Final Week in Swaziland

Tuesday, June 23

We are learning to live a faith that is so real, we bleed Jesus.  Here’s how we start:  Look for Jesus every morning in the eyes of the people you meet.  And then look for Him in the mirror.  Jesus in disguise.

I looked for Jesus today.  I found Him at the Hope House in a 71 year old man from Portugal.  He was so humble, and He gave praise to the Father for everything he said.  I looked deep into his eyes and I saw a life of pain, yet there was joy.  I also saw Jesus in a German chemistry teacher.  And then I found Him in Kathryn who was taking care of her father.  She was so happy to see us.  Her face lit up when we walked to her.  She wanted to sing and dance.  She wanted us to pray for her father.  She cried when we left and so did most of our group.  I saw Jesus in my team today.  They were His hands and His feet bringing hope, peace and compassion to the people they encountered.  

Wednesday, June 24

We rented a Kumbi from Pete Johnston, an American who grew up in west Africa.  We’re going to Nsoko.  It’s an hour and a half drive from Manzini.   We get to see firsthand how the Swazi 2-month team is living and to see the living conditions of the Swazi people.  It’s the poorest part of Swaziland.  We’ve seen the videos on the AIM website, and we’re anxious to experience it ourselves.

Nsoko is heart breaking.  It’s hot and it’s dirty.  I believe there are 8 carepoints in Nsoko, and they’re all out in the middle of nowhere.  You drive through fields and dirt roads that look undriveable.  We found three carepoints with no children because there was no food.  Teresa and half the team stayed at one of the carepoints with children.  Doyle and the other half stayed at one carepoint with a few children, but there was no food either.  He walked up to the general store and bought loaves of bread and a lemonade mix to feed the children something.  Amanda and Matt drove me around to some of the carepoints and to check on their team.   We found their team at a carepoint with a few children and no food.  The teacher didn’t show up that day to teach school because there was no food.  We went to the local grocery and bought bread and oranges.  One of the gogos ran to her hut to grab a knife to slice the bread.  It was too dull to cut the bread, so she sharpened it on a rock.  She sliced the bread into huge chunks.  They were so appreciative.  We’ve not seen this kind of poverty in Manzini or anywhere.  Children, women, and men are starving to death, and we can do something about it…if we choose to.  

We met Pastor Gift and his wife Pelele.  Pelele asked me to speak at the women’s meeting at 3:00.  I asked God what He wanted to say, and He said it was really simple:  tell them that I love them.   I love the music.  They sing from beginning to end and everything in between.  Authentic worship, giving thanks to our gracious and merciful Lord!

Ntabis Church gave us a brie tonight.  It was great, but it sure was cold!   We had lots of meat.  But no goat.  I picked up a pretty good size piece of beef, and one of the mages said, “Don’t you like meat?  Swazi people love meat.”  I looked around and saw how everyone was getting a piece of each kind of meat.  I don’t think my stomach could take that much meat!  It reminded me so much of our goat BBQ back home before we left.  

Thursday, June 25

We went to the Manzini Market today.  The team was so excited.  Thursday is the big day at the market.  That’s when all of the crafters come from area carepoints.  I almost felt guilty buying things after seeing what little the Swazi people have here.  We Americans prospered their business today.  (That’s what they asked us to pray for when we prayer walked through the market a few days ago).  We all came home and shared our found treasures.  True authentic African treasures.  Caleb got a drum.  Josh got a segela (a weapon).  Erin got a purse and jewelry.  Sarah got a wooden giraffe.  We bought gifts for family and friends.  Doyle and I were done shopping.  We had shopped enough for one day.  The whole market was so overwhelming.  One gift in particular was very special.  Doyle and I were walking down one of the alleys looking at fabric.  We found a Swaziland flag.  (You can’t buy an authentic flag; only the King gives those away).  There were also beautiful shirts that looked like a nurse work shirt.  Doyle turned to me with determination and said I’m getting this for Laura.   I looked up at him.  And he said it again.  “This looks like Laura.  I’m getting it for her.”  And then he started to cry.  We  miss our friends.  We both started crying right there in front of the mage.  

We ate KFC for lunch, and then headed to the carepoint dreading our last day with them children on Friday.   

It’s our last team time together.  The ambassador team is coming tomorrow.  We finally finished our God stories.  I love our team.  I believe they’ve grown spiritually during this trip.  I pray so.  We have become closer to each other and closer to the Lord.  I don’t think we’ll realize how much until we get home.  

Friday, June 26

Today was the hardest day.   It’s the last day at the carepoint.  Time to say goodbye.  We had a party!  Autumn and Kelsey baked six cakes, and we bought some vanilla pudding.  We also bought the gogos and mages lots of cleaning supplies and serving items to help with the cooking.  Doyle brought the speaker and iPods, and we danced and sang with the children.  It was so much fun.  Then David Crowder “O Praise Him” started to play, and the team started to cry.  Nesepo wouldn’t let me go.  She held on and we danced and sang and I cried.  All of the kids stopped and looked at us.  We were laughing and crying at the same time.  The emotions were too much.  And to add to all of this, Sarah is sick.  My Sarah is running a fever.  She begged me to let her go to the carepoint.  She couldn’t miss the last day, but we could tell she wasn’t her usual spunky self. 

We were to meet Julie at 4:30 at the AIM office so our team could buy Timbali purses.  It took a long time to get everyone in the kumbis.  No one wanted to leave the children.  Our team was crying.  The children were crying.  I thought Sam was going to just put her twins in the kumbi with us.  Those two little girls were sobbing as they walked home.  They kept turning around and waving to Sam.  We finally got everyone in the kumbis, and all of a sudden, some of the ladies started screaming with excitement.  Staci and Edie came crashing out of the kumbi to see their “favorite” children.  Lolo and Little Buddy hadn’t been there all day, and they showed up as we were leaving.  Staci and Edie held their babies and cried and cried.  It was such a gift to them to be able to say goodbye.

The team bought lots of purses and agreed to take some back with them to sell in the states.  I filled up two suitcases full of purses.  100 bags.  I loved those purses before I came to Africa, but now that I’ve met the gogos and mages who make them they’re even more special to me.

We decided to have a brie with the Ambassador team.  We ate good tonight!  Grilled chicken, rice and salad.  Elysa — your daughter Anna asked God to bless the food and gave thanks for it, and she got to be the first one to eat.  She’s a sweet girl!  

Saturday, June 27

We left at 8:00 am this morning to go to the internet cafe.  We also had to say goodbye to Titi.  She’ll be working with the Ambassador team next week, so our family will get to see her again.  Sarah is still running a fever.  As long as I keep giving her Tylenol, she feels okay.  

We took the scenic Ezulwini Valley route toward Mantenga Falls.  We stopped in Malkerns to shop at Swazi Candles (Effie Heaven) and to look at more crafts.  It was a long drive, and I thought the team would complain.  But they actually liked seeing more of God’s creation.  We even had car trouble.  The kumbi we rented was leaking transmission fluid.  We finally made it to Mantega Falls.  There were monkeys EVERYWHERE!  That did more for me than the safari!  TIA – This Is Africa!  We got a guided tour to the falls and through the cultural village where we saw a traditional Swazi village and watched their traditional dance.  The water is so clean that  the guide said you can drink it.  Caleb and Erin did.  

Angela, Anna, Whitney, Edie, Caleb and Joshua could NOT leave without taking a swim in the falls.  I just want to go on the record that I did not want them to do it.  But they said they had to.  It was freezing!  The wind was blowing, and it had to be 50 degrees outside.  You can only imagine the temperature of the water.  I thought Caleb was going to chicken out.  I knew it had to be cold!  Angela used Doyle’s quote:  No reserve!  No retreat! No regrets!  How can you say no to that?  Whitney was the first to jump in.  Then they all jumped.  It took their breath.  They didn’t stay in long.  :-()  We took lots of pictures.  How many people can say they went swimming in Mantenga Falls during the Africa winter.  

Now comes another difficult part of our trip.  Our final debrief.  We needed to talk about the trip as a whole.  We ate dinner at Ramblas and came back to the white house.  We asked the team to give a highlight or turning point during the trip, and how they were going to process this mission over the next few weeks.  I don’t want to go into many personal details, but it was a very good sharing time.  Lots of tears.  Lots of unanswered questions.  Lots of processing even during this debrief.  Lots of honesty, compassion and love.  The one consistent theme we heard through the entire team was seeing Jesus in the people they met and being Jesus to those people.  Looking into their eyes and seeing Jesus.  And knowing that when those people looked back, they were seeing Jesus in our eyes.  It sounds so simple, but it was so powerful!   Doyle shared something that he wrote on the plane as we were flying to Africa.  I think it’s worth reading, and since this blog is so long I’ll share it in a separate blog.  

We want everyone to know that Doyle and I are available anytime to talk during these next few weeks as we process what we’ve been through.  We can share our stories with family and friends, but the fact remains, our family and friends were not here with us to experience it firsthand and they will never know the depth of this adventure.  Please do not hesitate to contact us, whether it’s by telephone, or Facebook, or Skype.  770-207-6981 home.  770-601-3892 Doyle cell.  678-448-6386 Tonya cell.  w[email protected] and [email protected] 

I read this a couple of days ago, and I thought I would share it.  It seems so appropriate at this moment.  

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns:

At this point you have moved through your current transition feeling somewhat awkward at times and moving with grace at other times. It’s been unsettling, but you’ve also been presented with opportunities for spiritual growth. Now, it would be of great benefit to you to stop, be quiet, and reflect on what has actually transpired so that you can gain a perspective devoid of emotional conflict and beyond natural assessment. What you have experienced, regardless of its level of difficulty, will actually work to your benefit, says the Lord.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Sunday, June 28

The team left for the airport around 10:00 am.  This is not how I wanted our God adventure to end.  I’m sick.  I was up and down all night.  Food poisoning?  Parasite?  Spiritual attack?  I was able to come downstairs for a few minutes to see the team off.  We took worship music outside and danced.  I actually felt better while praising the Lord.  Duh?!  The team loves “Freedom” by Eddie James.  And we danced and sang to “Hosanna! Forever! We worship You” which Edie played a couple of days ago during team time.  I didn’t want today to be sad.  But it was.  To be honest, I thought we would feel a sense of relief that the team is going home.  Being responsible for 12 women plus our family has taken its toll.  Doyle and I are physically, emotionally and spiritually drained.  We both just want to cry and have for most of the day.  But we would do it all over again.  No reserves.  No retreat.  No regrets.  Our time with these beautiful women of God is more precious to us than we could ever communicate in this blog.  We have seen them struggle.  We have seen them grow by leaps and bounds.  And we have watched God miraculously work in and through them.  They’ve been with Jesus and they’ve been Jesus these past few weeks.  Whitney told me this morning:  It’s not the beginning or the end that counts, but all that’s in between.  It has been an honor and pleasure to be a part of this community.  We didn’t say goodbye.  We simply said see you later.  Whether it’s in this lifetime or whether it’s in Heaven, we’ll see each other again.  We love you all more than you’ll ever know.

Our plan was to go to Nsoko after the team leaves.  Pastor Gift asked Doyle to preach today at 4:00.  We were unable to go.  I’m hoping I feel better, and we can tomorrow.  Jimmy Hutson is in Nsoko, and we really want to see him.  We’re praying for healing in my body in the name of Jesus.  And I receive His healing.  We’ll go on Tuesday to check on Nesepo’s foot.  If it’s not better, we’re taking her back to the doctor.  Marius and Jodi are taking us to the airport on Wednesday.  I dread the flight back.  17 hours.  Hopefully, we’ll sleep.  The kids will love catching up on some movie time.  

We love Swaziland.  And we know we’ll be back.  We see God at work here, and we want to join Him in what He’s doing.  We wondered if being here for a month really made a difference.  We believe we have made a difference.  There’s the big picture that God sees and He gives glimpses every once in a while.  Then, there’s the little picture.  One that is attainable at the moment.  It just takes investment–investment into people’s lives.  Community.  Communion with the Lord and with one another.  We’re now asking God what our next step is going to be.

Keep praying for us.  We’ll be home on Thursday.  

We love you.  

Tonya & Doyle

Caleb, Joshua, Erin & Sarah