| Mission Report: Botswana: September 2010 |
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Missionary Trip to BOTSWANA—Reported by Emil Hagamu, September 5 – 11, 2010.During my first visit to Botswana, from August 16 to 22, 2009, I realized there is a very great need for HLI to extend the Gospel of Life throughout the country. This mission report details my second trip in September, 2010. Evangelical churches and the Methodist Church of Southern Africa had invited me to return and provide them with pro-life training.
Pro-Life Training
Members from various Evangelical Churches in Gaborone participated in a three-day pro-life training I conducted. As this was the first time for
In the last talk on threats to human life, I discussed abortion, showing three videos which we promote and distribute from HLI headquarters – The Silent Scream, The Hard Truth and Slaughter of the Innocents. After watching these, men and women in the training room were left speechless. For the first time, they understood the evils of abortion and the impact it has on the child and mother. In the middle of our ensuing discussion, one lady shouted, “Do those medical doctors performing abortions have a heart?” The message was clear: abortion is barbaric, and no rational human being would decide to perform or support it. When concluding my presentations, participants recommended there be further and deeper instruction for trainers next year; I heartily support this proposal.
HIV/AIDS Crisis
According to Rev. Samuel Makgaola, the Administrator at the Assemblies of God Church in Botswana, the HIV infection rate is high and going up. In 1997, churches united under the umbrella of the “Botswana Christian AIDS Intervention Program,” which works together with the government in fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic. He said that although, in general, churches advocate the principles of abstinence and faithfulness as ideal and effective methods for preventing HIV infection, there are some Christian churches which tolerate condom use, especially in situations of married couples wherein one partner is HIV positive. They argue that it is not practical to tell these couples to abstain, as they still need to fulfill their matrimonial obligation through sexual intimacy. The AIDS situation in this country is very serious, as I learned from television advertisements and the many condoms that are seen in all shops, supermarkets and liquor stores.
Abortion
On September 10, 2010 a local Botswana newspaper, The Voice, carried a front-page article. The headline of the story was: “This is Barbaric.” It reported a case of a young girl who had undergone an abortion using a sharp stick. The story read that the girl was 4 months pregnant. Fearing her family members, and realizing her boyfriend was not interested in marriage, she asked her friend to assist her in performing the abortion. Using a sharp stick, her friend managed to pierce the unborn child’s body, and the child died, and her body was pulled out. And because abortion is not allowed in Botswana, the girl was reprimanded and taken to court to answer charges of intentionally killing an unborn baby.
Despite this highly publicized scandal, many women and girls still seek out abortions in secret. A young lady who works as a cleaner at the hotel where I was staying revealed to me some astonishing information. She said some women who want abortions travel to South Africa, where abortion-on-demand is legal throughout the nine months of pregnancy thanks to 1996’s most inhumane law on African soil. The reason given by most Tswana women who seek abortions in South Africa is “a difficult life.” The young woman explained, “Many people are poor; they cannot afford a day’s meal.” When I asked how they manage to pay the high costs for travel and for the abortion while they claim to be poor, she said “it is better to spend that sum of money once, instead of keeping a baby whose life will eventually become miserable after it is born.”
Abortion has become an “easy way” out for young women in Botswana. It is no wonder that the population of this big country is still below two million. Abortion and contraception are leading this nation into a demographic catastrophe.
Quality of life
I visited a Methodist church for a pro-life talk with the pastor, Rev. O.S. Mere. Unfortunately he was engaged in outside duties the whole day. By God’s grace, though, I crossed paths with an elderly English lady, Muriel Sanderson, who works at this church as a consultant on ecumenical matters. She confronted me and told me that in HLI’s striving to protect human life, we must take into consideration the “quality of life” of the human being. She challenged that poor, young, impregnanted girls should be advised to have abortions, rather than face a whole life of misery. I answered that life is God’s precious gift to mankind, and in His divine love, He cannot abandon us even in our most difficult moments.
She turned to euthanasia. Taking herself as an example, she said her mind was still working, but her physical body was failing her. She argued that she would love to end her life immediately because she is not living a “quality life.” I told her that in His divine plan for her life, God still wants to use her to fulfill His mission. So He would not take her life until what He has assigned her has been accomplished. Ours is a loving God, I told her.
In the face of her resistance and mounting anger, I gave her my business card so we could communicate further at a later time. As I was leaving, I could not believe that the Methodist Church of Southern Africa could employ such a strong anti-lifer in their midst. Muriel Sanderson openly advocates for abortion and euthanasia right in the church, and yet they respect her as a “consultant.” How frightful and dangerous that this church employs a person who works against her own mission, attacking the roots of Church teachings!
Sex Education
Sex education is being widely taught in all secondary schools in Botswana. The textbooks were supposedly written to teach moral values. I read some of these books, and what I discovered was that adolescents are taught to engage in “safe sex” for three reasons: to avoid pregnancy, to avoid infection from STD’s, and particularly to avoid HIV. “Safe sex” means using condoms and contraceptives. Abortion, also, is highly encouraged to schoolchildren because it enables girls to continue with their schooling and to avoid parental rebukes. In Botswana, the virtue of chastity is deeply embedded in traditional culture, so much so that when a girl becomes pregnant before marriage, she may be driven away from home by her parents. Abortion has been upheld as the logical solution. Sex education organizations are working fervently to inculcate their anti-life agendas, and society is increasingly embracing their propaganda: the Ministry of Education and Culture has now authorized these textbooks to be used throughout the country.
Missing School Children
Gaborone is a unique African town, in the sense that it is missing school children. When I travel to other cities of Africa, one feature I am proud of is the presence of so many children and students in different uniforms walking along the streets. The situation is different here. Over all of the six days I spent in Gaborone, I saw an alarmingly low number of students. This was like a nightmare to me; I could not believe that it was true.
Where have the children gone? One participant, during the training session, shared what the president lamented some years back. The president was worried about the low birth rate in his country, and in fact he announced that their population was growing at a “zero rate.” He called for a national campaign to boost the birth rate. But his warning seems to have fallen on deaf ears. As mentioned, even some churches are encouraging their faithful to use contraceptives – pills, depo provera, norplant, IUDs and condoms. Adoption of Western lifestyles is further aggravating the situation. We can predict the inevitable death of this nation, unless the people listen to their president’s urgent appeal and accept the message of the Gospel of Life.
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the participants to hear the pro-life message, I prioritized participant interaction and discussion. In the introduction session, participants came to understand how critical the pro-life message is; ignorance of this message cripples the Church and makes room for anti-life mentalities to infiltrate, even among pastors and evangelists. Then, a session on the origin and development of human life drew attention to the inalienable right to life of every human being, and how God has ordered mankind “to be fruitful and to multiply.” With the aid of the video Baby Steps, participants were presented with how human life develops in the womb and why we need to protect that life.
