma in Human Resources and Secondary education. He will be a valuable asset to this department adding more knowledge and much needed assistance. Lets will be key in keeping things in order on a full time basis.
In addition, Maureen Milham will be taking over the recruitment portion of HR and Erin Adams will be assisting with hospitality needs within the Mission.
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Jerry and Jana receive their Permanent Residence in Botswana
Department: Love Botswana
The Lackeys have been awarded Permanent Resident status by the government which residents only receive if they have lived in the country for over 10 years and have made major contributions to the Nation.
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Love Botswana was blessed with donated construction equipment
Department: Love Botswana
An Auger been donated and will help us with many of our projects in the mission and community, including digging pit latrines for needy families at a faster pace than we have been able to facilitate prior to this great blessing! Heartfelt thanks to LB Equipment and Woodlands United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas for this donation.
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Saying goodbye
Department: Mercy Ministries
It is never easy to see missionaries leave Love Botswana, even when we know they are going on to fulfill the destiny God has for them. Our dear friends, the Eikaas family who have been the directors of Mercy Ministries for the last 3 years, are returning to Norway as their time of serving with Love Botswana has come to a close. They developed the Mercy Ministries department from scratch and laid the groundwork for many years to come. Their family was pivital in developing the HIV/AIDS care and prevention programs that we will continue to use for many many years. Alf was the director of our Mercy Ministries department and Siw piloted the care program for the preschool for vulnerable children. They have 3 adorable little boys ages 4-8. They will continue as partners with Love Botswana in our Care and Prevention Programs from their homeland of Norway. We want to wish Godspeed to these dear friends and faithful servants to Christ and to the hurting. Botswana, Africa and the World will never be the same because of the work they put into the land and the people here. Goodbye Alf and Siw and boys.
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Another step towards an emergency home for orphaned and vulnerable babies
Department: Mercy Ministries
The Emergency Home for Abandoned Babies one step closer to being opened and operating. The change of use of land was accepted, bringing us to the application stage with the local Council. A luncheon will be held next month to create awareness in the community of this exciting outreach. The home will serve abandoned babies 0-5 years of age and provide a safe and loving atmosphere while they are awaiting long term solutions.
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Reach4Life reaching the country
Department: Mercy Ministries
The team continues to make progress in the Government schools in the region where the program is running. The R4L Radio spots are airing on National Radio, spreading the message of the gospel along with choosing Life by choosing to abstain from sex until marriage.
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Funding needed for our Preschool for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children
Department: Mercy Ministries
We are happy to report that half of the funding has come in for the Preschool Readiness program! $30,000 USD is remaining to have the funding to complete this project that will impact the lives of vulnerable children in need of love, care and education that will enable them to enter into school with a head- start.
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