Rain In The Desert

As Tom* entered the village deep in the Sub-Sahara desert the reality of his surroundings caused his heart to beat faster. The eyes of the Kagoro people watched as his team's bus arrived and the village children greeted them with, "Tubabu! Tubabu!" (which means white person in their native tongue).  According to tribal customs he led the team to greet the elders of the village who then led them to the Chief. After the normal exchange of greetings, he discovered the extreme hardship that this village currently faced. 

Drought. 

For months it had not rained, and now in the middle of March still three months away from their rainy season the people had little hope of a refreshing rain anytime soon.  The anguish relayed in the conversations he had with the Chief about the drought spoke of a life seeped in folk Islam and Animism. Here was a village full of people who had no hope. 

"How can we pray for you and your village?" he asked the Chief. 

The Chief replied, "We know that you are followers of Jesus. We would also choose to follow Him if He could make it rain."

Struggling not with the question of could God make it rain, Tom stepped back spent time in prayer and asked the question, "Will God make it rain?" Amazingly enough earlier that morning as he was reading Scripture a verse in Psalms jumped out of his page, "May He come down like rain upon mown grass, like showers that water the Earth." 

Notes in his Bible found at Psalms 72:6 

With little faith, he and his team were in agreement that they would pray together and leave the results to God. They were challenged in a new way, would God send rain among the Kagoro? 

"God make it rain, please." 

Continuing on their travel to another unreached people group, Tom and his team traveled eight more hours to a remote village deeper in the Sub-Sahara to set up camp and sleep for the night. As he laid down to sleep he mentioned to his team, "I smell rain in the air," and it was the truth! He immediately began to wonder if it was just him wanting to believe or if God truly was sending rain. 

As he fell asleep Tom was awaken to the drops of rain, and not just a few drops but a full-on downpour. For fifteen minutes it rained, then stopped, then continued on for another fifteen minutes. 

God sent rain! Had the Kagoro, who were eight hours away, witnessed this miracle?

A year would pass before he was able to return to that Kagoro village. He spent the entire year praying for that village Chief, wondering if he remembered the miracle of rain and his promise to follow Jesus as a result. During that year in his own Bible study Tom came across Jeremiah 14:22, "Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, O Lord our God? Therefore we hope in you, for You are the One who has done all these things." It was this verse that he shared with the Chief when he returned a year later. 

"Do you remember what you said to us on that day a year ago?" he asked the Chief. 

"Yes, I do," the Chief replied. 

"Did you witness the rain that day?" he continued to ask. 

"Yes, we did," the Chief again replied. 

An open door was created and before the team left that day new believers came to Christ and the village now has Christ followers among them for the first time. 

Just like rain brings life to dry ground, God's rain brought eternal life to those without hope among the Kagoro people! 

**If you'd like to hear more stories from the field subscribe to our blog and to our monthly newsletter. 

Email theabicopeland(at)gmail(dot)com for more information.**

*Name changed to maintain security and protection of our School to the Nations team member

Focus on the Unreached: The Deaf of Botswana

This monthly blog feature focuses on one of the 12 major fields with which School to the Nations works. This month we’ll shed some light on what’s happening in Botswana, a nation in southern Africa.

“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” Matthew 10:27

Learn

School to the Nations began work in Botswana last fall – our first outreach to touch a largely unreached group – the deaf. Although Botswana is one of the wealthiest and most democratic nations in Africa, the HIV/AIDS epidemic of past decades continues to impact young generations. The disease is believed to be one major cause of deafness among children and families in Botswana. Botswana strongly supports the deaf of their communities, giving free public education to all children including specialty deaf schools and students with other special needs. In fact, many teachers in these schools are Christians, but they become burned out and discouraged and are often not able to fully utilize their training due to time and other restraints. One of the discouragements with deaf children is that they are at a disadvantage compared to their peers because they are often not taught any ASL or other sign until they start school. Overall, 70% of Botswanans are Christians, yet these Christians are in desperate need of encouragement as well as training to reach the deaf and other unreached in their communities.

Connect

        

School to the Nations will send a team out to share the Gospel and train and encourage the church of Botswana sometime this fall. If you’d like to take part in this trip, either by going or supporting those on the team, contact our Cross-Cultural director and leader of this trip, Jenna Kilgallin at jenna.kilgallin@gmail.com. The team start out in the capital city, Gaborone,  to host a discipleship conference for the deaf and those who want to reach out to the deaf. They will also travel to the city of Maun to work in both primary and secondary schools building relationships with students and faculty alike.

You can read Jenna’s stories from the last trip to Botswana on her blog. 

Pray

• That the church in Maun will grow and the gap between the deaf and the hearing in Maun will be closed as the hearing of Maun are trained and encouraged to share Christ with their community.
• That similar ministries will be planted in and around Maun to support the deaf community.
• That the small deaf church in Gaborone will grow exponentially to create a Christian community for the deaf.
• That deaf children will begin to be taught ASL from a younger age so that they can keep up with their hearing peers.
• That the teachers of deaf schools will be encouraged, supported, and strengthened to continue their work among deaf children.
• For the team headed for Gaborone and Maun early this fall.