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

Ndau Vision Trip

The Ndau are a people group living in eastern Zimbabwe. They are one of the people groups that are going to be featured at Base Camp Training/K2 Cluster Mini-Summit, October 19 & 20 in Christiansburg, Virginia at GraceLife Baptist Church. More information about this summit and registration can be found midway down on the Indaba website

Tom and Cindi Melvin lead a team of 3 from Christiansburg, Virginia into some very remote areas of Zimbabwe

Tom and Cindi were able to meet the chief of one of the villages.

Pray that they would continue to find open doors into the lives of the Ndau.

Pray for GraceLife Baptist Church as they seek God's will regarding their involvement in engaging the Ndau with the Gospel.

The vision team from Gracelife Baptist meeting with village elders in an Ndau mountain village.

The Ndau women have harvested many things, including bananas, potatoes and avocados.  Pray that there will be a spiritual harvest among the Ndau people of Zimbabwe

Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."  Matthew 9:37-38

Hands

Well, this may be how my trip to the Botswana Baptist Women's Conference almost ended, but even this was a blessing. Not a word of complaint, just helpfulness and  patience, as we waited, as we were towed, as we worked together.

The Botswana Baptist Women's National Conference was held in Francistown at Great Commission Baptist Church the weekend of July 13-16

Ann Carruthers, who just returned from the states, was happy to be reunited with women from Tsessebe Baptist Church.

The joy of the Lord is our strength, what a precious time it was with each of these ladies!

Greetings, so very important in the African culture. Thank God that these women are able to meet freely and openly worshiping Him as the One True God.

Selebo Jobe from Gaborone Baptist was used by God as she lead the worship team.

Laura Pettigrew, Noma Ndhlovu and Amanda Turner. Pray for Noma,  she is an integral part of the Baptist Student Leadership Team, and is busy finishing her degree while discipling other students.

Vivian, Janet and Teresa, - sisters in Christ! Pray that the believers in Botswana will be known by their love for one another.

The theme of the conference was "Every Woman In Ministry" 1 Corinthians 3:9, throughout the conference women would go to the front and with paint put their hand print on the cross.

There was a special time of prayer dedicating our hands in service to the Lord.

Pray that each woman present will remember this as they have returned home and the world seeks to distract them from the Lord's service.

All ages of women were present, from 6 am till 11 pm each day. "Yet those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary." Isaiah 40:31

Pray that the Baptist Women of Botswana will shine the light of the Lord for all to see.

I jump in this picture with the Gakuto Baptist women as they displayed the baskets they had made.

They were happy to show the work of their hands!

Grace, from Gaborone Baptist Church had made a matching scarf and hat. Right after she showed me her work she promptly gave it as a gift to a friend. "God loves a cheerful giver" 2 Cor. 9:7

Many of these christian sisters shared testimonies of what God was doing in their lives.

Praise the Lord for He is worthy to be praised. Pray that each of these hand prints will represent God's fellow workers, God's field, God's building!

Basotho Village Sees the Gospel

The beautiful village of Matsaile, Lesotho and the Basotho people is the focus of this month's blogpost.  Daren Davis and Jim Flora spent a couple of days there last month and had the pleasure of visiting with Justin Morgan and Korby Griffith who were just days away from completing their 2 year Journeyman assignment. Living among the people of this village gave Korby and Justin the opportunity live out the gospel every day. 

The kids living in this village absolutely love Justin and Korby.  As soon as we would step out of the hut each morning a small group of kids would begin making their way to greet us, laugh, stick "fight", and just have fun.  I am sure it would get old if living there day in and day out but for Daren and Jim it was fun to watch.  These kids were seeing the light of Christ in the life of Korby and Justin.

To become a man in Basotho culture one has to know how to protect himself by stick fighting.  These boys were always ready to show their abilities as well as practice.  Justin had to be careful because they could do some damage.  Pray that the men of Matsaile will desire to be strong in the Lord.   

For two years these two Journeyman got their water from this mountain spring and had to carry it back to their hut in a wheel barrow.

Thabang became their good friend.  They spent hours teaching him the Bible, helping him know how to teach the Bible, and how to live as a follower of Jesus.  Thabang watched them live out their faith in Jesus and it made a real impact on his life. To hear Thabang's testimony click here.

This girl may look like her hands are folded ready to pray but the truth is very few of these kids will learn that God wants to talk to them.  They will grow up learning how to communicate with their dead ancestors but God is not interested in them and is irrelevant. Pray they will realize the truth of 1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Many of the elderly in villages are seen as a burden because they can no longer work like they used to.  Ladies like this one take care of the small children, teach them Basotho culture and tradition and therefore many barriers to the gospel are erected in the lives of these children.  Pray that the children would learn that God loves them, cares for them, and sent His Son to pay for their sins.  Pray that they would realize that God wants a relationship with them. 

The kids could tell there was something different about Korby and Justin.  Please pray that the kids of Matsaile would realize the same God who changed the lives of these young men can change their life as well. 

Jim Flora is a career missionary in the nearby Lesotho village of Katse.  He lives there with his wife and 3 daughters.  Pray for Jim as he considers how to continue sowing and nurturing the gospel seed in the village of Matsaile.  Pray that while Justin and Korby planted the seed of the gospel that others will come to water and that God will cause the increase. 
1 Corinthians 3:6

Daren cooking breakfast.

Korby, the one with the goatee, has returned to the US where he will be looking for work.  Pray for Korby as he adjusts to the US, renews friendships, and looks for a job.  Justin, in the orange shirt, will remain in Lesotho until the end of April.  Pray for Justin as he works with Jim and Teresa Flora.  Upon returning to the US he hopes to help college students learn how they can be on mission with God internationally. 

Pray for Thabang as he continues to shine the light of the gospel in the village of Matsaile.



As we arrived back in Katse we were greeted by Jim's daughter Rebecca riding this donkey. 

To learn more about the Flora family click here.