The Walkers' Walk

Update from the Walkers

2010-10-17T14:50:00.002-05:00

Hi Family and Prayer Partners: How are you all doing? We know it has been some time without a recent note from us. My husband has been working really hard to get a web page going and asked me to forward this to you all. It is just up, so there are still kinks to work out, but we thought you all would really enjoy all the photos. There are more photos there than we could ever put on letter or attach to an email. Some of them you all would have seen over the 6 years we have been in Botswana, but many will ones you have not seen. Enjoy! We love you all and are so grateful for your giving and your prayers. There is a prayer page on one of the links. May God bless you.

xoxo The Walker crew

Link to new website: www.walkerswalk.org

May 2010

2010-08-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

Due to technical difficulties, just posting text on behalf of the Walker family.

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Thank you

To all of our dear supporters we want to express our deep appreciation for all of the encouraging emails we received. It is amazing what words of encouragement spoken in love can do. It has been a great reminder to us. Just like the seasons of the year there are seasons to life. Sometimes those seasons can be extreme; extreme to the point where it takes everything within you to survive. We are thankful that when we as believers face these seasons that
God’s grace, love, and love displayed through our brothers and sister in Christ are able to give us the strength and peace to stand and thrive. We love and appreciate each of you. We know many of you spoke to Father on our behalf as well as stood in the Gap and fought spiritual battles for us. We are here to report not only are we standing but we are moving forward; thanks to our Father and all of you. We also deeply appreciate those of you who have contributed extra in your support. It was greatly needed and greatly appreciated. We are still not where we should be
in financial support but it has been amazing to look at our finances and wonder how are we making it. Then we remember who we serve and it all makes sense.

Busy time of Easter Conference, Missionary

training, Annual General meeting, Joining Hands

March to May we had back to back conferences. We had

our three and half day Easter conference for all our mission

churches in our region, Missionary training conference for

all WTAB missionaries, Annual General meeting for mission

organization, Joining Hands conference in which all

evangelical ministry organizations are invited to come. All of

these events were happening back to back for each one I,

Michael was asked or recruited to be the main speaker,

lecturer, or one of the main facilitators. In essence what this

meant is that I would be speaking or teaching around

twenty-two to twenty-five times. All of this was happening

during the plateau of our struggles here in Botswana. When

all of these requests came in, I was dead set on declining,

but then the Lord in His graciousness said to me “Michael,

this is not about you. Focus on me and not your so-called

problems. Commit your works to me and I will establish your

plan and sustain you”. Words of a loving Father. So, I

changed my attitude and got busy preparing. Of course

most of you know that if I get recruited I will try my best to

recruit my wife to lead worship or at least do special music.

Don’t worry she loves me. She has to because the Bible

says so. The amazing thing about all of this every event/

conference went great. It was extremely exhausting but

glorifying to our Father and healing to my and my wife’s

soul. It was the perfect medicine needed to refocus our

perspective.

Fabulous 20th Wedding Anniversary

Needless to say even though all of those events helped us to regain our focus

they also left Heather and I utterly exhausted with a need to get away and rest

for a bit. The timing of this was perfect because once all of these events were

finished the next week was our 20th wedding anniversary. A perfect time and

reason for us to get away but in order for this to happen we needed a miracle

because our finances were low and we would need someone to watch our

kids. Ok, here is the “Da” the moment, the moment when God reminds us

even more who He is and what He is capable of doing. Towards the end of all

of these events some fellow missionaries suggested we go to Capetown for

our anniversary. We told them that we have wanted to do that since we have

been in Botswana for over six years and have never been as the cost has

always been a factor. This is when our Heavenly Father showed us why is

known as Provider. Even though he did not have to do it, He gave us a “rose”.

These missionary friends told us that if we could get to Capetown they could

arrange lodging and a vehicle for us because some of their family and

supporters live in Captetown. Once, they began to help us arrange things

even they were amazed at what would transpire. To make a long but fun story

short here is the gist of what came into being: We were able to get special

round trip flights to Capetown for both of us for a total of $398. Once we

arrived there the parents of those missionaries were waiting for us with a car

that was supplied by on of their supporters. We had a four nights free lodging

at a four star B&B on the beach in the resort town of Hermanus. Once there

we were able to spend a whole day with the owners who treated us to lunch

and dinner one night. We also were given four nights in a vacation home in

the town of Cape Agulhas. This is the most southern tip of Africa where the

Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. We had a wonderful time where we

connected with the neighbors that were locals there who treated us to dinner

one night. We also traveled to a small fishing village where we met a

wonderful local lady who lived in a small house right on the beach. It turned

out that she was a Christian and has aspirations of being a missionary. It was

such a wonderful time. We relaxed took walks on the beach, talked, and just

had time for each other.

Children Growing Up:

Once again in order for us to go on the trip we needed someone to take care of the children. Well we found some people in the most unexpected place. The people we found were our own children. They stayed home all by themselves the whole time. We did have missionaries

check in on them. Every report we received from the missionaries commented on how our children exceeded their expectations. They said they kept the house clean and even cooked dinner for several of them when they would come to check on them. The boys also took great care of their baby sister. They found rides into town when they needed to do shopping. The only thing that we got on them about is how they felt the need to eat steak for almost every meal; completely wiping out our supply of meat. We blame Judah mostly for this.

Regarding our children we are also at the point where we are seriously discussing a plans for our two older boys. We may be sending them back to the states as early as next year. The Lord has made some potential connections where we might be able to get Judah into a private

prep-school in Mississippi where Judah can pursue his football dream. This connection also said he would also help source out a place for Beracah to finish his last year of school. Right now Beracah is not sure what he wants to do. He seems to excel in history and he has a high

interest in military strategy. So, we are praying that whatever he decides that it is completely directed by the Lord.

Students:

What can we say we love our mission school students. They have

walked through numerous trials and tribulations. They have experienced

loss of siblings, and other close family members and numerous other

unspeakable tragedies. If there were ever reasons to give up and quit

they would have been justified in doing so. Their call has truly been

tested and they have risen out of the ashes. When you look at them

now you see smiles, laughter, love and passion. All of which has been

put into practice in ministry.

Karios:

Our students also had the opportunity to go through a wonderful week

long course called Karios. It is an intensive missions course that goes 8

to 9 hours a day for six days. It was an intense course but everyone of

the students said that it was life changing. The main focus was seeing

how the Bible is all about missions from Genesis to Revelations as well

as studying missionaries of the past. They were challenged and

encouraged.

Vision for ministry men of peace and relationships:

We have trained them so when they go into the villages they need not

go in and try to start a church but to look for a man or woman (person of

the same gender) of peace that they can build relationships with and

disciple. This is their starting point; make disciples through relationship.

This is how the ministry will be founded and grow. We have also given

them some tools to use such as: through one-to-one discipleship books,

and how to take someone from “Creation to Christ”. Once again these

precious students have taken hold of this with passion. We have one

student that meets with one man every Sunday morning at 3am for

discipleship. These students also go into one of the worst parts of town

three times of week to disciple people with whom they have developed

relationships. Through these wonderful relationships they have earned

the privilege of being invited into homes to start home groups and

ministries in these homes. Just the other day a man that was discipled

by one of our students requested that some of the students come to his

house and he will gather the people that live around him to come and

be taught and discipled by the students. The harvest is truly ripe here.

We no longer call Africa a place of need but the place of great potential.

Relationships:

I, Michael have had the wonderful experience of having a

renewed passion in ministering in our local community and

leading our small precious fellowship of believers here in

Lobatse. With the help of the students we have had the privilege

of reaching some immigrants to Botswana in practical and

spiritual ways. We planned a nice meal for them at our fellowship

and after we all ate well an extemporaneous time of praise broke

out. There was dancing singing, rejoicing and laughter. I then

had the pleasure to share a brief message on true joy. It was

truly a joyous time. Since this time around 15 to 20 of these men

have been coming to our fellowship. These men are the invisible

people of Lobatse. Everyday the stand at the street corners

hoping to get some type of scrap work. Often they are passed by

and not even seen, but God has open our eyes and we have

been given the wonderful privilege of ministering to them. It truly

has been a joy.

God in His graciousness reminded us once again that

the basics are still the best way forward in ministry. Know Him to

love Him, Make Him known by loving others; so, they can know

Him and love Him and become His disciples. Which brings me to

the next point: It is all about discipleship. “Go and make disciples

of all nations”. We have been hammering all of our students and

missionaries to build relationships and through those

relationships we proclaim the Gospel & makes disciples (men

and women in love with God and with people). It has been a

beautiful sight to see. Doors are flying open in numerous areas

and with numerous people groups.

Things to pray about:

• On June 22nd a six year old boy in our church was hit by a car. The parents are faithful members of the fellowship. They are originally from Zimbabwe, so their family support is non-existent. As soon as this terrible incident happened the mother of the child called Heather. Heather and I rushed to the scene where we found the mom in utter distress. We took her to the local hospital where they worked on stabilizing him to be transferred to a hospital in the

capital city. The husband had been transferred to another town by his employer so, we called him to let him know what happened. It broke my heart to tell him this horrifying news. Once he arrived in Lobatse I took him to Gaborone (Our Capital). I was horrified to see that this hospital was no better than our local one. People were on gurneys in the waiting area. There was only one doctor on call and he did not even know the name of the respirator machine. He even admitted that there was only one doctor that knew how to use “these big machines” on children. He phone this doctor and we waited at least two and half hours for him to arrive. Long story short, this precious little boy is in intensive care with a head injury. He has two blood clots on the

brain that need to be surgically removed. They are not able to do this until the swelling goes down. He is improving a bit but we can’t really res until they are able to remove the clots because they are life threatening. Please, pray with us for God’s healing hand to touch the precious little boy and bring complete healing. His name is Tadiwa.

• Our finances for personal ministry and the mission ministry: Once again we seemed to make it month to month. We are falling a little behind but miraculously extra funds seem to come just in the nick of time. Also, most of the students we take in our school are taken in at the missions cost. Many of us missionaries chip in some occasional support as we receive for them as well. The difficult part is that once the finish their classroom studies they do a six month practical. When they are out on their practical we give them a stipend to live on. So, when the next group of course study students come we the mission are paying for them as well as those out in the field. We do try to have the students at least contribute something. A few do but it is not nearly

enough. We believe that God wants us to train them so we do. I guess the best way to pray is for the Lord’s ongoing provision and wisdom for us in selecting students to come to be trained.

• Children: Even though we have been here for over six years it is still a struggle for our kids. They are lonely and miss out on sporting activity and other things that kids their age do. They are also struggling with homeschooling. The novelty wore off about two years ago. It has been a stressful time for the kids and my wife. Please, pray for peace and God’s sovereign plan to be carried out in these issues.

March 2010 Newsletter

2010-03-14T21:01:00.002-05:00

Click here to download the PDF version

*MEET OUR FAMILY

2010-03-10T07:00:00.003-06:00

MEET THE WALKER FAMILY

Michael and Heather Walker have been married almost twenty years and are the proud parents of four beautiful children: Beracah, Judah, Josiah, and Charissma.

From Heather's Heart

2010-03-10T07:00:00.002-06:00

Dear Friends and Family - well it has been way to long since we have had our "put your feet up and have a cup of tea" moment. These last few months have been full of good things and full of challenges. There is so much on my heart. My desire in these moments is to be real and vulnerable in our prayer requests, give you some insight on how to pray, and hopefully encourage you as well. It is true of any time, but particularly true of times likes these, that if you think of us and pray for us and the ministry God is doing here in Botswana,could you just send us a quick note of encouragement? We have felt pretty disconnected from people and we deeply appreciate your notes and prayers.

Our mission school is in full swing. We began mid-January. We don't have the 18 students that people said were coming - but numbers have never bothered us. Ever since we were inyouth ministry, our motto has been, "It is worth the ONE!" (What if I was the one?). Though it is true, we could not run the school with one student, having 7 is no disappointment to us. Among the students, are two Americans from one of our supporting churches in Arizona. What a blessing they are us. They add tremendously to this class of missionaries in training - and HAD to count the cost before they came here, unlike some of our more "local" students - who only come to realize the cost as they go to classes. Whew! Even though Michael and I have been involved in foreign missions ALL of our married years, and full time in foreign missions for 7 1/2 of our married years, we have never seen training like this. It is a privilege to be in this place and witness what God is going in the students. Now, you did not hear me say it is easy to witness what God is doing - but it is a privilege. When we REALLY surrender to God, and are in a safe place, - whoa - the stripping and breaking that must take place in ALL of us if we want to love the way Jesus does - is intense! Just the thought of that - seriously, makes me cry. I know I needed the stripping and breaking - ours just always came while we were in the middle of full-time ministry. :) When the students have wanted to give up - we've said, "Oh please, don't give up. God is doing things! It is hard - but He is doing things in you. You are in a safe place - where not only does God love you, but we love you!" ...oh, the times we have needed, and on occasions, experienced brothers and sisters saying that to us. Right now, I just have this mental flash of God's people that were there for us on different occasions when the road we were walking on was so difficult, and at times, unbearable. We so thank you!! You know who you are! We love you! Every one of us need people like that in our lives that will tell us the truth, comfort us when God is stretching us and stand with us. Please pray for our students. God has a heart for the nations!!!! When men and women of God catch that heart for the nations as well - they must be prayed for because the enemy does not like that. Thank you for your prayers. If I tell you their names - will you please pray for them by name? Sadi, Tshiamo, Mariska, Dikarabo, Zetro and Grace (our first couple coming together), Mac and Jory (our Americans).

Among the exciting things that have gone on, is that our baby girl started Reception (like our kindergarten) in Jan and lost her first tooth on Jan. 30. Wow! Poor girl! Because her brothers are so much older than her, she has not experienced that before - and did not know that you are SUPPOSED to lose your teeth! You can imagine the horror that brought. She was in her bedroom, changing her shirt as I requested, because I said it was too hot to wear a long-sleeved shirt. JUST that morning, her daddy was offering her a bite of his bagel and I noticed she turned her head to the side before she took her bite, and I said to myself, "now why did she do that?". So, as she was removing her shirt, she decided to help her pull it off, she would grab her sleeve with her teeth. Oops! All of a sudden we hear screaming and terror and "Mommy, mommy!" It was a terrible sound. We have found several scorpions around, so I honestly wondered if she was stung by a scorpion, it was so bad. She continues, "Mommy! Mommy!" I said, "Charissma - what is wrong, honey?! Why are you shouting and crying?" "My tooth! My tooth! My tooth came out!" I told her to show me her mouth and there was hardly any blood at all, which told me that tooth was more than ready to come out. So I said, "Charissma, sit on my lap, calm down and stop your crying so I can tell you why we are going to celebrate that your tooth came out." While in disbelief, she quickly calmed down, wondering why we would be happy about that.We began to explain to her that she is supposed to lose her teeth, as funny as that seems, so she can get her big girl teeth. Josiah helped by explaining to her the great phenomenon that would happen while she slept. And by the way, the inflation these days!! Daddy plays the "tooth fairy" - and I cannot believe what our children are given for their teeth! Our closest friends here, who are South Africans, explained to us that they tell their children that the tooth fairy is going to build a piano with their teeth. If the teeth are black, they are the black keys - if they are white, they are the white keys. See! Missionary kids get to grow up with SO MUCH CULTURE! :)

Another inevitable Walker happening is that our youngest son, Josiah, has turned 13! Now all of our sons are teenagers! That is crazy! In April, our first-born son, Beracah, turns 17.

Where is all the time going?! I find I ask myself that very often these days. Before you know it, another month passes by and you wonder where it went. All the more reason that we should spend our time wisely and make the most of every opportunity. Our life is about people. People take time. People take energy. We know that THE BEST, most effective way that we make a difference in God's Kingdom is to love His people and care for His people and train His people. It is hard sometimes and draining. I am a people person - I get energized by being with people. But I have found recently that I have felt peopled-out. (I know that there are more than a few of you that can identify with that). I am pouring my life into 3 women right now on an individual basis, not counting the women and teenage girls at church that come on Wednesday nights to house church. I don't feel obligated to do it - I love it. But you know, there are times, when you are in the middle of difficult things that it seems there is very little to give. There is NOTHING to give if we don't meet with our Master every day. We have nothing. God is doing things. God is growing us up. A few weeks back I taught the women on endurance and perseverance. We so often want God to deliver us FROM every trouble that comes our way. We cry and beg and plead with God. But the thing is, so often I really feel that God is saying, "Please Heather. See the big picture. I don't want to deliver you from that thing - I want to be your deliverer IN that thing. There is character for you in this struggle! Do you want to be robbed of the character that I long to build in your life as a result of this thing?" Man, God is so good, so beautiful, so capable of using those difficult things to build endurance, character and hope through our suffering.

A few weeks back I said to my husband, "Honey, right now - I feel like giving up on everything!". You know what? That was true. Homeschooling is another current challenge. While I used to get one migraine about every six months, I have had more than I can count since May. In ministry here, wanting desperately to be relevant in a culture that is not my own. I did FEEL like giving up on everything in that moment - but I never WANTED to give up. I felt like giving up - but I never WANTED to give up. I told a friend, "You know? I know that if I went to a doctor right now and told him how I was feeling, and then told him what my life has looked like this last year - he would say, 'ummm. Yes, Mrs. Walker, and you are asking me if you are stressed?'" Furlough was awesome - and necessary, but it is no 5 month vacation, contrary to some people's thinking. After changing locations every 3-4 days for five months and arriving back to our new home in Lobatse, Botswana in May, we immediately began house renovations and received with joy two mission teams (among one of which had five of my family members in it!). We finished renovations in October, only to realize later that God would ask us to move again and do more house renovations. So, maybe I have felt displaced?....All is well. We are finished with renovations and so thankful for God's provision through His people and for His wisdom. He knew that we were really preparing the perfect place to house mission students and He knew how He would provide for us. We are here to make an investment in the people of Botswana. Just because things are hard, doesn't mean we must quit. So - my brothers and sisters - be encouraged if you are going through a very difficult patch in your race right now. PLEASE DON'T QUIT THE RACE! We cannot WIN if we quit the race. We can only win if we run. See when we think of races - we think of one winner and the rest are losers - but that is not how it is in God's race. Run the race with perseverance and YOU WILL WIN. We can't win the battle if we don't fight. We will fight! Let's fight this fight together! Let's run this race together! I want to cross the line with you.

Maybe a few of you might say, "Now Heather, why did you have to tell us all that?". One of my sweet sisters, whom I love dearly, may say, "Man, Heather, that was downer - you should be more positive.". I am positively real. :) If we can't be honest with you all and yet count on you to intercede with us and for us - then truly, we have no one like that. We are so grateful for all of you! We know that the economy is bearing it's weight on many of you - and us. We know that a few of you are facing struggles that we could not imagine - losing a loved one, fighting situations or diseases that are out of your control. We are praying for you. We love you! Let run this race together! Let's look to Him together! We love you all - more than we can tell you on a page. Thank you so much for your prayers - just please pass a note to us when you shoot up a prayer!

...Hope your coffee or tea has not grown cold reading that long book. Thanks so much!!

Lotsa love. Runnin' this race to win,

Heather - Michael, Beracah, Judah, Josiah and Charissma

December 2009 Newsletter

2009-12-15T15:15:00.000-06:00

Downloadable PDF

September 2009 Newsletter

2009-09-11T18:32:00.002-05:00

Downloadable PDF

SNOW!

2009-02-18T19:36:00.009-06:00

The Walker Clan experiences snow in Sedona, Arizona. Enjoy! As before, click on the images to make them larger.

To see a slideshow:

Walkers in Mississippi

2009-02-05T10:47:00.016-06:00

Note: to see any of these photos larger, just click on them. :)

From Heather: Dec 12-16:

This is our first ministry opportunity after we stepped foot in America. We went to one of our supporting churches, Church Arise in Decatur, MS. Our university friend, Tonette Kellet, was our connection there. Now we have many friends and are so blessed by being connected with these folks. This church is a picture of heaven, made up of Choctaw Native Americans, African Americans and Caucasians -HEAVEN! :) Our sweet, long-time friend had goodies waiting for us in our hotel room, American candy, drinks, chips - YUM!

Mississippi held so much fun for us - our young men got to go quad biking and hunting and Michael got to go fishing with Pastor Gabe. Oh yeah...and Mexican food!

And the highlight was meeting all our beautiful, new Choctaw friends. Jesus loves you...and so do the Walkers!!!

January 2009 Newsletter

2009-01-26T17:26:00.002-06:00

Downloadable PDF

Walkers are in the USA

2009-01-09T07:26:00.001-06:00

Dear Friends and Family - Happy New Year! Well, we are here. We enjoyed Christmas with our family on Michael's side. We were able to meet our two new brother-in-laws. New Years was ushered in with family on Heather's side. We saw all the moms and dads, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. It was GREAT. Heather was able to see her brother, whom she had not seen for 12 years!

We thank you all for your prayers and support. We have a pretty full schedule, but have had a few openings come available. Please let us know if you would like to have us and speak to your church, youth group or home group.

Our first Sunday back was spent in Decatur, MS - and what a BEAUTIFUL Sunday it was at Church Arise with Pastor Gabe and Amber - and our college friend, Tonette. We felt so loved by everyone. What a privilege it was to be with these folks who have a great heart for the Choctaw Indians in their area. We were able to speak at the Choctaw Tribal School on that Monday - and it was fabulous!

Please keep praying for us. Please pray for safety, protection and health as we travel. We have battled flu and colds. We are praying for snow - enough to build a snowman with our children (to be specific!) :) We love you all and so look forward to seeing you. Our cell number while in the USA is 404-819-9375.

If you are interested in us coming to our church and we don't already have a connection with your pastor or leadership - it best for you to feel out your pastor. Look forward to hearing from you.

Blessings,
Heather, Michael, Beracah, Judah, Josiah, and Charissma

The Walkers
Furlough Itinerary 2009
8 December – 28 January 2009 GEORGIA, MISSISSIPPI, ILLINOIS & FLORIDA

? 11 Jan- Open

5-19 Jan – GA & FL
14 – Mom Debra's church – Citadel, Orlando, FL
18 Jan –Take sons to Tampa – Crossover Community Church
25 Jan –GA,Open Word Christian Ministries

29 January – 17 February 2009
ARIZONA, WASHINGTON, & IDAHO
1 Feb – Sedona, AZ Wayside Chapel
8 Feb – AZ Camp Verde Parkside Community Church (BC)
9 Feb – AZ Camp Verde - Young At Heart Potluck
10 Feb – WA head to WA
15 Feb – WA Island Church

18 February – 9 March, 2009
NORTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA & WASHINGTON DC
18 Feb – VA
22 Feb – VA Hope Christian
1 Mar – DC Takoma Park Baptist Church

10-30 March, 2009
MICHIGAN & OHIO
8 Mar – Licking Co Vineyard
15 Mar – New Salem Missionary Baptist Church
16 Mar – Basinger fellowship with OH supporters
22 Mar – Open

Wk of 22 – visiting family/friends in MI
29 Mar – MI church speak and sing

1 April – 5 May 2009
ILLINOIS, MISSOURI & IOWA
5 Apr - IL (Bankston Fork Baptist)
5 Apr – evening IL New Douglas Baptist Church
12 Apr – IL Big Creek Baptist
Wk of 12th - visit WME, Dave Parish

Possibly during this wk – travel to SBU – speak in Dr. Frost class
19 Apr – IA - Eberlys
26 Apr– IL – Anna Heights Baptist Church
? 3 May– IL or GA

Downloadable Newsletter

2008-12-11T18:07:00.007-06:00

2008 August Newsletter in PDF format

And the pages of the newsletter:

December Newsletter

2008-12-11T13:21:00.002-06:00

text only for now, but with pictures soon!

Love Botswana Outreach Mission
Michaelwalker@lovebotswana,org / Heatherwalker@lovebotswana.org
WALKER’S WALK

It’s been awhile since our last newsletter; here are the headlines:

1.WALKERS ARE SOON TO BE USA BOUND.
2.TWO WALKER BOYS BECOME YOUNG MEN .
3.CHARISSMA & JOSIAH NOTHIN BUT LOVE
4. CAN’T KEEP A GODLY MAN DOWN.
5. HEATHER AND A SHEPHERD’S HEART
6. MICHAEL THE MARRIAGE PASTOR
7. BIBLE SCHOOL “HIGHS AND LOWS”
8. ‘BACK IN OUR DAY’ - YOUTH VALENTINE BANQUET
9. ORAL ROBERTS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ON A 29 DAY MISSION TRIP IN THE BUSH (BURR!)
10.3RD ANNUAL BRANCH CHURCH EASTER CONFERENCE. - VILLAGE CHURCH YOUTH GO ON THEIR FIRST FOREIGN MISSION TRIP TO NAMIBIA
11. GUARDS AND CUSTOMS AGENTS TRAINING TO BE PASTORS?
12. FINALLY A BIG THANKS

One thing I can
truly say is that life
here in Botswana is
definitely not
boring.

DONATION INFORMATION:
WORLD MISSIONS & EVANGELISM
P.O. BOX 790
BENTON, KY 42025
*MUST MARK ON CHECK MEMO:
“PREFERENCE ACCOUNT # 094 AND
OUR NAMES MICHAEL AND HEATHER WALKER
CHECK MUST BE MADE OUT TO WME

Yes, the Walkers are US bound.

We will be leaving for the United
States on December 8th. We will
arrive in Atlanta, GA. The states we
planned to travel to this furlough will
be Georgia, Florida, Virginia,
Washington D.C. Ohio, Illinois,
Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan,
Arizona, Washington State, and
possibly Oklahoma, Iowa, and
Arkansas. We will be in the states for
five months. As you can see will be
doing a lot of traveling in that time. As
many of you know the reason that we
do this is because we are independent
missionaries. We raise all of our own
living expenses and much of our
ministry operating expenses. We plan
to go to all these states to see our
supporters or to see potential
supporters. One thing that we think is
extremely important is to say thank
you in person to all of our financial
supporters and give them a verbal
report of the investment that they are
making in the Kingdom of God in
Africa. There is also the reality of a
fluctuating economy, and because of
this some of our supporters have not
been able to give anymore. We still
need more supporters and we truly
believe that God is going to provide.
We know He has called us therefore
He will bring it to pass. This is why we
make these trips to extra states to see
if some of the relationships that the
Lord has brought us into are to
become partners in our ministry here.

In the next two weeks we will be
arranging our travel schedule to visit
all of our supporters. If we did not visit
you last furlough and you are thinking
about becoming a supporter please,
let us know. We would love to make
the time to personally come see you
and speak at your church. As many of
you know one of our most powerful
platforms for raising awareness of the
ministry and needed support is
through speaking at church and
church functions. We would love to be
placed on your church schedule this
coming furlough.

I pray that everyone
reading this newsletter would be
inspired to make it happen and
schedule us to come to your church.
This is not just about the Walkers but
it is about what God is doing in the
Southern Africa region through us and
you. We look forward to seeing you on
furlough.

Also, just as a friendly
reminder even when we are on
furlough we still need your support.
Every meal we eat, place we go and
thing we do is because of our financial
supporters answering God’s call to be
a part of this ministry. We are also in
the process of raising extra support for
our tickets to the states. It will cost us
approximately $11,000. I am happy to
say that we are a third of the way
there. So, once again we would
appreciate any extra giving to help us
make this happen as well. As you can
see it takes a lot of team work to make
ministry happen here and we are very
glad that you are a part of it.

Beracah & Judah

Yes, they grow up!
Beracah is our “magic man”
and guitar player. What took
me (Michael) 6 months to
learn he learns in two hours.
He also has taken a interest in
illusions. He performed for
the youth group and they all
loved it. He also is very active
in our youth group creative
ministry program.

Judah, is our drummer!

What can I say about Judah,
besides that he goes through
shoe sizes and clothes almost
weekly. He has taken a strong
interest in drums. He is
becoming quite good as well.
Also, the other day Judah
received a compliment from
the youth pastor that every
parent loves to hear about
their son. The youth pastor
told us that Judah has
changed. He has seen Judah
acquire a deep hunger for the
Lord and it has become
evident through his heart for
service in the ministry and
passion in worship.

Josiah:

One of the many things that is nice
about Josiah is that he still enjoys
going with his dad to the bush (rural
area). When the boys go to the bush
with their dad they know they will
spend a lot of time doing necessity
camping, using nature as the worlds
largest bathroom (don’t worry;
everything gets buried). Eating some
of the finest local cuisine or not eating
at all. They also get to enjoy being the
center of attention as crowds of
children gather around just to see
them breathe, but they also get to
experience some of the most
fascinating and lively church services
that they have ever experienced. They
also get to see first hand spiritual
battles and manifestations that they
most likely would not see in the United
States.

Because of all of these
fascinating experiences the older two
boys usually decline even when I try to
bribe them with a one night stay at
Mahangu Lodge when we are in
Namibia. It cost approximately $45.00
dollars to stay there and includes a full
dinner and breakfast. Michael usually
tries to stay there for one night when a
special guest or a family member
accompanies him. The reason we like
to stay there is because if there is time
we try to do a half a day of fishing.
That is always a great adventure -
hippos, crocodiles,and water snakes
are standard with the occasional
elephant, or monitor lizard patrolling
the bank. Of course we can’t forget the
reason why we are fishing - the great
tiger fish. It can literally bite a small
finger off if you are not careful, and the
all so tasty Bream and Nimway (aka
tilapia). Josiah is a fisherman at heart
and is willing to endure almost
anything if you dangle fishing at the
end of it. Needless to say whenever
dad feels like he is going to be lonely
out in the bush he knows that he can
count on the great fisherman to step
up. Our fish count last time Josiah
went out with his dad for half a day,
dad - 3, Josiah- 7, but dad caught the
biggest.

Charissma with some of the
young girls from the rural
churches that came for our
annual Church conference. The
branch churches requested that
we baptize all the new believers
in their church during the
conference. One man told
Michael “There is much
work to be done in my
village. I need to be
baptized to show that I am
serious about my
commitment.”

Mischievous but Sweet

Who can resist this smile?
Charissma is the little jewel.
Everyone that interacts with her breaks out with a smile. One day
we were at church and one of the pastors gave her a hug and she
kicked one of her legs back. She has her tom boy tendencies, yet
she is definitely all girl. Sometimes she will change clothes 4 times
in one day. If you are extra nice to her she will give you a little
wink. She is as sweet as can be unless you try to take one of her
three favorite dolls; if that happens you just better step back.
Heather and I sometimes get the privilege of being awaken from
our sleep with these tiny hands on our cheeks and a sweet kiss
telling us hi or wake up. You canʼt help but smile when you get
woken up like that. Our major problem with Charissma is the rate
she outgrows clothes. She is two sizes past where she should be.
The little girl likes her “nama” (meat).

Canʼt keep a godly man down.

As many of you know the founder of
the ministry, Jerry Lackey, was
diagnosed with stage four cancer in his
tonsil. He was instructed to go back to
the states for aggressive treatment.
We are happy to say that God is in
control. As of the last report from the
Doctor the cancer is all gone! Pastor
Jerry traveled back for our annual
conference and on his return, holding
true to form, he hit the ground running.
It is always a great sight to see walking
testimonies and that is what Pastor
Jerry is. We thank all of you for your
prayers. They were heard and
answered.

We will be on furlough December 8th through May 6th. Please let us know if there is a possibility of speaking at your church.

Heather is continually rising
to the challenge of being the
women’s ministry minister. Heather
has this wonderful gift of making
every person she meets feel like they
are her best friend. She has so much
genuine love and care for everyone
she encounters or ministers to.
Because of this she has numerous
doors open to her. Recently she was
asked to be the wedding coordinator
for two former bible school students
who are now leaders in the church. It
was a major endeavor and she did a
fabulous job. The reason people love
Heather so much is because she
values relationships.

Death is common place here. Many
lives are cut short and when this
happens Heather is always there to
help family and friends cope with the
loss. You can just see her heart pour
out to them.

Recently Heather was involved in a
big misunderstanding and true to
form she handled it lovingly and
graciously. A young lady in church
called Heather extremely upset. She
confronted Heather about divulging
information regarding this young
lady’s HIV status. The young lady told
Heather that her friend said that she
overheard Heather talking about this
young lady’s HIV status to someone
else. When Heather was confronted
with this she was completely
devastated. She could not remember
discussing this young lady’s HIV
status with anyone. Even though
Heather could not remember
divulging this information she was
determined to make things right. She
set up several meetings with this
young lady to try and restore this
relationship but for some reason
something would come up and keep
them from meeting. Heather
continually persevered to restore this
relationship. Heather’s heart was
broken because she knew that she
was a shepherd to this young lady
and it is our duty to protect and care
and not to harm. Well, to make a long
story short after several months of
trying to restore this relationship they
were finally successful in meeting.
The young lady let Heather voice her
love and concern for her and then
asked for her forgiveness. She went
on to explain that she found out that
her friend had lied to her regarding
hearing Heather gossiping about her
HIV status. This friend wanted her to
leave the church so she spread this
rumor. She almost succeeded but
because of Heather’s love and
persistence she did not hold a grudge
but pressed through to work things
out. Because of this God rewarded
her with the truth being revealed and
relationship restored.

Having the heart of a Shepherd..as appointed by God

The Marriage Pastor:
Several pastors in the community have suggested a new title for Michael - “The Marriage Pastor”. Michael has performed his fifth wedding here in Botswana. Everyone knows that if you request Michael to do your wedding that he will require you to go through 13 weeks of premarital counseling. In his counseling Michael addresses many of the cultural issues
that couples may face which may be in opposition to the scriptures. Michael has also put together a marriage policy for all of the branch churches to use. He recently taught on this marriage policy in a workshop during our annual camp meeting conference. A predominant Batswana Pastor from Gabarone, who is on the Love Botswana Board sat in on the
workshop Michael was teaching. Afterwards he took a packet that Michael was giving out and told him that he had some questions and comments regarding the teaching. Having no clue what he was going to talk to him about, Michael set up a time to meet with him and the things that this pastor said to him caught him by surprise. This man’s criticism was that
this teaching should not be limited to churches affiliated with Love Botswana, but needed to be made available to all churches. He began to give Michael advice on how to approach the chiefs in each village to make this teaching available to them . He also instructed him on how to make sure the men in each village, Christian and non-christian, would be open to receiving this teaching. He then volunteered to go with Michael into several of the villages to give him credibility among the leaders in the community. He told Michael that he could tell that he had a heart for the people of Botswana and that he had been watching him and he saw how he was approachable and relatable to the Batswana men. In closing
Pastor Phillips told Michael “you have something here that all the men in Botswana need to know and if presented right it can literally change our country”. This is coming from a man who has advised top Government officials and raised up many Christian leaders in Botswana. He also told Michael that he would be a mentor to him on how to reach and teach the men of Botswana.

Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for our travels.
Bible School Highs and Lows & “Back in the Day”
Bible School
This is Michael’s third year as the Director and Dean of the Bible School. It has been an interesting time. We have had people from all walks of life enroll in the Bible School - from teachers, rural pastors, doctors, and other professionals in
the community. Of course we all know we are in a spiritual battle and the last thing the enemy wants to see happening is men and women being equipped to advance the Kingdom of God. Which brings up a prayer request: There are many changes taking place in Botswana right now and one of those changes is that the Botswana government is requiring all Bible Schools to be registered with them. The unfortunate side of this is that it is a very long and cumbersome process. The government actually threaten to shut us down. In order to stay open we had to forego tuition and offer all classes for free. This only solves part of the problem. Approximately 70% of our students are from neighboring countries and since we are not registered with the Botswana Government these students who enter the country with a student visa to come
to school are no longer allowed. This has cut out enrollment down drastically. Many students had to drop out in the middle of the term because their permit renewals were denied. We have been in the process of registering for approximately seven months. We were told many times that the delay in the registration being processed could be due to the papers sitting on someone's desk unnoticed. So, please pray with us that we would find favor and that our
registration would be processed quickly. On the positive side, the students that are still in the bible school have been faithful and several of the students come from different churches in the community. It is always nice to see other churches and pastors in the community trust us to train up there leaders. In the end God is and will be glorified.

Back in Our day:

It is amazing how God uses what you have a passion for to minister to people of all ages and all
walks of life. In February the youth pastor at village church came to Me and Heather and told us that he was having a Valentines banquet for the youth. He told us that he wanted a couple to speak on Marriage and Godly Relationships but he needed a couple that was already presenting this message with their lives, and because of that he approached us to be the guest speakers. As you could imagine we were humbled by the request and graciously accepted. During the Banquet we showed clips from our wedding video. My how we have changed! The youth laughed and had a great time.

We then began to share our hearts about finding the perfect mate and how blessed you will be if you wait for the one God has for you. The wonderful thing about the whole time of teaching is that we had 18 years of testimony behind it.

Oral Roberts University invades Botswana:

The Missions department from Oral Roberts University contacted our mission and said that they would like to have a small team of 12 come to Botswana for a 30 day mission trip. They requested it be hard core. “Ok, if hard core is what you want - hard core is what you will get”. Because of their request we planned a 28 day bush ministry experience with
them. It was an incredible time. We ministered in twelve of the fourteen branch churches. The team mainly stayed in tents and huts. They did hut to hut evangelism and open air crusades. We arranged for them to teach discipleship classes at the kgotla (Meeting place of the Chief). They also trained the adults on how to start and maintain a children's ministry. In the village of Etsha 1 they met with several chiefs and counsel members that quizzed them on why they were
coming to their villages. When the chiefs realized that there was no other motive except to see Salvation come to people of their village and to proclaim the love of our Savior, they welcomed us with open arms. They told us that we have watched you bring groups here in the past and we have seen the changes in our villages. The Lord also gave us a few glorious times of R&R. There is a place called Drostky’s Cabin near a village called Shakawe. Michael usually camps there one
or two nights whenever he is ministering in that area. He has become good friends with the owners and has received a lot of favor from them. One day when Michael was taking the team there to shower the owner of the place offered to give the whole team a free boat ride in the delta. It was a glorious time and the team was able to see the beauty of the Delta.
They were able to view much of the delta’s wildlife; hippos, crocs, fish eagles, monitor lizards, etc. Once again it just proves how God blesses faithfulness. When you give it will be given back to you “press down shaken together and overflowing”. Our God is great. Not only did they get to see and minister to the beautiful people of Botswana but they also were able to to see the beauty of the country.

Each year we host an Easter conference on location for our
branch churches. Two years ago we held it in a village
called Etsha 6. The next year we moved it further north to a
town called Shakawe and both of these places were well
attended. However there has been one of our branch
churches that has been struggling to come and participate
in our branch Easter conferences and our main
conferences held in Maun. The church that has been
struggling to participate is our branch church in Popa Falls,
Namibia. Popa Falls is a small village in the North east part
of Namibia. It is a beautiful rural area. Our branch there is
doing well and the pastor of that particular church is
actually responsible for planting three of our churches up in
that area. He also was responsible for leading three men to
the Lord who are now pastors of three of our branch
churches. His name is Pastor Kamwanga. He is a hard
working man who has a heart for the Lord and for the
people of his village. It has been his cry for us to come and
do a conference in his home village because the people
there do not have passports and the means to travel to the
conferences. As overseer of the rural churches, the Youth
Pastor and I began praying and discussing the possibility of
doing this years Easter conference in Popa Falls, Namibia.
The plan would include bringing many of the youth from our
Maun church to assist with the conference and evangelize
the area. When I went to see Pastor Kamwanga to discuss
this with him he stated “Our Church has been fasting and
praying for this to happen”. We knew by doing the
conference there that it would limit the amount of people
that would come from the other rural branch churches.
Most of them do not have a passport or traveling
documents but we believed that this was how the Lord was
leading so that is what we did.

I am excited to say that our Rural Church Easter
Conference in Namibia went extremely well. We had over
60 salvations. We baptized 14 people in crocodile infested
waters. Many of our youth led a person to the Lord. We
had approximately 9 of our 14 rural churches attending.
Rural churches that attended are as follows: Etsha1, Etsha
6, Etsha 13, Nxamasere, Shakawe, Mohembo West,
Xakao, Kaoxwi, and of course Popa Falls. Several of our
LBBI Students and former students attended as well.
We also sent 55 of our own youth to the conference. It is
the first mission trip that any of our African youth have ever
taken. They did a fabulous job. They did hut to hut and
performed dramas in the villages. For many of them,
including our sons, it was their first time leading someone
to the Lord. It has become part of our churches rally cry to
be a missions church. This is a very new concept to
churches in Botswana. All and all the conference was
incredible.

Branch Church Easter Conference & Youth on a Mission
Making the most out of every opportunity:

Being the overseer of the branch churches means
Michael travels to the bush on a regular basis.
One of our branch churches is in Namibia which
means Michael crosses the Botswana - Namibia
border about twice a month. Since Michael
crosses the border so much he felt it would be a
good a idea to get to know the border guards and
minister to them as well. He purposed that most of
the time when he goes through the border her
would take Bibles and teaching materials to the
boarder guards and always spend a few minutes
encouraging and ministering to them. Over time
Michael has developed close relationships with all
of them. He has been able to openly share,
encourage and pray with many of them. They
have requested him to hold a service at the border
and one of the men told him that Michael may not
know it but he is raising up Pastors among them.
This has been a good reminder that we should
always make the most out of every opportunity.
Finally, we want to thank all of you who came out to see us
this year and for those of you who are planning to come out this
next year. There is much going on and we love it when people
come out to see what God is doing here. We know the greatest
way for people in the states to catch the vision is to come and see
for themselves. We are happy to report that the Kingdom of God
is advancing here in Botswana and it is because of people like
you who continue to faithfully invest in this ministry. Your support
is greatly appreciated. As it was stated earlier it is now
approaching time for us to come to the states for furlough. We
would appreciate any financial support you are able to give to
help us with our travels. We are still in need of $7000.00. We
would like to start booking places to speak when we arrive in the
states. We are happy to speak at churches, youth groups, small
groups, Bible studies, banquets etc. Please, let us know if you are
interested in having us come. Our hearts are bursting with joyous
reports of what the Lord is doing in Botswana and in us. We look
forward to seeing you.For those of you who would like to send
extra support for our tickets you would send the funds to the
same place as before but if you would be kind enough to email us
as well to let us know you sent extra support that would be great.
May the Lord bless you all for you financial and prayer support.

Furlough Schedule 2008-09

2008-12-04T21:54:00.000-06:00

Walker’s Furlough Itinerary 2009

8 December – 28 January, 2009 GEORGIA, MISSISSIPPI, ILLINOIS & FLORIDA
14 Dec – MS Church Arise (Pastor Gabe and Amber- Tonette)
21 Dec – might be nice to be at church with Mom P
Christmas – Atlanta, GA (Michael’s family)
28 Dec-4 Jan – Anna, IL (Heather’s Family)?
2-3 Jan – Anna, IL (Girls Acteens wk end)
?4 Jan –
? 11 Jan -
? 5-19 Jan – GA & FL
14 Jan – Orlando, FL Citadel of Life Cathedral
? 18 Jan –
25 Jan – Douglasville, GA Open Word Christian Ministries

29 January – 17 February, 2009 ARIZONA, WASHINGTON, & IDAHO
1 Feb – Sedona, AZ Wayside Chapel (Pastor Paul & Mariko)
? wk end of 1st or 8th
8 Feb – AZ Camp Verde Parkside Community Church (BC)
9 Feb – AZ Camp Verde Young At Heart (Gene and Jean McKee)
?10 Feb – head to WA
15 Feb – WA Island Church

18 February – 9 March, 2009 NORTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA & WASHINGTON DC
18 Feb – head to VA
22 Feb – Warrenton, VA Hope Christian Fellowship (Pastor Scott – Rod & Pam)
? 1 Mar –
? 8 Mar -

10-30 March, 2009 MICHIGAN & OHIO
15 Mar – New Salem Missionary Baptist Church (Pst & Mrs. Troy – Angelle)
16 Mar – Basinger fellowship with OH supporters
22 Mar – MI church – (Jeremiah & Patricia)
29 Mar – MI church speak and sing (Sharon Herrema – Lin & Randy team potluck)

1 April – 5 May, 2009 ILLINOIS, MISSOURI & IOWA
? 5 Apr – EASTER- IL (Dongola Baptist)
Wk of 5 - Benton, KY – WME – Dave Parish
12 Apr – IL Bankston Fork Baptist Church (Mona)
12 Apr – evening New Douglas, IL New Douglas Baptist Church
Possibly during this wk – travel to SBU – speak in Dr. Frost class
19 Apr – IA - Eberlys
26 Apr – IL – Anna Heights Baptist Church – Pastor Mark Roath
? 3 May – IL or GA

Furlough

2008-11-24T21:00:00.000-06:00

Good morning friends and family. Wanted to shoot a quick update. We leave for America on 6 December. So – we obviously have our airline tickets, but need to be able to finish paying for them. Please be praying for safe and trouble free trip.

We were given a beautiful African farewell last night at church and we felt so blessed and humbled.

Things have been very busy and I have struggled even getting this out, but told myself to refrain from needing to get much personal information so that you have our itinerary. We are almost totally booked for our furlough – and it is quite amazing. We could have NEVER orchestrated such a schedule – but with God all things are possible. Thank you so much for your prayers and your giving. Please keep praying for us there is much to wrap up before we get on. Our vehicle issues have continued and been very time consuming and costly – but God has protected our family. Let me get this off. Love you all very much!

Blessings, The Walkers

PRAYER REQUESTS [08/10/06]

2006-08-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

Dear Prayer partners - we just wanted to get a few requests out to you before we miss the opportunity to have you be a part of them..

Again - we are experiencing a lot of death. Three friends died while we were away - and 8 more people (three were babies) connected to our mission in some way - have died in the last 3 weeks we have been home. It is very difficult at times. We do recognize, that with these deaths, comes an opportunity for us to be God's hands, feet, voice and touch of comfort. We know, too, that we have been comforted by Him, so that He may use us to comfort others. We have an amazing story that we will save for our next newsletter to tell you about.

Our mission - Love Botswana Outreach Mission - has been presented with some awesome opportunities. We have been asked - because of our involvement in the prison ministry to provide some Bible training for the prison's chaplains! Also, just yesterday, Michael was invited to speak on "The Value of Life" at a rally for young people that the police department is holding THIS Saturday. Please pray about that. We get plenty of persecution from certain groups because we are Christians - however, we receive so many open doors for ministry. What a trade-off. It is worth it.

One more thing before I close this short note - we have received a GREAT honor. Last night a husband and wife that are in our Bible School came up to Michael and said they had a present for us in their car. Michael went to the car - and guess what was there?! .. A huge male goat! Alive! What an honor for us to be given this gift - a symbol of wealth for the Batswana people. We feel very loved and blessed. So, the goat spent the night and morning on our porch so we could protect it from all the dogs on the plot! The boys wanted to name him "Earl" - we said they could name him "Stew"!... Just kidding about the second part - as far as the name goes. We told them that they shouldn't name him since God blessed us with him to be eaten - not as a herd starter for more goats!

This afternoon, Michael had the chance to learn from two other Bible school students how to slaughter, skin, and prepare for us to take to the butcher. Goats and cows represent the wealth of the people of Botswana, so it is a great privilege to be given such a gift. By the way, Charissma had seen plenty of goats from a far, but when it was on our porch - whew! She was terrified of it!

Anyway - we love you all and appreciate your prayers. You should have received a newsletter from us at the very beginning of July via email - if you did not please let me know.

Blessings,
Heather, Michael, and the Fam

INTO AFRICA!

2006-08-10T10:04:00.000-05:00

To all our dear friends and family:

Our furlough has come to an end and we are now on our way back to Botswana. We are not home yet – but we are back in Africa. All eleven pieces of our checked luggage failed to show up when we did. So, we stayed in the Baptist Guest House in Johannesburg, South Africa for two days and waited for them to come. It turned out to be a great blessing. We were supposed to drive 3 hours to friends of ours in Harrismith, South Africa straight from the airport for some R & R, but Heather was so relieved that we couldn’t leave without our luggage. Ankles swollen, and hurting, hardly sleeping an hour on the long flight, she wanted to cry just leaving the airport she was so exhausted. I think we went to bed that night at 7:00 pm – we don’t know what our kids were doing. J We were tired. Once we left WA and AZ, our bodies never adjusted, so we were going to bed in IL and GA at 1-2 in the morning.

We had a wonderful time seeing all of you. Our constant regret has been the short amount of time that we were able to spend with each of you. We are sad that there are some of you that we did not get to connect with at all.

We know our calling is that the Gospel must be preached throughout the world. We exist to KNOW HIM and MAKE HIM KNOWN, so we must get back to where God has called us to be and we are delighted to do that.

Since we have just completed our first furlough, we have been doing lots of thinking and evaluating. What will we do the same or different next time? We wanted to share some of our furlough thoughts with you.

First of all the definition of “furlough” is: “a leave of absence or vacation”. That is NOT what we did. J We don’t know the name for what we did, but furlough is definitely not it. Secondly, we are immensely grateful to have friends all over the map that are determined to have others hear about what God is doing in Botswana through Love Botswana Outreach Mission – and they will even feed and lodge a loud family of SIX to see that we get to share with their congregations. Thank you so much to all of you who received us and hosted us. Thirdly, we were greatly humbled by all the pastors that trusted us to participate in their worship service; many of them gave us the whole service. Thank you so much for your trust in us, or others in your congregation that spoke of us to you. Another thought that we have had is how privileged we are to be doing something that has eternal dividends. It is NEVER a waste of time to share the Gospel and invest in the lives of other people.

The last part of our evaluation is that we could have done a much better job at being clear about what our needs are. We desperately need more people that are willing to partner with us in this ministry on a monthly basis. We know that just living on this earth brings changes to individuals and their ability to give, so, our monthly partners change all the time. You have heard the ways that God is using us and we desire to be able to stay in the field. Currently we need around $1800 more a month than what is currently committed. We would encourage you to ask the Lord of the Harvest if He would have you be a part of our team. We have expenses that are just part of the reality of where God has called us – to this desert in the northern part of the country of Botswana. We have to pay rent, utilities, car and health insurance, like many of you. We have school fees for our children. But we also have high food and fuel costs. Beef is cheap, but all the other things are imported to our country and then shipped up north where we live. It currently costs us between $80-90 to fill our truck with fuel. We spend about $200 a month on drinking water. There are also times when there is a medical issue, which we actually have to go to another country for medical care.

You have heard us say that years ago Michael declared that when God told us to go back overseas, he didn’t want to have to raise our own support. We wouldn’t have it any other way now. We have found that the precious people that sacrifice and give to God’s work in Botswana through what we do are very much involved in this ministry – they care about the Outreaches, they care when our child has an unidentified rash, or an appointment with a neurologist in totally different country, some need for the ministry, or some other family concern or concern in our area.

We thank all of you who have invested in this ministry over the last 2 ½ and believed with us that God would provide to bring us back to the US for furlough. Those of you already committed monthly – thank you. For those of you that are not, we would ask you to consider becoming a monthly partner. Your testimony and belief that God still saves and desires a relationship with the people He created is alive and well in Botswana. We love you all and thank you for making us feel loved. God bless you all.

The Walkers

Still on the Road

2006-06-03T14:08:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. We are all doing well. We just received a report from Botswana the ministry is exploding. Our prison ministry is taking on a life of it's own. We have been trying to start a discipleship program in one of the prisons. It has been a year long process but it is finally a reality. Not only is it a reality but we just had our first graduation ceremony for the inmates that have completed the program. We have had over 80 Salvations in the prison and inmates as well as guards are hungry for teaching. One of our goals is to be able to send 5 discipleship graduates to bible school each year once they are released from prison.

If you would like to sponsor a a student please let us know. The cost per year is $500.

We are also in need of bibles for the inmates. We would like to raise $2000 to purchase Setswana Bibles. Each Setswana bible is $10.00 US dollars.
Please contact us via email if you want to invest in this ministry.

Other Special needs:

Bible school curriculumn and equipment: cost $1000.
Bible School Trailer: $1500
Multimedia laptop: $1300
Bible School Van: $10,ooo

We believe that God has placed these items on our heart therefore we are believing for great provision. We will keep you all posted regarding His provision.

*For more information regarding please email me and I would be happy to send you more details.

We will be in the states for one more month if you would like to find out more information via phone you can reach us at: 540-222-1760.

God Bless.

On the Road Again!

2006-05-24T16:53:00.000-05:00

Hi Friends and Family...
Well this is going to be interesting to see if I actually do this right! We have been in the US for over one month now! How did that happen! Well, the miles on our van would agree that is true. Thanks to Dick and Dora Gilmore, our friends in Ohio - we now have pillows to sit on while we travel.

We are so grateful to all of you for your prayers. We believe that this furlough time is just as important as our ministry in Botswana - reconnecting with people that are supporting us with their prayers and finances. We are so grateful for your sowing in this ministry.

We have been in IL, GA, VA, DC, OH and now we are back in GA again and heading to IL. We have experienced wonderful hospitality and have had a great time. The boys have enjoyed eating all their foods. OK - I better go. I'll write more later. Below is an updated itinerary.

Much love to you all!
The Walkers

Southern Illinois:
April 14 – 17th
April 14-16: Lake Sallateeska

Atlanta, Georgia & Florida:
April 18th – 24th

Virginia/DC
April 25th – May 7th
April 30:Takoma Park Baptist Church
May 7: Hope Christian Fellowship

Ohio
May 8th – May 18th

Atlanta, GA
May 19th – May 26nd
May 21: AME Atlanta

Southern Illinois
May 27rd – June 8th
May 28: Dongola Baptist Church
June 4: Anna Heights Baptist Church
June 7: Acteens/RAs Anna Heights

Washington State
June 8th – June 14th
June 11: Island Church

Arizona (Sedona & Camp Verde)
June 15th – June 19th
June 16: Young at Heart home group
June 17: Millar Bible Study
June 18: Wayside Chapel

Southern Illinois
June 20th – June 26th

Atlanta, GA & Florida
June 26th – July 2nd
July 2: Open Word Christian Ministries

Return to Africa
July 3rd

*We're Making Rounds - 4/30/06

2006-05-09T16:24:00.000-05:00

Hi ALL!!

Guess what?! We are in the US! All SIX of us! God is so good – and if you are in a difficult situation and tempted to think that it is too big for God, email me back and let’s have tea or coffee – because we have seen God do great things. We are so grateful.

The jet lag has been kicking our tails – but other than that our first week has been spent with family. We spent ONE night with Mike’s Mom and sister and then drove 8 hours to a Easter family reunion for Heather’s side. On good Friday – the day after we arrived in country – we headed out. Michael did a great job, since he immediately had to drove on the wrong side of the road! J The breaks went out of the van we were in – but God provided a gas station with a brake place across the street – open on Good Friday? Michael bought the brakes at an auto zone and the guy put them in 30 minutes and charged us only $35! What a bargain. J

We only just now figured out our outlook – which is why it has taken us a week to let you know we are here. We are so appreciative of your prayers. We look forward to seeing many of you and being an encouragement to your churches.

Thank you so much to those of you that have generously given so that we can all be here. We hope to thank you all personally. We will write more later – but just wanted you to know – we are here! OH! Hallelujah! Also – for those of you wondering: Obviously, we were granted the visa for Charissma (with a LITTLE of reservation on the US Embassy side in Botswana), but we did not have ONE BIT of trouble leaving the country with here so entering the US. No one quizzed us. They said nothing as we crossed the border – they said nothing as we flew out. And when we came in the US side – immigration asked us if we needed more months on her visa! How is that for service!? We assured him that we do not because we are returning to Botswana in 3 months.

If you have not received an itinerary yet – and you have asked for one – I am so sorry – please email us and let us know. We are going to make the itinerary a little more specific and get it out to you all by this weekend.

Trusting HIM for all things,
The Walker Gang

PRAYER CENTER

2006-05-08T11:34:00.000-05:00

1. Please pray for our boys as when begin to prepare to go back to Botswana. Life in the states is so much more convenient. We are praying that they will not have a difficult time leaving it all behind again.

2. Financial Needs: It is our goal to head back to Botswana with at least $6000 in our bank account. This will take care of our children's school fees, housing, as well as travel from South Africa to Maun, Botswna.

3. The sale of our mini-van. We still owe $4000 on it and would loved to be free from this monthly payment before we leave.

4. Continued safe travel and health.

5. Please pray that we will stay open to ministry opportunities that present themselves with the people we come in contact with on each leg of our Journey.

Special Thank you to all our host homes:

Rod and Pam Underwood

Vanna Walker and Family

Paul and Margret Gleckler and family

Dick and Dora Gilmore

Bruce and Louise Williams(Mom & Dad)

Mike and Kathleen Hale

Paul Wallace

Thank you all for who have given us special gifts. Those unexpected gifts really encourage us. It seems that each time it has been something that we had been praying for.

Please remember that we are all in this together.

*SUPPORT OUR MINISTRY

2006-05-07T16:15:00.000-05:00

To support Our Ministry, send gift to:

World Missions and Evangelism
PO Box 790
Benton, KY 42025

*must mark on memo of check
"Preference Account #94" and our names
Michael and Heather Walker

*Check must me made out to WME

*CONTACT US

2006-04-09T09:19:00.006-05:00

Phone
----------------------------
011-267-7277-8312

Email
----------------------------
Michael Walker
michaelbotswana@gmail.com
Heather Walker
heatherbotswana@gmail.com

Mail
----------------------------
Michael and Heather Walker
Word to Africa
PO Box 941
Lobatse, Botswana

The place where funds go to support our ministry is:
World Missions & Evangelism
PO Box 790
Benton, KY 42025.
Checks written out to WME and in memo "Pref. Acct. #094, M & H Walker"

*ABOUT OUR MINISTRY

2006-04-08T01:10:00.002-05:00

We work with Word to Africa Botswana, reaching the unreached for Jesus Christ.

HOW DO WE WORK?

Pioneer Evangelism through

Friendship Evangelism
Establishing contacts in the area
Living amongst the people

Church planting
House Churches – Man of Peace ((Luke 11)
Leadership training
Train and Multiply - 2 Timothy 2 :2

Youth work
Pre-Schools
Awana and Good News clubs
Ministry at Primary Schools
Youth groups

*ABOUT BOTSWANA

2006-04-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

- Botswana Background Info

- Botswana Facts

- Botswana Tourism

- Botswana News

- Botswana Government

*HEATHER'S MUSIC

2006-04-04T10:25:00.002-05:00

"ANOTHER MOMENT"
Lyrics and Music by Heather Walker
Engineering by Greenman Entertainment

To purchace a CD and Support our Ministry, email Heather at
heatherbotswana@gmail.com

The Walkers' Walk

Update from the Walkers

May 2010

March 2010 Newsletter

*MEET OUR FAMILY

From Heather's Heart

December 2009 Newsletter

September 2009 Newsletter

SNOW!

Walkers in Mississippi

January 2009 Newsletter

Walkers are in the USA

Downloadable Newsletter

December Newsletter

Furlough Schedule 2008-09

Furlough

PRAYER REQUESTS [08/10/06]

INTO AFRICA!

Still on the Road

On the Road Again!

*We're Making Rounds - 4/30/06

*PRAYER CENTER*

*SUPPORT OUR MINISTRY

*CONTACT US

*ABOUT OUR MINISTRY

*ABOUT BOTSWANA

*HEATHER'S MUSIC

PRAYER CENTER