Doing Hard Things!

It would be obvious for me to say that we are not the most faithful blogger out there.  I would like to say that we are truly repentant but after teaching the lesson on repentance to one of my group of ladies on Thursday, my conscience won't let me. : )  I have noticed something interesting which I'm sure is not true across the board but does seem to be a pattern.  People who are more open and free with their views in "real life" (who could that be? : ) don't make very good bloggers but those who are more private and quiet are much more faithful and personal on their blogs.  Has anyone else notices this?   But because I love you all I'm going to exert myself and write something.  I can't remember what I've told who and who I've told what so here is just an overview of what we're doing right now.
We are in Botswana right now.  This will be the end of the third week on Tuesday.  Mr. Hammett is teaching classes on different aspects of missions and teaching strategy and we are doing bible classes with some of the people here in Francistown.  Krista and me were not aware that we would be included in these lessons until we got here.  The group this time was smaller then previous groups and included another girl, Anne, so I think that has made this group a little different from the others.   Rachel warned us that it would be very busy once the classes started but I don't think any of us really understood how busy.  This is are schedule every week day.   We have devotions at 8:00am in the morning so if you want any breakfast, coffee, or a shower you have to get up in time to be done by 8:00.  These devotions are not like your usual morning devotions.  They usually consist of one verse but sometime it may only be a few words.  Then Mr. Hammett asks a billion questions and you have to think really hard and this goes on for at least an hour.  One day it was two and a half hours.  By the end of this my head is hurting and I'm tired again and it's only 9:00am. : )  Then he usually asked us two questions.  What did you learn from the passage?  and What does God want you to do?  Everyone has to answer, no exceptions which means you'd better be paying attention. : )  Then we have a lesson on how to teach the Scripture Diagrams from the book he wrote.  I think some of you have seen it or used it before.  Mr. Hammett's method of teaching them uses a lot of questions.   The goal is to try to always ask questions and avoid statements.   This goal of this method is to have your student find truths in the Bible themselves as opposed to you telling them truths, which is a lot less powerful.  It takes some getting used to.  Especially since you are also trying not to use "yes" or "no" questions. : )  Then after diagram lessons we either have a Phonetic lesson with Nat or a lesson on Mission strategies with Mr. Hammett or the girls sometimes have a lesson with Mrs. Hammett.  The phonetic lessons are very interesting but also quite difficult.  The more you study the more you find that learning another language is hard work.   We are just trying to be able to say and write our students names correctly.  So we usually have fun in class trying to say weird sounds and learning pitch and tone and many things about speaking that you never though of before.  Nat is always very patient with us and Phonetic classes are always fun.   Usually we finish morning classes right at 12:00 and eat a quick lunch (which is always very good. Mrs. Hammett makes the best lasagna every: ).   We have to be done with lunch and ready to leave by 12:30.  Downtown Francistown is not far from the Hammett's house and we usually get there a little before 1:00.  Half of us get dropped of at the market place and the others get dropped off on a nice shady street in front of the cities Civic Center.  Me and Anne are always in the market place.  This is a group of stands, usually selling oranges, vegetables, candy or other odds and ends, lining one of the main roads with a taxi rank (parking lot) on one side and a mall on the other.  I have lessons with several groups of women that run their own stands.  From 1:00 to 3:30ish I walk around the market and meet with whichever of these women are available.  It is one of the most interesting experiences of my life.  About the third day of teaching I started seeing a lot of American money floating around and by the fifth day it became obvious I was in the middle of some sort of business that wasn't quite kosher. : )  It's been fun.  I think me and Anne are in the middle of Francistown's blackmarket (and I'm not talking about the color of their skin. : )   I learn something new everyday.  Last week I learned how to tie a scarf over my hair.  Lizzy, one of the ladies in my blackmarket group, ties it for me almost everyday.   I usually wear it around for the rest of the day and get a lot of smiles and kind words about it.  I love it.  Most of the women are Swana but a few are Zulu, Shona, or Klanga.  There are also many people from Zimbabwe here, legally or illegally, it doesn't seem to make a difference.  Me and Anne carry around little stools so that we can have a place to sit while teaching.  It is always sunny and warm.  I'm getting darker everyday and my freckles are starting to show.  We usually wrap up by 3:30 and me and Anne walk down to the Civic Center to met the others.  I love this part of the day, walking through all the vendors and taxis with all the noise and people.  Sometimes we stop by one of the shops to pick up something to eat.  Francistown is not like South Africa.   We are usually the only white people in a sea of black faces.  It is an unique experience that I have come to love.  The people of Botswana are in general much more friendly then other countries, including the US.  We are constantly being greeted by strangers.  The women wear the most beautiful skirts and dresses and there is no such thing as clashing colors to them. : )  After our relaxing walk to the Civic Center there is usually someone still doing lessons so we all sit on the brick wall under the trees and wait.    Mr. Hammett has assigned us all to write out the whole book of Acts so many of us work on that while we are waiting or we walk down to the Pick and Pay (a little grocery store) and buy something to drink or a snack or just walk around.  There is a little fabric shop across from the Civic Center.   Most of the fabric shops are run by Indians or Pakistanis.  I bought some fabric Thursday to make a bag and maybe a head scarf, we'll see.  We usually all get home by 4:30.  Dinner is at 5:30 then we usually have a few more classes or watch a video on culture or one day we watched a sermon by Milton Martin.   Then we debrief.  We all just tell about our day, who we taught and how it went.   It is encouraging and neat to hear about everyone else's experiences and we usually have a lot of laughter and good ideas for the next day.  By then end everyone is tired and we go to bed because we know that it will all start over again at 8:00 the next day. 

P.S. Brother Gerth, : ( I'm a very bad student.  I have no paper for you yet.  I would like to say I'll write it soon but I just don't think that's going to happen.

This is Senziwe...... She's the first person I started teaching and the closest to the knowledge of the truth.....I love meeting with her because she's understands everything very fast and is quick to accept the truths of the Bible.....We have a really good time learning about each others cultures and she's teaching me some kalanga......though most people here speak swana her first language is kalanga so she's helping me learn some......She get's so excited when I speak her language and she says I'm doing very well but I think she's just being nice =o) I've only known her ten days but it's amazing the deep connection we already have and how much I have come to care for her soul....I thank God for giving me this opportunity to teach her the gospel....

Kwa ka lulwama (that means Goodbye (o=)

~Krista H.~

Tobi and Sam H. doing some witnessing

The sun is very bright

Bekah is working on being made all things to all men(1Cor. 9:22) by taking on a very African look =o)

This is were we do most of our bible studies accept for Bekah and Anne. Bekah really needs to tell you about the group she has been working with=o)

From Krista.....

 Hi peoples,


I know we've been horrible about not posting enough.....I'm gona have a talk with these siblings of mine and see if we can't get at least a post a day going up.... I think the three of us should all post once a day, but I don't know if I can get that to happen....but really we owe it you you guys =o) Thanks for all your comments Bro. Gerth we really appreciate them. I miss seeing you so it's really good to get to hear from you every now and then....


so here I managed to pull some pictures together.....it's not much but you might find some interesting......

A baobab tree.... go here to see more

That doesn't look right

Somehow this got very bent out of shape

Mum did you know Tobi can vacuum?

Doesn't it look like it would be fun to climb on? =o)

Playing games

 This is me watching a video of the lion cub jumping on Mrs. Wilhite with Breanna and Josh.

I made shish-kabobs one night. 

(Do you see next to the coffee maker my pretty glass water bottle that I bought from Sunshine Health? It is no more. : (  It had a fight with the concrete floor at the Hammett's and lost.)

This is the South African barbecue, it's called a Braai.  I think that's what the Brasilians called them too.  It was this night that I was left all alone with Drew, Breanna, and Josh.  No adults or any of the other kids.   By myself at night, in the dark in South Africa. : )  

They were so yummy. : )  Anyone remember how many Tobi ate?

Breanna, Krista and Joel, in the background, at the gas station right before the engine (which happened to be under the front seat, yeah doesn't make any sense to me either) exploded with smoke and antifreeze and everyone decided they would rather be outside of on exploding vehicle than inside.  Joel was in the back so he just climbed out of the window. : )

In the parking lot waiting for Derek to finish fixing the antifreeze thing or whatever it was that was causing the engine to over heat. 

African update from Rebekah

 So here are some random picture of our visit with the Wilhites.  It takes forever for pictures to load so there are not very many but you can always go to facebook for the rest.   Here is the Wilhite family.  Notice how everyone is standing nice and straight except for one. : )  I had to get a family picture because I knew it was the only way that I'd get Drew to look at the camera. 

 Adria and Krista on the way back from the cave.  It was nice having some one else to take all the Wilhite attention (translate:teasing, bugging, general annoyance) off of us every once in awhile.

Thanks, Adria! : )  Do you get a certificate for surviving the Wilhites for so long? : )

 At the cave.  Notice who is the only one looking at the camera. : ) Is Miah talking to himself or singing?  What's up with the big stick?  Tobi's probably looking for ticks on his sweater. : )

 On the way to the cave.  It was very pretty with lots of hills.  This is Juli and Krista out for a little walk while we waited for the guide.

(This was written several days ago, sorry very busy.)
Between facebook, e-mails, and skype I've forgotten who I've told what and what I wanted tell everyone.  We do love the internet access we have here are the Hammett's even when it complains about having to serve nine people simultaneously.   You would think that with this 24/7 internet availability I would have posted already, but no..... I got sidetracked by boredom. ; )
Mr. Wilhite drove us from Polokwane to Francistown on Tuesday.   It's about a 6 hour drive and we left at 6:00 in the morning.  Everyone woke up to tell us goodbye, which means they must have liked us to get out of bed that early just to see us before we left.   We got to see a little more of the South African country on the way.  There were several little Warthog families and a giraffe on the side of the road. : )   (I think giraffes like me.) Mr. Wilhite talked to entire time, as though he was happy he didn't have any other Wilhites competing for airtime. : )  It was a much more enjoyable trip then I had expected.  Going across the SA/Botswana was interesting but not very difficult.  I am so incredibly thankful that we did not have to cross the border by ourselves.  It was easy because Mr. Wilhite knew where to go and what to do.   We would have been walking in a little circle. Once you know where to go and who to see you just show them your passport and fill out a little slip of paper which nobody reads and go on through.  Getting visas for this trip was much easier and cheaper then for my trip to Brasil.  South Africa does not require any visa for stays shorter then 90 days and Botswana didn't charge us for our visas.   There is a little bit of road between South Africa and Botswana (the one that we would have had to walk ourselves, with all our luggage), here you have to stop, get out and step on a big sponge full of some chemical, get back in your vehicle and drive through a ditch full of the same chemical.  It's so weird.  Something to do with hoof and mouth disease and the cattle they raise here.  The sponge was really gross and  I was wearing sandals so I just pretended to put my foot on the sponge.  I didn't want that chemical on my feet!!
I have to say I think South Africa is a little prettier then Botswana, but I haven't seen very much of Botswana yet so I might change my mind.

VLOG 3-Lion Ranch

Watching the eclipse in Africa

We have had an amazing time so far.    Right now we're watching the lunar eclipse with Sam and Rachel Hammett and I am wearing two jackets because it's so cold.  We were able to see the lunar eclipse in December and now we are able to see this one because we are here in Africa. : )  So thankful the Lord let us have this opportunity to view His amazing universe in motion.   (We just saw a shooting star!) This eclipse is so neat, the moon is a little ball of dark red.  We really are so blessed.

VLOG 2-Lion Safari

I apologize for the shaky camera and the somewhat boring footage.