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.
Amy
I know what you mean. I always found it difficult to watch people come in to “get the story, feed the orphans and get the stamp on the passport”. Each story IS personal. They aren’t just another face but rather a daughter and son of the King. Through telling their stories, you are sharing with your readers who these precious ones are. You can share their dreams, hopes, likes, fears…and this begins to break down the typical “starving African child” view. Tell the stories for them.
I know I will be reading!! Love ya, girl!!
Laura
Ok, I am EXPECTING to hear from you. Love you Amy and want to hear from you!
i miss your updates, but imagined what you said now. i can’t imagine the burden you carry, but pray that you can share these stories to help us know these precious kids better. really. i’d love to hear as many personal stories as you can, of a day in your life – what you do, from sun up to sun down, and who you interact with especially. i love you so much.
Amy, Simply ask God to show you what He wants you to write about. Then keep your eyes and ears and heart open to what He impresses upon you. You’ll find that He will tell you what to write. It is a discipline as much as an art.
Since I see your facebook posts I never considered that you may have quit blogging! I just figured that I was seeing your blogs/updates thru a different interface!
Suggestion: you don’t have to write a book…. a few simple lines will let others who rely on this site to know it is still active…. since this is also a donation portal, remember that you don’t want the content to go stale… if even a few lines, it needs a fairly current date….
Your sharing gives us the ability to hear your voice and know what we can do to help bolster you…. when I think of my parents in N Africa in the 50’s and their inability to rapidly communicate, I celebrate the fact that we can get realtime updates from abroad… you keep it in front of our eyes and on the top of our hearts when it would be easy to be distracted by our daily comforts…
The internet can be exploited for so many BAD things… dust off that keyboard and use it for something GOOD!
Love you!
:)julie
He knows what He wants you to share and when. I will pray God gives you the right thoughts and words to share, at the right time. Love to all!
I’ll be reading….
Thankful for you and look forward to reading about how the Lord is speaking through you. Love you Amy!!
After being there for a short time, I understand better why it is so hard to communicate the deep feelings you have for these suffering friends. Those of us living in the “Land of Opportunity” really can’t connect with what they feel and hope for. You are an excellent writer (even if I am a little predjuiced}. Keep telling their story. We want and need to hear it.
I love you, and Steve and Katie and Maggie and Ellie. Mom
I agree with your Mom…keep abiding & living & loving….& writing 😉
Amy-Please know that we do want to hear about your work there & remember that you are the eyes, ears, hands & feet of God’s work there. I can’t even begin to imagine what you face there each day, as hard as I try. I know the magnitude of it on a daily basis has to be much greater than anything we can begin to feel. Although, Swazi is another place & other circumstances prevail that are compounded by daily strife, we too have faced with friends & family evils such as illness, untimely death, abduction & murder. I couldn’t even respond to your posting of the child that was abducted because we were in the middle of praying for a “like” situation with a neighbor who’s teenage nephew was abducted & murdered by a classmate in Houston, all over what seems to be a car theft, an old used car at that!? I tell you this not to minimize your struggles there, but to sympathize in the fact that we live in a world with evil that we can’t begin to understand or explain. As I write to you on the Eve of Christmas, I am reminded of the Peace, Hope & Joy of eternity that Christ brings to this imperfect world. My prayer is that you be surrounded by the knowledge of the Peace of Christ this Christmas Season as you minister to these hurting people in Swaziland! Keep writing! Merry Christmas! Aimee
I am so glad to realize you have a blog and will definitely being looking for updates! Christ is doing wonderful works through you and your family and friends in Swaziland. Don’t underestimate your impact on us back in the states! Keeping you in prayer.