Month: November 2009

  • Time’s almost up…….

    Well well well……Miss Sarah is back up on line in her house!  Praise the Lord!!!! 


    (Isn’t she cute! :) ) 

    Just wanted to let you know that you have one more day for the Candle in the Corner Giveaway!  Have you checked it out yet?  All twelve prizes are listed now! 

    Here is what I put up, just in case you didn’t link over from my last post……


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    Natural Arrow: 9. 5 in across

    “Hearts”: 9.5 in across…..more like a trivet.

     

    Second row:

    Natural: 7in across, 2in deep

    Brown Swirl: 7in across, 2.5 in deep

     

    Last row:

    Purple swirl: 6in across, 2 in deep


    Pretty aren’t they?

    Hop on over to Heidi’s site at Moms, Ministry and More and look for the “Chip in” button!  You’ll be blessing some missionaries….including me! :)   Don’t forget to check out all the missionaries blogs if you have time……they are all beautiful ladies…..I know I’ve been blessed!

  • My Candle in the Corner Day……T.I.A style!

    Most people have a statement here in Africa called, “T.I.A”…….meaning this is Africa!  Well…..it’s TIA for me today as my internet has been down for almost 4 weeks now and I am at a cafe where I can’t seem to download any pictures into my blog!  I am also posting this a whole day early because of our internet situation so, I am trying not to panic and know that ya’ll will understand……after all, it’s just a day in my life! :)  

    Without further ado…….

     

    My husband Kevin and I have been serving as missionaries in Maun Botswana with an organization called Love Botswana Outreach Mission (LBOM) for almost 6 years.  We have two children Andrew (almost 3) and Piper (7 months)…..both born in Botswana!  We love Botswana….it’s our home and it’s an honor and a privilege to serve in this amazing country!

    (Photos are what i have uploaded in my blog already from a day at our African Momma’s House in September.)


     



    Botswana is a part of Southern Africa and is landlocked by Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Botswana gained it’s independence in 1966 and has enjoyed more than a century of peace and tranquility since then.  The population of the country is roughly 1.8 million in a country about the size of Texas! Kevin and I have set up our home in a small (but hoppin!) village called Maun. (Population roughly 10,000)  Maun is located in the North West portion of Botswana, just before the famous Okavango Delta.  Maun is known as a major safari hub so really we are able to get many supplies and have a nice selection of grocery stores to buy from.  As a result of the safari industry, tourism makes up the majority of the country’s economy however diamonds and cattle are also a major factor as well.


    We’ve been privileged to serve with a ministry called Love Botswana Outreach Mission, under the leadership of Jerry and Jana Lackey (who are from Houston Texas but have served in Botswana for over 20 years!!!). Love Botswana’s vision is to “Launching Leader’s Build Nations”.  Training nationals to reach their own is the most effective way of ministry and thus much of what we do as missionaries is specifically that. 

     

    Love Botswana has many aspects of ministry…….Church (both local and rural), School, Outreach, Youth and Children’s ministries, HIV/AIDS programs, Orphan and Vulnerable Children Programs and much more!  In a country where the HIV/AIDS rate is 1 in 4, this means every second counts. Not a day goes by where we’re not affected by this staggering figure!

     


    All aspects of Love Botswana center around one thing……PEOPLE! I could write all day about all that this amazing ministry does!  For now though, I will refer you to the website if you want to know more….www.lovebotswana.org 



    Kevin and I have worn many different hats over our time at Love Botswana, but we’re currently serving as directors for Missions Immersion, Love Botswana’s 3 month internship program.  The program is designed to give those who are are interested in full time missions a full time experience on a short term level!  We literally immerse our interns into every aspect of what Love Botswana does.  Our hope is that on completion of the program that they have a good idea of what missions is and whether they continue to serve at LBOM, or go elsewhere, that they will be equipped.  The program is still very new, but we’ve really enjoyed it and so far it’s been successful!


    I’ve chosen Botswana Baskets as my giveaway as this is one thing that is truly unique to Botswana.  Baskets are handmade and weaved using various materials, even things such as carbon paper to add color!  Natural dyes are also used from various plants as well.   All baskets are functional and have many usages in the home…..even carrying water!

     

    I am featuring 5 Botswana baskets that can be used for virtually anything.  The two larger baskets at the top were made in a village called Etsha 6 where LBOM has a rural church.  The smaller 3 baskets were made by local women in Maun.  (Her baskets have even been featured in shows and shops in New York City! She is a very sweet lady and makes beautiful baskets!)



    Due to the fact that I cannot post pictures…..you’ll have to hop on over to Heidi’s site and view the pictures there!  Sorry about this……TIA right? :)   View pictures HERE  Also you can go to my picasa account and view the Botswana Basket there as well.  Click Here


    In addition I am adding a book called “Patterns in the sky” that gives a story about how certain basket patterns were created and named. 


    We thank you for taking a look and supporting the Candle in the Corner Giveaway!  We value your support and prayers!!  Please feel free to snoop around on previous posts…..I just post about my life in Botswana as a mommy missionary!  Thanks also for your patience with this post! :)

     

    **If you would like to know more about Love Botswana please feel free to contact me for more information…sarahwitt@lovebotswana.org  

     

     

  • Driver’s License Day!

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    **This post was written last week…..still no internet in the house, but it seems to be working in the office which is a bonus!


    So amazingly enough we’ve been in Botswana long enough to need to renew our Botswana Diver’s License!  Yes, it’s been over 5 years and I honestly am not sure where the time went!  I remember when I received my license here looking at the expiration date and wondering if Kev and I would still be here……after all we were just new to the field and well, I wasn’t quite sure how long we would last.

     

    God is so good…..He knew we’d be here for that expiration date! 

     

    With October quickly coming to a close (I mean really…..where did 2009 go?) we realized that our registration on our truck and our licenses were getting ready to expire.  A visit to the Transport office in Maun always gets the same response from people….a rolling of the eyes and a…….”Uggggg”  (For those of you who wonder….that means, “Oh man, I have to go to the Transport office!”)  Two places in Maun will make me grind my teeth……Immigration and Transport.  It’s tedious and almost always means a very long wait. Did I mention that it’s October and over 100 degrees almost every day?

     

    Kev went on Monday as I woke up late and didn’t want to delay. He is also heading to the bush with our interns this weekend and so he had to have both of those things done for road blocks.  He got there at 7:15am and was number 68 on the list.  He quickly got his eye test done and waited.  Three hours later (which really is great timing!  I know you think I am joking, but I am not, three hours isn’t bad!) he walked out with the registration for the truck and his new license good till 2014! 

     

    We decided that I should go ahead and get the process done as well since Kev had some “short cuts” for me.  Gotta love Kev…..always thinking way ahead of the game!  He not only got the paperwork for me, but woke up at 5 AM and signed my name on the transport list! (Yes, there are people waiting that early!)  I would have been lucky #1, but I had to also get my eye test and we didn’t know if they would allow me to cut back into the line.  He signed me up at #20.  I arrived to a crowd of people and went strait to the eye examiner.  I was #2.  After I finished with a pass I headed to the line and found that they were on #17!  Score!  Five minutes later my name was called and I was taken into the building with about 10 others.  The door was shut and locked behind us and we waited on long benches.  Three people before me and then it was my turn.  I was feeling pretty good that I would be out of there by 8:30am, when I noticed that everything stopped.  People were getting antsy on the benches and lots of Setswana was being spoken.  (Yes, after 5 years I still don’t know much, but I knew something was going on!)  The lady then made an announcement in Setswana and everyone moaned or said, “Eeish!”  Then the young man behind the counter looked at me and smiled and said, “Mma, our system is down…..not sure when it’s coming back, but it’s down at Gabs too…..you have to just wait.”  Doh!!!! So close!  I decided to just wait it out for a bit.  After all, I was in the building and I could at least see and hear what was going on.  I chatted with a young girl next to me for awhile which helped pass the time (and hot!).  I find it’s very easy to strike up conversations with the people here.  Meanwhile the server went up and down and people said, “Ah” “Eeish mona!” and grumbled when it would go down again.  At about 9:30am, the system went back up and the three people in front of me went and then myself.  After I paid, got my paper for the actual license card, the system went down again!  I just squeaked thru!  I got my license card (after many attempts to take a decent photo because I am so white it kept washing my face out which received lots of laughs from the transport guy who said, “I guess I need to put it on “white lady” setting”…..thanks! ha!) and was back home by 10am!  Had there been no problems I would have been home by 8:30am, but I still considered it a huge success as I accomplished it all! 

     

    And this time when I looked at my license expiration date of 2014, I didn’t think to myself, “I wonder if we’ll still be here”, I thought, “Shew, glad I don’t have to do that for another 5 years!” 

     

    Yes……Botswana is home!