Youth Rally

August 16-20 was the annual nationwide Botswana Baptist Youth Rally. Palapye Baptist sent 24 youth north to the village of Tati Siding by train to attend the rally. Many of the youth had never ridden in a train before and some had never left Palapye, so it was an especially exciting trip for them. Here Kitso shows her excitement next to the train tracks.

In many ways this camp was like many retreats in America; there were Bible study sessions, conferences, workshops, nightly worship, and fellowship activities. This is a picture of some of the youth performing at the rally.

But in many ways the camp was extremely “African.” I know I don’t often use the blog to reflect on what God has shown me through my time here, but I just have to share this. We as Americans take so much for granted.

First, everyone is responsible for providing their own transportation to the rally. Most churches have church vans or the capability to rent a vehicle to take their kids to camp. Most churches have a youth minister or someone in charge of taking care of logistics of a trip like this one. Botswana churches have neither. Youth rode public buses or the train to Tati Siding and then had to walk about a mile from the bus stop or train stop to the school where the rally was being held. (This is of course after asking a random person around the village where the school was because another thing Botswana doesn’t have is maps and street signs.) Remember, that each of the youth had their bags for the entire week that they also lugged this mile to the school. Luggage included various duffle bags and shopping bags because most youth didn’t have fancy suitcases. Working M-Fuge, I saw students bring like a huge suitcase and a backpack and a pillow and a sleeping bag and maybe even more for a weeklong camp. Most of our youth had a small duffle that held everything for the entire week (including bedding and a plate and cup for meals). Some of our youth that came wore the same outfit everyday because they don’t have anything else to wear. Some of them didn’t bring bedding because they don’t have any to spare at home.

Anyways, we got to the rally in the afternoon well after registration was supposed to take place and nothing was going on. We put our stuff in the rooms (large rooms with bunk beds) and just waited. Finally after a couple hours the people showed to take our money. The rally cost 100 pula, which is about $20. While this may not seem like a lot of money to us, the youth had to work for months to be able to save the 100 pula to attend. They sold candy, did yard work, cooked meals, washed dishes, held a talent show, and still many could not afford to go. This 100 pula paid for all the meals for the week, the lodging, a t-shirt, and the program fees. As the evening went on, they had more girls show up than they had beds for. Girls were asked to share their twin beds so that everyone could have a place to sleep. The bath houses didn’t have electricity and few people own flashlights so using the toilet at night was difficult too. Basically, if you put an American youth in this situation, they would complain the entire week. At mealtime the youth took turns serving. We all lined up and were given papa (a hard porridge) and a small piece of meat. There were no choices; you either ate it or you didn’t. Sometimes food ran out and everyone didn’t even get to eat. Those that didn’t bring plates had to wait until someone was finished and then use their plate. After the meal, you were responsible for washing your own dishes.

Nothing was on time ever. There was a schedule to which we rarely adhered. The first time we were supposed to have workshops only two of the eight were offered because the teachers had not shown up. The conference times were the same way. Many leaders did not show up to teach.

The second day the youth executive committee had to deal with another problem. The school had doubled booked and another group was supposed to be coming in to have a conference the next day. The wanted nothing to do with fixing the problem and asked the two groups to handle it among themselves.

When the t-shirts finally came in, they were not the right colors that had been ordered and so most people had to settle for a different color and size than they had asked for.

I could go on but basically in the eyes of an American this rally would have been considered a disaster. It would have been every youth minister’s nightmare. They would have had a multitude of complaining students and chaperones on their hands.

Yet I was completely humbled by the attitude that these Botswana Baptist youth exhibited. So many of them commented on how nice the facility was (to which I was secretly thinking “really?”) They loved the food and didn’t care that there was only one option and only water to drink. They enjoyed the conferences and workshops and weren’t at all upset that they didn’t have very many options. They wore the same clothes almost everyday and didn’t care. They didn’t care that they were responsible for cleaning their rooms and the bathrooms everyday. And most of all they loved the worship and getting to praise God with youth from all over the country. Despite all the glitches in the program, God was at work in the lives of the youth. The theme of the week was based on Ephesians 4:1 which says we should walk “worthy of the calling.” As a journeyman, I was privileged to be able to pray with students during the invitation times each night. So many youth gave their lives to Christ and many others committed to live a life that would be worthy of the calling that we have received as Christians. Youth Rally was an amazing experience from me and a reminder of how much we as Americans really do take for granted. I wish daily that my attitude could be more like these Batswana that simply longed to worship and did not let circumstances prevent them from allowing God to work in their lives.

Crystal, Kelly, and I get ready to make the mile hike back to the train to head home.