We left South Africa for Botswana on Friday. What an ordeal!
This was a 4 hour trip by road to the South Africa/Botswana border. Little did we know that the internal borders in African countries have become security gauntlets because of the World Cup. Everyone going and coming is scrutinized, and all luggage is searched by hand. We had to register our computers -- model, type, serial number -- to leave the country. And then show proof of ownership when entering Botswana. There are road fees, rental car border crossing fees, and more paperwork to verify who we are staying with (name, address, and phone numbers). All the processes at these border crossings are based on hand written forms and manual entries into the computer systems.
After our 4 hour drive to the border, the crossing took 2 hours. We were more exhausted standing in the multiple queues than from the drive. But all is well that ends well. Our hosts were very gracious and accommodating. The Malepa family lives in the capital of Gaborone.
We attended worship sevices with them on Sunday. This was a special occasion for me because the tradition in the churches is for the guest of honor to deliver the sermon for the day. I was prepared for this invitation, and enjoyed the opportunity to share a lesson titled "What Matters Most -- Love."
During worship services, a small boy -- 3 years old -- became fascinated with me, and insisted on giving me his two coins, rather than place them in the offering. I accepted his gift -- which amounts to less than a 1 cent USA. I will treasure these coins from this little boy named Prince. His gift only served to prompt us to be more generous. He was such a blessing to us, and shared our blessing with the congregation at the Broadhurst Church of Christ in Gaborone.
On Monday, we leave for a short safari here in Botswana. We will share photos in our next post.
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