RR Team Update, Thursday, July 17th

Thursday was a day to do errands, finish up little things, pack and it was “mission day at Chris’s place.” Several things needed to be fixed in my house and in my “office” aka storage room/sewing room at St. Paul’s. The team’s goal was to fix those things for me. The week before they came, the lock in the door that I use the most broke. All the little pins that are in the lock fell out onto the floor. The door was locked shut. That was the first thing Richard and Anthony fixed. Then last week I leaned against the sink in my bathroom and it came loose from the wall. Now we have item #2. The bluebonnet curtains that hang in my kitchen were too short and too narrow for the window and so everyone that walked or drove by my place could see in my kitchen window which was a direct line of sight into my living room and desk. I finally found some lace to trim the curtains with but hadn’t had time to sew the lace on – partly because I would have to learn how to use the sewing machine again! One of the first things Leigh said when she got here was “I’m going to fix those for you. It won’t take long.” She did. They look great and I don’t feel like I am being watched now when I am in my place. The other item in my house was a big surprise and treat! They generally use plastic toilet seats here, and as you can imagine they aren’t real stable. To my surprise, Anthony put a new “real” toilet seat on my toilet. You can imagine my surprise when I sat down on it the first time, not realizing what they had done! Yeabo! Then the team moved up to my little “office” aka sewing room and storage room. The door from the outside into the church was very hard to unlock. You had to basically lift the door up to unlock it. Richard fixed that in a heartbeat with a few chisels with a screw driver using a wrench for a hammer (This is Africa and he is the African MacGyver). Then Anthony and Steve installed a hasp and lock on the cabinet where we keep the sewing supplies and another one on a file cabinet t hat was donated to me so that items could be kept secure and not disappear. While they were doing that Leigh and Kelly were sewing the lace on my curtains. I was thrilled and when I told the two ladies who do the most sewing about the door being fixed I thought they were going to break out in song and dance! I know that the team has no idea how much their mission to me has helped. When they came, I was still very deep in my grief over having to let my father go back to our heavenly father. I was feeling very much alone. Their energy, laughter and spoiling me has warmed my heart in a way I didn’t would be possible for a long time. I t hank God for their presence, love and energy.

This morning we leave for Kruger park for 3 days and then it will be off to Johannesburg and home for the team and back to Swaziland for me. Siphiwe is coming with us as he has never had the opportunity to see Kruger Park. I am excited to see what he thinks when he sees all the animals that are native to his country. I am also glad that I won’t be making the drive back to Swaziland alone when we all part ways and not for safety reasons this time.

Now if we could only fix the water situation……..

God is good! All the time! God is good!