Wednesday we
had the opportunity to help serve the prince of Swaziland as he visited G-42 (where
we celebrated Easter) to see some of the orphans and children in need they have
been helping support. The ceremony included
a tent, camera crew, the prince and his friends, mages (mothers) and gogos
(grandma’s), speeches by the prince, Pastor Gift, Lisa, and several others, and
many kids surrounding. As we waited for
the prince to arrive, we made sandwiches, mixed drinks, and then I had the
opportunity to get to know some of the kids.
There were three girls in particular I just fell in love with. They hung around me and one held tight
gripping my arm. She was pretty quiet
and loyal always there when I had a free moment. She also asked me how I was doing and so
politely answered my questions.
(the girl in orange is the one who wanted me to take her home)
Later on as
I had my arm around her and was rubbing her back lightly, she looked up at me
with big dark brown eyes and asked, “Can
I go home with you?” My heart melted
and I definitely wanted to say, “Yes, I can take you home,” but I
couldn’t. It prompted me to ask her more
questions about her mother and father.
She lives with her Aunt who is a helper at one of the new care-points in
the Nsoko area of Swaziland
and her mother is in South
Africa.
I couldn’t figure out why her mother was in SA but she did say her
father is gone. I’m not sure if he left,
she doesn’t know where he is, or if he has passed away. She was the sweetest little eight year old
girl I had met!
The kids
around there are just craving attention.
We have had the opportunity to hand clothes out to the children at the
six different care-points. When we went
back later in the week to give clothes to the teachers at each care-point that
are volunteering their time and energy, I got to see many of these kids again,
especially Thanduxolo, the little girl who wanted me to take her home on
Wednesday.
(“my girl”)
“I tell you the truth, whatever you
did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
~Matthew
25:40
We ended up camping at Nisela Safari
for a week. On Saturday, Jenn, Renee,
Caitlin, Becky, and I had the opportunity to present a teaching seminar to some
of the teachers at the care-points. We
were able to introduce ourselves as they introduced themselves, allow them to
ask questions about us and our lifestyle at home, health tips for the kids, the
best way to teach young children, disciplinary tips, devotionals, ideas for
teaching Bible stories, and much more.
It was quite a productive day which I believe will help the kids at each
care-point in the long run. On Sunday
afternoon, we hand scrubbed the floor of the new church building and were able to be present at Pastor Gift’s (the guy we have been
working with all week down in Nsoko) church service. This is the church plant that happened on
Easter Sunday. It was neat to be a part
of that and get to know some of those who come.
We are
currently in a small town called Backdoor located in South Africa near Nelspruit where
we arrived on Tuesday afternoon. We will
stay here for a week and then travel to another small town in SA called
Badplass where we will have debrief for a few days before heading out for Central America.
Please pray for:
-Bibles in
SiSwati for Pastor Gift’s church
-that we
would finish strong here in Africa
-the AIDS
victims in Swaziland
-families to
know God’s love all over this continent
-God’s clear
direction for each of our teams
-Continued
team unity
-for us to
have open ears for what God wants to teach us
