For Day 5 of my 10 Days of Thankfulness, I would be remiss if I did not mention my appreciation for all of my supporters. I have several churches and individuals who have supported (and continue to support me) since I became a missionary.

Thank you to everyone who has financially supported me! I supported missionaries consistently for years prior to going into the field. And now that I’m in the mission field myself, I’m grateful for everyone who has been willing to send me and invest in me. Financial support helps cover the expenses of my basic living needs, which in turn allows me to fully focus on what God has called me to do. It also helps grow my sphere of influence, such as the contributions made towards our abstinence program. Let me also take this time to thank everyone who has contributed towards my fundraising goal to purchase my own vehicle – I have currently reached 66% of my goal and I only have $1700 left to raise! (If you are interested in helping me reach my goal for my car, click here to make a donation.)

Thank you to everyone who prays for me! I love hearing that people are praying for me! I am in good health. I have never lacked since I’ve been on the field. I love what I do. I live a very full life as a missionary. I feel so blessed and I feel like God’s protection and favor is constantly surrounding me. I know I owe a part of that to everyone who is praying for me. Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement! I’ve learned very quickly that the biggest thing I appreciate the most as a missionary is connecting with people who are genuinely interested and excited about what I do – you are the kind of people we as missionaries LOVE to partner with! The encouragement and excitement of our supporters can help fuel us to press on in our work. Letters, emails, Facebook messages, cards, care packages – it’s those small, but genuine and thoughtful acts of love and encouragement that can bless us so much. I am especially grateful for all the new churches and pastors I met last year during my visit to the States, who knew nothing about me, but who made the time to get to know me and my heart for missions. Thank you for your time and your willingness to meet with me and invest in me.

I couldn’t do what I love to do without your support. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!!

Handmade “Thank you” cards I’m preparing to send out to my supporters

For Day 4 of my 10 Days of Thankfulness, I would like to express how thankful I am for the Buckleys. If you’ve been following me since I moved to Africa, you know that I work with Light of the World Ministries which was founded by Matt and Kristin Buckley over 25 years ago.

When they first came to Botswana, they were only 21 and 22 years old and newly married – they celebrated their first wedding anniversary in Botswana! They are as much African as they are American, and they are dedicated and committed to what God has called them to do in Africa.

They have been pastors of Light of the World Church in Francistown, Botswana for over 20 years now. When they first opened the church, only 3 adults attended and about 100 children. The church now runs about 300 people of all ages. In addition to that, two branch churches have also been established in nearby villages.

In 1999, they opened Light of the World Academy, a Christian preschool that has earned a reputation in the community as one of the best English-medium preschools in Francistown.

In 2000, they opened Light of the World Bible Training Centre with a heart to teach the Bible and train leaders for ministry. People of various nationalities and religious backgrounds have attended the school.

The Buckleys have accomplished a lot over the years, but they’ve also experienced their own set of hardships. They’ve experienced financial challenges, not so great living situations, and various types of roadblocks in trying to build their ministry.

From their great and not so great experiences, they’ve developed a heart to equip and prepare future missionaries desiring to enter the mission field – to help them avoid the same mistakes they made when they were new missionaries and to help them start their missionary life off on the right foot in the most successful and effective way possible.

I came to Botswana in 2012 feeling more excited than nervous. In fact, I pretty much had zero fear – I couldn’t wait to step foot on African soil. I didn’t experience any type of culture shock when I first arrived. I had a good idea of what to expect – how I should dress, cultural expectations, etc. I also arrived fully funded for one year, and have been blessed to maintain ongoing financial support – I’ve never lacked since I’ve been on the mission field. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am serving in an area that I enjoy and am good at. When I decided to become a missionary, I was entering new and unknown territory, in the literal and figurative sense. But I felt ready and prepared, and I owe so much of that to the Buckleys and their willingness to believe in me and invest in me. They have not only helped to make me a better missionary, but they have helped me to become a better person – a better version of myself than the self who stepped off the plane onto African soil in July of 2012. I had no idea what I was doing when I decided to become a missionary, and the Buckleys helped me eliminate so many of the questions marks that were running through my head. I am so thankful that God put the right people in my path at the right time. Thank you, Buckleys, for everything!

Me & the Buckleys

For Day 3 of my 10 Days of Thankfulness, can I just say that I’m thankful that I feel at home in Africa? Because I do. How does one Filipino American find herself feeling at home in a foreign country she has never been to? I look different. I talk differently. I stand out like a sore thumb. I’ve only ever lived in big cities prior to moving to Africa, and although Francistown is the second largest city in Botswana, it ain’t San Diego or Denver (where I used to live). I packed my bags and moved to a foreign country. Foreign! – by definition, something that should feel strange and unfamiliar to me. In certain respects, at certain times, on certain days, things have felt strange or unfamiliar. But, for the most part, I surprisingly and pleasantly feel very comfortable and at home in Africa.

I’m not really sure what led to this “instant” feeling of “at-home-ness”, but I feel like I’ve had a pretty smooth and easy transition acclimating to life in Botswana. I would like to think that I’m just that awesome of a missionary, but I think the truth is that I am simply where God wants me to be and I am doing what He made me to do. Because if I were to look at the facts, I should be feeling completely out of place. But I don’t. I feel like I fit here, like I belong. I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.

There are so many things I really appreciate about life/culture in Botswana.

For starters, I like the way people greet each other here. Dumela is the Setswana (main dialect) word used for pretty much any type of general greeting (e.g. Hi, Hello, Good Morning, etc.). Basically, you should greet everyone you come into contact with – whether you know them or not – when you’re walking, when you’re riding a taxi, when you sit down next to someone, etc. I also enjoy the custom of greeting elders – you do a small curtsey when you shake their hand. And when you shake hands with someone, you always shake with your right hand while your left hand rests on your right forearm. Greeting people in this way has become second nature to me and I just feel so African when I do it!

I love singing songs in Setswana! Setswana ain’t an easy language to learn. It’s a tonal language, meaning you can say the same word (with the same spelling) a different way to mean something else completely different. It’s also a language that utilizes a lot of consonant clustering. For example the word for miss (as in, I miss you) is tlhwaafaletse (not even sure if I spelled that right). Try saying that five times fast – or just try saying it! My Setswana is coming along slowly but surely, but I have discovered, however, that it’s a bit easier and way more fun to sing in Setswana! Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m singing, but I. love. it! If I was feeling brave enough, I would have recorded a video of myself singing my favorite Setswana song. Maybe for another blog post…

I also love the food! Below is a picture of a typical meal in Botswana – beef stew, cabbage, and pap. Let me just talk about the pap, or paletshe (probably spelled that wrong, too). It’s the white stuff that looks like mashed potatoes, but it’s actually ground up maize (corn) boiled in water. It’s dense and thick in texture and bland in taste. Maybe I could compare it to grits except it’s thicker and harder. Might not sound very appetizing to some palettes, but I stinkin’ love. this. stuff! When I am served a plate of food with pap on it, I am one very happy missionary :)

Typical meal in Botswana – beef stew, cabbage and glorious paletshe!

I am grateful to be an American. I love where I got to grow up and it will always be home. But I am also thankful that today, I get to call Botswana home.

For Day 2 of my 10 Days of Thankfulness, I want to share about how thankful I am for the people I get to work with, particularly the youth in my church. Most of my missionary work resolves around working with these youth. I plan and facilitate weekly youth services. I organize youth events. I am constantly thinking of creative and innovative ways I can invest in them and give them opportunities to grow and better themselves. I have always loved working with youth, and I gotta say, that the youth I work with are the most amazing youth ever! I LOVE that I get to be a part of their lives, that I get to share a part of investing in them.

This past year, I’ve gotten to do a lot of fun/cool events with them:

Etiquette Party: We organized a formal party for our youth where they were served a 3-course meal and were taught about social etiquette and table manners. It was fun to see them get all gussied up – I had never seen some of the girls ever wear a dress before or some of the boys ever look so sharp!
Girls Retreat: This was fun! Taught our girls about self-worth and how valuable and beautiful God made each of them. Highlights from this event were shopping (girls got to “shop” clothes, makeup and accessories that ladies from our church donated – this got a little crazy!), a Self-Esteem fashion show (each girl shared about 4 things they liked about themselves and then got to strut down a “runway”) and a stiletto race (exactly what it sounds like – racing each other in stilettos!).
Purity Ceremony: This was my favorite event with our youth this year. Twenty five of our youth made a public commitment in front of our church family to live a life of purity, and each of them were presented with a “love waits” bracelet which serves as a symbol and reminder of their commitment. This commitment was not only a commitment to abstinence, but a commitment to leave a better legacy for their future family, their city, their country and the next generation. I’m really proud of our youth who made this commitment and I hope to repeat this event again in the future for many other youth in Botswana. (You can read more about my plans here.)
For any missionary, it’s definitely a challenge at first to connect with people in a different culture, but I’m grateful to have made strides in pressing past that point, and I’ve developed a really great relationship with our youth. These youth have become a big part of my life, and being a part of their lives makes my life feel very FULL. And I am very thankful for that.

The youth threw me a surprise party for my birthday this year. If I look happy in this picture, it’s because I am!

We are 10 days away from Thanksgiving and I thought I’d share about 10 things I’m thankful for – in particular, about my life so far as a missionary. I think that everyone possesses the ability to live a rich and full life, but it’s a choice. Someone being “rich” doesn’t necessarily mean being financially rich, but being aware and appreciative of every type of blessing that God brings into your life. Many of the things that make our lives truly “rich” are intangible and carry priceless meaning for us. That’s the kind of “richness” I’ve learned to be thankful for and the kind of richness I would like to share with you over the next 10 days. I hope the things I share will help bring to mind the many rich things God has also blessed you with.

For Day 1 of my 10 Days of Thankfulness, I want to say that I’m thankful that I get to be a missionary in Africa. Sounds kind of obvious and expected, I know. But I really love what I do! I’ve lived in Africa for almost 2 years now, and there have been very few mornings when I wake up in bed and my first thoughts haven’t been, “Lord, thank You that I get to wake up in Africa today. Thank You that I get to live here. Thank You for choosing me. Thank You that I get to do this. Thank You that I get to be a missionary in Africa!” Oh man, I can’t help but get a little teary-eyed even as I share this. It’s an incredibly wonderful, precious and fulfilling thing when your job is something you love to do. I am immensely thankful for that.

Sitting on my bed having happy thoughts about being a missionary in Africa. (That’s a mosquito net above my head – I’m thankful for that too!)