Finding Joy in Swaziland

What an amazing week we have had and how fast the time has flown by here in Africa. Even if there is no concept of time here in Swaziland we are nearing the end of our time at the care point site.

There is truly no way to describe in words the sights we have each seen, the children we have loved on, the overflowing abundance of God’s love, and the amount of joy that the people of Swaziland have. Please be ready to let each of us share pictures with you to see how  God is at work.  Due to Internet connection we have not been able to post pictures.

Our Care Point has been filled with  children  as the teachers in Swaziland  have been on strike after not being paid in 3 Months. However many of the teachers still go to school to teach without pay because they love the children, but are also in fear of losing their jobs. This has been a blessing for us as we have been able to minister to even more children than normal. We have done a small version of Vacation Bible School breaking the children into groups based on colors. The morning starts with a time of worship as we sing songs with the children in their native language and also a few American songs the children are familiar with. Afterwards we have a team member share with the children about their own Christian walk and we end with a skit. We have focused on the theme being lost and have shared the Lady and the Lost Coin, the Good Samaritan, the Man and the Lost Son, and the Parable of the Lost Sheep. And do we have some actors in this group. We many have to recreate these skits once we get back to the States. Afterwards each group visits either a recreation station, arts and crafts, or “small group” time. Lunch occurs and it has been neat for us to see how the children line up from smallest to biggest without even being told to do so to wait to receive their lunch, which consists of a thicker version of grits and then a portion of beans. This is their daily meal everyday. Our team speeds the rest of the afternoon on home visits where we break up and visit a home to bring food and to pray over the family. These home visits have been powerful and filled with the Holy Spirit at work. These Swaziland people know and understand the love of God and radiate with God’s love . These mothers and GoGo’s (grandmothers) are filled with selfless love for their children and ask for prayers for their children to grow in God’s love. No matter their situation time and time again God has revealed that the people from our Care Point radiate with Joy. They realize that the Lord will provide for them and their family as well.

We have each had our own powerful experience this week. Today we also had several God moving moments as part of the team walked with the children to their school in South Africa. Our Care Point is right on the boarder to South Africa. These children make this walk everyday which is a 2 hour walk one way in the woods through the mountain. Part of the team literally walked in the shoes of these children and now understand what they are going through in order to receive an education. Also today we passed out new clothes to the children and were able to wash their feet before we gave them new shoes. Such a humbling experience and an example of God’s Love.

The Lord is at work in a might way and the love of Christ is radiating through these people. We may be from Alabama, but we serve the same God as these people and are all Children of God.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we are hosting a celebration at the Care Point. We have invited the whole community for a feast as we all worship together. Please continue to pray for thr safety of our team, our translators (Nelly and C Dawg), the ministry here, and the people of Swaziland.

 

Safely in Swaziland

Flexility is our friend, Expectation our Enemy, there is no right, no wrong there is just different. Boy have we already learned that. We have safely arrived in Johannesburg after a 2 and a half hour bus ride to Atlanta,  16 hour plane ride to Johannesburg, and then a 9 and a half hour bus ride to Swaziland. 

Brrr though it is cold here as it is Winter in South Africa now. Today is Tuesday and this was our first day to be able to be with the Children. However as always you have to be flexible and we have learned this. Today it is raining steadily in Swaziland and it is around 45 degrees. The rain however has made it difficult for our team, but it is a blessing to the people as they have not received rain since January. 

Due to the weather and our care point being on the Mountain our van was not able to make it up. So instead we spent the day at the school in N’Sosko doing bible school lessons,  playing with the children, and singing. We even got asked to sing the National Anthem and in response the children sang to us their National Anthem. Today we taught the children the parable of the Woman with the lost coin.

Part of team was able to go on a home visit today and more visits will occur tomorrow depending on the weather. We are also hoping to then be able to visit the care point as well.

The children were overwhelmingly receptive to us and loved having their picture taken. The kids each wanted their own picture taken to be able to see themselves. 

The Lord is already at work in a mighty way and has truly showered us with opportunities already to be in ministry. 

 

All that fits in a Black Bag

We may leave in 2 days, but there have already been many long hours of prayerand preparation behind this adventure to Swaziland.

As promised you will get to witness every step along the way in this journey with us.

The Start of our packing adventure

How much can you fit into a Suitcase within 50 pounds? We used every bit of space available to us.

All of our extra suitcases have been packed filled with soccer balls, clothes, bubble wands, toys, arts and crafts, and the list goes on and on. Now we just have to cross our fingers that all of our luggage arrives safely.

Please be in prayer for the Swazi staff, the Thulwane community, Westwood Baptist Church and Crystal Baltimore.  Today we received the tragic news that one of the children from Thulwane has passed away.  The circumstances of this tragedy are difficult and heartbreaking.  Yesterday Sakhile Mamba’s short life came to an end in a murder-suicide involving his step-father. Sakhile, who went by the name Mamba, was Crystal Baltimore’s sponsored child.  Crystal is the sponsorship coordinator for Thulwane.  The Westwood team has recently returned from a visit to Thulwane. 

 

Mamba was a bright light in that community and his loss will be felt long and wide. This again re-focuses my attention on the importance and seriousness of the work that we are all engaged in.  Let us, together, lift and hold those affected by this tragedy in prayer and all the more commit ourselves to fulfilling God’s call in Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’”

Continue to pray for us as we are about to embark on incredible God filled journey.

 

In Preparation and Prayer

Can you believe it has already been over a year since the last time  a Dawson group went to Swaziland? Thanks to the good Lord’s provision Dawson is going to be sending out another team to Swaziland this July. However, the team this year is much larger and each person has been called in a special way to be a part of this experience and team. Dawson will be sending 30 people to work in Swaziland for 10 days from July 23rd to August 2nd.

How can you help??? While there will only 30 actual people in Swaziland helping, each of you can be in prayer for not only each person on the team, but also for the ministry that is to come. We have a prayer calendar which will allow you to pray for a different area of ministry related to Swaziland for 30 days…..leading up the trip and then while we are all each on the trip. Please join us as we have this trip completely covered in prayer and under the fold of the Lord as well.

Please join us on the 30 day journey of prayer by going to:  http://prayer.dawsonchurch.org

Click “join”

Click “my community”

Click “join a prayer group”

There are 4 choices — pick the Swaziland group.  

May the Lord bless the ministry that is to come. To help yourself become more familiarized with the ministry be sure that you visit http://www.hopechest.org/swaziland/ this video will also be able to provide you with an idea of where and who we will be serving.

 

Now that I have seen….

As our bus pulled away from the Johannesburg airport and we traveled closer towards the people God had called us to drench in His love for the next several days, I couldn’t get these song lyrics out of my head…

 

now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go till you are

(Albertine – Brooke Fraser)

What would we see?  Who would we hold…in our own arms?  I knew God had awesome things in store for our team, but I couldn’t help but feel a little anxiety about the unknown.  Although–there’s something about Africa…the dusty roads, gorgeous faces, and the incredible landscapes…that makes my heart come alive.  And just knowing that I was now standing on African turf, made me so excited!  

Before we knew it, our hearts were completely engulfed by es’ Khaleni (our care point) and the Swazi people who spend their days there.  The sacrificial lives the Go-go’s lead as they cook meals for hungry children everyday with out fail humbled us.  The sweet, soft faces of the beautiful kids as they thoroughly enjoyed blowing bubbles for hours on end changed us.  The 30 minute (one way), rocky hike down to the river stirred something inside of us, and I don’t think any of us will ever be the same…I hope not. 

When I let myself really think about the desperation of the Swazi people, I am overwhelmed with sadness.  We saw many signs of malnutrition in the children, and the stories of daily life told at our home visits shocked us.   But the smiles on the faces of those children and the indescribable joy that overflows from the people reminds me that our God is not overwhelmed by what’s happening in Swaziland.  He is fully aware of every intricate need that exists there.  How blessed we are that we get to be a part of His work at es’ Khaleni!  His presence there is obvious.

So now what?  Now, we’re an ocean away, and a good two weeks into our cushy lives back here in the States.  There is a question that’s haunted me since my very first trip to Africa 6 years ago.  Why was I born here?  Here…where I sleep on a soft comfy mattress rather than a blanket on a dirt floor.  When I’m thirsty, I have the option of walking to multiple rooms in my house and turning on a tap rather than taking a 3 hour walk to the river.  When I don’t feel well, I take some medicine or get in my car and drive to see a doctor rather than suffering through the symptoms and pain because there’s no other option.  Why is my life so comfortable while so many don’t know where their next meal will come from?  And I still don’t know the answer to these questions…maybe I won’t ever know this side of heaven.

 BUT…I do know this…I know that God has called me to be an ambassador for His people in Africa…to tell their brave stories to any one who will listen.  To “rally the troops” in a sense, because the “harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few”.  Every time I come home from Africa, this calling is clearer.   I pray that the passion God has given me for Africa will spill over into the lives of those around me because “now that I have seen, I am responsible”. 

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

                                                                                                                James 1:27

 

What is happening now that the team is back?

In reflecting on the trip, we are reminded that us “westerners” really like tangible change and results. We really want to see a lot of things happen back in Swaziland and we want it to happen “yesterday”. Granted we saw some tangible results….

1. A fence was completed in a little over a week that covers over 4 acres of land

2. When we left, the kitchen was about 1/3 of the way finished

3. We took pictures of every sponsored child except for three and we gained new information on the other children coming to the care point (there averaged around 44 children each day coming to the care point for the food, games, crafts, songs, and bible stories) There were over 100 children on Saturday for the party

4. We made new friends and came to love such kind and joyful people

5. We now have 10 advocates for our mission work in Swaziland

So, we can look at some tangible resutls first hand from our trip…this is not even counting the decisions and changes being made in the lives of those who traveled on the mission trip. However, there are many other results that we may never ever see….some of these results may be even more important. We plant and water and let God cause the growth.

So, What is happening now!

Just to keep you informed….we are coordinating with Hope Chest to have a survery done on the care point to identify if there is water under the ground for us to dig a well. We have the funds, we simply need for there to be a good source of water–please pray for a lot of water to be found.

We are looking at trip dates for next year….we really believe that we can send at least two teams a year. There is a UAB group interested in joining in on our mission to Swaziland, this would be UAB students as well as medical/dental students. 

WE WILL DEFINITELY HAVE A TRIP IN THE SUMMER next year…so if you are interested in going next year, please be praying. We can answer any questions that you may have. Lastly, we are scheduling a follow up meeting with the mission team and those who sponsor children to share an update from the trip and to keep talking about ways to move forward together. (If you may want to sponsor some fo the new children coming to the care point–email todd@journeybham.com and let him know that you are interested in being informed about the upcoming meeting…dates and times TBA.

Lastly, we are trying to get a Facebook page for our care point so that we can network what is happening in the Nsoko region with many other people who may want to get involved.

Keep praying as we continue to move forward!!!! With and without tangible results.

 

Back Home

Just a quick update to let you know that we made it safely home this morning. We will post more stories and pictures later today and over the next few days. Thanks to so many for all of your prayers and encouragement.

 

Kids Feet Swallowed by Crocs

On Friday, we spent a good portion of the morning fitting the children for shoes.  We brought about 100 pairs of Crocs and sandals with us from the States in various sizes.  Since we have 34 sponsored children at the Carepoint, we figured that we would cover all of the bases if we brought plenty of different sizes and a large number of shoes.  Of course, the need for shoes was overwhelming as at least half of the kids were barefoot.  You could hardly say that the kids that did have something on their feet were wearing shoes.  These are kids that walk many miles a day across very rough terrain.  We used our bus as our “fitting room” for the shoes.  Two of the guys were acting as stock boys in the bus sorting the shoes by size and style.  The kids quietly came through in groups of two and were fitted for their new sandals.  But before the kids were fitted for their new sandals, the ladies cleaned their feet and even treated their feet for cuts and scratches.  Even though we brought what we thought would be more than enough shoes in a huge array of sizes, we were reminded of our insufficiencies when we began to have to improvise as more teenage kids came and we ran out of larger sizes.  The kids seemed unfazed as we had to improvise by cutting the lining out of some of the shoes or cutting the toes out of the front of the sandals.  They were just so thankful.  As I watched the ladies hold these children and fit them for shoes, I was reminded what it means to be a servant leader.  While these shoes will not last forever, our prayer is that these children will experience the love of Christ which will last for eternity.

 

In Home Visits

Today, like a few other days, we ended our time at the care point with in home visits. Well, let me explain. It is really more like visiting a homestead. A homestead is a plot of land usually consisting of several huts–these huts are made of  either mud, stone, or wood. There  is usually a hut that is solely the kitchen, one for sleeping (adults and children have seperate huts) and some families may even have a hut for the animals. Many of the homesteads located in the region where our care point is located have a few elders and many children. We visited one homestead today where the elder mother lives with her youngest child (a 6th grade girl who walks three hours to school one-way). The mom lost her husband five years ago, four children have died and four children are still living. The other children have moved away to find work. The homestead now consists of only her and her youngest child. Can you imagine your 6th grade daughter walking to school a total of 6 hours a day? She leaves at 4:00 a.m. and returns home at 5:30 Monday through Thursday each week. They get out of school at 12:00 on Fridays. The mother leaves at 4:00 a.m. each morning to walk to the river to fetch daily water. If she hurries , then she can make it in three hours. I forgot to mention that she takes medication provided from one of the local care points since she is HIV+. We walked the walk to the river–we ventured down a rocky dirt road descending through the beautiful mountains of Swaziland. We even heard the cries of several baboons. It would be a very difficult walk especially walking with up to 60-70 lbs of water. This family has a very difficult  journey…they are filled with deep pain, yet they have such beautiful smiles and genuine laughter. We have fallen in love with these wonderful people. We can only imagine what life can be like with a well located at our care point. The journey to the river could be replaced with a few local taps—this could really help many people in the community. What could happen one day when a school is up and running at the care point?  The younger children who can not afford government schools and young children who can not walk the distance to school would have a place to learn.  There is so much need and yet so much potential….there is hope yet there is much work to do.

 

Knife Ceremony

We have had a great opportunity to meet some wonderful people here in Swaziland.  At our Carepoint in Es’khelini we are doing some difficult construction projects.  We are building a kitchen out of block and a fence out of wire.  Driving the fence posts in the rocky ground is very difficult.  Do to the great challenge these projects bring, we have hired some locals to help with some advance work and work with us this week.  What I was not prepared for was the deep relationships that can be formed sweating together in the name of the Lord.

In light of these new relationships we wanted to do something nice for our new friends.  Marc Comer suggested getting them knives that they could work with.  We agreed and made our way to a hardware store in town and bought the gifts.  Mark shared a “good ole Alabama” custom with the men.  Knives make great gifts, but you never give a knife as a gift because it can sever a relationship.  When you give someone a knife you also give them a coin.  The person then takes the coin and gives it back to you to buy the knife so it is not a gift.

Mark performed this ceremony with each of the men we have been working with this week and told them that he loved them.  This was a very special time for the men and was very moving.  God can use the smallest things to move the heart of His people.  God is teaching us that relationships are more important than accomplishments.  Pray God will continue to bond us with our new brothers in Christ and the others at our Carepoint.