Mine eye affecteth mine heart...

Last week, I had the great privilege to travel to the neighboring country of Botswana, to preach the Gospel for the 3rd time since July. It was a great time of fellowship and teaching, as two guys from the work here, and a fellow-missionary accompanied us on the journey. How do you summarize a missions trip into words? When we travel to other parts of the world, it seems as though, we allow the Lord to open our eyes and shake off the blinders that so easily cover our sight while we are at home. If you have ever taken a missions trip, you have no doubt experienced this very thing.

Botswana has a very large land mass compared to the 2.5 million people that reside there. As you drive through the countryside for 3 hours from the border to Francistown, you will not find very much of interest to look at. A few cars, a lot of donkies, cows, goats, and vast expanses of open prairie. But, when you arrive in Francistown, you find it to be a very typical African city. Plenty of modern businesses, eating establishments, hotels, etc. Cars, buses, taxis, and people line the streets and sidewalks. There is a small pocket of white folks from various walks of life that you will find living here, but 99% of the people will surely be Africans. It is a strange mix of modern development and poverty all in one. A two minute drive from the modern hotel where we stayed will take you into suburbs of village dwellings that are smaller and far more menial than the average American's back yard shed.

We spend a few hours of our days putting out Gospel tracts within the city limits. We easily distributed 5,000 pieces of literature in a few evening and morning hours. We have found so many people with a seemingly sincere interest in the Word of God. However, the highlight of the time is always spent in teaching small groups of people the Scriptures. We were able to have services with some folks from Zimbabwe, for the third time since July. Every time we leave their place, they pose the question....'when are you coming back to start a Baptist church here?'. In fact, I have lost count of how many people have asked me that question over our 3 trips there. I have not yet figured out how to look these seekers in the eye and tell them that we won't be able to come back. I'm too busy, don't have enough money, don't have enough time, already have another ministry.....they all fail to become acceptable answers when you are looking into the eyes of a people asking you to return. This world is full of people that would give anything to ask you that question...but first we have to go and find them. Perhaps you ask, why go over there, you're already on a missionfield. The answer is simple...'mine eye affecteth mine heart'.