Let the Little Children Come

The Lobatse Baptist Care Center is a new ministry of Lobatse Baptist Church in southern Botswana, founded by Allison Hunter and Kasey Ambrose, while under the watch care of national Pastor Jack Ronto and career missionaries, Robert and Margaret Fortenberry.

Presently 10 Tswana orphans and vulnerable children come to receive tutoring in their school subjects. Tonya Shipes enjoyed listening to Maria read to her.

The center located at Lobatse Baptist Church is a safe place they can play. Pray for physical and spiritual protection for each of these children. The status of orphan or vulnerable children makes them low man in the community and abuse often goes along with that.

Meredith Davis volunteers several afternoons each week at the center and is preparing to serve them a hot meal.

Thank God that these children are able to experience His love in such a tangible way!

Kasey Ambrose, along with Allison Hunter, started the Lobatse Baptist Care Center to share the hope found in Christ with those children that seem to be hopeless.

The children are learning Bible stories, memorizing scripture and praising God with their sweet voices! Pray that they will develop a deep love for His Word and use it to make decisions in their lives on a daily basis.

Each of these children have had their young lives impacted in some way by the AIDS crisis. One in every four adults in Botswana has AIDS or is positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

These precious children, living with extended family or friends, are not able to be provided with much from an already stretched thin family budget. School shoes are one of many items that passed down and the children feel blessed to have shoes at all.

Allison Hunter prepares to lead the children in thanking God for the meal they are about to eat. Allison has been coming to Botswana as a volunteer missionary since 2008. Pray that more university students will be called out to serve the Lord among the people groups of the K2 Cluster.

Thank God for the teaching of His Word, pray that the children will hold tightly to this dear treasure. Pray that each of these children will learn to read His Word for themselves.

"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27

I was blessed to be able to spend one afternoon at the Center along with several other missionary women from Gaborone. It helps us know how to better pray for Allison and Kasey, the national women that work with them every day and the children.

"Now, O my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place." 2 Chronicles 6:40

This is Boipelo and Meredith. Boipelo, along with 2 other national believers, meet with Allison and Kasey every morning for Bible study, prayer and training, in preparation for their afternoons with the children. Thank God for these 3 godly women that are committed to caring for the orphans of their community.

 

Here are Kasey, Boipelo, Josephine, Neo, Meredith, Allison and 9 of the orphans. Pray for each one of them, that they would persevere through difficult situations, that they would grow in the Lord.

On this specific day 6 missionary women that live an hour north of Lobatse came down to spend the afternoon loving on the children, playing with them and praying with them. It also served as a reminder that the AIDS pandemic is seriously affecting every country in the K2 Cluster!

While we were there Allison was able to use money given to the Care Center to buy one of the children new school shoes. My heart was overflowing as I saw the happiness on his face at this wonderful gift. Pray that each of these children, that each one of us would, "and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him." Colossians 3:10