I have been on the race for months and nearing the end. It is time for a fresh perspective on a little of what we do around the world. On the first week of month nine in Swaziland some of F Squad got to meet up with our parents and partner with them in ministering to the people of Swaziland and to each other. So take it away Mom and Dad. (Videos at Bottom)
Mom and Dad Seeley
Following are the adventures of Doug and Dawn Seeley in ministry with their son Dillon Seeley, who was already in Swaziland Africa.
We met a group of parents at the Atlanta airport on Saturday February 28, 2015 to start an adventure of a lifetime. There were 8 of us who met there and made the trek to Johannesburg, South Africa where we would meet up with some others to fly into Manzinni, Swaziland.
After a 16 hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg and then a short flight on to Manzinni, Swaziland on March 2, 2015, we finally joined our son Dillon for our Parent Vision Trip (PVT for short) which was to spend the week doing ministry with him and 13 other World Racers and their parents. Little did we know what was in store for us…
We were pleasantly surprised to see that Swaziland was green, lush and had rolling hills. It is beautiful there.
We arrived by bus at the Palm Tree Guest House which would be our home for the next week and were greeted by our racers. It was so wonderful to see Dillon and to get a hug from him. There was much less of him to hug as he has lost quite a bit of weight. He looked wonderful! We met the other racers and their parents and then settled into our rooms. Dawn was in a room with 4 other Mom’s and Doug roomed with another Dad. Our accommodations were great and they took great care of us.
We then all loaded onto the small buses which would be our transportation each day and headed to the Adventures in Missions base camp which was where the racers stayed during the week and where we met them each morning for a time of praise and worship and sharing before heading out to our ministry sites. It was a true blessing to hear from each of the racers about specific experiences and changes that have been happening in their lives since starting the race in July 2014. Then we would all get into the buses and head to our ministry sites for the day. We all met back at the AIM base camp at the end of the day to have dinner together and share our day with everyone. Most nights we were in bed by 9pm as it had been a long but wonderful day.
There are several staff members and interns working at the AIM base camp. One man Xolani (pronounced Koe-la-nee), was our main contact for our week of the PVT. He is an awesome Godly young man with a passion for the people of Swaziland. He is starting a sports ministry where he will help teach soccer and share the love of Jesus with the children who come to the sports ministry. It was a pleasure to work alongside this young man and to see his passion for God.
Our ministry was going to Adventures in Missions Care Points around Manzinni. A Care Point is where there is a place or school for children to come to each day to go to school, play and get a hot meal for the day. Many of the children are the head of the household for their homes and walk for miles to get there each day. We got to help out in the class rooms and play with the children. Hearing the children yell “Teachah, Teachah” and seeing the joy in their faces as we would get off the bus every day was such a blessing. We had to literally pick up the children to get them out of the way so we could get off the bus. They are starving for someone to love on them and share the love of Jesus with them. We played with them on the playground, sang songs, took pictures and showed them their picture afterwards. They would yell to Doug to “Shoooot me!”, “Shoooot me!” which meant to take their picture.
On the first day we were getting ready to leave the Care Point and we noticed a young boy around 3 or 4 walking towards the Care Point with his younger sibling with him. The little one could not have been more than 18 months old. They were walking hand in hand towards us with their bowl in hand to come get a hot meal.
We so wanted to just love on those two little ones but we had to leave. Their faces were dirty but the smiles they shared with us was a true gift to receive. As we drove away the sight of those two precious faces peering through the fence and waiving at us was our undoing. It was hard knowing they came to get a meal and to be loved on and we could not give that to them. We looked for them the second time we came to that Care Point but did not see them again. Thank you God for the special gift you have given us by being able to see their smiling faces for a brief moment.
Please pray for the people of Swaziland. Many have died, and are dying, of HIV/AIDS which is leaving many children to fend for themselves or be cared for by their grandparents.
On the home visit we participated in, we took about 2 week’s worth of food (large bags of rice, beans, corn meal, salt, sugar) and some bags of clothes to the home of a Grand Mother (called Gogo’s in Swaziland).
She takes care of 6 of her grandchildren as their parents are either dead or no longer living at home – we are not sure). This particular Gogo was a beautiful woman who graciously welcomed us to her home. She placed woven mats on the ground for us to sit on while we asked her questions through a translator. She was removing the kernels of corn off the corn cobs by hand when we arrived. She will then have the corn ground so she can sell it. She raises corn, cows and chickens to help feed her family plus to sell so she can support them all. She told us that she was very thankful for the food we brought as she was about to run out of food for their family. They live in a cinder block home with a thatched roof which is what most of the homes were built of that we saw in Manzinni. We are thankful for the ministry that is being provided by Adventures in Missions to help provide the needs to so many children and their families. Please pray for this family to know God’s love and peace through those that serve.
When we went to the hospital in Manzinni, it was not what we are used to seeing in the US. We visited the children’s, women’s and men’s wards so we could pray for the patients and families. We went to the children’s ward and was able to pray for several children and their parents. Some children were happy and active as they were getting the much needed care but we also saw some that were very sick. We did not know why they were there but knew we needed to pray for them all. We also had the opportunity to see what it was like to have to get medical treatment in another country. Dillon had some wounds on his leg that were not healing and the antibiotics that he was given in Cambodia were not enough to clear the infection. He sat for a while at the clinic with his teammate Ashley waiting to be put on a list to see a doctor. Then he was told the doctor was out to lunch and they did not know when he would be back. We then decided to try to go to a local pharmacy to get some antibiotics. Thankfully two of the parents on the trip are doctors so they gave us the name of what antibiotic to ask for. Three pharmacies later we got the antibiotics, ointment & bandages to dress Dillon’s wounds. It is amazing to know that all you had to do was go to the pharmacy and ask for the medicine. No prescription needed. We saw first-hand how the racers take care of each other and how strong and fearless they have become during this journey.
On Friday our entire group was able to go on a safari at an animal preserve about an hour away. We were on the buses at 6am and at the park by 7:30am. We loaded onto open air trucks which seated about 9 people in each and headed into the park.
We saw, Rhinos, Hippos, Gazelles, Kudu, Lions, Warthogs, monkeys, all kinds of birds, giraffes, bats & elephants. You can be sure we left something out but it was awesome to see these beautiful creatures in their environment.
After we finished the safari we headed to the home of a woman who heads up a special ministry called Timbali Crafts. What Timbali Crafts does is provide sewing machines and material to women who sew purses, bags, headbands, aprons, skirts, and other items to sell so they can provide the funds needed to support their families. When a woman wants to purchase a sewing machine they allow her to use part of the funds she makes to pay off the sewing machine. You can check out their website at timbalicrafts.org. They were very happy to see us as everyone there purchased something to take back to friends and family. One mom bought a bag for each of the ladies in her bible study.
The most precious time we spent though, was with Dillon and our team each day talking about our day and hearing about what the racers had been doing for the first 8 months of their race. Seeing how God has changed, molded and impacted the lives of our sons and daughters was so special. They are all transformed men and women living their lives for God. What a blessing it was being able to see them do life together and take such great care of each other and their parents.
On the last day we all took Communion together as family units. We broke bread and drank the juice remembering the great sacrifice Jesus paid for us. Our son then prayed over us with such love and conviction. We also were asked earlier to write a blessing for our own racer, so we each read our blessing to Dillon. Needless to say it was a special time of tears and sharing. We both shared how proud we are of Dillon and of what he has allowed to happen in and through him on this Kingdom Journey.
The racers all sent us off on Saturday morning and you could definitely tell they were ready to get back to their business of doing God’s work at hand. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and doing ministry but they were ready to let us go. Not so sure about us parents, but we knew they were doing just fine and God had them right where he wanted them.
Our time in Swaziland was both exhilarating and exhausting. We cannot express how much it means to us that we were able to go around the world to serve our awesome God with our son. We have met people who will be our friends forever. What a blessing that is.
Thank you Dillon for inviting us to join you on the PVT. We now understand what PVT means as it is truly a little vision into the lives of a World Racer and the work they are doing around the world.
Here is an included video showing the week we spent in Swaziland along with the precious children who ministered to us.
Blessed Beyond Measure,
Doug and Dawn Seeley
Thanks Mom and Dad. I loved having you there and getting to share some of what the race has meant to me.
Here is MY(Dillon) video from PVT.
