Catching up with the Wallaces!

This is going to be a long one!  It’s been a few days, and I wanted to post everything.  

Friday, June 19

Titi suggested that we do an ATL this morning.  It’s between the Carepoint and downtown Manzini with street evangelism.  I knew that Teresa would do carepoint and that Doyle would do street evangelism.  It was the opposite.  I’m supposed to find a woman in a blue sweater near a rock wall or house.  Lord, please lead me to her.  Your word says You order our steps.  You are faithful, and I will follow You.

I found the woman in blue at the rock wall.  Actually, she found us.  Autumn suggested that we stop and pray.  At the same time, Edie said she didn’t understand what we were doing.  She’s never prayer walked before.  She said, “Teach me like a child.  I have no idea what we’re doing.”  So I started to explain to her that as we were walking we were asking God to show us who He wanted to speak to.  And then I told her the vision or impression that God had given me during our worship time this morning.  I noticed Meghann was talking to a lady.  We were street level; the woman was down below in some type of shopping center.  Meghann said she wanted prayer.  The woman “Margaret” came running up the stairs and jumped right in the middle of our circle.  She said she wanted prayer.  All of us needed to pray for her.  She wanted God.  So we did a concert of prayer — all of us praying at the same time.  Margaret was very excited.  She thanked us and went back to work.  Edie couldn’t believe what just happened.  She started to cry and say “I get it!  I get it now!”  It was amazing.  And then to know that this was the woman in blue at the rock wall that God had told me about was just overwhelming!  Thank you Jesus!

Our prayer walk was great.  Zelele took us to the Manzini Market.  We have all been wanting to go to the market, and this was our chance, except we weren’t there to BUY anything!  Zelele told us that Thursday is the best day to go to the market.  That’s when all of the gogos and makes come from the carepoints with their crafts.  It’s the biggest day at the market.  So I promised them that we could go on Thursday morning!  Zelele walked us through the market and asked people if we could pray for them.  Most of them wanted us to ask God to prosper their business.  One man’s leg was infected.  He had been to the hospital several times with different medicines, but nothing made it better.  One of the gogos pointed to me and said, “You.  You pray for him.”  We all prayed.  

On the way back to the AIM office, we stopped at a PEP store to buy children’s clothes.  Our team wanted to buy panties, diapers and other clothing for the kids at the carepoint.  Erin picked out a sweatsuit for Nesepo.  It’s hot pink and black polka dots with black sweatpants. Erin was very excited about getting this for her.  They all were in a hurry to get back to the carepoint to give out their treasures.  We walked back to the AIM office.  I took the girls back to the carepoint.  Teresa and I went to the grocery store.  I’m going to count and see how many loaves of bread we have bought during this trip.  I think I buy 12 loaves at a time, and I go to the store at least 4 times a week.  It’s no wonder they say that women gain weight on this trip, with all of the rice, pap and bread!  Adam called and found out about a safari.  We made reservations for 2:00 on Saturday.  We’re not going to tell everyone until tomorrow.  They are going to be SO excited!  We’re gonna make them sweat it out! And wonder if we’re going to the Falls or on a safari.  I love being a leader! Ha

Tonight we were invited to Scott and Marcia Borg’s apartment.  Julie cooked MEXICAN!  Homemade tortillas and homemade salsa.  Julie lived in Mexico for years, so she knows what she’s doing.  Christine, Dennis, and Zwekele were there too.  It was fun to sit and talk to everyone.  Dennis and Zwekele had a rough day.  Zwegele’s brother was causing trouble.  They told us that he is a threat to the community; he likes to beat up women.  He drinks and smokes weed every day.  He came home and started a fight with his mother and sister.  To make a long story short, he hit his sister in the head with a rock.  She had to be taken to the hospital for stitches and shots (one in the head and in both shoulders).  To hit someone, especially in the head, is attempted murder. They called the police, but the police said they didn’t have time to look for him.  They suggested that the family find him, beat him and tie him up, and then bring him to the jail. (This seems to be normal procedure).  Dennis said that a posse was put together to search for him, and that he was going to join the posse after dinner.  I cracked up!  The posse are members of the church.  Dennis said that Pastor Walter was there too with his hatchet.  (Not to actually use, but to show that they’re serious). We prayed for Zwekele’s family and for the safety of the posse.  They didn’t find her brother.  He’s still on the loose.  But he’ll be back, eventually.  And they’ll take him to the police. 

We watched a DVD with comedian Brian Reagan.  It was hilarious.  Teresa slept on the couch.  She was so tired.  It’s the first time she’s been able to relax apart from the team.  I think she enjoyed her evening.  When we got back home, we found out that the team cleaned up the white house!   Yeah! Team!!!  

Saturday, June 20

It’s safari time.  Well, actually the team is going to the internet cafe first, and then to the safari.  It will be at least an hour’s drive.  Musa (from the D team) is driving the other AIM kumbi.  Doyle wanted a cappuccino from Baker’s Corner.  So we met there.  (He walked with some of the team; I drove the rest of the team).  Josh and Caleb ate chicken pie, and Erin ate a peppered steak pie.  Sarah was happy with her upside down orange drink and some chips.  I met Crystal Chapman in Baker’s Corner.  Christine told me about her when we first arrived at the white house.  Crystal has four boys, and they live in the same neighborhood.  She heard Erin ordering food at the counter was happy to hear an American speak.  She knew exactly who we were, so she came over, introduced herself and invited us to her house for a brie one night this week.  I’m excited!

The Hlane Safari was awesome!  We saw giraffes, rhinos, elephants and some really cool looking birds.  I swore I saw zebras, but the driver didn’t point them out.  We went to the watering hole and saw a momma and baby elephant drink.  They tried to charge us.  It was great!  The driver sped off.  I was glad that the vehicle didn’t die.  It had been.  And Caleb was freaking out!  No lions today.  There are 10 in the game reserve.  But they wouldn’t show themselves.  I was disappointed.  The driver told us about a cactus-looking tree located in the park.  (There’s a huge tree in front of the Manzini post office).  The milk-juice is poisonous.  Fishermen used to cut the tree up into little pieces and throw it in the water.  The fish would immediately die and float to the top.  The fishermen would have to get the fish out of the water quickly and clean it before the poison got into the meat.  The driver also said that if you get any of the cactus juice in your eyes you would be blind for the rest of your life.  The safari was 2-1/2 hours long.  Time went fast.  I have to admit that after going on today’s safari Disney does a very good job with their safaris at Animal Kingdom.  I leaned up to Josh during the drive and said, “After this, let’s go ride Everest rollercoaster.”  He laughed.  I still can’t believe we’re in Africa! And we went on a real safari!!!!  We drove back to Manzini and ate at a restaurant called Nando’s.  It was excellent!  Chicken pita and chips with peri-peri seasoning.  

Sunday, June 21

Happy Father’s Day!   I am so thankful for my wonderful Dad!  I went to the AIM office and Skyped him today.  Brian is planning to grill a 24 ounce steak!   I love you Dad!  And Mom!

Doyle preached at Ntabas Church today.  There was a full house.  I videotaped some of the worship.  I love church in Swaziland.  It’s one big house church!  Our team sang “Blessed Be The Name of the Lord” and “How Great is Our God.”  I played the keyboard, and Caleb was going to play the guitar, but we couldn’t get them both in tune.  We’re so white.  That’s all I can say.  It was good.  But we’re really white compared to their singing!  Ha.  Doyle preached from John 15 — the vine and the branches.  He preached with a translator.  Hillbilly to English to siSwati.  Ha.  It was great!  Seriously, Titi’s brother Bake translated for him.  Doyle had to learn how to break up his sentences and let Bake translate them to siSwati.  God was glorified!   I also videotaped some of Doyle’s sermon!

Let me tell you the best part of church!   Someone brought a chicken as their offering today!!!  It was a LIVE CHICKEN!  And it was placed under the “communion” table!  We at first thought it was dead or maybe even a decoration that had fallen under the table.  But it really was a live chicken!  It’s legs were tied together so it couldn’t run around.  It was a beautiful chicken with black and white spots.  I saw some boys put it in the pastor’s car after church was over.  And one more thing about offering.  This is the funniest thing we have ever witnessed.  Ntabas Church divides their attendees into two groups when taking up the offering.  It’s sort of a competition to see who gives the most money.  The groups are — Are you ready for this? — divided into BMWs and Mercedes Benz.  They even have model cars which are placed on a trophy-like piece of wood.  The “winner” gets placed on top of the trophy.  A woman gets up and makes the “Give your best to God” speech and then shouts “Hallelujah BMW!  Hallelujah Mercedes!”  I was a Mercedes, and I can proudly say that we Benzes won two out of three weeks.  BMWs won this week, but only by a few Emelengenis.  Wow!  Can you believe that?

The pastor is trying to plan a brie for the team before we leave.  It will either be at Joy Mission or at his house.  The team is excited.  

My children seemed to fight a lot today, especially Josh and Erin.  (What else is new, right?)  Caleb was even high strung today.  I apologized to Doyle and said I was sorry that out of all the days we’ve been in Africa the kids picked Father’s Day to fight and argue.  Doyle said, “How many dads get to spend Father’s Day with their family in Swaziland, Africa!”  We went back to Nando’s for lunch.  It was between that and KFC.  We ate KFC last Sunday.  I don’t know if I’ll ever eat KFC in the states again.  It’s SO much better here!  It has to be the fresh chicken.

Happy Father’s Day!  Or in Swaziland, Happy Babe Day!  (“bah-be”)

Monday, June 22

Today is the big day.  We get to paint the canvass for The Sound of Hope.  Well, we get to organize the painting of the children’s hands at the Mengwenini carepoint for the canvass.  It’s going to be a big job.  When we pulled out the “instructions,” we found out that it’s a bigger job than we anticipated.  58 pieces of canvass.  It’s going to take all of us at the carepoint.  And we have to be organized!

We didn’t get all of the paintings done.  I think we have less than half to go.  The process was good.  The entire team helped make it a good process.  It was fun to watch, and the kids LOVED getting their hands painted.  Most of all, they LOVED the stickers and candy afterwards.  

We saw Nesepo at the carepoint today.  We haven’t seen her since Thursday.  Her foot looked horrible.  She was still limping, and her toe looked like raw meat.  During all of the hand painting, Lauren took her to the kitchen and washed her foot as best she could.  Doyle then put medicine on it and we wrapped it up.  Doyle said he thought it looked like an abscess that had burst.  He called Harry Vanderwal at The Luke Commission and asked if he could see and treat her.  Doyle, Erin and I took Nesepo to the hospital to visit Dr. Harry.   Nesepo was very excited.  I don’t know if she’s ever been in a kumbi before.  She laughed and sang the entire way.  Erin gave her a bottle of sparkling water.  And I gave her a piece of chewing gum.  It was heaven!  Dr. Harry wasn’t available, but we did see Dr. Andy Ingram.  Andy thought that Nesepo burned her foot.  He cut away the dead skin, treated it with silver antibiotic cream, and wrapped it up.  He also gave her some antibiotics and pain medicine.  She even got a new pair of hot pink shoes from The Children’s Place to keep it clean.  Erin was thrilled to give Nesepo her new outfit now.  Everything matched!  Nesepo was so excited.  We needed to stop at the Spar grocery store to pick up some more bread (I really am going to count the number of loaves and I WILL post it!)  I carried Nesepo into the grocery store.  I tried to put her in the grocery cart, but she didn’t know what I was doing.  It was awkward.  I realized that she’s never been in a grocery cart before.  She was oohing and aahing over the food.  She wanted some milk.  Then she wanted some yogurt.  (After seeing the kids eat the spoiled yogurt, I wanted her to have it!)  She then gasped over the large bags of rice.  My heart broke!  I bought that baby a bag of rice…and some yogurt…and some milk…and some bread…and some already cooked chicken…and some chips…and a donut with sprinkles.  Her eyes were wide with excitement!  I couldn’t help but think about the countless times I’ve had my own children in the grocery cart and let them have what they asked for.  At least for one day, I was able to bless Nesepo with that.  We drove her back to the carepoint and walked down to her house.  There were two women, a toddler and a crying baby outside to greet us.  They said something to Nesepo in siSwati as we walked up, and she laughed really hard.  Nesepo immediately shared her chips and yogurt with the older child.  We told the ladies that we had taken Nesepo to the doctor, and that we had bought some food.  The older woman was very grateful.  She kept saying over and over “God bless you.  God bless you.”  We didn’t stay long.  It was getting dark.  We will ask Titi to read the instructions on the bottles of medicine.  It’s all written in siSwati.  I don’t know if we can trust anyone with the medicine to make sure she gets it.  Maybe the gogos at the carepoint are our best effort.  

The internet here is too slow to upload pictures.  We will put ALL of the photos on our photography website when we get back home.  I’ll post an update with the link!

We love you all.  Thanks for your prayers!

Tonya & Doyle

Caleb, Josh, Erin & Sarah