Closing Thoughts

Now that Jenny and I have been home from Botswana for more than a week and have been able to get settled back into our everyday routines, I thought it was about time we closed this blog with one last post. I wanted to share the video of the playground dedication at the Life Centre, not only because is it a cool video (not well-made unfortunately, but at least I captured the moment), but it totally sums up the entire experience for me. It was a ton of hard, hot, sweaty work, but watching those kids run onto the playground was the most rewarding feeling. To know that the children in the community now have a safe place to play makes me so happy. To think of their smiling faces. To think of the work that Love Botswana is doing, and will continue to do in the lives of the people of Botswana. It fills my heart with joy.

To all my family and friends, I have been so overwhelmed by your support. Thank you for letting me be a part of this team, to travel to Africa, and to experience God's love in a whole new way.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, 

that we should be called children of God!

1 John 3:1

It's not over yet

Tomorrow marks not only the huge Grand Opening of the Life Centre and the celebration of Jerry and Jana Lackey's 25 years in Botswana, but it's also our last day at LoveBotswana. We sleep here two more nights, and then early Friday morning (6 a.m.!) we're getting picked up to be taken to the Moremi Game Reserve for the safari. It's about 2-2.5 hours away from where we are currently located in Maun. That night, after the safari, the team will be staying at the Royal Tree Lodge then waking up Saturday morning, checking in at the airport, doing some last minute shopping, and taking off for the long trip back. (Check out our itinerary page, there are links to both the game reserve and the Royal Tree Lodge there, if you're interested.) I can't believe the trip is already winding down. In some ways, it's felt like the longest trip I've ever been on, but in others, it seems like we just arrived and there's no way it's already almost time to leave.

Today while the rest of the team was either finishing up on the playground after lunch (or taking naps, or who-knows-what -- only a few people were needed to assist the guys doing the concrete), Jenny and I sat out by the pool and enjoyed some afternoon sunshine. It was a welcomed break, and even felt like a mini vacation for those couple of hours. We read, had some good conversation, and visited with one of the Lackey's adopted daughters. She is deaf, so we passed a notebook back and forth and attempted to "speak" English with her. It was cute. Due to chemicals that had recently been put into the pool, we weren't allowed to swim, but it was a great way to spend the afternoon regardless.

Now that it's almost my bedtime (9:30 p.m., again!) I will sign off, but once again, I just want to thank you all for joining us on our adventures either just by reading our blog, or the KATW email updates, or through your prayers and/or financial support... this has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime trip. And the best part is... it's not over yet! :)

This Is Africa.

I didn't get a chance to write last night, I was way too exhausted to stay up past 9:30 p.m., my eyes were closing as Jenny was typing her semi-daily trip email update. We almost finished our last playground today. As they say here, "This Is Africa," everything takes a little bit longer or doesn't work as planned... patience is a must-needed virtue. We were supposed to start mixing concrete (or should I say, our helpful local workers, since they actually know what they are doing) at 9 a.m., but we actually didn't start with mixing and pouring concrete until after lunch, around 1 p.m. Needless to say, we didn't get done what we expected, but alas, This Is Africa, and thankfully we still have another day to work. Tomorrow we were going to go over to help at the Life Centre to assist in setting up/cleaning/etc. in preparation for the Grand Opening and the celebration of the Lackey's 25 years of ministry in Botswana. Some of us may still go, but some of us will stay here and complete the playground.

Tonight we were able to take early showers (a story all of it's own, that perhaps I'll save for another day), and we're heading into town to have dinner. It's always nice to change into normal clothes and not be sweaty and dirty until 7 p.m.

Anyway, I should be off... just found out we're leaving in 5 minutes and I'm still in my pjs.

Easter Sunday

When I think back on Easter as a child, I think of getting dressed up in a pastel colored dress (probably with flowers on it), going to church and then spending the day with family.  A highlight of that day was the Easter egg hunt we would have at Grandma and Grandpa Rosene's house… searching through the house and the yard for all the little eggs that Grandma hid was a memorable time. Today was also a memorable Easter.  We spent the morning at church, sang songs and hymns (surprisingly we knew the songs!) and listened to a message to remind us of God’s power and endless possibilities when we fully give our life to Him.  What an incredible experience to be at this church half way around the world all worshiping the same God.  

The playground dedication was today and it was awesome! The kids could hardly wait to run to the playground! They couldn't stop smiling and laughing, swinging from one thing to the next, climbing one wall to the next, sliding down one slide to the next, they couldn't get enough.  All the sweat and aches are totally forgotten when you see all the joy on the childrens faces.  It was truly a sight!

We spend the rest of the day exploring different shops around the city.  Everyone got something except for me surprisingly!  I’m just waiting for the perfect Botswana souvenir I guess! :)

Today was a great day that’s for sure! Tomorrow we will hopefully finish the next playground on site!  We’re movin along!

Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers! Until next time...

He is Risen!

Everyone else in the house is asleep (that seems to be the norm), and I'm the last one to bed... which is hilarious because it's only 9 p.m. here. I love it. Botswana is currently in a state of drought (even after the rainy season that just recently ended), so they ration the water supply by turning it on at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and it runs each time for approximately an hour. Soooo, after working a long, hard, dirty, sweaty day, we get to wait until 7 p.m. to take showers. We've all adapted just fine, but after shower time there's not much else anyone feels like doing but hitting the hay. Thankfully tomorrow (Easter Sunday) we not only get to sleep in an hour, but we get to wear normal clothes. No work stuff! No sports bras! I've never been more excited to put on makeup in my whole life. :) It will be so cool to be a part of the Village Church service (at LoveBotswana's Life Centre), and then dedicating the first playground -- some of the locals that have been helping just finished pouring the concrete this afternoon. I think we plan on going out to eat after church and then doing some shopping in Maun. I'm really looking forward to having the day off. I think everyone is pretty worn out, so it will be wonderful to spend time together without doing such strenuous physical labor all day.

I will try to keep it a little shorter tonight... just wanted to get some more thoughts out. We did a load of laundry tonight to wash some of our gross work clothes, and I wish I could take a picture of the living room/kitchen area so you could see all of our stuff strewn about, trying to air dry (no working dryer here). Very thankful to get some clothes washed though... definitely a perk! Anyway, I was trying to wrap up. Thanks again to all of you for your prayers and support. God is definitely at work here (in Botswana and my heart), so I'm looking forward to celebrating Easter tomorrow and worshipping among the Africans. Who would've thought...

...And totally redeem yourself!

Since we've left you all hanging for the last couple days, we thought we'd each post a little something to hopefully make up for our lack of updates. I apologize for not writing until the halfway point of the trip, but Jenny was right, we have had one thing after another distract us from the blog. Exhaustion mainly, the first night we got here we were so excited to crawl into bed at 8 p.m.! And we probably haven’t been too far behind since; I don’t think there’s been a night when we’ve been awake after 10 p.m. Waking up each morning at 6:15 a.m. and working our butts off during the day has made it easy to fall asleep at night, that’s for sure.

As Jenny mentioned, we’re almost done with Playground #1 at LoveBotswana’s Life Centre. We will be dedicating that this Sunday, where they are expecting to have up to 300 children waiting to play! I’m sure I will cry. :) A couple days ago, three people from our team traveled to a more remote area in Botswana a couple hours away to set up another playground, and the community was just thrilled. We have two playgrounds to finish here on LoveBotswana’s plot. One will go by the school, I believe, and another one is to go near the Lorato House (the rescue center/orphanage). It’s crazy to think we have just as many days left to work as we have already worked. Time flies when you’re building playgrounds in 95 degree sunshine, I guess.

I’ve definitely learned a lot about nuts and bolts and tools and what my arm muscles feel like again, but God’s definitely teaching me other things as well. Like patience. Humility. Respect for other cultures. Reliance on him for strength and energy. One of my favorite God things so far has been Bubba, the cat that lives in the house (not where I am staying, but where many of my other team members are staying). I think God knew I would miss my cats so he provided Bubba. And the dogs that run around everywhere. All of the dogs on the LoveBotswana plot have names and have been vaccinated, so they’re not gross street dogs, they’re very sweet, and they definitely cure my need for animal companionship. That sounds totally cheesy, but for those of you that know me, you understand. :)

Long story not-so-short, all is going really well. The team members seem to have a great dynamic and no one is really driving me crazy yet. I’m hopping right out of bed when the alarm goes off.  Food has been delicious. I don't have malaria. There’s a CAT. Everything has been wonderful. I’m so thankful to be a part of this team, this whole experience, and I’m looking forward to everything else that’s in store for the days ahead.

Until then…

Botswana Update

Hi Friends and Family!

We are here safe and sound! Jenna and I have meant to update this blog more often but between no internet connection + short power outage + exhaustion we haven’t been able to update as much as we thought.  We have had a wonderful trip so far! We are almost done with the big playground, just have some concrete and sand to fill in and it’s all set! It looks awesome! We have had some great help from some locals, we couldn't have done it without them! The playground dedication is on Sunday so we are all looking forward to that.  I can’t believe the weather here, it’s been upper 90’s the whole time with lots of sun! No worries, we are wearing our sunscreen :) .  We have two more playgrounds that are still going up so we still have lots of work left to do!  It's been a great experience so far, can't believe we have another week to go! Thank you for your support and prayers, we appreciate it very much!!

Until the next time…

(Happy Easter!!)