A Visit to St. Paul's Sunday School

This morning I went to visit the Sunday school class for the children at St. Paul’s. I was going to give to the children little “Jesus” bears that children attending Vacation Bible School at FUMC in Round Rock made the summer of 2007. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to me until July of this year, and it has taken this long to arrange with the teachers to come to Sunday school and give the bears to the children. You see, Sunday school isn’t held at the church, it is held in a room at St. Paul’s High School. Between St. Paul’s church and the High School there is St. Paul’s Primary School and the teacher’s cottages where I live. The children sit in a special section in church and after the collection (offering) and before the sermon, the children leave and walk down to the High School. There were 80 children in Sunday school today with three teachers. They all meet together in a big classroom or hall that had no furniture in it. It was a cloudy, misty day so there wasn’t a lot of light in the classroom either. When I arrived at the High School the children were singing “Deep and Wide.” I almost cried. First, I could understand at least part of the words to the song and second there was so much joy and spirit in the voices and on the faces of the children. I told the children how beautiful they were and told them the story of the bears and then left them for the teachers to hand out at the end of class so as not to disturb their lesson. Two of the children who live in the teachers cottages stopped by my house after Sunday school to thank me for the “dolls.” That was so sweet.

This morning, when I got up around 6:30 am, I asked the Lord to tell me what to do. You see, Sundays are the worst day of the week for me. I asked him to tell me if I should: 1) stay at home and read and do one or both of the Beth Moore studies I am doing. 2) Go to the 8:00 service which is small, only an hour long, conducted in 95 – 100% Siswati, but there are a few people I know, mainly Vicki and her husband Louie. 3) Go to the 10:00 service which would probably be conducted entirely in Siswati, is much longer with more responsive reading, but I know more people which I may or may not see, and would definitely know when the children were leaving for Sunday school. 4) Go to an English church service at one of the International churches in Mbabane, which would mean I probably wouldn’t be back in time to go to the Sunday school class. After my little prayer request, I made a cup of coffee and sat down to read a few chapters in a book I am reading and then did a lesson in one of my Beth Moore Studies. I showered and made breakfast somewhere along the way. I finished my lesson at 9:45. Just enough time to get ready and go to the 10:00 service. I can’t say I really wanted to go, but I just started getting ready to go. My request had been answered. As usual, the only thing I understood during the service was the book, chapter and verses of the two scripture readings. But, God gave me a few precious moments that made going to the service worth it. One was Eleanor the woman who was the secretary when I arrived here last August. She lost her daughter about a month or so ago and this was the first time I had seen her since the funeral. We stopped and hugged each other right in the middle of the chaos of everyone making their way to the front of the church to leave their offering. Also, a woman who is in the Tuesday evening bible study I have been attending got up from her seat and came and sat by me to make sure I got the scripture verses and knew what page of the hymn book the service was using. It touched my heart so much. Once again, God confirmed to me that it’s all about connecting with one heart at a time.

Once again, the Big Guy is AMAZING!

I just got back to Swaziland after a quick trip to Johannesburg. I left early yesterday morning to go pick up some teaching aids that complete an expenditure of several thousand US dollars from USAID for Swaziland schools. I’m just the conduit here, the one organizing and trying to deliver what was purchased. This entire project has been very stressful for me for multiple reasons which I won’t go into and the pressure to get it finished before I return to the US for the holidays is huge. I left Swaziland Tuesday morning with the weight of picking up these items, wondering if they would fit into my car, worrying a bit about how I would get them through customs and back into Swaziland but also a bit excited to go on a road trip to Jo’burg. The Lord blessed every moment of this trip. The drive went without incident and traffic was very light. The teaching aids all fit into my car which was amazing. They fit absolutely perfectly. I was able to watch some CNN at Richard Bosart’s house and was treated to a great meal, as always. This morning Richard and I had a really good meeting with the Bishop who is retiring at the end of the year. He has been so supportive of me and my work in Swaziland. I felt a pressing need to meet with him before he leaves, and I am so glad by a small miracle he had time to meet with me. The trip back to Swaziland went fast, going through the borders was hassle free thanks to some help from one of the members of St. Paul’s who works in customs and I made it home just as it was getting dark. Perfect timing. I am sitting here amazed, though I don’t know why I should be so amazed, at God’s hand of protection, his perfect timing and the abundance of blessings he continues to bestow upon me for no reason. My heart is bursting with love and thanksgiving to my heavenly Father, and I couldn’t just sit here and keep it to myself. I had to share it with you. It’s my way of shouting from the mountain tops that God is Good, all the time, God is good and also of reminding myself to look for his blessings and not take them for granted or turn a blind eye to them.

Homestead Visits

Last Thursday, Thoko, Thini and I went to visit a homestead near Thoko’s house. The house had burned by a fire started by unknown assailants. The part of the story I got was that someone threw a blanket soaked in Petrol into the house while the children sleeping. I’m unclear if the blanket was burning when they tossed it in, or if they then tossed in a match or if it caught fire on a fire or stove already in the house. The father was able to get the children out unhurt. This was the first visit where we were met by the man of the homestead. Usually the men are gone , stay out of sight or at least out of earshot. But the mother was not at home. We met the father as he was out walking somewhere and he showed us the way to his home. He then put out a straw mat on the floor of his house and told us what happened. Thini and Thoko then held a little worship service including singing, a scripture and little sermon. Thini used the verses John 15:12 – 15. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” She was thoughtful enough to read them in Siswati and then read them in English for me.

I was surprised when the man sang all the songs and offered a prayer. When we sit for little services like this, I usually offer up my own prayers for the family and contemplate what life is like for the people in the homestead. I never feel it is appropriate to take pictures during the actual conversations and worship between the ladies and the families so I take them in my head. This visit was another occasion when I wished I could have taken pictures for you. The man and his sons had already started rebuilding the small square block house. It had a roof on the walls reusing some of the corrugated iron sheets. I could tell they were re-used because I could see the nail holes from the previous use. The sheets had been turned a different way so that as much as possible the holes were covered by another piece of sheet metal. The windows didn’t have glass in them and were still full of soot and ash. They had some of the more damaged pieces of corrugated iron covering them. There was a smaller side room, probably what will eventually be a bedroom that did not have completed walls or a roof.

Inside the main room was a double size bed, a small wooden wardrobe/cupboard and a small iron stove that either used small pieces of wood or some sort of gas. The families few articles of clothing were on the bed and the few pots where stacked neatly in the corner by the little stove. As we were sitting there, a chicken came into the room pecking around for food. It even climbed up on the pots and the stove looking for something to eat. I don’t think it found much.. We left with a bag of some sort of melons or pumpkins or squash for Thini. From the outside they looked like those little individual sized watermelons we in the US love to buy. But I am told they are not watermelons that they are more like a pumpkin or a squash.

The surrounding countryside was beautiful, of course. The pictures below are of the creek I have to cross to get to Thoko’s house. It is just now starting to rain a little, so the creek is low enough to drive across, although I always stop and say a prayer before crossing. When the rains come I will have to cross the river further up the road and then drive longer making many turns to get to Thoko’s house. There is also a picture of the view from the family’s homestead, pictures of the homestead itself, Thoko’s homestead, Thoko’s garden and a picture of 10 children with brand new shoes on their feet.

This was the first time Thini had been to Thoko’s homestead. They’ve known each other and work together in Manyano for a long time, but since neither has means of transportation, and Thoko lives “very, very far” Thini has never been able to see her friend’s homestead. This was an opportunity for two friends to share a bit more of themselves with each other. It also gave Thoko an opportunity to pick some fresh vegetables that we then took to a child at one of our schools who is from a family of three orphans and are staying with an Uncle and Auntie and their two year old daughter. I also scored some beautiful lettuce and two huge fresh onions!

We did many more things that day – delivered some shoes, some used uniform shirts to children at Salukazi as well as the vegetables for the family. We exchanged two pairs of those shoes that didn’t fit for correct sizes, ran errands in town including dropping off material to a seamstress to sew more school uniforms for children. But nothing was as precious as enabling a friend to welcome another friend to her homestead. Time with friends is a blessing anywhere. It’s just a little more difficult to share as much in some parts of the world as others. Thoko was feeling very, very ill the entire day. So at the end of the day I took her back home and then drove Thini to her home. They were both very grateful for the ride.

Blessings to you all and I thank God for all of the friends he has put in my path to make my life so much sweeter.

A Day in the Life of a Volunteer in Mission in Swaziland...

It’s been almost three weeks since I’ve entered a comment on my blog. The last three weeks have been a mix of long days of frustration (per my last blog entries), long, busy days that have left me overwhelmed and tired or days that were filled with the stress of trying to get projects finished up before I leave to come back to the States for the holidays (forgetting to fully rely on God), followed by days full of blessings as God reminds me that he is always with me and hears my cries. This week Thoko and I spent Tuesday and today visiting schools to deliver the shoes that weren’t given out when Global Soles was here in August because we didn’t have the child’s correct size or the child wasn’t able to travel to St. Paul’s to receive the shoes. We also measured six children from each school who need school uniforms so we can finish up the Christmas Campaign which provided funds to provide school uniforms for OVC’s (Orphaned and Vulnerable Children). On Tuesday we went to three of the farthest schools which are in the low veld. The weather was very hot. We came home worn out and exhausted. Then today (Thursday), we went to more three schools. Today was cooler and therefore not as hard on us physically. However, it is always a combination of good times seeing the teachers and children and overwhelming times as we are faced with the need of some of the children. To give you an example, the following is what we encountered today.

We started the day early. I picked up Thoko at the bus rank in town around 7:45 am. She had to leave her house about 6:000 in the morning to get to the bus rank by 7:45ish. We drove to Mpofu Methodist Primary which is the schools that is the farthest from St. Paul’s. It is almost 100 km from St. Paul’s. The deputy and head teacher were very happy to see us. The head teacher insisted on showing us around, which was good because Thoko had never been to Mpofu before. This head teacher has a great vision for what he would like to see happen at his school. His deputy is also a very hard working, energetic teacher. He showed us the kitchen that was just finished about 9 months ago and yet the chimney is already cracking. Then he showed us the school garden he has started even though they are continuing to have water issues. He talked about his plans to get water to the school from two sources. Then we gave the shoes to two of the children who weren’t able to go to the shoe giveaway in August. Seeing their smiles is so wonderful. He then told us about a family whose homestead burned down last week. And then he brought in the children he had chosen to receive the 6 school uniforms. I have no idea how he could have chosen six out of the almost 700 children that needed the uniforms the most. We saw many, many children who were wearing torn uniforms that were too small. He and his teachers were smart though, they picked all boys to receive the uniforms. The boy’s uniforms are more difficult to sew and more expensive to purchase than the girl’s uniforms. He said the home economics teacher said she was trying to organize a way to sew uniforms for the neediest girls. We stayed at this school over an hour and a half which is about an hour longer than we intended, but it is hard to leave when they were so excited to have us visit. They gave Thoko and I each a big plastic bag full of greenish tomatoes and spinach from the school garden. I really hated taking them. They weigh so much there must be a fortune in tomatoes in each bag. But I know that not to take them would be a severe insult.

From there we went to Black Mbulzi Methodist Primary. Once again, how the teacher could pick out just six children is beyond me. Thoko and I work very well as a team. She gets most of the information from the children and teachers in Siswati and interprets for me. She also writes down the information about the children because she can understand what they are saying. I would then measure the children for the uniforms and give Thoko the measurements. The children are always very shy coming to me, but measuring them was a good reason to smile and joke with them as I measured them, even though I don’t think most understood what I was saying. Their smiles, no matter how filthy their feet or uniforms are, were the most precious gift one could receive. While at Black Mbulzi, we noticed the children weren’t in preschool. Our team from First United Methodist Church in Round Rock had painted the preschool building in July. When we asked the head teacher about it she told us that the teacher had been admitted to the mental hospital. We have no idea what that means. It was sad news because she seemed like such a sweet person. She was a widow. Her husband passed away from HIV related causes a few years ago. From what I saw she is the best preschool teacher the circuit has. But it was also disheartening that we had just painted the preschool building for her, and then she had to go on some sort of leave so the building is not being used. Life in Swaziland. Once again it seems like we took one step forward and two back.

Our last school was Luftojia Methodist Primary. We launched our NCH project for children that are infected or affected by HIV/AIDs at Luftojia so we have been there quite a lot over the last couple of months. We picked four families and have visited each homestead at least twice in the last month. When three of the children saw my car driving up to the school they ran to the car to greet us when we got out. I wish I had a camera of their happy faces. One little boy, who looks about 5 years old but in reality is 9 years old, is HIV positive, on treatment and is also recovering from an automobile accident about 5 months ago where his leg was fractured in two places. When we first saw him he looked very sickly and was barely walking on the crutches his father had made him. As the children always are, he was very shy around me and just stared at me. Today he ran up to us in his new school shoes without the aid of crutches, with the biggest smile on his face greeting both of us…not just Thoko. He clearly wasn’t afraid of me any longer either. I wanted to cry and had shivers going up and down my arms and back at his wonderful greeting. One of the things we had taken this family was some fencing so they could grow a garden to feed the children. We just delivered the chain link fencing last week and it is already up and the ground prepared and planted! The head teacher and counselor was so grateful and thrilled because the children had told them about our visits and what we had provided them over the holidays. We measured more children, and had to tell the teacher that we couldn’t buy more shoes or uniforms because that was all the money we had – I hate this part of all of the visits. They were understanding though and hopeful that more children would be helped next year. Before they went on school holiday in August I talked with the agriculture teacher about providing them fencing so they could grow a school vegetable garden, but they had to provide all the labor. I was told the holes for the fence posts were dug and the school is ready to receive the fencing. The holes were dug over the holidays. I was so impressed with their willingness and eagerness to help themselves. But then the not so fun part came. They kept wanting us to help with “just one more child.” The child they wanted us to help is on the list of children we will help next, but they wouldn’t wait. They wanted us to see him today. I don’t know the child’s age. He appeared to be about 6 or 7 which probably means he was at least 9 or 10 years old. When this child came in, it was clear that he wasn’t feeling well and was in some sort of pain. All of his joints are quite swollen. This child is HIV positive and was taking ARV’s, but his father decided to take him off of the medication and take him to an herbalist instead. The child’s mother has passed away. He has two sisters. The father works at a prison in Piggs Peak which is quite a long distance from where they live. The father only comes home occasionally when he is not working. The three children live in a house on a homestead with another family that has also lost their mother. Their father also works far away and only comes home occasionally. This child broke my heart and the teachers are very concerned and frustrated. Unfortunately, I had to tell them that if the father is alive and won’t consent to treatment, there is nothing we can do about it other than try to get someone to talk to the father and change his mind. We can’t even take the child to the clinic for immediate medical treatment without the father’s presence and consent. Even in Swaziland there are laws meant to protect the children, but unfortunately, sometimes those same laws prevent children from receiving treatment. The head teacher said the child is so sick and is in such pain that they told him not to come to school because he lives so far away. The child came anyway saying he didn’t want to stay home alone and he liked coming to school. He probably also wanted to come to school to get the only food he would eat that day. Thoko loaded him into my car and I drove him home, no questions asked. It was the very least and unfortunately the only thing we could do. We both had heavy hearts for most of the drive home, but we both reminded each other that God had given us such gifts in the smiles of those children that we had to hang on to those to cut the pain and grief for this child. And then we started planning the visits we would make next week.

So there you have a day in my life in Swaziland; a day full of blessings and joy and full of heartache and helplessness. A day when I hear the voice whisper in my ear: “one heart at a time, one child at a time.” I apologize for not keeping you more informed of my daily activities the last couple of weeks, but sometimes there is just more than I know how to put into words.

Tomorrow morning Bethuel and I are driving up to Lomngeletjane to take a look at the progress on the first block of classrooms. The builder, John, called last Sunday evening and told me that he had finished all of the work. We’ll see! After that I will be heading to Nelsprit, South Africa for a women’s retreat with other American missionaries in Swaziland. It will be a joy to get away and fellowship with these women.

Blessings to you all and please keep these very vulnerable children in your hearts and prayers.

Pictures:

1. Children from Luftojia with new shoes on. These children are also going to receive new uniforms. Unfortunately, the picture makes their uniforms look much better than they really were.
2. Measuring children for uniforms at Luftojia.
3. Proud child with new shoes.
4. The children from Black Mbulzi who will receive new uniforms.

I’m really not exaggerating…..

Ok, I thought maybe I was imagining the dust, smell of smoke and intensity of the wind yesterday. Maybe I was just in a bad mood and going stir-crazy because of a three day weekend. The wind was so noisy last night and the smell of smoke so strong that a few times I wondered if I should get up and check so see what was going on. (I opted not too using the good old standby philosophy that some things are best not known.) This morning when I woke up the wind had died down. I looked out the window and couldn’t see 200 yards from my bedroom window. There is a mountain probably a quarter of a mile from where I live and I couldn’t see the slightest hint of an outline for that mountain. After breakfast I decided I’d wipe things off again using a wet cloth. It was then that I realized I was not exaggerating. I took a picture of the ash and dust on the window sill right above my head. It was actually worse in the living room and you should have seen what had blown in under the door. So I’m attaching a picture so you will know I wasn’t making this up.

As the wind stayed very light during the day, the low laying smoke cleared a bit. I could see fires still burning on the hill side. A friend who lives in Mbabane said the fires were so bad around her house on Saturday and yesterday that all they could do was watch and have faith that they wouldn’t jump the road that goes around their house. At least one of the forests in Swaziland is on fire as well. The way the smoke is around here, it seems as if all of Swaziland is on fire. The air is so thick with pollution. Unfortunately the rains normally don’t start until October and we certainly don’t want anymore winds.

Oh, when I was wiping off my window sill I noticed that one of my neighbors who lives in the teachers houses started burning garbage. Ya gotta love it.
All in all, it’s been a blessed day. I spent most of it listening to Christian music and then watching “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.” That kept the negative thoughts about what’s going on in Swaziland at bay.