by: Hannah Thompson
In June, I had the privilege of joining the OneWay team to Botswana. Our team of nine from the U.S. joined up with the OneWay Botswana team for an incredible week of teaching and sharing God’s love with the people of northern Botswana.
Everyone on the trip played a different role. Frank McGraw & Scott Borg taught the Botswana Team in their School of Missions, while Beth Bounds, Pete Beckman and his 16 yr.old daughter Emily, Jim Johanik and his 8 and 11 year old sons, and Hannah Thompson went into diferent schools and centers for orphans, disabled students, and public schools of Maun. It had an amazing impact on me to see that none of the things we worry about really matter. It doesn’t matter if people like you, if you have friends, if you have money or if you have a good job. All that really matters is loving God and loving people. This really came to life for me as I hugged kids I didn’t know, whose backrounds were so different than mine, being orphaned by AIDS, living out on the street or in little huts, facing traumatic things like child prostitution, abuse, etc. It just became real to see that these kids face so much and still have such happiness, and here we are worrying about salaries, clothes, and so many other things that don’t matter! It was really an inspiration.
Another thing that really impacted me and the rest of the team was getting to know the OneWay Botswana Team, which is made of of both full-time missionaries (a.k.a. "The A-Team", a group of 5) and the"Checkers", about 35 volunteers between the ages of 16-25 who are being discipled by the A-Team and who also help out on a regular basis with city and village outreaches.
Spending a week with this great group of people made an deep impact on me. To see the relationship these people have with God is just incredible. These people are truly unashamed of the gospel. The way they sing and dance, praising God everywhere they go really shows that these people are living for God and God alone. When you talk to them, after every sentence they say, they say something like “Hallelujah” or “Praise the Lord” . They are completely and totally devoted to God, and are a great witness to everyone they meet, Pray that we all would learn to have the same relationship with God, and that just like the A-Team and Checkers, we would live totally and completely for God, giving all glory to him.
