Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you." Deuteronomy 31:8
This scripture came alive as we entered Botswana. Every place we turned we could clearly see that the Lord had been working and we were honored to join His work there. Last year we met a young, small body of deaf believers in Southern Botswana; this year we met a thriving, large body of deaf believers who had changed spiritually to a degree that was visible physically. They anticipated time to learn God’s word, they go out and share God’s story and they come back to church with a few new friends in tow. We were able to spend several days encouraging the church and training on communicating the Gospel clearly and effectively.Our time at the church left us encouraged and excited for all that the Lord will do with these faithful believers in the coming year.
After our time at the church, we traveled up North. We saw the Lord going before us in a different way. Up north we had formative contacts and no deaf church established. The Lord provided contacts for us and we were able to find two new schools for the deaf where we built relationships with the leaders of these schools. We also returned to the primary school in Maun that had become like home last year. We were burdened for the teachers as there were now only 2 teachers for all 7 grade levels. We continued to speak God’s promise over the place “do not be afraid or discouraged…He will neither fail nor abandon you.” By the end of our time there we saw the Lord developing understanding in the lives of the students, the teachers regaining a small glimmer of hope for their weary souls, and the team resting in the knowledge that we serve a God faithful to all his promises.
We pray that the church in Botswana would soon become a sending church. That they would go out to the far corners of their country, the countries around them and beyond. They have a commitment to God’s word, a insatiable hunger to know more and a humble posture as they share the good news. Please join us in praying for how we can be an encouragement and resource as this body begins to live out the great commission so that the Deaf worldwide may understand and receive God’s glorious grace.
(Post written by a School to the Nations Staff Member who led this outreach)
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