Planting in Botswana

Last weekend I visited Tyler and Lizzie Jorgensen, missionaries in Botswana. They have begun a program to train leaders, called Southern Africa Leadership Training. This program, developed by Tyler and sponsored by LIFE Canada, provides home study for potential pastors from anywhere in Africa.

They have also started a church in the carport of their house in the village of Mochudi, near Botswana’s capital of Gaborone. Here you see the Sunday morning church service, with 30 children meeting around the corner on the porch of the house.

Listening to the Word at Annie's House

Sunday night we met again at Annie's house to listen to the Word in the Shona language. Annie is the laughing lady in the pink scarf.

One of Annie's guests speaks only the Xhosa language, so next week we'll bring along a Xhosa Proclaimer as well.

People from all over Africa have found their way to South Africa, making it a fertile mission ground.

The Sweet Word of God

When you’re far away from home, your home language sounds sweet. That’s what I found out last night when another missionary, Joe, and I took a Proclaimer into the township of Khayelitsha.

Our contact for the meeting was Annie, a vibrant Christian from Zimbabwe. Joe met her at the car wash where she is the manager and they struck up a friendship. Noticing that she worked on Sundays, Joe offered to start a Bible study there for the workers. They got permission from the boss to gather during slow work times, and Joe started teaching them on Sunday afternoons.

Joe told Annie about our Proclaimers in her heart language, Shona. I got three of them in Shona from Faith Comes by Hearing at the local Bible society, and we began another Bible study in Annie’s home. Annie gathered her friends and neighbors at her place last night, and we listened to the first four chapters of Matthew read in the Shona language. They loved hearing the Word of God in their heart language. We see possibilities of starting hundreds of these little groups in the various townships around Cape Town.

Career Planet

How do students get ahead when their high school doesn’t even have a telephone? South Africa’s government offers a basic education, but it is up to schools to provide enrichment classes. Most students don’t have access to computers in their homes or in their schools. How will they keep from falling behind?

Karin Chisholm, with an IT background, and Heather Adriaanse, with 20 years in financial services, formed a company to meet just this need. Calling it Career Planet, the two women connect with schools desiring to provide their grade 11 and 12 students with career research opportunities. They take their learning kiosk to schools, where students participate in workshops followed by online research.

More about the workshops and learning kiosk next time…