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Michelle and i decided to take the kids up to Mmankgodi for church on Sunday morning and to deliver a few books and balls to the orphanage that Michelle's mom and brother brought over. We also gave them toothbrushes and toothpaste that were donated by a dentist from Northern Ky. I was really worried about the trip simply because it is impossible to get through sitting for any amount of time with the twins. i didn't want to offend anyone in the church and was worried about making us stand out in the crowd. One thing I forgot to consider was the fact that we were going to a small village in Botswana, and no matter how the kids acted, we would have stuck out in the crowd... 5 kids, only non Botswana in the whole place, it was great.. we were met with stares and smiles and couldn't find the place at first, so we picked up a woman dressed in an elaborate outfit(St. Mary's choir) headed to the same church. She had a sky blue cap on, sky blue cape and sky blue skirt highlighted with red ribbon.
The church is nothing like home. a simple facility with donated plastic chairs with MP spray painted on the back and a few small wooden pews that Jude was interested in moving around as much as possible. the offereratory consisted of a loaf of store bought bread and a dozen eggs. People are extremely poor and the collection was minimal.. a few thebe here and there( a thebe is 1/6 of a pula, 1 pula is 1/6 of a US dollar).
but the ceremony was awesome.... the music from start to beginning was beautiful. a choir consisting of men and women led the whole congregation.. there was swaying and a few times where the would wave arms in the air in celebration, but the music was something I will never forget. It brought tears to my eyes and was the kind of music that goes right through you(make sense?). The mass lasted several hours and our kids sat patiently through it. I left feeling very uplifted but at the same time sad, knowing that what these people need and pray for are beyond me. Their needs are so basic and simple, yet they seem very happy.
Michelle and i took turns watching the twins outside walk around the village, chase chickens and play in the dirt.
We will go back for sure, but probably take turns taking the older kids.
Michelle is off this week, so we're still trying to figure out what to do with her time off...
Ok, all for now
