Painting in Africa

Monday the church staff had the day off so we took that time to do a little painting in the nursery also know as the "cry room".

We even had help from one on the local boys.

Below are a few of the finished murals that we helped paint.

Sunday in Africa

Our Sunday in Africa was like three days rolled into one. We started with worship at Open Baptist Church. It's wonderful to have thirty-three nations represented in one church.

They ask all the visitors in the congregation to stand up. A microphone was passed around for them to tell where there from, it was amazing to me that there were people from many other African countries and even a lady from Holland.We sang worship songs with the praise team.

Pastor Norman gave the sermon

After the service we when to Pastor Norman and Gabi's home for lunch. They have a beautiful; Gabi cooked a wonderful lunch for use and Pastor Norman has quiet the green thumb. Just look and the color in the flowers below.

After lunch we went to a grand opening of Naledi Fellowship Baptist. Below are some of the children in the community the Fellowship Baptist servers. I have many more photos of the children but did not want to slow this post down even more.

Then we ended our day back at Open Baptist Church for more marriage enrichment with Barrett and Jenifer Johnson.
It is such a blessing to see how God is working in the community through these churches. I feel so honored to have been a small part of God's work.
Thank you Lord for all the love.

Day 2 and 3 in Africa

Day two and three were spent at the FamilyWise conference. We helped setup before the conference, were table leaders during the conference, and helped with the tear down after the conference. It made for a long couple of days, but is was well worth it.

The praise team from Open Baptist Church did an awesome job. It was very moving to hear songs in the language of Setswana, I didn't know what I was singing but I was making a joyful noise to praise God.

David and Denise Glenn did a wonderful job at the conference; despite the fact that Denise was very sick the day they arrived in Botswana and David's voice was not up to par. After much prayer from the Open Baptist Church, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church teams and many facebook friends, you would hardly know that the Glenns had been feeling less than one hundred percent.

A photograph of the small group of new friends at our table. I'm still amazed that only nine people at a table can represent nine countries and three continents. Jamie's blog has the list of countries.

During the setup and tear down we moved plants in to be set around the stage. It's a dangerous job moving a jungle into a conference room, but we pulled it off with only one injury. Chad was attacked by a rough plant and bled on the nice tile floor (pictured below)

Our First Full Day in Africa

I started this post with the first full day in Botswana. Because by the time we landed Wednesday night we only had time to meet a couple of great people from Open Baptist Church, check in to our hotel and grab supper before going to bed.

We started our day at Open Baptist Church. You can see their logo above on the window and a cross in the back ground that Pastor Norman built. There we met some of the staff and learned a little about the history of the country and African religion.

Then we had the first of many home made meals form the members of the church. Being from the south I'm used to southern hospitality, but they really know how to make a person feel welcome; Some members of our team must have put on a couple of pounds with all the great food.

After lunch we were given a tour of Gaborone. Below is the first building I ever saw with a sundial on the side. I don't think it would work very well in Georgia, but it was a very cool thing to see.

We had the opportunity to stop and shop at an open market. There were many stands selling good and services. This shoe cobbler allowed me to take his photo while doing his thing; I love the way he looked up and smiled at the camera.

That evening we were back at Open Baptist Church for more food and to meet with the OBC team and David Glenn to discuss the plan for the FamilyWise conference the next day. Go check out Jamie's blog; she has our first day in Botswana posted there too.

Passports Ready

We have less then a month until we go on our mission trip to Botswana. Last week we had our first meeting with the other members of our team, read Jamie's blog for more about the meeting. I think I may have been volunteered to be the official photographer for the trip, not that's a bad thing (big smile). There is no way that I'm going to a country that I have never been to without my camera, wait I don't go anywhere without my camera. I'm looking forward to seeing what God has planned for us and the best part is that Jamie and I will be together. I can't describe how it feels to know that I'll be sharing so many different opportunities with Jamie. She is my best friend, my business partner, and my soul mate. I love you Jamie.

Fun Fund Raising

We are going to Botswana in August. I never thought that would be writing those words in a post. Jamie is not very fond of flying (read this for her own words about it). I felt a calling to go on a mission trip a few years ago. I didn't have a passport at the time nor did I really want to leave Jamie for a week to fly to another country. There is a time and a place for everything, and it just was not the time.

Now is the time. Our Sunday school teacher, who is also an associate pastor at our church, asked us if we would be interest in going on the Botswana trip. At first we said maybe and kind of shrugged it off, but after Jamie and I prayed about it, we knew it was what God wanted us to do. This trip is to help married couples in Botswana. We will be assisting Denise and David Glenn with a "Freedom for Mothers/Freedom for Fathers" conference. And you know I will be taking photographs to document the trip.

In order to go we have to raise some money. Don't worry I'm not going to hit you up for a donation, at least not yet. But if you just feel led to donate I'm not going to stop you either; there is even a nice little airplane at the bottom of the blog that you can click on to donate.

This post is more about a cool fund raising event that we are doing on June 5th 2009. We're having a Dinner, Dancing and Auction for Missions. There will be a great pot luck dinner. After all what kind of Baptist Church would it be if we didn't have a pot luck dinner ever now and then? There will be dance lessons, taught by Jamie and me (yes, just one of the many other things we have in our box of tricks). And there will be an auction of stuff and services from members of our Sunday school class. That is why it is called "the night of Dinner, Dancing and Auction for Mission" (we're more creative with what we are auctioning than in coming up with a name for it). So if you are in the Atlanta area and would like to come just leave me a comment and I'll get you more information.

#365 - Botswana

Photograph a Day number three-hundred sixty-five.
We are going on a mission trip to Botswana in August, that was the inspiration for today's photo.
Only one more day and there will be a year of Photograph a Day post on this blog, last year was a leap year.