(due to African internet this is two weeks late being posted)
So I recently realized that I have yet to even tell you all what I am doing this month!
One, let me start by tell you how crazy beautiful it is here in Swaziland! I don’t know what I expected but this… this, is not what I expected. It is beautiful green mountains everywhere.
Now, normally I would say something along the lines of, “Swaz don’t got nuthin’ on Sheridan, Wyoming!” However, it challenges my homeland. This picture does not even do it justice!
We are working with team 2:20 this month and we are living in QUITE the spacious thatch roof hut. I love this thing… it gives me space to workout, I don’t feel claustrophobic and enough windows for airflow.
We are also living on, what I like to call, Old McDonald’s Farm. For real, it’s crazy. Roosters, wasps, hens, chicks, puppies, cats, kittens, dogs, goats, snakes, snails the size of a pop can crawling on walls, the list could go on and on.
My whole life I thought that waking up to a Rooster every morning would be ‘fun’ or ‘cute’. LIE! Because, that rooster must not know day time from night time, because it crows at strange hours. NOT ‘fun’ or ‘cute’. The only missing element is that I have YET to milk a dang cow… I mean how long does a girl have to go until she can milk a cow in her life?!
Moving on.
So we at first spent a lot of time going to the care points here in Timbitini and Tulani but one day we met up with Allison, our contact’s wife at the Nazarene Hospital to pray for the children there. I started walking to the second door I saw and it was the Tuberculosis room, I met a mother and her little baby girl named Owethu. That was the same name as a girl in my class in South Africa! I got excited because I could actually pronounce her name and I asked her mom if it was spelled, O-W-E-T-H-U, her face lit up and said, “YES! You understand Siswati?!” Of course I wish I could have said yes but then I would have been in a pickle so I sadly declined. This little girl, Owethu is beautiful… her eyes just captured me.
I asked if I could pray for them and the mom, which I wish I could remember her name, said yes. I started to walk out and my eye was caught by a little, LITTLE boy attached to a crazy looking machine having a hard time breathing. He was TINY and you could see him fighting for air in his lungs. You know when you are swimming under water and you are almost at the surface to take a breath but you just can’t get there fast enough and you are panicking, that is what this little boy looked like every second. It honestly, was hard for me to even look at, it broke my heart to pieces. I could not even bring myself to take a picture of him, but I did pray for him.
In the back of the area, there were two babies there that were abandoned. It is crazy to think that those babies may not really ever get held if we did not come. All the kids there had at least one parent staying with them. One of the babies that were abandoned had severe cerebral palsy and her neck was so stiff, Allison said if we prayed while were holding her she would relax, it was true. It was hard to pry myself away from them because I could not help but think to myself, “Will you get fed today? Will you get held once I leave? Will you get your diaper changed?”
From there we went to…. DRUM ROLL, THE HOPE HOUSE! At the end of this blog you will fully understand my excitement in sharing this Ministry with you. At first when I was informed that The Hope House was a house for the terminally ill, I was not looking forward to it. I mean, I didn’t know how much more I could handle for the day. The Hope House is ran by Sister Elsa and is constructed by the Roman Catholic Church. They admit and care for terminally ill patients including those dying of HIV/AIDS related illnesses. They strive to alleviate the pain and suffering of patients and ensure they lead comfortable lives, and also that that they and their caregivers live according to spiritual values. Pretty much giving them peace of mind in their time of need.
We all broke up in groups and I met a girl named Khosi. I quickly learned that she is a strong Christian. She welcomed us in and shared some of her story with us. Because of how Swaziland is, having AIDS is not talked about and we are not to ask about it, so as far as I know she has had a bad stroke, and no one thought she was going to live. She tells us how a woman came in her room in September after being omitted in The Hope House and told her to stand up, that God wanted to heal her. At this time she was in diapers and could not move at all. The woman came in and pulled her up and prayed while walking with her and Khosi was able to walk. When we were leaving, we asked what we could pray for her about. She looked at us plainly and said, “I want my faith to grow more and more and I want to be able to share what God has done for me to everyone I know.”
Then I met a family who’s mom has breast cancer and it moved to her lungs. They were so very sweet. The mom’s name is Zandile (SAN-DEE-LEE) and she is the sweetest lady ever! Her mother in law, GOGO(meaning grandmother) was in there as well, and her daughters. The younger daughter, Tiyandza(TEE-ON-ZA), we called her Tia for short, Zandile, Kip, Christin and I played Farkle with them. It was a hit. I fell in love with that whole family. Kip and I were sure to write down important details they told us about and Zandile taught us some Siswati. I had Tia sing us a song before we left because I mentioned I heard Zaraha in the kumbie(the bus transportation) and I thought she had a beautiful voice so she sang the song Loliwe by her for us. I recorded it and then we all sang her Waves of Mercy and taught her the motions. Right before we left we asked if we could pray for her and she was excited. We specifically prayed for the pain in her hand and arm and we all prayed, when we stopped I looked at her and asked her how her arm felt, she started moving it some and her eyes got really big and said that the pain was gone. I of course started tearing up, because she was so surprised and Zandile looked at Gogo and told her in Swati that the pain was gone, and Gogo said thank you, thank you, we gave our hugs and told them we would all be back.
SOOO DRUM ROLL….
From that day, I knew, I knew God was calling me to make the Hope House my ministry this month, and that is just what I have done.
Since then, we have gotten to know Khosi much more and her story and it touches me each time. Yesterday, we brought her some food and a Women’s Bible Study, she was ecstatic, and before we left we sang worship songs with her.
Zandile and her family are the closest to my heart and thinking about leaving them kills me. I want so much to see her completely healed of cancer. This family, loves on us, I feel like I am at a family members house spending time with them. Zandile gave me a little picture of Tia yesterday and I love it! Next time we got we want to try to bring fun gifts for them. Kip and I printed off pictures we took with them and we want to give that to them.
This is a hard ministry to get to really, but this month I knew God was calling me to not take the easy way out. It takes my personal money everyday to get there because we choose to go to town for our ministry but it is so worth it.
Daily Routine:
Kip, Chris, Ashley, and I get up and ready for our ministry.
Walk 30 minutes to the main road
Sit anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours for a Kumbie to pick us up or a kind person to give us a lift in the back of a truck.
Ride for 30-45 mins into Manzini.
Get to the bus rink and walk 30 minutes to The Hope House.
Eat lunch under the Gazebo.
Go to a new person’s room.
Leave The Hope House and walk back to the bus rink and stand in line, depending on the day for 1-3 hours.
Get on our kumbie for a 30-45 min ride to Timbutini.
