The second Loho/Swazi blog

okay i know i know i know! how is it going?

well hahaha its going….

after our first walk about of Manzini, i was a litlle frightened to go outside to be honest. And yes, the first week did go by very very very slow but this second week flew past and i cant believe were only here for 7 more days =(

The ministry opportunities are appearing endlessly!!!

but i will share the  hardest days for me it was actually pretty recent hahaha

(june 16th) our team was going to the hospital (we usually have three choices; Hospital, Hope House, or Care Point. The Hope House is like a hospice for patients with AIDs/TB/ect…and we’ve been going to a care point that is just across the highway.) Anyway, we get to the hospital and not three seconds after we had stepped into the door a man broke out into a fit; wailing,crying,  losing controll of all his limbs, and cringing up. welcome to the hospital right? i couldnt do anything but pray.

turns out the reason he was there was because he had one of these fits during a fire, and fell face first into the flames. i wanted to be sick. I expirienced my first dose of empathy as i hugged the gogo, she just sobbed as she watched the man she loved go through horrific pain and what hurt her hurt me too. After that we visited the childrens ward, never have i seen a hospital so dirty and uncomfortable….i’ll have to describe that one when i get home.

and after THAT we did our first home visits! (YAY!) we visited this cute little 90 year old gogo…and at first she only saw dennis and pastor man…she was happy… then she turns around to see five more people standing there and oh did her eyes light up! she clapped her hands and did a little “oooooooooohhhhhh!” oh she was adorable. God really showed himself to me there. His gentleness so to speak. I wish i could say our last home visist went as well only Doyle was allowed to go because of the “situation” so we walked back to the kumbi and i sat down to journal. all of a sudden i started hearing moans and crying coming from over the hill, then i heard prayer. turns out the lady was demon possesed. I didnt see any of it but my room mate Staci did. I felt so bad for her because she never really snapped back into funcion and she felt wrecked. (of course she has gotten better after she came face to face with “little buddy”. A little boy from the care point, she thought didn’t make it and now we’re going on a safari today =))) 

 

(june 17th)

we did the hope house this day wich was probably one of the best and worst days ever

the best because i got to sing and play guitar for this mentally handicapped boy who sang and smiled ALL the time…so naturally i smiled/giggled ALL the time. he was SO sweet and his mother really appreciated the prayer. after that we went to the Care Point (this was my breaking expirience) Ngabisa, a little girl i’ve become very close and attached to was left at the Care Point by her older sister who usually makes the 3 1/2 hour hike with her back home. Ngabisa is 9 years old…no way was i about to let her walk by herself at sundown. So we hop in the kumbi and Ngabisa is giving Titi (our adorable translator) directionsthe farther and farther we got the more my heart sank “does she really walk this everyday?” YEP. When we got to her neighborhood it was gut wrenching the houses were no bigger than my dads yard shed; made of mud and covered with tin roof or the occasional scraps of garbage and smushed together like boxcars in a train yard. The driving got worse because well, not many cars could make the trip, but you could tell it wasnt exactly a nice place.

When Ngabisa said to stop she pointed at a path (wich looked more like a makeshift drainage system) She said her house wasnt far but Doyle,Titi, and I (good enough grammar ma?jk i lurve you) opted to walk with her anyway, it was getting pretty dark. We took the path, made a sharp left and stopped at about the third or fourth house down. The door had been busted in and a hole punched sheet was the only thing covering the crack. her mom walked out with her little brother (who was lacking any sort of lower coverage) and explained that her Father was home, and he was sick. she asked if we could pray for him. Not exactly knowing what to expect we said yes. I grabbed Doyles hand as we walked in (and prabably cut off the circulation….sorry bout that) As we walked through the curtain we eneterd a small room (a prison cell might be bigger) there were four beds one of wich was just a mat on the floor. There was stuff everywhere i was surprised we fit three people in that room, and it was so dark. No candles, electricity, flashlight, nothing. A random clothesline swung through the middle of the room. And it hit me then “This is where she lives. This is her livingroom, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, everything.and ther is just barely enough room for all of us.” So i sat on the end of the bed where her father lay. He told us not to touch him for fear of getting us sick, but at that  point i really didnt care. He continued to tell us his story::

He has pnemonia….for the past three months. He’s been to the doctor twice but it doesnt do him any good. He’s too weak to eat, much less take the pills, so he only drinks water. His wife is getting sick so its hard for them to raise the 6 kids they have (4 boys and 3 girls).And whenever he coughs it feels like he has glass shards or ice in his ribs. He used to have a Job but since he’s been sick he hasn’t left bed (ie; no money for food).

 

i just sat there and sobbed. here is a girl who is lucky enough to have both parents and all she can do is sit ther and watch as they dissapear.

i couldnt help it, i called her over and just held her as i cried. When i looked at her father i always saw mine. Her father told us that she comes home from the care point and always talks about her american friend (thats me). This girl has nothing to smile about, she’s hungry, her father is hoplessly ill, her mother is going down the same path. but she smiles and she loves me and comes to laugh and play.

It took me two days to cope with the idea that God is still in controll. But i’ve still got so much more to learn here.

 

love and blessings

Lauren