By Katie Ginn
Sitting in their daughter’s living room in Clinton, Margaret Fortenberry wipes away tears as her husband, Robert, shares about one of the hardest things they’ve ever done:
“Everything that we had known, our lives, our identity, our language, our humor, our relationships, our source of income, all of that – it was gone,” Robert says. “We (had) told the Lord, ‘When You call us, we’ll go.’ But it surprised us when the (time came).”
No, he isn’t talking about when God called them to the mission field in Botswana, Africa. Robert is talking about when God called them back home.
“The hardest thing that we’ve ever had to do was transition back to America,” he says. For Robert and Margaret, for 22 years, Botswana was home.
‘OK, Lord, You’ll work the rest out’
Margaret grew up in Zimbabwe (then known as Rhodesia) with her missionary parents and felt the call to missions herself as early as fifth grade. Later, in an American seminary, Margaret met Robert, a Jackson native who felt called to ministry but not necessarily missions.
However, Robert and Margaret both felt called to do “whatever the Lord asked,” Robert says. Meanwhile, Margaret recalls, “(I was so) confident that Robert was the person I was supposed to marry, that I just said, ‘OK, Lord, You’ll work the rest out.’”
It didn’t take long. Just a handful of months into marriage, Robert joined his wife’s commitment to long-term foreign missions.
Then “I finished school, and I got my pastoral experience, which the International Mission Board (IMB) required and I needed,” Robert says. “I was deeply introverted, and the Lord drew me out.”
After about 10 years in Hattiesburg, where Robert pastored, and Margaret spent time in women’s and children’s ministry, the Lord told the Fortenberrys it was time to “re-enter the process” to move to the mission field. In 1994, they moved to Africa with their two young daughters.
“We expected we’d be there till retirement age,” Margaret says.
‘We were almost starting over’
The Fortenberrys planned to move to Zimbabwe, where Margaret’s parents were still serving. Then, at orientation, they found out their work permit application for that country had been denied. Puzzled but undeterred, they looked at other available positions and felt led to one in Botswana.
“The Lord was faithful, because there’s been a lot of unrest (in Zimbabwe) over the years. When that began to manifest … it was the town we were going to go to,” Robert says.
Their time in Africa overlapped with Margaret’s parents’, but only by about six months. “That was hard,” Margaret says. “They retired. They were (in Zimbabwe) 37 years.”
Meanwhile, the Fortenberrys settled into Lobatse, Botswana. Bethany, then 8, attended a local English school, and Charissa followed suit when she turned 5 a few months later.
The gospel had been in Botswana for 150 years. Scottish doctor and missionary David Livingstone had spent time there in the 1840s. By the 1990s, though, “it was kind of semi-Christian,” Robert says.
The Fortenberrys’ church, Lobatse Baptist, boasted maybe half a dozen people – some committed, some not so much – and met at a school. “We were almost starting over,” Robert says.
Robert led a group of church elders, who took turns preaching, and “was careful to work by consensus with them, consulting them on any major decisions and even most that were of lesser significance,” he says. Though he took on many of the duties of a pastor, he never considered himself the pastor of Lobatse Baptist.
Margaret became the unofficial “pastor’s wife,” which encompassed women’s ministry and a number of other tasks.
“I had a lot of women coming to me for prayer, crying on (my) shoulder, and (for) leadership – (asking) what were they supposed to be doing in their church?” she recalls.
“(Also) I obviously had home responsibilities. I was very involved at (our daughters’) school, taught (unpaid) as a sub.”
But primarily, the Fortenberrys spent their first year in Botswana learning the language, Setswana.
“In Botswana, people were a lot more closed off (than in Zimbabwe),” Margaret says. “As we acquired more language, one layer of the brick wall would come down.”
Homemade pizzas and missionary kids
A foreign mission field can challenge any marriage, and the Fortenberrys were no exception.
“Having young children and not having grandparents close by or others that we felt like we could hand them off to for a period of time,” Robert says, “it was hard to get away.”
Privacy was rare. The family lived on a compound with other missionaries, with workers coming around at odd hours. Children who knew Margaret from school would show up, unannounced except by the cowbell and Jack Russell terriers at the gate.
“I vividly remember having made homemade pizzas one night,” Margaret recalls, “which was a huge deal over there, because it’s hard to get all the stuff to make it, and you’re making it all from scratch – and then we look up and, uh-oh, there were some youth at the door.
“So it’s like … You’re about to sit down and have this family time together. Do you turn them away?”
“That was in the early years,” Margaret says – so early that memories are hazy – but the Fortenberrys believe they scheduled another time to hang out with their visitors. “(Later) we learned how to finesse that better.”
She and Robert ate lunch at a local restaurant every Tuesday, just the two of them. Robert’s parents visited nearly every year. And they did get vacation time, in addition to furloughs in the States.
Still, “if I could redo a part of those years, I would make some kind of arrangement for just (Margaret and me) to get away more,” Robert says.
The Fortenberrys’ oldest daughter, Bethany, says the mission field came with its own set of blessings and challenges for her, too.
“God’s vast, encompassing love for the world was tangible to me from a young age,” she says. However, “at times, I did feel like I was missing out on the normalcy of American life.” For parents considering long-term missions with children in tow, Bethany encourages prayer and discernment.
“Appreciate the calling on your life, while simultaneously listening to your children and their experiences. My parents were very diligent about hearing out me and my sister during the hard times.”
‘It’s time to go’
Pastor Jack Rantho was the Fortenberrys’ local pastor at Lobatse Baptist Church in Botswana
Two years into the Fortenberrys’ tenure in Botswana, “a young man (named Jack) came to faith from a (nearby town and) felt called to come live in our town,” Robert says. “(In time), he felt called to come to the U.S. and get seminary training.”
After Jack returned to Botswana and became pastor of Lobatse Baptist, Robert worked under Jack’s leadership with members of the congregation to plant more churches and develop leaders for those churches.
Later, after the girls left for college, Margaret joined Robert in visiting the more remote villages. “I was the chief cook and bottle washer,” she says.
Throughout their time in Botswana, the Fortenberrys got about six months of furlough every three and a half years (give or take, depending on their needs) to visit loved ones in America, speak at churches, and promote missions.
When they came home on furlough in 2012 or 2013, after nearly 20 years in the field, “I began to have this odd feeling we were about to go back for our last term,” Robert says.
He had no idea why. They were enjoying their ministry, they’d built close relationships … “But there was just this odd thing that I began to pick up on,” he says. “I shared that with Margaret, and we were both like, OK … And then we went back, and to be honest, I thought I had not heard the Lord correctly. (Because) things were going well.”
In late 2015, the IMB offered a volunteer retirement package for any missionaries aged 50 and up who had served at least five years. The Fortenberrys prayed over it. To their surprise, God said, “It’s time to go.”
“There were things we still wanted to do (in Botswana),” Robert says. “We thought we’d stay till we were about 65, which would’ve been 2023 for me.” This was only 2015.
But the Lord gave them two scriptures: one from John 17, when Jesus tells the Father, “I have finished the work that You gave me to do,” and the other from Isaiah 30:21, when God promises to guide His people: “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
Of course, they were happy to move closer to family. They had two grandchildren by then, and their parents were aging. Emotions were a mixed bag. “We did not leave without grief or without excitement,” Margaret says.
The Fortenberrys touched down in Jackson on February 5, 2016, after 22 years in Botswana.
Not long afterward, they visited a friend who did woodworking. “He said, ‘Oh, I’ve got this woodwork that would go nice above your mantle,’” Margaret recalls. That piece of wood displayed Isaiah 30:21. “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
Adjusting to home
Coming home from Botswana was “much harder than going,” Robert says. “It was much, much harder.” Their one consolation: “We knew we were supposed to be back.”
But the first two years were rough.
“There’s a formula in the missionary world: It takes you a month here, for every year you were there, to reacclimate. And that was spot-on for us,” he says.
“We were almost – is there a sanctified version of bipolar? (laughs) Because we loved being with family, we loved being close to grandkids, we loved American people and church and all that, but oh my goodness, we just missed Africa.”
Margaret agrees: “The adjustment that we went through (when we first moved to Botswana), it was like, here we go again, when we got back to the States. (laughs) I realized I was making cultural faux pas here, and even still do after being back here 10 years.”
For her, one of the biggest challenges was the lack of spiritual urgency in America. For instance:
“I can remember (in Botswana) us polishing the floors of the church … women down on our hands and knees … And one lady sidled up to me, and there was a little wooden bench there, and she started sharing about her child who was not walking with the Lord … and we did not question, do you want me to pray for you about that? It was just expected,” Margaret says.
After they started praying, “here comes another woman, on her hands and knees, polishing … And by the time it was over, I think it was all of us, I think 10 of us. We knew we needed to get that floor polished (laughs), but that was not the priority. The priority was being together in prayer.”
Robert notes, “The Lord has given us faithful Christian friends here (in America whom) we can pray with. But it took some time.”
American church was a big adjustment, too. Before leaving Botswana, the Fortenberrys toured the country and visited other Baptist missionaries. At one point on that tour, in a room that was maybe 15 feet square, “with about 30 of our new best friends,” Robert says with a laugh, “we had a great worship service.”
A few weeks later, “we’re in First Baptist Church Jackson with 2,500 of our best friends, and honestly, it was overwhelming. …. Our hearts were nurtured in both places, but … it’s just different.”
‘I’ll get back to you’
When the Fortenberrys came home from Africa, “we did not come home to something” in terms of career, Robert says. However, the IMB retirement package gave them time to figure out their next steps.
Soon, Robert and Margaret felt led to start a ministry called Foundations of Discipleship, “where we traveled (and held) disciple-making seminars in churches,” he says. The ministry was fun, it provided an income, and “it helped us reacclimate to American church.”
Then, about the time the Fortenberrys reached the two-year mark back in the States, that ministry “really began to dry up,” Robert says. In May 2018, he spent a few hours in prayer, telling the Lord, “I don’t understand what’s happening.” He received two answers:
- I’ve heard you.
- I’ll get back to you.
Within a couple of weeks, an interim missions pastor at First Baptist Jackson called. “We hadn’t talked for months,” Robert recalls. “(He) said, ‘Would you be interested in helping train some of our teams to go overseas?’”
At this point, Robert has to pause to collect himself. God’s grace is too much. After a full 10 seconds, he finishes the story:
“And the Lord said, ‘I told you I’d get back to you.’”
‘We pick up where we left off’
Around the time Robert was transitioning to First Baptist Jackson (FBJ), where he now serves as the full-time Global Outreach Pastor, Margaret was teaching a 4-year-old class at a local church daycare.
Then, during COVID, she met a neighbor who was the preschool director at First Baptist Clinton. Margaret started teaching their “fun fitness” classes three days a week. She’s about to wrap up her sixth and final year there.
“I feel a greater sense of calling to spend more time with the grandkids and our daughters,” she says. “And I’m involved with a ministry at First Baptist (Jackson) called Embrace Grace, which is through the Center for Pregnancy Choices … (discipling) a young woman that has come to faith.”
About once a year, usually in August, the Fortenberrys go back to Botswana.
“Our church has a partnership in western Botswana, where Pastor Jack and others that he has now trained come with us and partner in outreach to a largely unreached part of (the country),” Robert says. “So that friendship continues. It’s always like we pick up where we left off.”
The first time they went back, with a team recruited through Foundations of Discipleship, they expected to be heartbroken all over again when they had to come home. Instead, “separate from each other, (we each) came back with the realization that God had taken from us the grace to live there,” he says.
Outwardly, nothing had changed: The people they loved were still there. Even the weather was great (30 to 70 degrees in August, since the country is in the Southern hemisphere).
“But, (God) has given us grace now to live in America. (And) we get a measure of it every time we go back.”
Mission-trip tips from the Fortenberrys
If you’re planning to serve in Botswana:
- Watch your humor. “What people will think is funny, and why, usually doesn’t translate.”
- Be upfront about your intentions. “We had to get used to people asking, who are you and what are you doing here?”
- Say it twice. “Say it once from one angle, once from another angle. There’s a lot of English there, but not what we learned, maybe.”
- Anger gets you nowhere. “Americans will tell you you’ve offended them. Sub-Saharan Africans will not tell you – that wall just goes up.”
For churches planning short-term missions with volunteers (to any location), find out the following:
- Does the missionary on the ground have a good game plan for making disciples?
- Do volunteers fit into that strategy (or will your team try to impose their own plan)?
Where is your mission?
You might not feel called to live in Africa long term like the Fortenberrys – but whether you cross the ocean or cross the street, God has called all believers to love their neighbor and share the gospel. Below are some options you could prayerfully consider.
Broadmoor Baptist Church, Madison
Broadmoor is excited to be able to take the Good News to numerous locations this summer, including Africa, Canada, and New Orleans. If you are in town, there are numerous family activities at Broadmoor during the summer months. For more information, visit broadmoor.org/summer.
But God Ministries (Mississippi Delta, Haiti)
But God Ministries (BGM) continues to bring hope, healing, and lasting change to Haiti and the Mississippi Delta. BGM is currently building a 10-house neighborhood across the street from our world-class “Hope Fields,” which were built with support of the MLB-MLBPA. Children and families’ lives are being changed, and they are seeing God’s love transform their community. In Haiti, our work thrives despite civil unrest. Our Haitian staff minister to people in our seven schools, two clinics, and two churches. Join us in our work by joining our giving club, Circle of Hope.
Devoted Dreamers Foundation
PEARLS for Girls is a transformative mentorship program powered by the Devoted Dreamers Foundation. Our mission is to guide preteens and teens through Purpose, Esteem, Accountability, Resilience, Leadership, and Service. Rooted in biblical truth and SoulCare principles, we help girls discover their God-given identity, develop life skills, and grow into confident leaders. Through monthly sessions, community service, and character-building activities, we nurture the whole girl — mind, body, and soul.
We invite you to stand with us.
Jackson Leadership Foundation
Jackson Leadership Foundation equips local leaders to bring lasting change to our city’s most underserved communities. Through collaboration, capacity building, and deep relationships, we empower ministries to thrive. Our biggest need is monthly supporters who believe that changing one life, one neighborhood at a time, is the mission.
Mission Mississippi (statewide)
For over 30 years, Mission Mississippi has worked with churches, organizations, and communities to facilitate conversations across differences, train and equip people to build healthy relationships across divisions, and create opportunities to reflect and highlight oneness in Christ across differences and divisions. We are always looking for volunteer help.
Ronald McDonald House, Jackson
Children from across Mississippi and the surrounding region travel to the Jackson metro area to access specialized medical care not available near their home. During those critical times, Ronald McDonald House Mississippi serves as a vital resource for families with children receiving treatment at local hospitals. More than just a place to stay, the House provides a supportive environment where families can find comfort, stability, and a sense of home while navigating some of life’s most challenging moments.
When a child is sick, the whole family is sick. We are here not only to provide for the child who may be inpatient, but to ensure that the child’s sibling is also getting the care and support they need. Guest families can get a good night’s rest in a private room, access to volunteer-provided meals and snacks, and a support network of other families, staff, and volunteers. We provide laundry facilities, a huge playroom, toiletries for those who need them, and even a “Magic Toy Closet” for children to pick out a toy when they check in.
Our services remain free of charge to our families because of donors and supporters like you! Visit rmhcms.org to learn more.
Word of Life Church (multiple locations)
Word of Life Church exists to see lives transformed by Jesus, both locally and globally. Our heart for missions is rooted in a simple belief: When we partner with God, what starts here in Mississippi does not stay here. It reaches the nations.
Through prayer, generosity, and intentional partnerships, we support missionaries and ministries across the world, from Central and South America to Asia and Africa. Each relationship is built on trust, vision, and a shared commitment to making Jesus known in every context, culture, and community.
We do not see missions as a separate part of what we do. It is who we are. Every life changed, every church strengthened, and every community impacted reflects our collective yes to God’s call.
When you partner with Word of Life, you are not just giving or serving locally. You are stepping into a global story where hope is carried across borders, the gospel reaches the unreached, and lives are forever changed. What begins in Mississippi becomes part of something much bigger, advancing the kingdom of God throughout the earth.