Botswana Bits March 15th 2006

Drama

I don't know if any of you have read that book "The Sacred Romance", well I read it a couple of years ago but one of the illustrations that Eldridge talks about really stuck with me and I've always wanted to write up a skit or drama to share it with others. He talks about "arrows" that we get in life and the "messages" that they bring. He gives a personal example of when he was a young boy and always chosen last for the team, he got and arrow and the message with it was that he would never go out for sports again, in fact he didn't like sports (which wasn't the truth but if you've got an arrow sticking out of you then you will do anything to make sure no one jiggles it around). Imagine if you had a arrow sticking out of the side of you arm, every time you walked through a door you would have to enter sideways, maybe it's been there some time and now you just think that is the way you were made, that it's your "personality". Or imagine going to pull out an arrow that had been imbedded for some time and now the skin is all grown up around it, how painful is that to pull out, would you bleed to death, is it worth it. Well, with these thoughts in mind I wrote up a drama and approached some folks at church to be in it. It all sounds great but I'm just coming to grips with the fact that now I'm the director and the drama is in four weeks, we still need more choir members, another angel, and a curtain to be put up in the church. Yikes!! Anyway, the drama is a young married couple, he has an arrow sticking out of his eye, and she has one sticking out of her heart. They have a blow up fight at the beginning. They leave each other in frustration. They pray and meet up with Jesus who shows them their arrows and then they go to "hospital" (but they are in separate rooms) with Jesus and through prayer pull the arrows out and he bandages them. They lament at how painful it is but after some time the bandages are removed and they've been "healed". Then in the last scene they see one another again, the man now being able to "see" and the woman now be able to "love". It's kind of hard to explain but I think it could be really great or a huge disaster, so please pray that is can be a blessing to the church and not kaos. I really really want people to be encouraged that Jesus knows about our arrows, he loves us even with them in, and that he won't let us bleed to death when we pull them out and that it is totally worth it. We Christians have to face these arrows, they are not part of the image of God. We are planning on doing the drama on the 9th.

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Hangar news

Jeff is pretty much by himself this week. Bryan is doing one last trip to Zambia (they are going on furlough in April and then moving up there in Sept) so this is the last chance to do some house hunting and stuff before he goes. Ken (whose in charge of the maintenance school) is back and has agreed to come onto the shop floor to help Jeff with maintenance. THe students are still around but they still need quite a bit of supervision. Larry is preparing for furlough so he's no longer at work. Luckily the shop isn't extremely busy at the moment, PTL. Later this month Bob Patterson and his wife arrive, Bob and Mark Spicer will be taking over running FM in Botswana. I think Bob will be doing mostly administration, but he hopes to start early April and Jeff and Bryan will have a chance to start orientating him. Mark (who worked at FM before) is coming in early June, but we think he will be here a week in March as well. This is the "bridge" month. Just holding things together as all these other things and people fall into place.

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We'd love to hear from y'all so give us a shout if you time. Thanks for keeping up with us and what's going on "this side". We really appreciate it.

love,

Jeff and Michele Royce

c/o Flying Mission
P.O. Box 1022
Gaborone,
Botswana
Africa

royces@flyingmission.org.bw
http://www.flyingmission.botsnet.co.bw/news.htm
http://jeffandmichele.blogspot.com