We have had a great Holiday season! Although we have missed family and friends more than usual, we have really enjoyed being together these last few weeks. The Holidays last for about a month here...just a time to unwind and relax. I have to admit, I love Christmas here. It is so nice not to feel the pressure to shop a lot, give a lot, buy a lot, wrap a lot, decorate a lot, eat a lot. It has been, in the past, such an exhausting, busy time that I have a hard time remembering to make it about Jesus. Or even though I remember...it's just hard. But this year we were able to really focus on Christ. We did a great Advent story (Thanks Carol!!) that we read every night and it was so interesting that the girls were begging for "one more chapter" almost every night. Because we had friends in the hospital, we had many opportunities for serving others and focusing on what OTHER people might need. Which also helped us realize and be thankful for all we already have. We had a great Christmas morning and then friends over for the afternoon and dinner. We didn't even cook a big Christmas meal....just lots of cookies and dips and BBQ for supper!!
After being kind of "laid back" about school the last few weeks, this week we started back with lots of structure and some new resolutions on the part of the teacher (me) to be more intentional in planning and encouraging the girls to learn. We have had a great week so far and although I am still way behind on my record book (recording grades), I am caught up on grading and the girls have done really, really well this week! I am learning that having the spiritual gift of "Mercy", is not always a good thing. I am way too easily swayed by a good "sob story"..... even from (or maybe especially from) my own kids. Thankful that God was able to teach me that lesson and I am trying to be more TOUGH!
We also added a pet to the family! Maggie has wanted a kitten for a very, very long time. We finally decided to break down and give it a try this year. We adopted a kitten from the Swaziland Animal Welfare Society and surprised the girls a couple of days before Christmas. They decided to name her Sophie and she has been a lot of fun! Kittens are very sweet, cute and entertaining. I just wish they didn't poop. One reason to be thankful that we don't have any carpet, I guess!!
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. May God richly bless you and your families this year. Thank you for praying for, loving and supporting us as we seek to serve him in Swaziland. We love you!
Thanduxolo is a 9 year old little boy who is in the hospital now for at least the third time in his life. He has a disease that keeps his colon from working. It has expanded to the point that his belly is distended grotesquely. His diaphragm, liver, stomach, lungs and heart are displaced by the enlarged colon.
He can't eat, can't absorb nutrition from whatever he does choke down, so he is severely malnourished. I can easily touch my thumb and finger around his leg just below his knee.
But he is so beautiful! Smiling and smart, a 3rd grader who reads, colors and wants to play. He helps care for the younger children who live on his homestead. He lives there with his grandmother as his primary caregiver along with aunts, uncles, cousins and great grandparents. He has no father. His mother works in another town and only sees him occasionally.
Until a few years ago, he was in the care of his great-grandmother who only used "traditional healers" to care for his obvious medical problems. I'm not sure what that would have put him through, but I am certain it wasn't fun and it wasn't helpful.
But his experiences with "western" medicine haven't been all that positive up to now, either. He has a scar from his sternum to below his belly button from "exploratory surgery" since CT scans and other diagnostic tools are not readily available here. He has a scar down the back of his left leg from corrective surgery when he was an infant, a good thing, but also a big scar across the top of his foot which his grandmother says came from being cut by the saw used to remove the cast after the surgery. Seriously?
So, now he has been in the hospital for 6 days enduring laxatives, enemas and a "liquid only" diet in preparation for another surgery on Monday. The doctors will do a biopsy of his colon and create a temporary (hopefully) colostomy. This will give his intestines time to relax and hopefully shrink to a more normal size. It will also give him the ability (and desire) to eat and gain some strength and nutrition. The biopsy will allow a definitive diagnosis (probably Hirschprung's disease).
Then, hopefully, when he is strong enough and stable medically, he will have a surgery to "bypass" the diseased bowel and reverse the colostomy. This surgery will be difficult, and expensive, and most likely will need to be done in South Africa.
Through a long day of 3 doctors, 4 x-rays, an ultrasound, lab work and lots of poking and mashing (including 2 rectal exams), he shed only a few quiet tears and managed lots of smiles and a few giggles. He is really a special kid.
The first surgeon we saw reminded Thanduxolo's grandmother and me that Jesus has his hand on this boy. Before he was conceived there was a plan for his life. He doesn't have a "daddy" but he has a Heavenly Father who loves him and cares.
This doctor reminded me to feel and to see Jesus in these people. To learn from their faith and to see Jesus at work. I get so discouraged. It is so overwhelming. But He has been faithful to encourage me and show me love and joy and hope through the people He loves.
Please join me in praying for Thanduxolo tomorrow during his surgery and then during his lengthy recovery. Pray for his grandmother, Domsile, and family as they care for him and help him adjust to life with a colostomy. Pray for the surgeon and hospital staff. He will probably be in the government hospital for a couple of weeks following surgery. This is no American "Children's Hospital".... it is a struggling, African hospital with limited resources and grossly overworked staff.
Thanks for reading and caring. I promise my future posts won't be so lengthy or so serious.
I have stopped doing blog updates because it is just too hard.
It's hard to know what to say and what NOT to say. Each story is personal, it's not just a "starving child in Africa" that is suffering, it is my friend. It is someone I care about who has a name, a personality, dreams, and hopes in a place where life expectancy is low and disease and suffering is high. Where hope of an education is expensive and requires loads of discipline and sacrifice. Where hope of employment (with or without an education) is likely just a dream.
No jobs. No money. No food. No parents. But....still they have Hope.
I don't understand it. Really.
For the friends I have gotten to know, the Hope is Jesus. He is truly all there is to count on. It's easy for me to tell myself that my trust is in Him, but I have a home, food, family, access to medical care. Sure, I trust Him, but it's so easy to forget He is the provider of all these blessings and to think I am handling things pretty well by myself. My Swazi friends just have Him. They KNOW from experience that every good and perfect gift is from Him and that the only way they can face another day is with Him by their side. Without Him, it is just too hard. Too hopeless.
I have decided to try to communicate through blogging again. Encourage me to stick with it. Let me know if you have suggestions for better techniques or different content. Hold me accountable to being a better steward of the gift of being here and sharing with others what God is doing in Swaziland.
Please forgive my lack of communication and thanks for sticking with me.
Yesterday was a hard day. On our way out to Thulwane to pass out some shoes and soccer jerseys, we got word that one of our "favorite" young boys (yes, we do have favorites...sometimes you just can't help it), had been taken by his step-father and was missing. There was reason to believe this man would harm Mamba and we all started praying immediately for his safety. As soon as we arrived at the care point, Mamba's grandmother, Make Nomsa, came to us, telling us the story and asking that we go inside the kitchen and pray. With all the women from the care point, we held hands in a circle in that little cinder block building and stormed the gates of heaven...in different languages, at the same time, with grief and singing and pleading. My prayers just kept being for angels to surround sweet Mamba. For comfort and peace for him. I just kept seeing him encircled by angels.
Mark left to go with Musa to help look for him. Allison and I stayed at the care point with our girls and with Hlobsile to hand out the shoes and jerseys. It was great to have something fun and joyful to do in the midst of the strain and waiting. Always so fun to the see the kids with new clothes. The young boys were especially proud of their jerseys. Wishing we could hand one to Mamba.
Allison, the girls and I were playing with the younger kids in a big circle when we heard wailing. Like I have never heard before. We soon realized it was coming from Make Nomsa. She had received a phone call that Mamba had been found. That his body had been found in the bush. How do you comfort a woman who is grieving this kind of news? Standing in the middle of a dirt road in the middle of the African bush? Literally physically supporting her, Allison and I walked her back to the care point, to her friends and family waiting there to speak words of comfort to her in her own language. Over 100 kids looking on. Some of them surely knew what was happening. Many of them did not have any idea that their friend, Mamba, was gone. Our girls were obviously curious and concerned, but after being assured that it was "ok" and we would explain later, were troopers...continuing to play with the kids and be content with doing what they were there to do, and leaving us to deal with the grieving adults.
The next couple of hours were confusing and difficult. Things aren't handled here like they would be in the States. The family wanted to go see the body. Which was still where it had been found, in the bush, but too far for them to walk. So many of them piled in our car and Allison took them on the horrible search. They ended up literally searching the forest on foot and thankfully did not find him. Hlobsile, and I stayed at the care point with the girls, who were climbing a tree and throwing stones at goats and chickens and trying not to ask too many questions. Bless them.
In the meantime, we found out that Mark and Musa, with the help of other family members had found the step-father. He had taken poison and was near death. They took him to a nearby clinic where he soon died. With that part of the equation settled, many more joined the search for little Mamba. It was soon confirmed that his body had been found and identified. Putting an end to our hoping that this was all going to turn out all right. That there was some horrible, terrible mistake and everything would go back to "normal".
Somehow, Mamba's family was taken home and Mark and Allison joined back up with me and the girls and we headed home. The adults were able to fill Steve in on the events of the day (he had been taking care of issues in town) and do some "processing". After dinner we talked to the girls and explained what had been happening. Family prayer time was difficult as Steve and I tucked our girls in bed and listened to them pray for comfort for their friend Mamba's family. They knew this little boy. They had played with him and laughed with him. I wish they didn't have to be exposed to this. Why had we been out there when all this happened?
I wish they had not had to witness this evil and grief and despair.
Pray for all of us as we deal with this grief and try to somehow comfort this family. Pray for Kriek and Jumbo, who were especially close to Mamba. Pray for the d-team, many of whom live in this community and who minister to and serve these families. Pray for Crystal and Squeaky who "sponsored" Mamba and for the rest of the Westwood family, many of whom knew and loved Mamba. To know him was definitely to love him. He had a beautiful, mischievous smile. He was a very smart kid and was identified early on as one of the brightest and most "promising" boys at Thulwane. When he was little, he liked to bite, so he was well-known by anyone who came near him! Many times he has held my hand, or sat in my lap, or climbed on Steve's legs. A few times he has even put my finger in his mouth.....never biting hard, more like just chewing! We will miss him.
How can God make something good come out of something so tragic, so stupid, so pointless? I guess that is what we will all be trying to figure out in the days ahead.
We have been staying so busy lately. It's so easy to either be overwhelmed by all we see and deal with every day, or just kind of shut it out....keep going and don't really give yourself time to think about it.
Today the girls and I went out to Mpholi care point to meet with the bomake (women who cook and serve at the care point). They are learning to make some crafts that we will sell through the Timbali Crafts ministry so on Wednesdays I go check on them and deliver supplies and just spend some time with them. We also took some underwear and socks for the d-team staff to give out to the kids.
It made me so happy and thankful to see the girls participating in ministry. And to see each love and serve in their own special ways. Katie helped me carry supplies to and from the car, asking to carry the heaviest bags of meal and biggest totes of clothes. She organized the socks and underwear according to sizes and helped make sure each child got the size that they needed. She even helped me with "quality control" of the crafts....making sure the wallets (made from re-cycled juice boxes) were clean and well made. Maggie and Ellie spent most of their time with the children. Maggie especially gravitating to the kids that look shy or sad. Picking the little ones up or just holding a hand or sitting next to someone for a while. Ellie seems to move towards the more active kids. Playing games and running. But always looking for a baby to pick up! I loved it that I had to hunt them down and call them back to the car. I loved that they felt comfortable enough to go off and play and enjoy loving on these kids. It was fun, also, to see them interact with the older women. To even respond in Siswati to some of the questions that the women asked them! (They do better than I do for sure!)
I am setting a new goal for myself of updating this blog frequently with just glimpses into every day life. Not trying to say something deep and profound and wise and witty. We'll see how it goes. If you want to give me some accountability and fuss at me if I don't update often enough, that would be ok!
Thanks for reading this and for loving, praying for and supporting us in so many ways.
This is the "busy season" for us here in Swaziland. But thankfully it is not the kind of "busy season" that accountants talk about from January to April 15th, or retail workers bemoan from Black Friday through New Year's. "Busy season" here is a good thing. Sure there is a lot of extra work involved. But the rewards greatly outweigh the difficulties. So much gets accomplished in such a short amount of time that it is staggering. Hundreds and hundreds of children receive new school shoes, school uniforms, back packs, clothes, and school supplies. Thousands get to participate in VBS, make crafts, hear stories and be held by someone who loves them in the name of Jesus. How do we accomplish all this? Only through the sacrifice and service of over 200 short term missionaries who come to help out at the care points during the months of May through August.
This summer there will be roughly 25 teams visiting Swaziland either through Children's HopeChest or Adventures in Missions. Most of these teams are coming to serve at a specific care point where they will distribute supplies that they have been buying and raising money for all year. They will play, read books, tell stories, sing, dance, feed and clothe the orphans and vulnerable children of Swaziland. But most of all, they will love them. Carry them. Wipe their faces. Wash their feet. Bandage their wounds. Blow bubbles. Visit their homes. Pray over them. Paint their faces and fingernails. And be Jesus. Whispering into little ears that may have never heard the words "I love you" that Jesus cares and sent them all this way just to tell them that.
There are those that would argue that perhaps the money spent on air fare for all these teams might be better spent in buying food and supplies, paying school fees, or building shelter for these kids. But the love that they receive during these short months, the affection and tangible evidence that they are not alone, that God has not forgotten... that is so very priceless. It could never, never be replaced with a new building or a better meal or a new pair of shoes. James 1:27 says that "pure and undefiled religion is this, to VISIT widows and orphans in their distress". Pretty clear, huh?
And I know (from experience and from the testimony of many others) that the benefit not only goes to the children of Swaziland, but to those who come to minister to them. More often than not, short term visitors say that they feel they received much more than they gave. I believe that's because in being obedient to God's word, we receive a special measure of His blessing.
Please pray for us as we press on through this 'busy season'. Pray for health for the staff and our families, for good communication as we try to coordinate so many people going in so many different directions, and most of all for our vehicle situation. It seems like causing problems with our transportation is always a favorite weapon of the enemy, but it is magnified tremendously during this time of the year. If our cars aren't all working, we can't get out to the kids. We can't get visiting teams out to the kids. We can't get food to the kids. Just one vehicle being out of commission throws the whole system out of whack. And in the past couple of weeks, there have been major problems with at least 5 of the ministry vehicles.
Thank you for being willing to pray for us. We truly could not be here without your prayers, love and support. We are so honored and thankful to be a small piece of God's hands at work here in Swaziland.
And who knows.....maybe next summer YOU could be a part of the 'busy season' in Swaziland, too!
A few days ago we went to a new care point in Mankayane Swaziland to do profiles of the kids and give them some clothes. It was Mother's Day. It was a hard day for me because just a few weeks ago myMother passed away. I am a single orphan. I found that even at 46 years old, you are never ready to lose your Mother. You are never ready to become an orphan. I should be celebrating the fact that I had a wonderful mother for all of these years to do the things a mother does. However, I miss my mom. It doesn't matter how old you are or how much time you had together, when your mom is gone, you miss her! No one should ever have to be an orphan.
So, at the care point, as I watched the children come through to fill out profile forms, have pictures made, recieve clothes and a few sweets, I figured most of them probably had no idea that it was Mother's Day. You see, most of these kids don't have mothers that are still alive. The one's whose mother's are still alive probably don't get to see them more than once a month and some even up to once a year because their mothers have to go find a job to have a little income for their families. There is an entire generation of Swazi kids growing up without mothers! Orphans! Many of them double orphans! Who holds them? Who comforts them? Who tells them "I Love You"? Who tells them God loves them? Who tells them they are proud of them? Who holds them? Who hugs them? Who reads to them? Who teaches them right from wrong? Who sings to them? Who fights for them? Who bathes them? Who clothes them? Who tucks them into their beds at night? Who tells them stories? Who takes them to school? The list goes on and on and on. Think back to as early as you can remember, think of all the things your mother has done for you from the time you were born until right now. How would you have made it to this point in your life without a mother? How about without a mother or a father?
Tonight, as I go to sleep, there are over 150,000 children in Swaziland that areorphans. That is over 10% of the entire population of Swaziland! Tonight there are 150,000 children in Swaziland who will never know a mother's love. Tonight there are 150,000 children in Swaziland that will not have had the chance to tell their mother "Happy Mother's Day" or "I Love You Mom"!
Tonight, as you go to sleep, if you haven't done it already, tell your mom you love her and thank her for what she has done for you throughout your life. Also, if you will, pray for the orphans of Swaziland. This is why my family moved here. God has called us to minister to the many orphans of Swaziland. It is a huge task because there are so many but God is faithful. Pray for us and please ask God if there is some part in the life of an orphan in Swaziland He would have you play. If you feel God would have you involved with orphans in Swaziland but don't know how or what to do, please contact us. We can help you get plugged in and caring for "The least of these." God doesn't call everyone to move their family to a third world country to loveon orphans. He is however very clearin scripture on the value He places on them and how all children of His should be involved in helping "The Least of These"!
I actually wrote this blog a couple of weeks ago now. I have some pictures I wanted to include with this but haven't been able to get them to load. So I am just going to send without pictures....
This week in Swaziland......
Wanted to give you a glimpse into some of the day to day life here in Swazi. We have had a great week! Monday we took a family/school "field trip" to Ngwenya Glass. This is an amazing place up near the northern border of Swaziland and South Africa. They actually buy glass from Swazi's, many of them women who gather old bottles from the dumps, trash, alleys and roadside. This is a way for people to make some money to help support their families. Then they use this glass to make wonderful, beautiful works of art! We were able to watch one of the master glass blowers and his assistants as they made a beautiful, fragile, glass bowl out of a blob of molten glass. Amazing! There are also lots of little shops that all sell crafts made by Swazi's. Oh, and the girls' favorite part....there is a chocolate shop where you can buy a tiny little cup of melted chocolate with a straw! They all had chocolate from head to toe, but they were happy!
We went from there to a big shipping company in Matsapha to help unload a container from the States. What fun!!! There were lots of clothes, shoes and other items for the children at the Care Points.
But the big, exciting thing was boxes and boxes of books!! It has been a dream of mine to figure out a way to have a mobile library, a "Book Mobile", to be able to go around to all the care points and let the kids check out books. So it was kind of amazing to suddenly be given so many children's books. We brought all the boxes home to our house to sort and categorize and store, and the girls were immediately going through each box, examining each book. They have sorted them a million times this week, with piles moving from one girl to the other as they practically devour a book at a time. Tuesday morning I got up and went to make coffee and realized that I didn't hear any of the girls. (They usually all get up about 6:00 and play and make a lot of noise until school starts.) I started looking and found them all in the hall with the books....reading. Later that day, after school they were swimming and playing in the pool. I was reading a book and "watching" them. Pretty soon I realized that there was only one girl left in the pool. The rest of them had decided they would rather go in and read! Does a Mama's heart good to see her girls so excited about reading!
Also in this container were boxes and boxes of "american" food that this sweet church had sent for us "missionaries". The lunches this week have been so fun! Macaroni and Cheese, Chef Boy Ardee Ravioli, Campbells and Progresso Soups! Quaker snack bars, Chips Ahoy cookies, Ritz crackers, Frosted mini-wheats and Oreos are more of the favorites!
On Thursday the Clyburns, the McAdams' and three of the Swazi AIM staff headed out to Gege ("gay-gay"). There is a care point there that AIM has just started helping out. The pastor, Ronald, and his wife, Esther, are actually from Zambia. They brought their young familly to Swaziland to help with the ongoing orphan crisis here. They are beautiful and amazing people. Our goal was to get some basic information on each of the kids that regularly comes to this care point. With this information and a picture of each child, we are able to create a "profile" of each one and then Children's HopeChest can get this information to the church that agrees to sponsor Gege Care Point. That church can then work on getting each profiled child a "sponsor" who will send $35/month to help with the costs of food, education, discipleship, medical care, clothes, shoes....whatever we can do for the kids with the money we have.
It was a great day, with a picnic on the way on a mountainside overlooking more of beautiful Swaziland. Once we got there the younger girls painted fingernails and played games with the kids. Katie helped the Swazi team as they filled out profile information on each of the 138 children. Allison and Steve took profile pictures of each child and Mark and I tried to direct the kids to the next "station" for processing and finally to the "kitchen" for a meal of pap and beans. We were all sunburned, dirty and tired by the end of the day, but so happy to have met so many beautiful kids and amazing women and men who care for them each day.
The girls have school each morning from 9:00 until about 12:30 usually. They love it and almost always are there in the school room before the teachers! On days when we travel to care points, they do their work in the car on the way, or double up the days before and after. They have one hour of "study time" each evening and really look forward to helping each other study, memorize and finish up homework. They are all doing amazingly well in all the subjects and it is so fun to see how much the younger girls are learning as they try to keep up with the two older girls. Allison is such a great teacher, and I am learning a lot by watching her teach. I have started teaching Science to give her a little bit of a break. And I try to grade as many papers as I can. But Allison says I am too easy on them.....I think she re-grades a lot of what I do to make sure I didn't let them get away with too much! :)
I also got the chance this week to meet Echo and Harry VanderWal. They have started The Luke Commission, a medical ministry, here in Swaziland. Harry is a doctor and Echo is a Physician's Assistant. They have a mobile clinic that they take out into the bush to different locations, usualy twice a week. They are an amazing family (four young boys) and such an asset to the people of Swaziland and to us! They are more than willing to help us with any medical questions/problems that come up as we visit the care points, and are helping us devise a system for meeting some of the medical needs of the women and children on a more regular basis.
In between all this, Steve and Mark made some food runs, delivering food to Care Points and getting maize to the mill to be ground. Allison started working on getting correspondance from churches and sponsors sorted so that the D-team can deliver it to the kids at the care points. I got to talk with Julie Anderson about the Timbali Crafts ministry she directs. This is a way for women who volunteer at the care points (bomake and gogo's) to make some money. They sew purses and other small items which Julie sells to visiting teams and ships back to the States to be sold there. All the profit goes to the women, and is used for food, medicine and school fees usually. I agreed to start Timbali projects at some of the newer care points that haven't been a part of Timbali yet. I can't wait to see what beautiful things the women will come up with. I will be sure to post pictures as soon as we have some ideas of what we will be selling.
As you can see, life here is seldom boring. And certainly never the same thing two days in a row! We have really enjoyed getting to be together more as a family. All those years of Steve working retail, nights and weekends were really tough. It has been so nice to have him around, for me and for the girls!
Thank you for keeping us in your prayers and for supporting us in this work. We would not and could not be here without you.
As I go through my days here in Swaziland, there are so many times that I think, "I should blog about that".... But sometimes it is just too overwhelming and my brain, my faith, is too small to have anything uplifting to offer. So I just decided to list some the scenarios that have made me think that in the first place, and let you come up with how God wants to use that situation in your heart and mind. I would love to read some responses, to know what it is you think God wants you to do with this information.
So these are some of the things that I wanted to share with you, each of them is true and was much more vivid and real than I could ever communicate.
The little girl, 5 or 6 years old?, with rough calloused hands. What has she done in her little, short life that has made her hands as hard and tough as those of a farmer?
The little girl, sweet and shy, maybe 10 years old, who stood up in church during "Testimony Time" to say, in front of the whole church, "I am thankful that I have food, that I am healthy and that I have two parents."
The 12 year old girl - beautiful, tall and smiling, suddenly standing back and sucking her thumb while watching the others play.
The little girl, surely not more than 9 years old, coming into the clinic to have a check up and pick up her next month's supplies of ARV's. (Medicine for the treatment of HIV)...ALONE.
The "family" made up of a woman and her two children, her brother and his child. Living in a relative's half-built house. No roof. No floor. Just walls and some tin balanced across one room for a shelter. Planting a small garden to sell vegetables to their neighbors. Their prayer requests? School fees so that the children can go to school, and that someone would buy their vegetables.
So many babies with orange hair and glassy eyes.
Mothers and Grandmothers with looks of fear, worry, confusion and weariness holding those glassy-eyed babies.
Not all the "stories" here are so heartbreaking. There are so many stories of triumph and joy, but I will share those some other time. I just felt like I needed to give you these snapshots into the everyday life of some of the children and families here in Swaziland.
We just finished up two weeks of having Christmas Parties at each of the sponsored Care Points. A great time for us to get to know the different Care Points' locations, responsible D-Team members and most importantly....children and gogo's. So amazing to see the difference that long term, committed prayer and financial sponsorship can make in the lives of those who depend so fully on their nearest Care Point for food, education and friendship.
We do the Christmas Parties early in the month so that the D-Team can have some time off around the holidays. We have heard that most of the country closes up for the few weeks before and after Christmas. I'm kind of looking forward to a scaled back, relaxing Christmas rather than the frenzy that the holidays can become back "home".
This year each child who was committed to attending lessons as well as meals at their Care Point received a gift of: a large basin, plate, spoon, cup, tooth brush, tooth paste, wash cloth, soap, bag of "sweets", cupcake, fruit and a book. Those children who have not shown good attendance at the Care Point, or who were visitors for the party only received fruit, sweets and cupcake, as well as encouragement by the D-team to come on a regular basis so as to receive teaching, discipleship, regular meals and "treats" in the future. This helps assure some responsibility on the children's part and rewards their diligence, while preventing a sense of "entitlement" or "hand outs".
We were all so very impressed with the respect that these children have for the D-team. The D-team is a group of amazing people who take responsibility for most of the hands-on ministry at each of the 23 care points. Since being around these men and women, Steve and I have been amazed at the level of spiritual maturity and diligence displayed in these young Swazi adults. Most of them have many more pressures and responsibilities placed on them than any of us had at their age, yet they serve these children with joy and commitment and authority.
At a recent staff prayer meeting we were all telling what we were thankful for in 2010. Each of the nine D-team members present expressed, in different ways, that they were thankful that they were still alive. That they had survived another year......literally. A real eye opener for me...that survival is not something to be taken for granted. For any of us. And that every breath, every meal, every day on this earth is a gift from God. A gift that He gives us to be opened and used and enjoyed and lived according to His plan.
Please continue to pray for us as we adjust to life in a foreign culture. The girls have adapted beautifully....Steve and I are so proud of them as they each minister to the people we come in contact with in their own personal ways.
Thanks for loving us and praying for us. Please feel free to email or Facebook any personal correspondence. We look forward to hearing from friends and family. It really makes our day to have a personal note on FB or in our Inbox!
