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!

Cracked Head

No its not about me (Daran) although it's been insinuated (alright, straight to my face by a few!) before. My Pajero has 160K kilometers now, 80K are mine. So what about a sudden lose in power and overheating problem? The head is cracked in three places. I'm told this particular model has a major design flaw: the cooling system must be 100% or the engine will over heat. No margin for error. Talk about under design. So with minimal blockage in the radiator, we are now 15000 Rand lighter.

Celebration at Makholweni!

We helped host a team from Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida this week. They spent Saturday morning with the teenagers at Makholweni. After games and activities, they shared in song and testimony. Our prayer here is that we can open up opportunities to continue to mentor, teach, disciple, and pour into these young lives. Without the hope and purpose found in Jesus, these kids are destined to be the next victims in the ongoing battle for their very lives. While satan promises lead to death and despair (try visiting the AIDS clinic or the government hospitals), Jesus offers only eternal hope, healing, and compassion.

Uniforms for Madonsa

The school uniforms for the kids at the Madonsa CarePoint school were handed out yesterday. These are uniforms sewn at the Makholweni sewing project. Alice is teaching the girls there to sew and using the uniforms to train them. The kids love the uniforms and it helps make them and their caregivers feel they are part of the school!

Maphiveni

The Mission of Mercy CarePoint at Maphiveni is moving along well. We have jumped from sixty kids coming to over 200 per day now. The building is coming up nicely. We expect to have it completed by the end of October. The Christian Family Church in Tambankulu will be responsible for the operation of the CarePoint. Pastor Duarte has a great heart for the community there and is already providing free informal schooling for 70 students in first thru seventh grades.

Trust & Recovery

Abuse & Counseling

We now have a trained counselor working with us in the medical clinics to work with the kids who have been sexually or physically abused. Her name is Lauren, she is from Zimbabwe. She is a precious girl who loves the Lord and just wants to be used by Him.

The numbers for abuse are very high here in Swaziland. We examined a little 8 year old girl from one of our new care points last week. She was complaining of having a discharge. Upon examination, it was evident that she had been raped. She told us that she was HIV positive. Her mother and father both died with AIDS. She is living with an aunt who doesn’t know much about her. She has a skin rash all over her body, ringworms on her head, swollen lymph nodes, and some kind of vaginal infection. She has not been started on ARV’s, because when she had her CD4 count done, it was “too high”. They hadn’t taken her back for another one because it costs money that they don’t have. We will try to get her to Baylor so she can get on ARV’s. Lauren (our counselor) met with this little girl this week. She had her draw pictures of who is in her heart, or what people are important in her life. She drew a picture of an older man, and Lauren asked her what emotion she had when she thought of him, and she said fear. She didn’t admit to being abused, but this was the first session and trust is very difficult to attain with these children. Lauren gave her a toy and a sweet, and when they were finished, she asked her if she was her friend. The little girl said no. It will take time and a lot of patience and the power of the Holy Spirit to break through the brokenness in these little lives. We are praying and believing God to make beauty from ashes and gladness from mourning, as God said in His word in Isaiah.

There is another little girl who is about 6 years old that Lauren is working with also. She was raped by an older man a few months ago. The teacher from the care point brought her to the clinic. She said that she doesn’t participate, respond or try in class. When she came in, she was very shy and subdued. Lauren took her and began to have her draw pictures of who was in her heart, and pictures of herself happy, then sad. This little girl responded very well. When she came out of her first session with Lauren, she was smiling and holding her hand, she had a new friend. The transformation was amazing! She had her second session this week. Lauren said that she had her draw a picture of herself and put it on the wall in the exam room. When they finished, she had her stand on the chair looking at the picture of herself and say a prayer for God to heal her broken heart.

There is also a 13 year old that came to me at the clinic a couple of weeks ago complaining of vaginal itching and discharge. When we began to question her, tears started to fall down her cheeks. We prayed with her and tried to get her to talk, but she wouldn’t. Lauren met with her this week also. She denies that anything happened, except that this man tried to get her to come with him. Lauren is afraid that something has happened to this girl also. As she builds a trusting relationship with these kids, they will open up and she will be able to help them by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

We would like to see Lauren train our teachers how to counsel some of these children as well. She would also like to train some of the older girls that have been abused to help the younger ones. We are not sure what we will do once we start finding more and more abused children. How will we get them out of the situation and keep them safe? These are questions that only the Lord knows the answers to right now. Please help us pray for wisdom in this area of our ministry.

We are so grateful to the Lord for sending us Lauren to help us with these difficult situations that we face almost on a daily basis.

Cooks Bible Study

Our Bible studies with the cooks are going very well. They want to learn about things like how are we supposed to treat our husbands and our children. They are drinking in the word as it is given out. We talked about Tamar today and how she was raped and no one helped to heal her broken heart and she lived in her brothers’ house, a desolate woman for the rest of her life. If she had had Jesus to come and turn her ashes into beauty and mourning into gladness, she would have lived a different life than she did. We talked about that we are the bride of Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and how he picks up the broken pieces of our lives and makes us whole, new, and undefiled. I told them that when Satan lied to them about who or what they are, they are to tell him they are the bride of The King! Women are so suppressed and mistreated/abused here in Swaziland, they need to be reminded again and again, who they are in Christ.

New CarePoints

Ground breaking and construction has started on two more CarePoints. A team from (mostly) North Carolina was here last week and started digging the foundations at Logoba and Maphiveni. The community has finished digging and has started on the foundation and block work These sites are Mission of Mercy sites where we have been providing meals for the last 6 months. It will be great to have a finished CarePoint so we can start the education and other activities.

Jesus the Lightning Rod

Why is that a school that touts tolerance and "why can't we just all get along" is so intolerant of Christianity and Jesus? They will go out of their way to cancel a popular non-compulsory program that teaches abstinence till marriage, even after the "Christian" component has been removed, but will force all students to be part of a "gender awareness" program (GAP) that was contested by many parents and students. Today at Waterford, everyone who wanted to be part of GAP wore a sign that read "I am silent today in solidarity with all those who have to remain silent because thier sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Why is it we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands? Let's break the silence." Gabby chose to wear a sign that simply read "Jesus Loves You So Much!" She was attacked by students and teachers alike as being 'so' intolerant. How is it on one hand someone can push for tolerance of anything and everything, but mention the J word to them and immediately you become the target for everything intolerant? We are so proud of Gabby. But we also worry about her. It would be so much easier now to have stayed in the safe walls Hosanna offered, or the wonderful and safe confines of Healing Place. Please keep her, Nathanael, and Danielle in your prayers. Waterford needs a strong witness.

Ground Breaking at Zombodze

The newest Mission of Mercy CarePoint has been started at Zombodze. We have been suppling food since March and have close to 250 children coming daily. We staked out the building last week and started digging the foundation today!

It Was Cold Last Night!

It is winter here in Swaziland! We were able to give out blankets to the students at two of our schools today. The children at Ngwane Park and Mangwaneni were all smiles when we gave out the blankets. Much thanks to the youth at Messiah Lutheran Church in Downingtown, PA for their generosity and thoughtfulness in putting together these packages.
The homes here have no heat. Especially when you consider the poverty most of these kids come from, these blankets were a true blessing!

School Uniforms- Sewing Project

We passed out the uniforms for the 40 students at Makholweni a week ago. The uniforms were made by Alice and the girls in the sewing project at Makholweni. Alice is a volunteer form the community that has come to the CarePoint and is teaching some of the older gilrs there how to sew. Their first project was to complete the school uniforms. The kids in all our CarePoint schools will get uniforms from the sewing project at some point. This is a great win for the girls learning to sew and the kids at all our CarePoint schools.

4 CarePoints - 1100 Patients

Dr. Beyda (Mission of Mercy Medical Director) and his team did an awesome job last week! We were at Logoba (we are working towards a CarePoint there now), Madonsa, Kakhoza, and Maphiveni (also a CarePoint in progress!). The doctors, nurses, and helath care workers saw many illnesses: HIV related, cancer, hypertension, infections, infected wounds, diabetes, etc., etc. The children and adults at Maphiveni were noticeably sicker than the population around Manzini. The impact of the combination of poverty and distance to health care is obvious on the overall health of the people there. We are hoping to get final community approval this week so we can start construction there this month. Pastor La'Salette Duarte and her church in Tambankhulu were fantastic. They will be helping and overseeing the daily work at the Maphiveni CarePoint. It is refreshing to work with a church here that truly has the poorest and neediest at heart. These pictures are from the clinic on Thursday for the community of Maphiveni.

Cooks Feet

The feet of the cooks at Makholweni. Feel like being a blessing? These women work five days a week, all day, to provide a meal to the children from the community. While these feet are owned by the cooks at Makholweni, there wouldn't be much difference between these feet and the feet of the ladies that cook at all the CarePoints. They are all strictly volunteers. Some with their own families to care for after they are finished at the CarePoint. Part of Romans 10:15, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news" or good food in this case!

Thobile - Age 16

You may remember reading way back about a young girl we met at Madonsa. She looked to be about 10 or 11 and was very sick. When we found out she was the same age as our oldest daughter Gabby, we were shocked. She was slowly dieing from AIDS. Maybe she was born with it, maybe contracted it somewhere through childhood. She had been out of school for years: a combination of being too weak and sick to go and a mom who couldn't make enough money selling vegetables to afford the school fees, uniform or even transport to get her there. She was one of the first kids that Children's Cup was able to help get treated for AIDS by providing emotional support and transport to the Baylor's Clinic in Mbabane. The turn around has been dramatic. She smiles now and looks so much healthier. Teresa and I decided to sponsor her anonymously this year and paid her school and uniform fees through the 'Cup teacher at Madonsa. We received a letter from both her and her mom last week. Her letter reads "..... In the name of our father Jesus Christ I thank you for sending me to school. You gave me hope in life, without your intervention in my life I think I would have been dead. Thank you very much for taking care of me by sending me to the doctor now I can feel the difference in my life. May God bless you. Never get tired of helping other sick children." She is in third grade. Her grades are fair (20th in the class of 57). But you know what? I really don't care how she does. She has purpose and worth. Looking at her now vs. last year makes it all worth it. It's your help above and beyond that allows us to step out and do a little extra. So the last line in her letter is really for everyone that supports us in prayer and finances: "I love you and I love God who sent you to my life. From Thobile Lukhele"