God Has Gone Before Us: Botswana Fall 2013

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)

Ministry Update: Sowers & Fields Festival

In April, School to the Nations gathered our board members, partners, and staff families to celebrate the adoption of three people groups - the Deaf of Botswana and two Mountain People groups in Asia. In a small room at Remington's, we took part in a time of worship,  talked about where we're headed, enjoyed a beautiful worship dance, and prayed together for our three new people groups. This celebration outlined the continued need to share the name of Jesus around the world and reignited the passions of the staff and our board and supporters alike! What follows in this post is a recap of the message that was shared; it is a challenge to us and we hope you will feel encouraged and passionate about spreading the name of Jesus throughout the nations after you read it!

Isaiah 12:2-5: “’Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord Himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.’ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: ‘Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what He has done, and proclaim that His name is exalted.’”



This scripture reveals a lot about His name (and thus His nature) and His desire for people. This winter on an outreach trip in a large city in Asia, our team met with college students for English as a second language training. While reading with one of our team members, a young student asked  "Is this a name?" pointing at the name of Jesus. How deeply this ought to effect us! In a culture full of constant fear, hopelessness, and meaningless religion, people do not know and have never even heard the name of Jesus.

What does His name mean in our lives?

•  His name is our salvation, which gives us peace with God.  The scripture from Isaiah also reminds us that our salvation is not only for ourselves, but to "make known among the nations what He has done". 
• His name is our strength and our song. Abiding in Christ means we are connected to God's peace and we are comforted by His people and His Living Word through all of the trials and pain we all experience throughout life. He changes the lives we had into a new song and strength to thrive through every storm!

What do we do with all of this? We share it! He calls us to share His name where it has never been heard, to plant churches so that believers can grow and support one another in the driest spiritual desert. There are more than 6,400 unreached people groups and 70 million deaf worldwide who have not heard the name of Jesus. Truly, His name - His love, grace, mercy, hope, and life - must be exalted among the nations! 

What does this mean for you? We invite each and every one of you to partner with us in this work of making the name of Jesus famous throughout the world. Know Jesus intimately. Get to know His name more deeply today. Surrender your talents, skills, gifts, prayers and ability to reach the nations so that His Name can be the salvation of 3 billion unreached people around the world! At the end of our celebration, we officially adopted 3 more people groups with signed certificates showing the commitment of our leaders and staff to this movement of God. It signifies our passion and commitment to serving the unreached and sharing Jesus with them. We'd love for each of you to join us in this calling by praying, supporting, and even going with us!

Psalms 8:1 "O Lord our Lord, how majestic is Your name throughout the earth!"

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.