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.