February - Team of 37 Women

God is still in the miracle working business! Many things happened this past week when the team was here. First, they were so kind and generous to all of us, the children, teachers, cooks, missionaries, and staff. They touched each of our lives in a very special way! Twenty-two of our cooks gave their lives to the Lord at a brunch that the ladies had for them. Several of the team members shared their testimonies of hurt and despair and how God saved and delivered them!

We had several clinics while the team was here that they were able to participate in. Dr. Doris was a great blessing, as well as several other nurses that assisted in these clinics. On Thursday, one of the cooks brought in a limp unconscious child to the clinic. Thank God, Dr. Doris was there! She began to assess the child, and said that we needed to get her to the hospital ASAP. She thought that she had pneumonia, and, or, meningitis. She was burning with fever and having great difficulty breathing. The cook said that the child had had a fit (seizure) and that she was just watching the child for a friend who was at work in town. We couldn’t get in touch with the mother, and when we called the father, he said he was busy working. As we were trying to decide what to do, how to get her to the hospital, etc, I said to Dr, Doris, let’s pray. Doc pulled out her anointing oil and began to pray for this child, and I know that God heard our prayers! Within minutes the child was crying and coughing, and had come back to consciousness. Praise the Lord!

We finally decided to go ahead and take her to the hospital without her parents. It took an hour for the pediatrician to get to the ER. The father came to the ER to check on her. He was very upset that it was taking the doctor so long. He told my assistant that he thought he needed to get her out of the hospital and take her to a witch doctor. He explained to the father that the Lord had already touched the child and that the child would receive the medical care that she needed here. The whole time that we were waiting for the doctor, the little girl continued to have seizures.

A couple of days later, I heard that she was doing better and that they thought that she had swallowed some poison that had caused the symptoms. I’m not sure about that, but I know that God touched that little girl and that He heard our prayers and saved her little life!

Another miracle on Friday when the team prayed for a baby in Maphiveni that was 8 months old and could not hold her head up. A little while later, the mom brought her back in and she was looking around and holding her head up!! Praise the Lord, Jehovah Rapha, our healer!

Thank you team for working hard to make our class rooms/care points beautiful, and for being so compassionate and loving to the kids, and for allowing God to move and work in and through you!

After all of the good things that God has done, Satan comes in fighting with a vengeance. This past weekend, right next door to our house, there was a witch doctor graduation ceremony. My daughter, Gabby came in Sunday morning between 6 and 7 and asked us if we heard the drums and screaming during the night. Daran and I didn’t hear them, but I had a very restless night with terrible dreams that I was fighting against something all night.

As we woke up, we began to hear the drums also. Gabby said that they it all started about midnight with loud moaning and screaming noises that sounded like a female voice. Then the drums started. She said she was awake most of the night praying. Later, Daran was outside and the dogs were going nuts about something by the fence. Daran walked over and saw that they were slaughtering goats right next to the fence. There was a guy that looked out of his mind swinging a knife trying to cut our dogs. Daran asked if they could move the goats away from the fence and he locked the dogs on the other side of the yard so they wouldn’t get hurt. Roger, a Swazi that works with us at Children’s Cup, and rents a room on the side of our house, told Daran what was going on, that it was a graduation ceremony for a witch doctor. Roger had also been awake most of the night praying.

Daran immediately began to plead the blood of Jesus over all of us and our home. We had a family devotion time where we talked to the children about making a choice on their own for Christ, and that it might not always be easy to walk with Christ. We talked about how Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in prison in Acts for casting the spirit out of the fortune teller. We don’t want to hear about the persecution and suffering, just the victories, but we sometimes must deal with both in life. What a realization that evil is all around us and that we don’t fight against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities. It was a very sobering time, but also a time where we came together as a family unit in prayer. What Satan tries to use for bad, God always brings good out of it!

That evening, we invited our missionary friends to come and pray over our house and family. It was such a blessing to have so many friends come together and agree with us in prayer. It turned out to be a time where God spoke to us individually and as a family. God used this to draw us to Him, to teach us to trust Him and not fear. I am so grateful to have Godly friends that love us and that will stand with us through the difficult times, as well as the good times.

I truly believe that God is going to do great things in our lives and in Swaziland in 2008, and I feel so privileged to be even a small part of it! Please continue to keep us in your prayers every day. The battle is the Lords! Amen!

January - PePe and Banele

I know that I haven’t written for quite some time. It isn’t that nothing is happening. It is that so much is happening so fast that I am having trouble keeping up. Let’s start with PePe and Banele. I received a call one Friday that they were both very sick. I had seen PePe the week before and tried treating her with an antibiotic. Banele has had a terrible huge boil on his neck for a very long time, which was now an opened draining wound that would not heal. He was not eating, loosing weight, skinny as a bean pole, huge belly with ascites from malnutrition, and extremely weak. The doctor from Baylor had seen him the week before and sent him to be admitted to the government hospital. When I went to check on him, I found that he had not been admitted. The ladies in the community told me that these kids are left alone at night while the father works, and they hear them crying because they are afraid. Sometimes they take them to sleep with them so they won’t be afraid, but the father does not want them to help. Imagine being a child, alone, sick and afraid at night.

Later,I found out that the father had refused to allow the child to be admitted and he had been sent home on oral TB meds. I think that he was so overwhelmed with the care of these two that he just wanted to be finished with them. He did not want to bother with having one in the hospital and having to stay there with him. In hospitals here, you can’t leave a child without having someone stay with them constantly. There must be someone there to give there meds, feed them, and bathe them. When I went to the home and spoke to the father, he told me that the doctor said he would be fine. I told him that I did not agree and asked him if he would like for us to take them and find a home for them in another community. He said yes that would be fine, that he could no longer take care of them. So I told him to give me a few days to find a place and I would let him know.

So here we are a week later and both of them are sicker than ever. I had still not been able to find a place for them, but I knew I had to do something quick, or they were both going to die. I called the Ntombie at that CarePoint and told her to go and pack their clothes and meds, ask the father if he still wanted us to take them and have them at the CarePoint to be picked up. We took them to the government hospital in Mbabane so they would be close to us and we could take care of them. I called Sandra, one of the 'Cup missionaries who had told me last week that she would take them. I asked her if she was still willing to help until we figured something out. Neither one of us knew what we were getting into, but we felt we were doing the only thing that we could to save these children. God gave us peace that we were doing the right thing, even though we didn’t have a clear plan of what the next step was.

Banele was admitted to the hospital with severe malnutrition, anemia, and TB. PePe was placed on medications, but not admitted. They were both very afraid of being left alone, and did not want me to leave them. PePe did not want to be in the hospital because she remembers when she was in before for so long when she had TB. So, they were both crying, and I had to call for help to the 'Cup office to send reinforcements. We had to hire ladies to stay with Banele day and night in the hospital. I went daily to check on him and bring him food or whatever he needed. The hospital doesn’t provide enough nutritious food for someone this malnourished. He was always hungry and wanting something to eat, which was a very good thing, but it kept me running for food for him. I was just so happy to see him eat!

PePe stayed with Sandra. She was also very sick. She would cough so much and had so much phlegm that she would vomit. Her breathing was very labored. I knew I needed to get her to Baylor clinic on Monday and the only way to do that was to get a transfer letter from the government hospital VCT doctor. So I called him and asked if I could get that from him on Monday morning so that I could get her care transferred to Baylor which is closer to us and where we take the kids that are positive from our care points.

Sandra and I tried everything to get PePe to eat. She would only eat peeled grapes and a few bites of rice. Then she would start coughing and throw up. We were having trouble keeping her ARV’s (meds for HIV) down as well. PePe is very quite, and understood very little English, or so we thought. She started coming out with little phrases in English like. “go to toilet”, “go to office”, and “let’s go”. Sandra and I were tag team mom’s for her. I would watch her so Sandra could work, and Sandra would watch her so I could work. When she was with Sandra, she would cry for me, and when she was with me, she would cry for Sandra. If we wanted to get her to understand something, we would call the 'Cup office and have GuGu. Fikile, or Zinty talk to her. It was quite the emotional roller coaster for all of us.

On Monday we took her to see the doctor at Baylor clinic. They started her on antibiotic injections to treat her pneumonia. We were afraid that she had TB again, but the sputum tests were negative, which means that at least she was not very contagious if she did have TB. She began to improve slowly with the daily antibiotic injections, which were extremely traumatic for her. She finally started to have an appetite again, and she was raiding the refrigerator looking for food, which made us very happy! She liked coming to Auntie Teresa’s to play with Joelle and the Barbie dolls. She was getting attached to all of us and we were getting attached to her. I knew I had to find a home for them, and Sandra and I had to get back to work. We had been praying the whole time for the Lord to give us the right place for them. I had tried to find someone in one of our CarePoints that could take them, but it just wasn’t working.

Finally, I called a friend of mine who has an orphanage on a farm, she couldn’t take them, but gave me the name and number of a place to call that is very near my house. I didn’t even know that this was a home, but she spoke highly of them, so I called. Praise the Lord, they said they could take them, so we went to visit, and were very impressed. I had a peace that this was the place. God is in control, and He doesn’t lead us out on a ledge and leave us! Sandra and I took PePe over on a Monday morning, after explaining to her through interpreters what was going to happen. When she realized that we were leaving, she starting crying. It was extremely difficult for both Sandra and I to walk away and leave her crying, but we knew it was in her best interest to be raised in a Swazi home. I cried most of that day, but I knew that she was in God’s hands. After a couple of days we were able to go visit her and we saw that she is very happy and well cared for.

After two weeks in the hospital, Banele was able to go to the home as well. Every time I pass the home when I leave my house I think of them and pray for them. God is good and He cares for these little ones. Please keep them in your prayers. They are both doing so much better, but not completely well yet. Please pray that the father will let us keep them in this home where they are safe, happy, loved, and well cared for.

Concentrated Poor

We visited four potential sites for new Mission of Mercy CarePoints today with Pastor LaSalette Duarte. All four are in the eastern part of the country.
The first three were generally rural. Pastoral settings, beautiful views. But underlying is the devastation wreaked by HIV/AIDS. One homestead stood out. A mkhulu was taking care of a blind gogo. They lived in one hut amongst four other empty ones. There are no living children or grand children. They close themselves into their home at night for fear of the "hoodlums" that make use of the other huts at night and occasionally break in and steal what little food they have.
It was late evening when we got to the last site. A squatters village sandwiched between a gravel road, an irrigation canal, and a farmer's field. Here there was no pastoral setting or nice views. Reed walls and houses covers by miscellaneous pieces of roofing sheets. Small narrow paths separating houses and yards. What struck us was the apparent lack of older men (mkulus) and women (gogos). A lot of children and teenagers milling about. Drinking water comes from the irrigation ditch, which they also bathe in. Pastor Duarte is going to make another trip tomorrow to pray for some of the sick people we found there and hopes to make a way for the community to come to her church. I really don't know how to convey that this was the poorest community that we had seen in Swaziland yet. Maybe though, it was just that it was concentrated down to such a small area. I know all the other areas we visited and currently work in have many of the same problems. Just hidden behind beautiful views.

1 Corinthians 15:55

We received a text message Saturday morning at 06:42 from Peggy Dlamini, our teacher at Murray Camp. She had just gotten news that Sthembiso had passed away. Sthembiso was one of the volunteer cooks at Murray Camp. At a clinic Teresa and Rajni did last week at Makholweni, Teresa had commented on seeing Sthembiso and how absolutely frail and weak she was. Sthembiso had been on ARV's for six months. Here, you are not started on ARV's until your CD4 count is less than 200. To understand this, you have to realize that by that time you are already exhibiting major AIDS symptoms. For Sthembiso, being forced to wait to start ARV's didn't help her.

The good news is that Sthembiso is now with her Lord and Saviour. We met with her family this morning to offer what prayer, comfort and support we could. We offered some Emalangeni towards the funeral and coffin. She is survived by her mother (in South Africa) and father, grand father and at least one brother. She was in her mid twenties. She had three children, all of whom died before reaching their one year birthday.

Helpless II

While we were at the Maphiveni Christmas party, I received a call from one of our new teachers at the Fonteyn CarePoint in Mbabane. He was extremely upset, and said that one of the children had swallowed a metal object and was choking. I asked him if she was breathing and if he remembered the Heimleck maneuver that I had just taught them in class last week. She was breathing, but could not speak. He said that he did remember, but she was lying on the ground face down. I instructed him to stand her up if she was still conscious and try the maneuver. At that point I went to be alone and pray. I asked the Lord to please save her and not to let her die. I then called an ambulance to go to the CarePoint. The next call I received was good news! Praise the Lord! The metal object was out! He said that he couldn’t get her up off the ground, so he did back blows like we learned to do with babies, and it worked, the object came flying out of her mouth! I asked if she was ok and he said that she was crying because she was afraid, but she was fine otherwise.

God’s timing is perfect! This teacher was amazed that he had just learned about choking and was then able to use this knowledge for this situation. God is so good! I give Him all the praise, honor, and glory, for He has done great things! Amen!

We had a clinic today (20-Dec-07) at Mangwaneni in Manzini. We were trying to target the children, but they were bringing adults also. A woman came in leading a young man up to the chair. He could barely walk, from weakness and was going blind, as well. I knew what I was I was dealing with when they told me that he had only been this way for a month. I asked if he had been tested for HIV and they said yes and that his CD4 count was only 94. I asked why he wasn’t on ARV’s and they said that the place that they took him wouldn’t start him until he had a chest x-ray to check for TB. They said that they were charging R98 for the x-ray, and they didn’t have money to get it. I told them that they needed to get him to the government hospital as soon as possible to get him started on ARV’s. At that point I felt very helpless again. There was nothing I could do for him except give him some vitamins and some oral rehydration salts to help with the diarrhea. I pray that it is not too late for him to get the help that he so desperately needs.

Helpless

Last week we saw a little boy about 6 years old, who walks like a little old man. He has severe pain with every step that he takes. His little joints are extremely swollen and painful. When obtaining a history from the teacher at the Lagoba CarePoint, she told us that he had previously been on treatment for TB. The teacher asked if this could be the TB attacking his bones. The doctor (Rajni) that is with me from the States said that it could be, especially if he did not complete the treatment, which it seems, he did not. This little one hurts everywhere that you touch him; his back, legs, feet, hands, and every joint. The suspicion when a child has TB is that there is a great possibility that he is HIV positive as well. He had also been attacked by a pack of dogs. He had a huge gash on the top of his head, and a bite on his thigh that had a bandage on it. We asked the teacher if she would talk to his mother or care giver about going with him for HIV testing this next week before everything closes for the holidays. The teacher did talk to her and she is willing to go if she can get off from work.

As the boy walked out of the room, Rajni said that she felt so helpless! I know that feeling well! If he were in the States, he would be in the hospital having tests run to see what is wrong, and he would have good pain control. Here, all we could do for him is place him on an antibiotic and some Ibuprofen for pain. Please pray for this little one, that we may be able to get him the help that he so desperately needs!

Maphiveni 2007 Christmas Party

Hot and sunny. Big difference from Saturday. Today we had around 350 children from our Maphiveni CarePoint for Christmas. The program was awesome: thanks to our own Dynamics kids, Celebration Church, Christian Family Church, and Gugu Dynamite (our children's pastor extraordinaire). The community turned out in force as well and had a good time. Face painting, jumping castles, tug-of-war, jump rope, balloons, necklaces, and a mini medical clinic. Christy was an angle all day!

Manzini Area Christmas 2007

Saturday was cold & wet. It has been raining for three days and Saturday wasn't any different. But the kids didn't seem to mind or care. We bused in close to 2500 children from all the Manzini area CarePoints. That translates into 5000 hot dogs and buns. Each dog slathered with tomato sauce & mustard. A lot of dogs!

A visiting team from Celebration Church in Georgetown, Texas helped with jumping castles, tug of war, face painting, and anything else they could find to put their hands to. Volunteers from Christian Family Church in Tambankulu and Checkers Community Church in Mbabane as well as from the local high school helped make the day a success and special for the kids.

The kids had fun and were ministered to as well. No one went home without having heard the true meaning of Christmas, which is a real reason to celebrate!

December 5

Blog entry 04 Dec 07

I saw the 15 month old baby girl in the hospital today from the Mangwaneni Mbabane CarePoint that we have been taking to Baylor for treatment for AIDS. Her 20 year old mother is one of our cooks at that CarePoint. She looked so helpless as she held the sick baby, and wiped her runny nose.

The child could hardly breathe. She was so thin and emaciated that it looked like her neck couldn't hold her head up. I thought, if this baby were in the States she would be in ICU. Here, they were only giving her IV antibiotics, no oxygen, no continuous IV drip, no machines, etc.

The mother asked if we could help to transport her and the baby to Baylor tomorrow to get her ARV's. She was supposed to start the ARV's tomorrow, after going for a month for the adherence counseling. I wondered if it was too late. I prayed with her and the baby before I left.

When I got home, I called one of the doctors from Baylor to see if she could bring the ARV's to her instead of moving the baby from the hospital. She said that she would try.

05 Dec 07

I received a phone message from the teacher at the CarePoint. The baby died about 1:00 this morning. This young mother was distraught to say the least. Sandra and Jacci went to pray with her and find out what we can do to help with the burial. She asked if we could help with the coffin and food. We will gladly try to help with this. Please pray for this young mother, who is now alone.

November Update

God's Grace

One day at clinic, I saw this young lady, 24 years old. She looked very sick. I thought, she must be HIV positive. She had a baby on her back, who was also sick. The baby was not hers, she said that her baby died last December. The girl had a very bad cough, sores in her mouth, difficulty breathing, and her voice was very hoarse. She said that she had been tested for TB and she was negative. She has also been tested for HIV, and she is positive, but has not been started on treatment. She didn’t go back to get the result of her CD4 count. She said that they gave her a lot of pills, but she didn’t know what they were for. I asked her to promise me that she would go back to RFM the next day and get CD4 count and let them see how sick she is, so that she may get started on treatment. She had tried going to Baylor earlier that week, but could not be treated there because she does not have a child which is HIV positive. She promised that she would return to RFM the next day.

I felt led to ask her if we could pray for her and if she knew Jesus. She said that she didn’t, so I asked her if she would like to know Him, and she said yes. We had her repeat the sinners pray with us and she accepted Jesus into her heart! Praise the Lord!

She has been back to see me several times, sometimes, better, sometimes worse. She is going to RFM, but she has not been started on treatment yet. I am trying to keep her infections and symptoms under control, until she gets started on treatment.

Realizations

I realized today that my strongholds are worry, fear, anxiety, and helplessness. Satan feeds me these lies when I get down and weak. If I don’t stay in the Word, and seeking after my Savior, I believe these lies and fall apart in a heap of helplessness, and self pity. It paralyzes me to the point that I can’t focus or do anything. Everything seems too big for me to tackle. The truth is that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! If I choose to believe the truth, instead of lies, I can and will do all things through Christ! God, please give me the strength to trust you with each day! Everyday! I love you so much, help me to allow you to be my strength, and stop trying to be strong on my own! Your strength is made perfect in my weaknesses. I believe you and want to know you, want to glorify you, want to experience your peace, want to find all my satisfaction in you, and to enjoy your presence!

God Knows "T" By Name!

I have spoken in the past about a little girl at one of our Care Points who is 16, my oldest daughter’s age, but she looks and acts like a 10 year old. We will call her T to protect her privacy. She has started going with us monthly to Baylor for treatment for AIDS. Her mom is also positive and on treatment. They were both doing really well for a while. She had even started attended school again, which she had not been able to do in quiet a few years.

One day I received a call from the head nurse at Baylor, she said that they had to take her off of her ARV’s because they were not being given to her correctly or consistently. This is more dangerous than never started them at all. At this point we realized that her mother has a problem with alcohol and is incapable of giving her the medications correctly.

We found out that a lady who has a child that is positive that has been going to Baylor with us from another CarePoint was moving into the area where this little girl is. This lady and her daughter moved in with T and her mother. This lady has taken over giving T her drugs and making sure she eats, etc. Praise the Lord!

Unfortunately, T came down with pneumonia, and had to be admitted to the hospital. She could hardly breath that day, and had to be placed on oxygen while she was at Baylor clinic. When I got the call, I rushed to see her. I didn’t find the beautiful smiling face that I had seen the last time I saw her. Instead, I found a child that could do nothing else but concentrate on getting her next breath. We got her to the hospital, and after a few rough days, I went to visit her and I was greeted by the beautiful smiling face that I knew. She was discharged a few days later, and is now at home, finishing her last few days of school for this year! Praise the Lord!

I just found out today that another one of our little ones that we take to Baylor has been admitted to the hospital. This one is only 15 months old. I will go and visit her tomorrow. Please keep these little ones in your prayers! They are so fragile, but we serve a God who see’s and knows and cares!

Flat Tyres & Lumps

I have to give this praise to the Lord! Last Friday I traveled all the way to Manzini (30 minutes from where we live), and back, and then all over Mbabane, running errands and taking kids here and there. That night, Daran and I went to get a bite to eat and have a little time alone, while the kids were at the youth service. The Brennan’s even picked them up for us to give us more time! Anyway, we had a nice dinner, and Daran was following me home. We ended up having both cars since I dropped the kids off and went to the office to get him. I had a flat tire on the way home. I noticed that the car was driving funny and pulling to one side, so I slowed down and put my flashers on. Daran followed me to a place where he could change the tire safely. I am just so thankful that it did not happen while I was on the highway to Manzini, or around town, with the kids, or by myself. God is so good, He even takes care of the little things!

One more praise! A couple of weeks ago, I found a lump on my collar bone. Being an oncology(cancer) nurse, it really worried me. I told a few people and had them pray. I couldn’t get in to see the doctor for a few days, so I had to decide if I was going to trust or worry. I can’t say that I was trusting the whole time, but God is faithful! I saw the doctor, and she said that it was not anything to worry about. It looks and feels like a lipoma, which is a fatty cyst, which is harmless. She will check it again in January to make sure it hasn’t changed. The Lord reminds me that if I am going to trust Him more, I must know Him more. Lord, please help me to draw close to you and hold on tight!!!!

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.