Construction Day #3

We are back at the B&B and waiting for an outdoor grill of impala and kudu. So looking forward to that! Another solid day of construction. We are up to 8 courses on the back wall and we have window frames in the side walls in place.  Just so everyone knows, Jason Collins is a block mason y’all 😎

We had a later start today because we had to help our master mason get some money to his friend who had been arrested/detained and was being deported back to Zimbabwe, long story there 🙂

We had a rare cloud cover this morning and that kept it cooler this morning. The clouds were burned off long before lunch, which was at Wimpy’s over at Game City mall. Scott joined us at the end of our lunch for a quick burger. The temperature was much better today and we feel much stronger tonight.

We took the long route back tonight and enjoyed a sight-seeing ride through the city. My map and Jason’s driving got us home safely and we went around all the rush hour traffic. Nice ride and we also took a ride through Naledi village before heading home. We got an eye full of the extreme poverty that exists right where we are working. This feeding station will serve this community for many, many years. That’s the amazing thing that God is doing through us. We will never know how many we will touch. Our God is Awesome in Power (ok, I had that Chris Tomlin tune in my head all day and that worked :-)).

Looking forward to another night of rest tonight. Tomorrow we will be helping with the feeding at the current rented station in addition to building. Please know we are doing great and all laughing together often- that’s a great sign on jet lag Wednesday. More updates tomorrow.

In His Steps-
Mareko

P.S. The kudu and impala grill was off the charts good eatin’. We all applauded the cooks. The kudu filet was my favorite along with the impala chops. The beets on the side…meh…

Child and cross at Naledi Fellowship

Day 3 Building

Day #2 of Construction

Day #2 rolled on with lots of dagga (aka mortar) from Dr. Allan Waterfield (aka Sir Mixalot).  The temperature was 97F and lucky for us still no humidity.  But, I think we all need to rehydrate before we head back out tomorrow.  We have 7 courses of block on the back wall and even have a few courses of small block for the interior walls set up.  The door frames have arrived and we hope to have some up tomorrow too.

We had Prayer Meeting tonight with the Naledi Fellowship after working up until 6pm.  I was privileged to bring the word and discussion to the group tonight.  We focused on the last part of Matthew 12 where Jesus declares the apostles his family because we are all family in the eyes of God once we have accepted Jesus and follow him in doing the Lord’s work.  It’s awesome to tell people I have family in Botswana and that’s why I travel so far! The church family was happy about that comment.  It was very different speaking to the large group with a translator; but, we got a good rhythm down fast.  Allan and Donny also led group in prayer tonight too.  Please remember to pray for Donny’s family as his Dad is having a pacemaker placed today, which follows open heart surgery and valve replacement last week.  Moruti Donny that is 🙂

Nancy and I are now in the two apartments at the Shipes family home in Gaborone.  We had another great dinner at the Olive Leaf.  I’m sure all of the gang will be sleeping well tonight.  We will hook up again with the group in the morning for Day #3.  Here are some photos of today’s work below.  Also, check out Donny at the “fish market”.

In His Steps, Mareko

Donny at Fish Market

Construction!

We got moving today with the work we came to Botswana to do.  The load of block (cinder block) was delivered around lunch time; but, we were able to get started before lunch on the corners working with the master brick mason, a great worker from Zimbabwe named K’Numbay (pronounced K-New Bay) or something very close to that 🙂 .  We also had some of the members of the Naledi Fellowship congregation helping out at times.  We have to mix the mortar by hand on the ground and it’s not easy or lightweight work.  It was very warm today, in the low 90Fs with very low humidity (thank you God).  Still, there was plenty of sweat going on!

I will post some pictures of the construction progress as we move along this week.  Tomorrow Nancy and I are checking out of the lodging and going to stay the rest of the week with the Shipes family.  We will still have our meals here with the team each night.  It will be saving a ton of money and the Shipes family have 2 apartment-like rooms and we will not be taking anybody’s space while at their home.  Looking forward to getting there too as I will be their guest for the next week or so.  Scott and Tonya Shipes are some of my favorite people in the world, Botswana included :-).

Everyone is tired tonight after a good day’s work and we look forward to making even more progress tomorrow.  I am going to try and post another video, this time of the youth choir (young ladies); but, it doesn’t look likely as our internet is WAY slow tonight.  More soon!

In His Steps,
Mareko

Team at the airport

Allan, Jason, Mark, Jake, Donny and Nancy

Here’s a snapshot of the group at our departure from Greenville-Spartanburg airport last Thursday. Thanks Julie!

Worship at Naledi Baptist Fellowship (Video)

Here’s a quick video from today’s singing at Naledi Baptist Fellowship. Don’t worry, it’s not us 🙂

The Lord’s Day

We all got a long rest last night and I think we have acclimated fairly well to being in this time zone and recovered from the travel. I personally was sleeping very soundly when the breakfast knock came at 0800.

We all went to worship in Old Naledi at Naledi Fellowship, which is where the feeding station building project will be continuing tomorrow. The singing was so good, I really can’t put into words how the singing of those men and women can immediately bring the Holy Spirit. The voices of angels that harmonize on a dime turn. Always the highlight of my trip and today was a full dose of singing and worship. Moruti Donny brought the message with a translator, which took a few seconds for Donny to adjust. But, he did great!!! I read the scripture from Genesis 1:26-31 with a translator and was honored with the privilege of the morning prayer. It was a such great reunion with our friends at Naledi Fellowship.

After church, we went to Sarita’s Tea Garden, not sure how we have missed this place in the previous visits; but, that won’t be our last visit. An oasis under a large canopy of trees with all 13 of us at the table- the Shipes have 5 boys :-). What a great meal and fellowship. Tonya is such a gem and Scott kept us laughing and entertained. Scott went with us to the airport after lunch to retrieve the last piece of luggage. Because this piece was also a cooler (expensive item here in Botswana), we had to wait for some time and jump through some customs hoops. But, we got the luggage with no fees and then we took Scott back home to his house in Gaborone.

The gang wanted to take a second trip to the Gaborone Game Preserve and we had another great trip in this park today. No monkey attacks this time around :-). Amazing that this park is so close to our lodging and so cheap- we all get in with a vehicle for $10 total.

After another huge meal tonight, we are all ready to start working tomorrow. We are all feeling a little guilty about being here to help hungry kids and being fed like kings. Tomorrow, we start laying bricks and earning our keep. The Shipes boys start school tomorrow- their first day at school in Botswana, so remember them in your prayers.

I will post some pictures and video soon. Stay tuned!

Kgale Hill

We climbed Kgale Hill with the ADBC crew this morning and took a quick look at the feeding station construction site. This is the base and it’s almost 3 1/2 feet deep in that hard black Africa dirt. I know that was hard work! We will be going up from here! I think we have a lot of work to do. That’s a good thing!

We also took a walk downtown and ate chicken lunch at the Hungry Lion.

The ADBC crew fly out today. We are taking a break and then heading to the Gaborone Wildlife Preserve before dinner. More pictures of the Kgale Hill climb and the game preserve later.

More later!