Its
been another good week here in Swaziland. Having been with the people longer we
are starting to discover all the cultural differences between here and America.
Things
such as; you always greet someone by shaking right hands and it’s a sign of
respect if you touch your left hand to your right arm while shaking their hand.
They
have a king who gets a new wife each year. We were told that he has 13 wives
right now. He doesn’t make all the decisions for the country as there are also Parliament
leaders that have authority.
Another
difference that we talk about a lot especially with the young women is their
marriage process. In Swaziland if a man wants to marry a woman he must send a representative
to her family to work out a price. This negotiating can take all day. The price
isn’t paid in cash but in cows! It’s called Lebola and sometimes it takes years
for the groom to be able to pay all the cows to the woman’s father. However,
once one cow is paid then they are considered married. So basically a girl’s
worth is determined in cows. If she is royalty then she will be worth more.
Also a first born is worth more, like I would be worth like 30 cows where as my
sister would only be worth like 17 or 18.
I
know this may sound comical and many times all of us have laughed about it as we
were told to tell guys that try and flirt with us that we are worth to many
cows for them. However it’s quite a serious issue. We
have found that because the process is long and it is so expensive to buy so
many cows, some don’t want to get married. It’s pretty common for a woman to
have children without being married. While churches encourage marriage I get
the feeling that its more out of obligation for being practical. Love isn’t
necessarily there nor is marrying a man that is a spiritual leader in the household.
These
are just some of the differences we’ve seen beside the quite obvious ones of
food, housing, etc… It’s great to be among people who live differently and
learn from them. We are realizing the importance of respecting their culture
and not just coming in as loud, prideful Americans that think are way is best.
God is doing a lot in Swaziland through Pastor Walter and all the care points.
Without the care points the kids would starve. Patrice said it right the other
day, “the true missionaries are the Gogos.” They are the ones that make the
food for the children everyday and provide a safe place for the children to
come rest, play and eat!
Thanks
for all your comments about praying for us and encouraging me in the work that
I’m doing. God is so great as he is the one that makes all of this possible and
changes hearts. Please continue to pray that God gives us his eyes for these
people. We want to be bold encouraging everyone in their faith in Jesus! Pray
also for the Gogo’s that their needs would be met and they would know God’s
love and care for them in a new way. Also pray for Pastor Walter and his
family. He is an amazing man who loves God and his people so much. He daily
makes incredible sacrifices. Many times he and his family have gone without
food so that others could eat!
