Beyond our physical presence, God is at work for eternal fruit.

When we moved out of living in the church manse, there was a bunch of bananas like this one that we enjoyed last year, but it was yet to ripen at all. It would have been ready some time after we were gone. We didn’t get to see it ripen, even though the ripening process would have continued to full ripeness regardless of our presence or not. This is a little like a metaphor of the spiritual fruit we left but will continue on regardless of us not being there in Botswana anymore...

A Humbling Reminder

It is always a humbling reminder of God’s faithful work, when someone we mentor and disciple gives signs of growth in grace which we get to see right in front of our eyes. It’s also on our hearts that we can’t continue to be present with many in Botswana for ongoing discipleship. But since ‘leaving’ the place that was our little corner of Africa for over two decades, it has been a surprising and even greater blessing to now receive some feedback showing how God is using the ‘leaving’ to accomplish his next purposes of growth for his children.

I was also reminded recently how that even though the disciples felt very dependant on Jesus as their teacher after 3 years of being with him almost 24/7, he needed to leave them and return to heaven for the Holy Spirit to come. They didn’t realise the full reality of that, but God was taking them from one privilege to a greater privilege, and to a whole new era and dimension of ministry for the gospel going forth.

As much as so many didn’t want us to leave, we felt particularly confident that it was God’s time, and we are so encouraged to receive messages such as the slightly edited one below that remind us that God can and will continue to give the increase to what he enabled to be planted through our time in Botswana. We give him the glory for his work in lives that we were able to witness, and now as we continue to hear about it…

Just as the Apostle Paul told the Philippians in 1:27...

"Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ: that, whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your state, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the gospel;"

We want to share this message below which we recently received, in the hope that others will be encouraged when fearful or concerned about if someone you have been discipling has to move far away or you have to move far away. We can be confident that its God who is doing the work and God will complete what he has begun in their lives. It’s always also a good reminder that we are just the privileged vessels, it's God who is doing the work. And it's an opportunity to say thankyou to so many of you who have prayed for us and Botswana and will continue to do so. Your labours are not in vain.

Philippians 1:6

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:6

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

May you be encouraged as you read this:

"For several weeks now, I've found myself wanting to send you a message. Each time, I would compose a long one in my mind, full of random things I wanted to share with you, but somehow it never made it from my mind to my phone. And the more I think about it, the more I realise that many of those things are connected by one thread: the impact you've had on my life, often in ways I only recognise much later.

The other day, I was trying to encourage someone to read a book I knew would be helpful to them, but they kept putting it off. It reminded me of how often you’d want me to read a particular book, and how I kept postponing it until I finally started. Once I did, I was captivated by how helpful it was, and I regretted not reading it sooner. I thought about how sometimes the very things that could help us grow are the things we keep putting off, and how grateful I am that you persisted in pointing me towards things that would build me.

Then there was a moment at a business training workshop I attended... when I was unexpectedly asked to summarise the previous day's training in front of 35 women. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I was so afraid of appearing foolish that I could feel the shame and anxiety rising in me. But then I remembered that it is not man I should fear or live to please. I found the courage to stand there, and I knew that the boldness I needed came from remembering whose honour matters most. I was there to honour God, not to spend my life worrying about how people might perceive me.

In that moment, I realised that the wisdom you've imparted doesn't always announce itself immediately. Sometimes it lies quietly within me until a situation brings it to the surface. Then, almost without warning, i find myself thinking differently, responding differently, and drawing from something you would’ve taught me long ago.

At that same workshop, I remembered the conversations we had and how you and [your husband] helped [someone] who thought she needed money for her business. How, sometimes, what we need is not financial aid but a logic aid. We can be so convinced that our businesses need an injection of money when what we actually need is to think differently about the resources we already have. That conversation has stayed with me. It has challenged me to reconsider how much I can do with what is already in my hands instead of constantly looking outside myself for what I think is missing.

Sometimes, it is a conversation with another Christian that leaves me reflecting on how blessed I have been to encounter someone who modelled a different way(of what I’m used to... of walking with Christ. Someone who could listen patiently, speak godly wisdom, and point me back to Christ without making me feel as though I were the worst of sinners, beyond the reach of His grace. You had a way of helping me confront what needed to change without making me feel that I was beyond redemption. That is something I have come to appreciate deeply, and it is now influencing how I approach parenting and my relationships with other people.

Other times, I find myself in situations where lying seems like the easiest, most logical way out. And then I remember the freedom that comes with telling the truth, even when it is uncomfortable, and the greater honour of being truthful before God than finding approval or escaping consequences before people. I am still a work in progress, but I can see how the things you taught me continue to shape the choices I make.

Sometimes, the seed you plant today only begins to make sense much later, when life presents the very situation in which that wisdom is needed. And when it does, you find yourself drawing from something that was imparted to you long before you knew you would need it.

As I reflect on all this, I am reminded that your years in Botswana were about so much more than the time you spent here or the things you did. There are things you have imparted that you may never get to witness fully, because some of their fruit will only become visible long after the moment of planting. But I want you to know that the seeds you planted in my life are bearing fruit, even as I continue to grow.

I am so grateful to God that our paths crossed. I do not take lightly the privilege of having encountered a woman who not only spoke about Christ but continually pointed me towards Him, through her words, her patience, her wisdom, and the way she dealt with me.

I am still learning, still unlearning, and still growing. There is so much I have yet to get right. But I carry with me things you taught me, and I suspect that in the years to come, I will keep finding myself in situations that bring your words back to mind, helping me and helping others see something I hadn't seen before or giving me the courage to do what I know is right.

Thank you for pouring into my life, for your patience with me, and for the wisdom you shared so generously. I will forever be grateful to God for allowing our paths to cross.

As you and [your husband] begin this new chapter in Australia, I pray that the Lord will establish you, strengthen you, and continue to use you wherever He has planted you. May you find comfort in knowing that although you have left Botswana geographically, the things God worked through you here have not been left behind. They live on in the people whose lives you touched, in the lessons we are still learning, and in the fruit that will continue to emerge long after your departure.

May the Lord bless you abundantly in this new season. You have left an imprint on my life that distance cannot erase, and I thank God for you."