Greetings from Botswana. We are excited to share with you the open doors for ministry in Botswana. God is building His church and it is a great joy to be used by Him as He works out His eternal plan.
Scroll down to learn more about:
Facts on Us
Facts on Botswana
Facts on Our Ministry
About The Freemans
(This is in pdf format)
Facts on Botswana
1. About the size of Texas, USA or New South Wales, Australia
2. Landlocked in the centre of the southern area of Africa
3. Mostly Kalahari Desert
4. A stable democracy and peaceful, racially harmonious country
5. A very hot and dry climate in summer
6. Population of almost 1.7 million with many people living in the capital city Gaborone
7. Produces 1/3 of the worlds diamonds
8. Great tourist destination for fantastic viewing of African wildlife - from Elephants to Flamingos!
9. Capital city: – Gaborone – in the south east 20 minutes from the South African border
10. HIV & AIDS – official prevalence rates vary depending on the target group – overall population is said to be 17.1% in 2004; among pregnant women, 32.4% in 2006. About 5% of the population are on Anti-retroviral medication. (stats sourced from NACA Botswana July 2007)
11. According to ‘Operation World’ although about 80% identify as “Christian” on a census, only about 4% would be associated with an evangelical church and it is a country with its HIV problems worsened by high level of alcohol abuse and a breakdown in family life.
Facts on our ministry
1. We work as volunteer missionaries with Lelilo Trust which is a Botswana based independent not-for-profit Trust.
2. The name “Lelilo” comes from the first two letters of each of the words LEARN, LIVE, LOVE. It is a picture of a tree from roots to fruit, where we want to see people learn, be rooted in the truth, grow and live the truth, and love from truth and with truth – the truth of God’s Word, the Word of Life. Lelilo Trust desires that through our ministry the people of Botswana will be encouraged and equipped to reach true success in all aspects of personal, family and community life, according to God’s definition of true success – to glorify God through Godly living.
3. Lelilo Trust has a focus in three main areas
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❖ Resources (through a library and retail shop [books and other media]), a Christian magazine and a Christian resource Directory which is under construction.
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❖ Mentoring and Training – we teach seminars on various topics (such as Sunday School teaching), and we provide longer term mentoring to Christians in business to help them do business in a God honouring way in a one-on-one format and in a group weekly meeting format
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❖ Care and Consulting
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• we provide a limited amount of Biblical Counsel one-on-one which is a growing area and is conducted at our premises and also presently made available to Christian business owners for their staff as they require and our time permits.
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• We also provide consulting services to churches and individuals in relation to establishing and improving their ministries, as well as to Christian business owners to help them do business in a God-honouring way
1. Our Australian Sending Church is Hertford St Baptist Church in Brisbane, Australia and we praise the Lord for such a supportive home church
2. the church we are involved in here in Botswana is the Open Baptist Church of Gaborone, where about 800 people from 37 nationalities attend over 3 services of a Sunday. Our Senior Pastor is Norman Schaefer. It has been an extra joy to have he and his wife Gabi come in 2005, as Norman was also Andrew’s pastor as a teenager in South Africa, and had baptised him many years ago. It is exciting to be part of the body of Christ as Open Baptist Church makes great effort to influence this nation of Botswana for Jesus Christ including their “Face the Nation” program reaching students. (see www.facethenation.org )
Andrew: - born 1967 (yes, turns the big 40 this year)
- son of missionary parents and grew up in Africa
- worked in the Christian book trade and in Catering
- enjoys cooking, reading, gardening
- prior ministry – Sunday School, Boys Brigade, kids clubs, short term missions
Sandra: - born 1970
- grew up in Brisbane, Australia
- began nursing training before contracting a nasty virus and developing CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome), worked part-time in the medical field
- enjoys sewing, reading, gardening, writing
- prior ministry – Girls Brigade, Sunday School, Church Library
We met at Bible College and were married in 1995. After living briefly in Sydney, Australia, we moved to Brisbane where we settled. We went to Botswana, Africa as a couple in 2001 to serve the Lord and the people, through literature retail. Our ministry has continued mainly in the area of discipleship/equipping through literature and other media over the years, although the provision of resources has grown to include a ministry of consulting and counseling.
We currently have no biological children of our own (it seems God has other plans for us for the moment), but enjoy trying to keep up to date with our 3 nephews and 5 nieces spread between Australia and the USA. God has challenged and blessed us however with a few local young people who call us their mum and dad and we have been privileged to have significant input into their lives. It is a joy to receive Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards, sms’es and hugs from Boitumelo, PG and Humphrey. PG and Humphrey used to live on our plot with us.
Facts on us!