Josh posing next to an impressive looking ant hill. Josh, 14, is 6'2" so that ant hill has to be about 12 feet tall! It's not out in the wild somewhere, it's right on the path we took in Gabarone, the capital, to get to the Main Mall.
I walked to the Main Mall nearly every day we were here.
These artistic baskets are displayed in the National Museum, but they are also for sale.
The Orange company sells airtime, phones, and techy things like that. I like their headquarters with greetings in many languages on it.
Today I Googled Gabarone, Botswana, to see what I could learn about the place where we currently are. I'm a little late. Seems like one should Google before one arrives at the place being Googled, but I might have ruined the element of surprise. But I have read most of The Number One Ladies/ Detective Agency series, so I knew what to expect, or at least knew what I imagined.
Paul is always unique, standing out in any crowd with his height of 6 feet 10 inches/2.08 metres, but here he's making quite a splash. They just didn't see him coming, and it's a shocker to run into someone that big, that White, and HERE! He's going to give people whiplash as they have to wheel around to get a good gander at him. Today he ran into (almost literally) four teenage girls who were a bit awestruck to meet him as they rounded a corner in a building. One of them just had to tell him the news, "You're tall!" He smiled down at them and told them, "Really? You're the first person to ever notice." They giggled and were ready to be witnessed to.
He was telling me, a little awed himself, how just introducing himself as Small Paul has been such a big help. He always does introduce himself that way, but we rarely acknowledge the help it is. Imagine you're a country principal in Botswana. You rarely meet people from other countries, and suddenly the biggest man you've ever seen pops up on your doorstep, wanting to talk and draw for your students! It's a bit startling. And then he introduces himself as Small Paul, and there's no help for it, you have to laugh, and the ice is broken. They have been very pleased for him to come speak to their students. Paul is making a list of people who use their uniqueness, even problems, to their advantage, to tell people about the Lord. He is so impressed with them.
Nick Vujicic
Joni Eareckson Tada
David Ring
Some people would consider Paul's door-top-whacking height to be a disadvantage. It's not! It's been such a blessing to win attention easily, and he doesn't have to use a little box to stand on like Ray Comfort, he's already up there!
A thought provoking picture from the museum. Josh likes how Madagascar is put on there like a tree.
Back to the pictures of the Main Mall. I think it has become a wonderful family memory for us. Our son Timothy decided to go out there, alone,"fishing." Witnessing with the view of bringing people to repentance and faith. He's been taking a course in evangelism, and Saturday it all came to a head.
Tim wrote, "I soon felt that I must go out that very afternoon and seek someone
to share with, or else some calamity would befall me. I ... retired to the quietest place in the house, and on my knees, confessed what
sins I could think of, prayed for the Holy Spirit to give me the power I needed,
that the devils would be bound, and that I would run across people eager to hear
me (not exact quote.) I cried, under the stress of the thought that I had not
yet, even after all I had learned, not shared the Way with anyone. I then told
my Dad that I must go alone and do this. He prayed for me, after I had
confessed all sins I had committed against him. I cried then too. (Fun
huh?)"
Off he went, and the adventures he had! He said he felt like a different person afterward. He was very thrilled with results, as the second person prayed with him! He got into 19 conversations that "counted". He wasn't counting people he just gave tracts to.
We are so, so thankful. Tim's obedient, and has always been a beloved son, but this is a day we had dreamed of seeing, him walking in his own relationship with the Lord, speaking boldly, of his own initiative.
That was Saturday. On Sunday Evangel wanted to get in on the action, and she went with him. Monday he was out again at the Main Mall, and on Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday he helped his dad in the schools. As his mother, I'm wondering where my hermit went?
Hallelujah!
Tim's upgraded his prayer, asking now that he'd find people who speak English. We have tracts in Afrikaans and French with us, but nothing in Tswana which would be more helpful right now, though most know English.
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