Things have been moving along great. Our team along with Lego from the June racers have been working hard at setting up the Carepoints. We have mainly been focusing on two Carepoints we have named field of dreams and school house. Field of dreams or Mubtfu which is the community where it is located we have been doing childrens programs in the morning and teen programs in the afternoon. We are in the process of moving the property a little ways down the road to a location owned by one of the Swazi Businessman we have been working with. This will allow us to build up the mercy home and the dream with the vegetable garden and fish ponds. The Swazi Businessman here are really excited about the work that we have been doing and are giving Gary and the G42 project the green light to getting the plans ready so they can start building.
It has been amazing to see the work that Troy who works with Nisela Farms has been doing. He is an amazing net-worker and go getter. The second we tell him a need he is already two steps ahead of us. It will be exciting to see how this all starts to take shape.
On the other side of things we are actually living quite a few miles away from where all the carepoints are in another community called Nsubane. One night we went out for a walk and were stopped by three men who all asked us the same thing. Why are you here? Are you here to preach the gospel? Every day we see you leaving but you never share with us. So this really burdened my heart to start something here. So please pray for us as we try and set up places to preach the gospel here in our community.
On another thing on that same night that we were walking we ran into another guy who asked if we were there to help with small businessman. We said we were there to help everyone. He went on to tell us about this project that was started in 2004 with the peace corp. They had built a small garden project that would employ 9 ladies and the guy we met. And they all have small shops in the local market where they will sale their produce from the garden. There is just one small problem. The location where they live is always affected by drought which means there is no water to use for the produce. So the Peace Corp came in and got them a gift from the Rotary club for $20,000 dollars American to buy the pumps water tanks a little shed to hold the controls and the pipes for irrigation. The only problem is that the cable that they needed to go from the power pole to the shed to power the pumps was not long enough. We went to see the property and it is amazing there is brand new pumps and pipes and tanks that have been sitting there for 3 years waiting for a 70 foot electrical cable. So we are working on getting that set up. It is just amazing to me how crazy stuff like that is.
One thing that has also been hitting me is something Gary said. He came for a visit last week and talked to us about how we are the answer to peoples prayers and how some of these ladies at the carepoints have been praying for someone to come help them. Or this guy with the garden that has been praying for years that someone will come and get him a cable so their community can have produce to eat. God needs people everywhere all over the place to be the answers to the prayers of people all around you. So today try and be an answer to a prayer where you live. Ask the Lord to show you someone praying for some food. Or to show you someone praying for some money to buy clothes or a warm blanket to keep them warm. I guess it is summer there so probably not a big need right now but you get the point.
We also got the opportunity to go for a hike with one of the older kids who lives by Mubtfu Carepoint. His name is Jabulane. He took us over to the mountains that we live by and then we climbed up to South Africa on the top and saw a little cave. It was a fun adventure but we figured that we walked close to 15 miles and up a mountain so we were definitely tired. But we also found out that Jabulane’s school is on top of the mountain and so he has to climb that once a week to just go to high school.
Africa is not a hopeless life but it definitely has its challenges. When we were talking to Elmon from the garden project he kept saying this life is hard and there is nothing I can say but to agree. There is no water except what you walk sometimes miles to get in a bucket that you carry on your head. Jobs are almost non existent. Walking for miles up a mountain just to go to school; all these things really puts in to perspective so many things we take for granted. Even cooking over a fire every meal, we have learned how much convenience we get out of a simple stove back in America as we have been cooking over a fire here.
