Some Pics

Some Pictures from Camp

Death and Camp

Death is so common here. It seems as if the Swazi people we work with are always going to funerals. This is an exhausting reality both because of the emotional weight of constantly losing people and because of the funeral rituals and customs of Swaziland. Funerals are all night affairs and can include a multitude of people because it seems as if everyone is somehow related in Swaziland.

The lady we prayed with a couple of weeks ago got better for a couple of weeks. She went from lying all day on a mat to sitting up and smiling. Then this past week we heard that she got admitted to the hospital and then yesterday we heard that she passed away. She died, she’s dead. It is sad and it rips you up and it frustrates you. That lady didn’t have to die; there are multiple things you can point to. She could have gotten ARVs to prolong her life, but even before that, she could have avoided getting HIV. The morality of this Swazi society is non-existent. There is no character, righteousness, purity in this society. It probably wasn’t this lady who went out and got HIV. Her husband most likely brought it back to their marriage bed. The need for Godly men is huge in Swaziland.

I’ve kind of had some time to be silent before the Lord lately. I’ve realized the awesome responsibility that I have for setting up this camp. It truly is a life or death situation, I say that not to prop up what I’m doing or scare up images for y’all. I say it to get it in my head how important this camp will and can be. The camp can save lives; it can keep 130 or so young people from getting HIV/AIDS or spreading it. It can be a foundational turning point where these kids learn to value themselves and their lives. So much of the problem here in Swaziland is apathy and a lack of self esteem. These kids don’t have hope and so they don’t really care if they go out and get HIV/AIDS. I hope our bible club leaders, volunteers and camp counselors can get across the message that God loves each and every one of these kids. Hopefully we can build the love of Christ into their lives. Most of the kids here don’t understand just how much God loves them. We in America think of God the father and it conjures up images of a loving Dad, caretakers, the strength of the family. Most of these kids cannot translate that image of Father because in Swaziland fathers are usually absent (getting that way in America, sad to say) or cold and distant. So these kids are afraid of God and view him as a Father that is ready to beat them. It is so opposite the true nature of God…a God of love, grace and mercy. Hopefully we can reach these kids with some practical stuff about sex and puberty but more importantly, hopefully we show these kids the restorative and transforming power of Jesus and a life lived for him.

Down for the Count

So, bought some corn on the side of the road and then went to a Carepoint and ate some pop (mealie meal, corn stuff) and beans. Well about 7 hours later the puking began and it didn’t stop for 7 hours. Then I could get anything down for another 20 hours until finally some Sprite and Gatorade stayed down. It kind of sucked but I almost feel that it was an African experience for this Mulungu(white guy). I’m starting to feel better now and am glad that the experience is behind me. My lesson learned is to be more careful in the hygiene and health areas.

Today marks the day I’m getting my car here in Swaziland. This will give me some freedom which will help me to sort of get on with it. I’ll be able to start working more instead of just learning from Ben and Beano.

So I’ve realized that I really need to sit down and start learning Siswati. Before the illness I was starting to make some progress and hopefully I’ll stick with it now that I’m back to health.

Lots of Stories

It has been a busy week followed by my first weekend of rest since I’ve gotten to Africa. Last Saturday I got up early and ran a half marathon. I was pretty impressed with my result of 1 hour and 46 minutes considering I didn’t really train for it. Ben and Gabby Rehmeyer(daughter of Daran) were going to run with me but they both bailed last minute. There were some serious African distance runners that smoked me but I held my own against the average runner. That night I went to a barbeque at the AIM team house. AIM stands for Adventures in Missions and the Swazi AIM team is comprised around 15 college age kids who are here for 4 or 8 months to volunteer and intern with different ministries. It’ll be cool having some Americans here that are my age so that I can go off and let the Rodger’s family have some time alone. The AIM Team is also comprised of South Africans and a Canadian.

On the work side of things, we had a photographer from Mission of Mercy kind of fall into our lap this week. Our Children’s Cup server had been down because of Hurricane Rita and so we didn’t get the email about this photographer until Monday the day he was arriving. Eventually, we found him at a hotel. We had until 1pm on Tuesday to get the shots he needed. So we drove around like crazy trying to find certain children he needed to take pictures of. It all worked out despite many frustrating attempts to find one girl at a school only to find out later that she goes by a different name at school. Mission of Mercy is partnering with us to open up 4 Carepoints next year and these pictures were for their program launch and fundraising drive.

Nathie and I are working on a camp for 12-16 year olds from our various Carepoints. We’re working with the bible club leaders and teachers to organize the camp for the 21st-23rd of October.

Ben and I got to introduce a service group from a local high school to our Moneni Carepoint. They are going to come weekly to play games with the orphans and do some basic teaching. It is hopefully the first of many such partnerships that get churches and schools involved in our projects.

Daran, Ben, Beano and I went down to the Lowveld (basically where it’s dry and flat) and into the rural area to talk with some people at a Catholic Mission. We basically picked their brains as to the struggles and obstacles that exist to working in the rural areas. It was a good meeting and will hopefully help us as we transition into the rural areas. The contrast between urban and rural areas is the system of laws. In the urban settings there are established laws, regulations and a judicial system. Once you are in the rural areas the basic ruling party is the regional chief. The chiefdom system is complex with cultural intricacies which make it difficult to work in these rural areas. There is no such thing as judicial recourse…basically what the chief says goes. Pray that we have discernment as we start to work in the rural areas.

Ben and Beano went to Mozambique last Friday to sign registration papers and start the process of working with the orphans in that country. Ben had been asked to speak at a high school on Friday and so instead Daran and I spoke to them. I thought there were about 150 of them but Daran later told me that there were at least 400 kids there. Anyway, we got to tell them that God loves them and can do great things through them. Daran spoke first and I wrapped things up. This country has a lot of hopelessness and we told them that following Christ gives life purpose and hope. Daran did a great job and I didn’t screw it up too bad. Pray that I continue to be challenged to step outside my comfort zone.

There is more I could talk about including a man running around town with a spear in hand, rural irrigation systems, monkeys, cultural issues, AIDs statistics and such but I’ve written enough for now. Much love, thanks for the prayers and emails.