Botswana School Slowly Coming Up

Hartland College helps with evangelism.

I have been so busy for the past several months that I have barely had time to report what we are doing. Our friends from the Hartland mission trip came and were big blessing and encouragement to me. It was wonderful to meet them after some time of parting. The Lord really worked last year to promote the school project in Southern Africa. We had two groups. One went to Swaziland where they did an evangelistic series, which the Lord blessed as they tried to encourage and work with another self-supporting ministry there. Our team stayed in South Africa, where we started our trip with Mkhuhlu, Mpumalanga, and then we traveled to Peacetown in Kwazulu Natal.

Auther, Loago Setswalo, preaching.

We trained people in self-supporting work, what it is, and its nature. After our presentations, they acknowledged that they now understood what self-supporting work is. We also taught them how to start the work, and since then, some have turned their homes into ministries.

Along the same lines, we also covered the nature of the schools to be established, and we looked at Madison School as our model, sharing how other people have successfully established these schools. The people were excited about that, and while the question was still in their minds about when the school will start in Southern Africa, we shared with them about the new blueprint school about to begin in Botswana. The people were electrified! The older women said, “We are too old to go to school, but we are coming there to help you start it.” Even the retired pastor, Pastor Makhathini, said, “If I was not old, I would be the first student of that school!”

The group in Kwazulu Natal will have a piece of property that is fertile, which they want to use to develop a blueprint school. They have now started cultivation and are preparing to grow some vegetables and fruits on it.

In Peacetown, there were some who had gone to extremes. After our seminar God worked in their hearts and transformed them. Here is a testimony from one sister who just recently emailed me:

“Pastor, we turned over a new leaf, if I can put it that way. We are really, really enjoying our Christian experience right now. [The] relationship with our district pastor is fixed, [and] church members are more open for conversation. I’ve just come back from Capetown at Befree and I am amazed by the amount of people that seek my counsel. God worked wonders in us through you. We had been looking to change the congregation and all the while God was seeking to change us. I was touched by 2 Kings 6. The way Elijah dealt with the enemies was unexpected, giving them a feast instead of a fist, it was precisely that act which melted their hearts and made them give up the war. I was an extremist before, on the conservative side. I seriously don’t want to be an extreme liberal [either]. I need to be able to do God’s will and still maintain favour with all men. Remember Luke 2:52. I am following His example, so I really need to be like Him. Thanks for everything. God bless.”

While still in South Africa, Sister Nancy Arias conducted a homeschooling seminar. Many mothers came to the meetings. They expressed a strong desire to have an elementary school for the kids that could teach children the right way. In Botswana, they are still discussing how to go about doing it.

Then, we traveled to Botswana, for the final part of the mission trip. The people really enjoyed the campmeeting. During it, we invited the campers and the speakers to visit the property. They came and saw it, and their hearts were very inspired by it. We presented to them our vision and mission for the property. Many people came and volunteered to help with cleaning and even finances to get the work up and running. And others said they wanted to enroll for the school as soon as possible. Such actions and the leading of God’s providence in relation to the school project have encouraged us.

There are a few things that are still delaying our plan to start working on the property as soon as possible. We are planning to begin classes this year. The property has been neglected for more than four years and still needs renovation before school can start, including the construction of a boy’s dorm. We also have some legal paperwork that needs to be finished in relation to registration of the school. In the meantime, we are working on developing a curriculum, student’s application forms, the student handbook, as well as other forms and policies. But we should have most of the paperwork done soon.

There is a need for people to help start industries such as brickmaking as a way of raising money for the school.

We are still in great need of trained staff to do the work. We have no real trained medical missionaries. People here do not fully understand self-supporting work. It would be wonderful if we could have some trained people come and teach health classes, as well as help us to start a lifestyle center. We are also in need of people to help start industries as way of raising funds for the school. These industries include: bakery, agriculture, and brick-making. All this work requires financial help. The Southern Africans are doing their best to raise funds for this work, but we also solicit help from all of you. The other greatest help we need is your prayers.

The Lord has blessed me with a house to rent, and now I am able to do more with a place from which to work. I am currently busy conducting weeks-of-prayer in the local conference churches, and doing personal Bible studies. God is working wonderfully to open doors for me to preach in churches where I never dreamed I would be allowed a chance. Keep praying for the ministry and for me, and that the Lord will provide workers for His cause here in Southern Africa. Thank you and may God bless you.

By Loago Setswalo. Email: loagos@gmail.com.