No Cosmetics, Jewelry, and Saturday Parties

Bessie Lechina didn’t think she could become an Adventist.

By Andrew McChesney, adventistmission.org

Bessie Lechina couldn’t understand why the Seventh-day Adventist church always seemed closed when she walked past on Sunday, looking for a new place to worship.

Frustrated, she finally stopped and spoke to teenage girl standing in the yard of a house beside the church in Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana.

“When does this church open?” she asked. “Is it always locked?”

“It’s an Adventist church,” the girl replied. “But I don’t know if you could ever manage worshipping there. Being Adventist is difficult.”

“What do you mean?” Bessie said.

The girl, a Sunday-keeper, explained that the worshippers didn’t wear makeup or jewelry.

“And they like going to church on Saturday,” she said.

In Botswana, Saturday is the day that young people go to parties.

Bessie couldn’t imagine quitting parties and throwing away her earrings.

“With this church, I wouldn’t manage!” she said.

Bessie grew up in a non-Christian family and heard nothing about God during her years in grade school and high school. She decided, however, that she wanted to become a Christian during a months-long break between high school graduation and the start of university classes. She wanted to go to church because she knew nothing about church. She had only seen people worship on Sunday, so she visited Sunday churches.

Off to the University

In the fall, Bessie moved to Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, to study at University of Botswana. Her roommate was a Seventh-day Adventist.

Bessie saw her roommate, Solofelang, leave for church every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, but she didn’t pay much attention. Instead she went to parties and lived a sinful lifestyle. She also renewed her search for a church and visited a new church every Sunday.

“I really wanted to go to church. I felt that I needed a church,” she said in an interview. “But every time I came back from those churches, I felt empty. I felt that I hadn’t learned anything. Some churches didn’t use the Bible very much.”

After several months, Bessie asked her roommate, “What is this church that you go to every Saturday?”

“It’s an Adventist church,” Solofelang said. “It worships on Saturday.”

Bessie looked at her roommate closely and realized that she had never seen her in makeup or jewelry. Then she remembered the conversation with the girl in her hometown. She thought, “This must be the same church that the girl was talking about. I wouldn’t manage.”

She ended the conversation. She didn’t want to go to that church.

Read about Bessie’s 6-year-old daughter, Joanna

A Change of Heart

After a while, though, she grew tired of going around to the Sunday churches and began to wonder whether the Adventist Church might be the right one. She decided to visit one time — only not on Saturday.

She said to her roommate, “I don’t want to go to church with you on Saturday. I want to go with you on Wednesday.”

“Let’s go!” Solofelang replied.

On Wednesday, Bessie went with Solofelang to a university classroom where Adventists students gathered for their worship services. She enjoyed herself and was impressed with the pastor’s presentation. He spoke about marriage and family, and Bessie was eager to get married and have a family one day.

Learning that the same topic would be discussed on Friday evening, Bessie told her roommate, “Wait for me. Don’t leave me.”

She enjoyed the program again.

On Sabbath morning, she dressed up and went with Solofelang to church.

“I enjoyed the whole Sabbath,” she said. “I never went back to my room. I ate lunch quickly and returned for a Bible study. Ever since that day, I have never stopped going to the Adventist Church.”

Story continues below

A New Life

Bessie’s life began to change drastically. She found it easy to give up makeup, jewelry, and Saturday parties. She became a virtuous woman. She learned that she could talk to God through prayer.

“All this has made me a new person,” she said. “Otherwise, maybe I would be dead by now. I know that God forgives, God is love, and I want to live a Christian life.”

Bessie was baptized before the end of the school year. Her roommate wept as she emerged from the water.

“She was very happy,” Bessie said. “As my roommate, she knew my life.”

People were shocked when they saw the changes. Bessie was a new person, and they asked many questions. She gladly told them about her faith.

Today, Bessie is the 35-year-old mother of three and a teacher at Eastern Gate Academy, an Adventist boarding high school in northern Botswana. Her husband is the school’s business manager.

She has seen changes in the lives of her students — just like the transformation that she witnessed in her own life.

“Sometimes parents bring us rebellious children,” she said. “But when the student leaves, he is a different child altogether. Parents tell us, ‘Thank you very much! Our child has changed.’”

Life isn’t always easy. But when trials come, Bessie remembers her old life and trusts that God will carry her through.

“I tell myself, ‘Hold on. Where I came from was not easy. God pulled me out of that mud, and I need to continue standing with faith and trust. Soon these trials will be over,’” she said.

Eastern Gate Academy shares a campus with the new Eastern Gate Primary School, a Thirteenth Sabbath-funded project that opened in January 2017. Thank you for your mission offerings that made the school possible. Bessie, whose 6-year-old daughter, Joanna, studies at the school, said, “I pray that the new school will bring more children to God.”