Busy Season

I know some of you can relate to this being a busy season. I remember plainly the month of May in the states being as busy as the month of December with all of the end of school year stuff. Seems like everything has to get crammed in to one month. Tests, field trips, parties, programs, and graduations all at once!! In Botswana the month of May is a different kind of busy. As everyone in the states is winding down for some summer fun we are "ramping up" for some summer serve!

In 10 days we will welcome our first short term mission team. Are we thrilled?? You bet!! The team is coming from Millbrook Baptist Church in Aiken, SC. We can hardly wait to serve our Lord alongside close friends and family from my hometown. Hosting a team is a highlight for us but requires a lot of prep work on this side. Please pray for us as we continue to daily put together the necessary arrangements, secure supplies, build props, paint posters, plan meals and meet with the local leaders.

Please pray for the team that is coming: Mike, Makela, Susan, Ricky, Stan, Joan, Janet, Lindsey, Justin, and Karla. Please pray for safe travel, for prepared hearts, and for the kids and community of Gakuto. We are planning to serve 300+ kids. I told Susan as we were making some preparations, "We are trusting GOD to supply the kids, the energy to reach them all and the supplies we will need." Pray that God would use this camp week to change lives and an entire village for His Glory. Pray that children would meet Jesus and would be drawn into a life-saving relationship with HIM. Please pray for the teachers in Gakuto as well. These 13 ladies are the ones that invest into the lives of these children on a daily basis. Pray that their lives will be touched by Jesus and they will be the leaders, mentors, examples for these kids everyday ... even after we leave. We will be providing Bibles for them, presenting some teacher training workshops - thanks to Karla, providing some school & teaching supplies. Pray that we not only leave with physical needs met but more importantly that their hearts and lives will be changed by Jesus.

As we anticipate the arrival of this team we are also planning and preparing for others. Continue to pray for the Alice Drive Baptist Student team and the Highlands Baptist Team that both come in July.

Please also pray for us as we prepare to lead our first Children's Ministry Conference in August and for the Alice Drive team that will come to assist us in that.

Our call to Botswana and our prayer has been for the church leaders of Botswana to catch the vision and passion to reach children for Christ and to begin Children's ministries at their churches. Join us in Praising God for answering our prayer. We have been approached by some church leaders to be a part of the Gakuto kids camp so they can learn and then run one at their own church. Please pray that God continues to burden the hearts of church leaders to reach the next generation and that more and more ministry to children will be started and sustained.

Busy, Busy, Busy but filled with so much anticipation about what OUR GOD is doing in lives of Children, Church leaders, and even us here in Botswana.

We love you all and are thankful for your prayers!! ~ Tonya

Phl 4:19-20 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen."