Community Service

This week the form 2 students (same as 8^th grade), went to 3 different CarePoints for community service. These students are from Waterford, which is the private secondary school that 2 of our kids attend. They were split into groups of about 25 each and spent 2 hours dancing, singing, and playing games with the children. The kids at each of the 3 CarePoints, were so excited and enjoyed the extra attention so much. The last day was at Zombodze, which is a very new CarePoint. The kids at this CarePoint are in pretty bad shape. There are several here that we need to get to Baylor for HIV testing. Many are very thin, and many of their clothes are just rags. As you see in the picture, the one little boy has a blow out in the back side of his pants and then also a hole in his under pants. The Waterford kids that went to this CarePoint really connected with these kids. They were so sad when their teacher said it was time to go. These kids may not be the best behaved students in class, but they definitely were touched by these little ones, and they related so well with them. Many of the students spoke SiSwati and were able to communicate with these kids. The enthusiasm that these students had as they played with these little children, blessed me so much! This is an activity that we would like to repeat each year.

Missing 4 year old boy

We had a scary experience this week at one of the CarePoints. A little 4 year old boy was missing for a 24 hour period. The story that one of the kids told us was that he was taken by someone in a car who offered him sweets. The mom, police, and people from the CarePoint and community were looking for him frantically. We were all praying. The next night, someone dropped him at the police station. Praise the Lord, he was not harmed. The next day, I was able to talk to him (thru an interpreter). He said that he was not hurt, and that he just went to town with a friend. Evidently, the friend left him in town, and he just went to someone’s house and slept. I’m not sure if he knew the person or not, it was not clear. When the person heard the boy was missing on the radio, he dropped him at the police station. Praise the Lord for watching over this little one. We were able to rejoice with his mother that he was returned and unharmed. We prayed with him and the mother and thanked the Lord for His mercy and goodness!!! Please continue to help us to pray for protection over these children.

Piano Recital

Danielle and Joelle both played piano in a music recital on Saturday afternoon. They have been taking lessons from these guys for about a year now. The name of the place is Yanza Music. It is run by a young Swazi guy, by the name of Muleki, who is Danielle’s teacher, and Kish is Joelle’s teacher. These two guys really love the Lord and they love music as well. They are both very talented musicians. They both play the piano and sing. I love to come to drop the girls off and hear Christian music being played and praise and worship songs being lifted up before the Lord. Muleki played and sang a song that he has written about the love that God has for us in giving His only Son to die for us. It was the most beautiful song I’ve heard in a long time, and the obvious love that he has for the Lord was very evident. Several praise and worship songs were sang at the recital, and the Spirit of the Lord was very present. The recital was outside, and people were sitting on the grass next door listening. I am so grateful to have the girls sit under these guys to learn how to love music the way they do and to proclaim their love for the Lord in their music. Kish, Joelle’s teacher, has always got a beautiful smile and always has the kids smiling, as well. I just want to thank the Lord, even for the little things!

"Share a Pair" Project

Remember our post from June titled "Cooks Feet"? Well much thanks to two of our friends in the States who took it to heart and gathered enough shoes for all the cooks at our CarePoints. Syndy and Lori were here last week and were able to be a part of blessing the cooks at several of the CarePoints. We continue this week to make sure all the cooks have new footware. Remember these ladies are completely volunteer, but without their selfless dedication to the children, there would be no CarePoint. Thank you Syndy and Lori! We could have named this post Stylin'.

Flip-Flops for Everyone

The organization "Heart for Africa" had somewhere around 6000 flip-flops donated for here in Swaziland. The Children's Cup CarePoints were selected to distribute them. That means every single child and cook in all our CarePoints receives a new pair of sandals. The majority of the children are barefoot and Teresa sees many with major gashes caused by the broken glass that litters the ground (pretty much everywhere). We hope this will help in at least avoiding some of these injuries. These shots are from Kakhoza. Thank you to Heart for Africa!