Monday in Botswana

Today, we traveled to the remote village of Tswaaneng to begin the work of painting the church and replacing the doors. As we arrived at the village, we stopped to meet the village chief. Then we stopped at the school, where the children sang for us. The headmistress then asked what song we would sing. We decided that "My Old Kentucky Home" was appropriate, and we were grateful that the students didn't laugh at our pathetic rendition!

The village is about 1 1/2 hours from Kanye where we are staying. One thing that has made an impression on us is gentleness of the people. We've met many people and most tell us their name, followed by the meaning of their name. We've met a woman whose name means "thanksgiving", and another whose name means "comfort". Thandi, who drove us to the village told us that her name means "love", and we worked today with a young woman whose name means "tears". Gracious, loving, and heart-filled people.

We've almost finished painting the inside of the small church. Tomorrow we'll touch up the inside, and we hope to complete the painting of the outside of the church also. Millard worked hard on the doors and with a lot of muscle-power and a hand-saw, the front doors are almost finished.

On Wednesday, we'll head to Metsimothlabe where we will visit with the Sisters there, visit their ministry sites, and help to paint a day care center in Mmopane.

We continue to feel very blessed.