It’s been over two weeks since I’ve blogged. Time is flying. We’ve been here almost five months (that’s almost half of one year!). Our lives are picking up steam in an awesome way, and day by day this feels more like home for all of us.
Since I’ve last posted... a quick rundown...
Poinsettias are in bloom -- it’s winter here in Swaziland.
The days may hit 55-65°F in Mbabane, but the nights dip into the 30s and 40s, the wind howls, and we’ve seen frost in our upper elevations. Yes, even in Africa! Our house is constructed of cinderblock with no insulation. Thankfully we have a fireplace, propane heater, and heated electric under blankets on each of our beds that take the edge off. Being from the upper midwest and hailing from the “Frozen Tundra”, I think we can take the cold a little better than others from warmer climates. However, we know it’s still incredibly cold in the house when we find a glass on Steph’s nightstand that sat overnight and the ice cubes are still completely intact. That’s brisk!
We had the opportunity to visit Make (mah-gay) Peggy and her Children’s Cup “I Am Not Forgotten” home with the kiddies. Peggy is a true Mother Teresa. Once raised in affluence, she chose to walk away from it all and has since been caring for the least of these, sharing her home with fifteen orphaned and vulnerable children. We first met Peggy on our first trip to Swaziland in 2008 and then in 2009, and she never forgets a face nor a name. In fact, she said in early February she was just sitting down to write us a letter to send to the States when she reconnected with Stephen for the first time and learned that we were on this side of the pond -- for good. She is an amazing woman of God, and what an honor it is to have Make Peggy on the Children’s Cup roster. Definitely an all-star MVP.
On the 19th, we celebrated an awesome father. This pic was taken Father's Day morning right before Steph preached at HPC-Swaziland.
And on June 21st, Ellie celebrated her fifth birthday. We had lots of fun with our friends in the field and she appreciated all of your sweet birthday wishes from across the pond.
Weekly trips to our CarePoints (Madonsa and Mvutjini) are keeping us busy. Last Thursday at Mvutjini we found a boy, about ten years of age, who had been bit by a stray dog the day evening before. It had swelled overnight and was obviously very painful for him. Moreover, the fresh wound had been rubbed with dog hair (believed to help with healing). We talked with the facilitators, and decided that he needed to be seen at the hospital. However, the facilitators were insistent that he had a “bath” before we took him. We were told that the hospital would refuse treatment for him if he wasn’t clean. So, this sweet boy got cleaned up while he balanced on one foot, and we made our way to the hospital. He was given an injection and antibiotics, and we trust he's feeling better.
Before we went to the CarePoint, we as a family prayed over lunch and asked to be used -- that God would put someone in our path so that we may be His hands and feet. When we needed to leave Mvutjini early, I felt as though we were slighting the CarePoint because we didn’t get the chance to love on the facilitators, bomake, and children. However, we quickly realized that He had us there for a purpose -- to care for one of His. Sometimes being the hands and feet isn’t monumental, reaching out to hundreds. Sometimes it’s just reaching out to one.
Over the last month or so, we’ve been blessed with three awesome teams: Healing Place Church-El Paso, Oklahoma Wesleyan, and Children’s Cup/HPC-Ekklesia (our current team), as well as some awesome one-man-teams in Matt Morris and Nicole Groome (pictured above). I hope you all know that you take a little piece of us when you leave. We may look like really tough missionaries on the exterior, but we get just as attached to you. It’s such an honor to be on the receiving end of all of you, being able to share Swaziland with incredible people and huge hearts. And, speaking of... the River Valley Church Global Swaziland team of FORTY has been assembled and will soon start their training and orientation meetings, gearing up for their visit in December. We’re seriously counting the days to see your familiar faces and connections to home. The isolation and homesickness hits hardest during our recent chilly nights, so we’re looking forward to sweating with you all in the heat of our Swazi summer.
Most recently, we’re in the midst of our four-part sermon series here at Healing Place Church-Swaziland on finance entitled “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” Steph preached week two (his first time ever at the pulpit), and rocked it, if I may say so as his very partial better half. We’re also leading a connect group and have over sixty in attendance -- keep in mind they are all Swazis. Praise God! We’re sharing our journey with Financial Peace University and adapting it for Africa, using the principles of budgeting, dumping debt, the envelope system, saving, tithing and generous giving. God really has made a way for us to bring this to Africa -- there are many open, receiving hearts on this side of the pond who no longer want to be slave to the lender. Please pray for our connect group members as they sacrifice, step out in faith, learn to take control of their finances (as opposed to their finances controlling them!) and start changing their family trees.
Lastly, a pic of the kiddies and two of their favorite people. The cute little one is Solomon, our next door neighbor. His family is from the States (Indiana) and his mom is a doctor with Baylor Clinic in Mbabane. And, the adorable bigger one in the picture is our favorite security guard, Babe (bah-bay) Elvis. He helps to keep our compound very safe, and loves to play soccer. He’s one of the kiddies‘ best buddies.
To close out this post, thank you ALWAYS for your prayers, love, notes, messages, and mail. Such a blessing it is to be serving God in Swaziland. You loved ones make this quite easy for us and a pretty sweet gig. :)