Plans Have Changed!

So my next 4 months in Botswana will be much different than I was expecting...I am going to be the internship director!
Kevin and Sarah (the usual directors) are on furlough in the states; they had lined up another couple to take over the internship from January through April, but we just found out this week that due to some health issues, they won't be able to make it.  This is definitely a full-time job and there needs to be one set person in charge, so they couldn't divide the duties up amongst the other missionaries (who are all working 24/7 as it is).  I am thrilled to be able to step in and take over at the last minute.
The internship starts in the middle of January and will go until April 15th- so I guess that's about the time that I am coming back to the states!

There will be 6 women coming out for the internship; the ages range from 20-48.  Please be praying for them as they prepare for the trip out here...and pray for me, too!  I have about 3 weeks to get things lined before they arrive.  There's a lot of work to be done still.

Oh, and on a different topic, many people have been asking about Roger.  He is doing very well in Kuwait; he's staying incredibly busy with work, and in his free time he is doing as much reading as he can.  He is coming out to visit me in Botswana on February 8th and gets to stay for 2 weeks!!  I am planning some fun things for us to do; we'll probably be on site in Maun for a week, and off on some adventures for the other week.  Can't wait!!

Merry Christmas from Botswana!

It is 10:00, Christmas night.  I have had a full day with my Botswana family, was blessed to be able to talk to my  family back home, and am now "patiently" waiting for Roger's internet in Iraq to work so that I can talk to my husband.  I figured that a good way to stay busy as I wait is to update my blog :)

Well, first of all, Merry Christmas!!  All of America seems to be dealing with a snow storm right now, but especially Minnesota.  I can't believe I am missing such a beautiful white Christmas!  How do you celebrate Christmas in Africa, you ask?  What a great question!  Let me tell you...

This morning, Dietra and I got together for a nice Christmas breakfast (scrambled eggs and toast! fancy!), then spent a couple of hours just catching up and playing with Olisego, the beautiful baby that is under the care of Love Botswana.  Around noon or so all of the missionaries headed out to the Tree Lodge.  We played games (I won), helped the kids decorate the approximately 5 dozen cookies that Brenda and I made, chatted for a couple of hours, and then enjoyed a delicious dinner.  We had turkey, salad, rolls, and another kind of meat.  It looked like roast beef, so when I bit into it I was confused.  It didn't taste like roast beef.  I found out shortly that I was eating kudu, which is one of the animals at the game farm and was shot last week.  Here's a picture of the animal that died so I could eat well on Christmas Day:

pretty, right?

After dinner, we opened presents.  I didn't even know that we were getting presents, so that was a wonderful surprise and treat!  Then, after I felt like I spent enough time talking with the adults, I jumped in the pool with the kids.  We had a blast playing The Game.  I don't think I have ever been swimming outdoors on Christmas before, so that's a fun memory to hold onto.  As dusk started to fall, we realized that we had forgotten to go on a game drive, so we hopped on a safari truck and took off.  We didn't see many animals (saw springbok, gemsbok, kudu, impalas, and elands), but it sure was a treat anyway.  Really, these animals are so beautiful.

We left the Lodge around 8pm, singing Christmas carols the whole way back (can anyone sing the 12 Days of Christmas off the top of their head?  It's hard!  What was the 12th day gift??).  I got to come home and call the family, which was wonderful, albeit a little difficult.  I got a little choked up while talking to some of the fam; this is a once in a lifetime experience, and I loved it, but it's still a little tough to be away from family on Christmas.

Anyway, Merry Merry Christmas!!  Hugs and Kisses from Botswana!

Children's Church

Today, because the church tents went down in a storm yesterday, we did children's church at the park (which is about a 10 minute walk from the church).  While there, I was hanging out with some of the little ones.  I was letting a 5 year old boy, Sheldon, do my hair (because I have yet to meet someone out here that doesn't love to play with my hair).  As he was trying to put it in a ponytail, he says to me, "Your hair is really soft!  Do you use Dark and Lovely?"  Dietra just about busted a gut with that one.  About 15 minutes later, while he is alternating between doing my hair and just petting my arm, he says "You know, I really love you.  That is why I am touching you so much." Ah, kids.

Matt (children's pastor) shared the Christmas story with the 300 kids that were there today.  I was sitting amongst the kids to try to keep them quiet...all of a sudden, Sheldon comes running up to me and sits down.  Here is the conversation:
Sheldon:  "Oh, here you are!  I have been looking for you."
Me: "Shhhhh.  Pastor Matt is telling the story of how Jesus was born."
S: (gasping, with wide eyes) "Jesus?!"
Me: "yes"
S: "How was he born?!"
Me: "Listen to Pastor Matt"
S: "Do you have makeup on your eyes?"
Me: "yes...shhhh"
S: (as he spies my wedding ring, then holds my hand) "I love this ring.  May I wear it for a little while and then give it back to you?"
Me: "no"
S: "Ok!" (gets up and runs off) "See ya!"

After Matt finished the Christmas story, we went back to the church and it was time for...Operation Christmas Child, round 2!
It was quite the job to get all of the gifts distributed today, and I must say, the church kids were sneaky little buggers.  They would hide their boxes in the tall grass and say they didn't get one, or sit on their boxes, trying to make it look like they hadn't gotten one yet.  All in all, I think we ended up distributing close to 350 gift boxes today.  The kids were SO HAPPY.  Oh my word.  So wonderful.  I had dozens of kids running up to me, showing me excitedly what they got for Christmas.  One girl was so sweet.  Seriously, almost out of a movie...She was probably about 7 years old and had 2 younger siblings with her (maybe 2 and 3 years old).  She was showing me what they all got, and as she was packing up the boxes, she looks up at me from the ground and says with a smile, "I am so happy."  If that doesn't melt your heart, you are made of stone.

I was happy to see the little boy I met yesterday, Omaatla, at church today.  Omaatla is the child that lives on his own at a shelter, and who has suffered terrible abuse during his short little life.  This is his first time at our church, and I am thrilled that he was able to come on Operation Christmas Child day.  He is such a great kid; I hope for opportunities to spend much more time with him in the future.

Anyway, that was my morning!  It was wonderful (as usual).

Christmas Caroling and Mmapula's Birthday Party

What a day!  My goodness, it's been a great but tiring one.  The day started at 9am when I left with Ms Pat to get the church kids ready for Christmas caroling in town.  We were allowed to bring 20 kids (and roughly 20 have been coming to practice for the last 6 weeks, give or take a few).  The day of?  45 kids show up.  It's a lot of fun to tell kids they aren't allowed to go Christmas caroling.  Lots of fun.  We had to limit it to that number based on actually many things: we couldn't control more than that, the council only approved for us to take that many kids, and the business owners we talked to about caroling outside their stores were told that this would be the number we were taking.  Well, since we're softies, we ended up taking about 27 kids along, and that's only because we literally could not fit one more person on the bus.  So, we went caroling in 3 different parts of town on what was possibly the hottest morning of the year.  Ever get sunburned while Christmas caroling?  Cause I have.
We were hoping to finish around noon today, but actually didn't until a little after one.  When we got back to the church, we discovered that a storm had taken down the tent AGAIN.  It is so important that a permanent structure is put in place; it's really getting ripped apart.  I feel so bad for the pastors as they have to put up with this time and time again.  I want to say it's the 3rd time in the past 4 weeks that it's been torn down.
I got home a little after 2pm, then approx 7 mins later I was out the door for Mmapula's birthday party.  She turned 6 on Wednesday :)  We went to a new chain restaurant in town that just opened last week called Wimpy.  They have the BEST milkshakes!  Yum!  Anyway, it was a fun party (although I did stay busy watching over the kids).  Ok, today's heartbreaker?  A boy from the local shelter came to the party.  He's 10 years old, lives there alone, and has permanent scars on his back from abuse.  I sat with him for a good chunk of the party, just talking, laughing, and coloring with him.  He is one of the sweetest boys I have ever met.  It took every single ounce of my willpower to hold the tears back today.  Heart is broken.  I want to take that child home with me and just love on him for the rest of his life.
After we finishes at Wimpy's, we went on a game drive at the Tree Lodge!  I didn't have my camera with me!!  We saw giraffes, zebras, kudu, elands, etc. again--and so close up, too!  Very fun, but still somehow quite tiring.  We got home around 7pm, then went over to the Lackey's to go swimming.  Played water volleyball, played another game that I am obsessed with that doesn't have any name other than "THE game," then around 9pm crawled home.
It was a great day; I would definitely say the highlight was meeting that little boy.  Talk about someone who is going to stick with you for life...

General Update

So, the past couple of weeks have been slightly uneventful, with the exception of the snake and the Christmas Party.  After the other interns went back to the states, I moved into Kevin and Sarah Witt's house (they are on furlough in the states through April).  It's a lovely home, and I have air conditioning.  I never want to leave the house!  I am also cat sitting for them.  Here's the thing- I have terrible cat allergies, but God has blessed me.  I don't seem to be allergic to Bubba.  I actually like this cat, too!  She is very cuddly...I am worried that I am turning into a crazy cat lady now.  When I come home after working in the offices all day, I'll sit and tell Bubba about my day.  I don't live with Dietra anymore (and I really miss her!), so this cat is the only company I have on a consistent basis.  Fortunately, all the missionaries on the plot live within a 3 minute walk of each other, so it isn't hard to find people to hang out with.

We're still doing game nights and movie nights.  I feel like I am doing a lot less ministry right now than I had been during the internship, but that's because the town kind of shuts down for the month of December.  I know it will pick back up considerably starting in January.  I have been able to continue with ministry at the church through discipleship and children's church.  I will probably start to be much more involved with children's church than I was before; this past Sunday we had 250 kids there (the original 235 that I had been telling people was the number of kids at the beginning of the service- more trickled in throughout the morning).  They need more helpers there, so I am going to step it up.