Elephants, Kids, and Praises

I tell you, the days here FLY by! I can't believe how quickly time is going by! I have lots to report on and some new pictures!

Elephants

• The trip with my class to the "Living with Elephants" camp was a huge success! The class flew on a tiny, 15 seat airplane for a quick 15 minute flight to the Delta. It was so fun to watch their excitement during the flight!
• At the camp we played games, toured a safari camp, went on a game drive, and hung out with elephants for a couple hours...even hugging their legs! It was great to see them up close and learn so much about them. Even better was watching some of the kids change from being fearful and intimidated by them to being totally comfortable and at ease.
• I was very proud of myself for roughing it at the camp. We stayed in tents on the ground, cooked our own food, and had a very interesting "bathroom"...I don't mean to complain, but I was VERY glad to get back home to my own bed and modern conveniences....like a sink and oven!
• During the night while in our tent, we heard hyenas, leopards, and lions!
• The morning before we left we heard noises behind our tent and when we went to inspect, we found a bunch of baboons "spying" on us...right in our camp!
• Here are a few pictures from the trip: (check the picasa web album for the rest)

Children/Youth Updates

• Kids, kids, kids...that is my life pretty much! :) What a joy this is since spending time with children is such a passion that God has given me.
• God continues to move in an AMAZING way with the boarders and other teenagers at church. I am seeing one after another wanting to give their lives to the Lord and live for Him completely. I see their desire to go deeper, to get into the Word, to understand things more, and to purify their hearts and lives. My girls are so precious to me and I cherish every relationship I have with them.
• A message board was recently put up at the hostel and God gave me the idea of posting a "verse of the day". Not knowing if the girls would care much or even notice, I've been totally shocked at what a ministry that has turned out to be. I see them stop each morning to read the verse and one of the girls recently wrote me a note thanking me for the daily verses and telling me how it brightens her day to read them. I'm so thankful for God's great ideas!
• Please pray for these girls who are committing their lives to the Lord. As is to be expected, some of them have faced immediate trials. I pray that they persevere on and grow daily in their relationship with Christ.
• The children's ministry at church is going much better these days. I recently asked for prayer for God to provide reliable leaders. Well, praise Him! At our last leaders meeting there were 23 people! And more excitingly, 16 of them were teenagers!! The youth are wanting to step up as leaders and begin serving the church. It's very exciting! (Just to put things in perspective, the other two meetings I've been at had only 6-8 people there.)
  God is moving in a tremendous way in the youth ministry at church. When Gary started there as youth pastor just two years ago, there were 14 kids in the youth ministry (13-18). Last Sunday we had over 170 youth at church! This is amazing!!
• I am extremely excited that the young lady who recently gave her life to Christ and who I've been meeting with regularly not only continues to grow and spend time journaling and in the Word, she has now come to two different youth services! This is huge because her friend once told me her parents would not allow her to attend church. I thank Him for working in their hearts and I pray for God to use her to reflect Christ to her parents. I also pray for her continued growth and emotional healing.

Other praises and prayer requests

• Yesterday I received the original background check in the mail that had been sent FedEx from the States. What a wonderful feeling it was to receive that envelope....finally! I was so excited, I actually captured the moment!

• I am excited that God has been providing more fellowship time with adults. My current schedule does not allow for much of that time, but it is wonderful when I do get it. This will of course not be an issue next month during term break. Then I will have TONS of time....and no kids. :(
• Things seem to have been so hectic lately. I almost feel like I am in America again the way I've been zooming from one thing to the next! The problem with this is that I don't make the proper time to just sit with Jesus and spend time with Him. When I don't make that time, I feel it in every part of my life. I would love for you to pray that I will make that time a number one priority and that I will find refreshment in His presence.

God is doing huge things here in Botswana. What an amazing privilege for both of us to get to see it happen! Thank you for partnering with me as we work together to share Jesus with the young people of Botswana.