I'm home!

I safely arrived home on Thursday, November 8. I've been enjoying eating some American food and visiting with family and friends. This weekend I travel to Richmond and to VA Tech to see my grandparents and brother! I am looking forward to seeing as many of you blog readers in the months to come! Thanks so much for all your prayers and support as I served in Botswana! I love you all!

London!

After missing my flight in Johannesburg, I finally arrived one day late to meet Andy in London. We had so much fun touring around and visiting with my awesome friend Michelle (from my college Small Group)! Here are a couple pictures from that time.

This was the first picture taken of me and Andy at the airport...just seconds after we had seen each other for the first time in 2 years!
We rode on the London Eye (the crazy ferris wheel) to see London from above.
This is me and Michelle.
One day we went out to Windsor to see the palace. The queen was in residence while we were there. Andy listens to the tour tell us all about the royal palace.
I stand in front of St. Paul's Cathedral.
Andy poses with the Tower Bridge.We watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Andy and I pose in Hyde Park.
London was sooooo much fun!
Michelle is living in London while studying Global Politics at the London School of Economic. She has a great blog to read: michelleatlse.blogspot.com

Goodbyes in Gabs...

After leaving Palapye, Kelly and I went down to Gabs to hang out for a few days and to say....more goodbyes!

Here's us saying goodbye to Tshepiso and Lynx.

Our friend Tsholofelo moved to go to school in Gabs about a year ago. We've gotten to see her a few times in Gabs.

I also had to say goodbye to my dog Lula. Tshepiso is going to take good care of her.
Here's the mission family and Kelly and I at the airport. I am going to miss my mission family so much! Thanks for everything you do!

Dance Party!

To say goodbye to all the children we had a dance party at the church! Check out some of the kids moves.

Here's Bebeto and Kelly and me. Bebeto does a great Michael Jackson impression.Here I pose with some of the kids.

The youth helped me to make recordings of some of the traditional Setswana songs so I can remember them once I leave Botswana.

Goodbyes!

This past week was a week of goodbyes. In Batswana culture it's polite to go around and visit people at their homes and say goodbye so Kelly and I spent our week visiting different friends everyday. Here are some pictures from our visits.

These are two of the girls, Bame and Shannon, from a youth group that Kelly started at a private school in Palapye. Working with the private school girls was at times like working with American teens again. Haha.

This is Thato. She's our friend that runs a guest house called the Secret Place. If any of you ever visit Palapye, the Secret Place is the place to stay.
This is T-Boy (my left) and his brother Hendrick. T-Boy is the most clever student I have ever met and he knows his Bible so well. When I first came to Botswana, T-Boy was like 6 inches shorter than me! It has been so exciting to see him grow both physically and in his faith!
This is my friend Pere and her family. Pere is such a servant to the church and to others!
This is Neo. Neo loves to write songs and sing. Together we worked to record an album of her songs so she can sing at church and other community events!


This is Leslie and Baikganetsi's family. Leslie (holding the baby) is currently taking his exams to see if he is eligible to go on to university!
Kelly with Maipelo's family. Maipelo is one of Kelly's former students and her mother Sally used to clean for us.

Gofaone and I pose in front of her mother's decorated yard. Gofaone has been very active in the church over the past 2 years and is a good friend.

Cecilia and me. Cecilia recently got a new job! She also in charge of training new members of Operation HIV. She's super busy!
I am going to miss all these special friends!

Goodbye, Mmaphula CJSS!

This month, I had the opportunity to teach a few guidance and counseling classes at my school, Mmaphula CJSS in order to say goodbye to all my former students. I'm going to miss all my students! Here's one class, class 2F!

Also, we had a party on Monday for my last day of the True Love Waits Club. The students were excited to each receive an abstinence book called "Choose Freedom" that we had been reading throughout the year. Pray that these students will continue to remain committed to abstinence!

Here's the entire club!

This is one of my favorite students Olie.

Youth Day!

Last Saturday Palapye Baptist Church and Radisele Baptist Church (a neighboring village) came together for a huge youth day! Around 70 youth came for games, music, food, and teaching on purity! Remaining sexual pure is a big issue that Batswana youth face; we talked about what it means to not only abstain but to live a pure lifestyle and how to deal with temptations. Several of the girls helped Mma Moruti (the pastor's wife Cenilza) to cook a traditional meal and then at the end of the day, the youth had designated some time to publicly say goodbye to Kelly and me. It was a great day!

Here's the entire group standing in front of PBC.

Some of the girls make "papa", a starch that usually accompanies every meal.

Kelly and I try our hand at making some papa.
Isn't this the biggest pot you've ever seen? There was so much food left over!

Gofaone and I try to eat all the contents of our overflowing bowls!

Everyone loves the Hoola Hoop. Tumisang shows us how it's done.

Happy 2nd Anniversary, PBC!

In October we celebrated the 2nd anniversary of Palapye Baptist Church! There was a Brazilian volunteer group that held a dental hygiene program for the youth. One of the Brazilian guests preached on Sunday and helped with baptism. Here are some pictures from the day!

The worship team has grown in size!

The members of the church who were baptized pose with the pastors.

Andrew's Wedding

Last weekend we went to the village of Madinare outside of Selibe Phikwe to attend Pastor Andrew’s Wedding. Andrew has been assisting our Pastor Alceir at Palapye Baptist Church over the past year. He married a girl named Lucy in a nice, albeit long (2.5 hours!), service. In Botswana, weddings are quite an event. There are celebrations in both the bride’s home village and the groom’s home village.

Here’s how our day went in Madinare:

First we attended the church service that was held at a school. Here Andrew and Lucy stand in front of the congregation ready to say their vows to each other.

Afterwards, the entire wedding party and guests caravan to the photo spot where pictures are taken of the bride and groom. Andrew and Lucy pose for their pictures.


Here are their cute flower girls.


Next, it is on to the reception at the home of the bride’s family. They set up a big tent and cook enough food for the entire community. Anyone can come and celebrate the marriage! The wedding party sits at a special table under the tent.


Here’s our group that came from Palapye Baptist Church to show support to Andrew.



We were moved to the special tent for the wedding party and special guests (I’d like to think that it was because we had traveled from Palapye to come to the wedding, but it was really because Kelly and I are white). Our friends from church were very excited to be under the special tent because it meant that we got to be served first. Pere joked that she is going to miss us when we leave because without us they will never be moved to the good tent. Here Lebo enjoys her huge chunk of goat’s meat!


They cook an entire cow to feed all the people. My portion of meat was attached to the lining of the stomach! Here’s what was left of the cow.


Lebo and Neo enjoy the wedding.


Pere and I table dance.


All in all it was a fun wedding!

After the wedding our missionary friend Staci Powers came to stay with us for a few days. We had fun spending time with her!


Things are kind of crazy in Palapye right now! We are busy packing and saying goodbyes. Please pray for me as I begin to say goodbye to students and friends in Palapye. It is hard to believe that I will be leaving this place that has been my home in only 2 short weeks.

Goodbye, Crystal!

Crystal is leaving Africa on September 3! The church had a goodbye party for her this past weekend. We are going to miss her here!

Crystal says goodbye to some of the kids.
Lebo and I make ourselves sick by eating too many Brazilian style hotdogs!