Botswana Pastor Isaac Npang along with his wife Veno and their young daughter Precious, lead a small settlement church in Metlobo. Metlobo is a settlement about 1.5 hrs drive from our home in Lobatse. The church is about 30 strong and meets under a tent that was donated last year. Isaac has been training up several members to take on the leadership of the church because we are wanting to move him to Salajwe to be the area coordinator over 4 churches in that region. I took a day trip to Metlobo with the mission's truck to check on him, the church, their preparations for hosting Easter conference this year, and his preparations for moving to Salajwe. What I found was nothing short of courage and determination in the midst of very trying times. First, a storm, (something between a giant dust devil and a small tornado) had torn down the tent and ripped it in few places. The adjacent storage shed had the roof torn off and flew hundreds of feet before dropping between two neighboring huts which it likely would have collapsed if it landed on them. The storm also destroyed the shade cloth shower and toilet structure we constructed 2 years ago. In response, the members collected the flying roof structure from the neighbors and propped it up with large branches they harvested from local trees and that is now their new church meeting place. I asked Isaac if they still wanted to host the Easter Conference given the damage and he replied, “Of Course, we have already started collecting money and food from the members and we are planning to glue the tent back together.” I balked when he said they were going to GLUE the tent together. It's a valiant plan, but even gorilla glue wouldn't hold up to the winds and storms they have in Metlobo and they don't have access to anything even close to the strength of gorilla glue. I offered to bring the tent back to Lobatse where it can be professionally sewn back together which he agreed was a better plan. Then he enlisted the help of me and the truck to collect sand for mixing concrete because the church is building new toilets to replace the ones the storm had destroyed. The church is really pitching up with labor to do the work of preparation for conference. I am genuinely impressed by their quick recovery and the members willingness to volunteer in response to this destruction. Second – Because the villages where the brethren work are so small and poor, it's very difficult for them to support themselves from the church tithes. Normally on a Sunday the tithe amounts to pennies. As a result, Isaac, as with all our pastors in the deep Kalahari desert, receives most of his living expenses as a monthly love offering from the ministry in Lobatse. Unfortunately, times have been lean for the mission as well, and the support for pastors has dropped in the past year. Knowing this, I was surprised that Isaac never took the time to complain about his personal needs. Not wanting him to suffer in silence, before I left, I asked him point blank how he was coping with the reduced income. The short version is that he is really having trouble keeping food on the table for his family. He has been applying for and doing any extra work he can find like making bricks for sale but there isn't much work to be had. He relayed to me that the only way he has been able to make it work is that many of the church members are giving his family what little they have extra like a bag of rice here and some flour there. This tugged on my heart greatly. In a positive way, the church is actually learning the meaning of tithing and I am encouraged to see this because we have been really pushing for our congregations to do more in terms of supporting the pastor because that is the biblical model. On the other hand, to see Isaac suffering in this way when he is one of the hardest working and most dedicated of our pastors in the field was very hard. I tried to encourage him that the church is actually learning through his suffering, but the words felt empty in the face of his situation. I used the truck to help him collect a months worth of firewood and left him all the cash I had in my wallet which wasn't much but should feed his family for a week or so. Sarah and I are planning and praying about how we can do more while also being torn up by the fact that his suffering is producing real results in the character of his congregation. He is facing that situation with Joy in his heart and without complaint. Would I be that faithful? Or would I run back to America for the sake of my family?
"Lord forgive me for complaining about my little inconveniences and give an overflowing blessing to Isaac. May his patience and grace in the midst of suffering produce kingdom results not only in his congregation, but may it release in him the power of the Spirit such as has never been seen in Botswana before. Lord if you would like to help Isaac through me in some way, I am here and willing. Amen."
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