The Death of a Swazi child

This is a long blog but necessary to tell the story so please read on.This is a very sad but very common event here in Swaziland. We got word that Muzi had died he was approximately 10 years old, he died of complications from mild cerebral palsy and epilepsy (seizure disorder). But we are comforted to know that Muzi is resting now without the pains of hunger and the agony of living in a twisted little body. What I really want to share is the differences in the events after some one dies here in Africa compared to the states.I had the blessing to help minister to this family these past few days in many ways one in which was to help them pay for and make the funeral arrangements. This is where the big differences come into play. Muzi died at home so the family-the dad in this case had to take little Muzi's body to the mortuary, probably in the back of a bakki (small pick up truck). The next step is for the family to go and make the arrangements. First we arrive at the mortuary a beautiful building in Manzini that compares to one of the kings palaces and so it should, business is good they have an average of eleven(11) bodies per day. The staff are very well dressed and business like well I should say very business like very little to no compassion to or for the family. We were directed place to place, first the show room where they have the different type coffins most of which are made from press board wood with a plastic liner. the family picked the little one in the corner the price was E900 (approx. 110 us dollars)then we were directed to go down the steps to get the invoice and then back up to the cashier which by the way is sitting behind a glass that has a privacy blind covering it, you slide the invoice and money under the glass and after a few moments of silence out pops your change and receipt. The next step was to go back downstairs and wait in a cold non decorated room to be called back to the prep room but since the mortuary was about to close, nearly the end of the business day we were ask to come back tomorrow. Day two we arrived a little past 10am and once again directed the the cold non decorated room to waite for an hour and a half to be called to the prep room. All of this to have the family prepare the body for burial, yes the family does this, undresses the body if applicable, washes the body and dresses the body as this is being done by the family another 5 bodies are present in the room some already in coffins others awaiting family to arrive so they to can do the same as this family. Mortuary staff are coming in and out of the room taking care of other duties, moving bodies around, shuffling empty and occupied coffins, hey business must go on there are many more waiting.After all this and if you have paid the extra fees now it is time for the coffin and body to be taken back to the homestead. This is done after the family and any friends have had prayer and sang a song or two. All this while a mortuary worker stands by eagerly awaiting to move to the next step, this is understandable many more bodies to move get them in get them out never a shortage of bodies. The little coffin is wheeled out side to an awaiting bakki yes a small pickup truck were it is placed in the bed of the truck along with any family members that want to ride and all do there is no other means of transport and it is tradition to ride with the coffin. After arriving at the homestead the little coffin is taken in the house by the one mortuary worker and a family member, the little coffin is placed in the corner on the floor of what we would call a living room this however is an all purpose room, sitting, sleeping and if rainy weather cooking but now it will serve as the holding place before the burial. The family will now conduct a night vigil. Extended family and members of the village/community will come, they will sing, pray and eat the meal little Muzi's family has prepared yes the family of the one who has died prepares the meal and by the way are judged as to how well they have provided for the guests buy what they serve. Just after sunrise the family and few friends will take the coffin by foot to the grave site that is approximately 1 1/2 km away. The shallow hole was dug by hand by a family member, at this point a pastor, family member will say a few words ,more singing and praying now it is time to cover the coffin with the earth in which the coffin and body inside will soon return. The body was not embalmed and the press wood will not last many months. As you can see there is a big difference in the process that families have to go through after the death of a loved one. But before any of us become critical or judgemental we need to remember the western world (USA) is half a world away and the cultures are different, yea life here is more "in your face" but the people endure and somehow find happiness even in the day to day struggles. At times I think they are the lucky ones, life pure and simple. This westerner really got a cultural shock this day but once again God has reminded me why I am here, to help give them hope and hopes name IS JESUS, to God be the glory how blessed we are. Thanks to all of you that help us stay here and minister to the people of Swaziland, bless you all.
Donald/Diane

Small Things

Diane and I had the pleasure of hosting a team of 36 from the USA a couple of weeks ago. Mission of Mercy (a child sponsorship organization) in which Children’s cup is in partnership with was the state side host. I must say this was one of the best teams we have had here in Swaziland. We knew this was going to be a great team to work with when one of the members was creative with a zip lock bag on the four hour bus ride from Johannesburg, (not many chances for public restrooms). Everyone was very eager to minister in whatever way needed. They ministered in so many ways they sang, danced, moved tons of dirt and rock by hand, painted walls of care points, painted faces, created and painted murals, built a soccer field, laughed and yes there were many tears and they just loved on the many children. The one common word I heard during the week was “Small things” this was in reverence of what they were doing during the week – small things. But the cool thing was and is, we all serve a BIG GOD! And He takes even the smallest of things done in His name and makes them really big. Children’s cup’s theme bible verse is Matthew 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple. I tell you the truth he will certainly not lose his reward”. Many seeds of faith were planted during the week, many seeds were watered and we know of at least ten souls harvested to the glory of God and to Him we give the honor and thanks. Thank you “MoM team 36”.
We also are staying busy ministering in whatever way God allows. We have been given responsibility of another care point – LudzeLudze, although this has been a feeding site for many months now the building is brand new. This is one of the care points the MoM team worked on. It is located in a small poor village/community, the children have lots of need and we have seen how most all of them are so receptive of the love and hope we try to show and give them (Hopes name is Jesus), they like to play games and all the other stuff kids like to do. At present this care point does not have a formal built area for cooking the daily meal so the volunteer community cooks prepare the meals in the open near the only tree that is close to the care point. We ask that you help us pray for this care point the children and this community.
Another prayer request is for Longcebo an 8 year old little girl we saw during one of the medical clinics that we hold at the care points. Longcebo has a very large heart murmur and needs open heart surgery to correct. Jessie (our missionary nurse) and I have been working with the Swazi and South African government to get all the paperwork necessary so we can take her to South Africa for the life saving surgery. We hope this can take place in the next few weeks. We know God’s hand will be on Longcebo.
Hope you all enjoy the pictures.
As always a BIG Thank you and God bless you all for the prayers and support.
Donald & Diane

Some Pictures

Sewing Classes and other things

In the picture above: Nontobeko Shabango, Nokwethu Lokotfwalco, Sphcsihle Bhembe, Thembi Mncina, and the teacher Dudu Mbetse. These are the young ladies that we are teaching sewing to. They have begun to make projects now, one of which are placemats for them to sell to some of our incoming teams. These girls are really energetic and wanting to learn new things. Pray that we will be able to teach them to sew and then they will have a way to make money once they are too old to come to the CarePoints. We currently have one electric sewing machine and a couple of hand crank ones. For some of you who don’t know what that is…..you have to crank the handle for each stitch you make..it is really tiring and hard to guide the material with only one hand. Some of the profits made from the sales of items they make will go back into replenishing the material and thread to be able to make more projects. Pray for this ministry to the teens.
Yesterday we had a serve day at our CarePoint. It was the last day of school for the children for 3 weeks, but the CarePoints will stay open each day to do the daily feeding. The two teachers and two cooks traded places for the day and we were there to help with the cooking. Pray for our cooks and teachers. The teachers are paid a little but the cooks do this daily as volunteers. It really takes a lot of work to prepare the food. There are 2 large black kettles set into a concrete structure and you build a fire under them and they cook for several hours. The menu yesterday was sugar beans ( almost like pinto beans) and mealie (which looks like cream potatoes but has the consistency of grits). Donald built the fires under the pots and I served the mealie and pintos to each child. We ate with the children and I have to say the Pinto’s were absolutely delicious..although I am not big on the mealie. We had a good day playing with the children. Donald had one child that stayed on his back like riding a horse for quite a long time. I am posting some of the pictures of the children from yesterday. Please keep them in your prayers also..they are so precious. For several months the lower part of the property at our CarePoint has been under construction from the city. They finally finished and filled in the holes so now we were able to plant a garden, everyone chipped in..we planted onions, spinach, beets and lettuce. This will be good to add to the beans and mealie once they are ready.
I have posted a picture of Donald in his official Birthday hat that Children’s cup makes you wear when you are in the office all day ( the guy with him is K.B. who works with the cooks discipleship)..sorry to say the children did not sing to him this year but everyone got a real kick out of the hat..

This month we have started 40 days of prayer. Please remember to pray for these children, their health, their spiritual wellbeing and the ministry that Children’s Cup provides to them each and every day.
Please check out this link.. http://fortydays.childrenscup.org/
God Bless each of you…Love in Christ, Don & Diane

Just a little peek at our week

This month we have started 40 days of prayer. Please remember to pray for these children, their health, their spiritual wellbeing and the ministry that Children’s Cup provides to them each and every day.
Please check out this link.. http://fortydays.childrenscup.org/
Last week we gave a party to the teenagers that danced at the conference that was held in May, I know, it has been a couple of months but they enjoyed it anyway. They are beginning to be asked to dance at various churches in Swaziland. They are very good. We had cake, cheesy poofs and juice. All in all I think they enjoyed it. We also gave them a gift of the green (for the girls) and black and white (for the boys) hoodies. I think they really liked them.
We visited a CarePoint being newly built. We have a Mission of Mercy team coming in a week and a half for which Donald and I will be the missionary host. They will be painting a mural on the inside / outside of this building. Hopefully it will be ready for the children to use… the food is being prepared under the trees at the entrance and the children eat under the trees.
4th picture: Healing Place Church held the first ever HIV/ AIDS testing for anyone in our congregation that would like to know what their status is without going to a “clinic” in the area.. The ones in the picture are Pastor Ben and wife Susan. All in all there were 87 people tested and only 10 were positive. This is great, now they know their status they can start medication which will help with the effects. I will let Donald blog about this..he knows more about it than I do.
All in all…I know God is working here..as the first pictues states ***
Jesus is here..and anything can happen!!!
Thank you all for helping us to fulfill God’s plan for our lives.
We love you all and thank you from the bottom of our hearts. May God Bless each one of you..
Donald & Diane

Swazi Children/ same but different

Looking at the pictures I posted above you would think these are normal everyday children. But as the title states, they are….. but just different. Even though, they are making crazy faces, laughing and singing there are some of these children who are experiencing issues that should only be for adults. These children seem to be able to laugh and play though everything they may be going through in their home life. Most of these children have experienced death at a very early age, they have lost one or both of their parents to the disease that has run rampant thought-out Swaziland. Some of these children only get their meals and comfort by coming to the CarePoint. They are taught about God and his love. It is so cute that they stand at your car see their reflection make faces and watch themselves.
God is Good!!!
That is how they continue to play and be children. Here is a view of what it is like when you walk into a CarePoint .
The children run to meet you and take your hand, rub your arms, touch your hair, look up and smile, giggle and pull you along with them. They will stay around you like you are “candy”, when you sit down they will come and sit on your lap. They will try to talk to you in SiSwati and English. Wanting to be played with, and loved on. This is just a small part of what God has called us to minister here in Swaziland . Thank you all for helping us to continue his work.
This month we have started 40 days of prayer. Please remember to pray for these children, their health, their spiritual wellbeing and the ministry that Children’s Cup provides to them each and every day.
Please check out this link.. http://fortydays.childrenscup.org/
God Bless each of you…Love in Christ, Don & Diane

Thaudeka

Thaudeka was a precious 12 year old Swazi girl we have gotten word that she has died. Thaudeka died of complications related to AIDS. She contracted AIDS from her own Dad. He raped her because he had believed the lie that if you raped a virgin you would be cured from the Aids virus. It is very hard to understand how a Dad can do such a horrible thing to his own child, but sin does horrible things. I would like to say this is a rare occurrence here in Swaziland but I cannot because this happens frequently. It is very hard sometimes not to become very angry and judge mental but I am reminded of what God says in His word that vengeance is His and we are to Love our neighbor. My anger and sadness turns to gladness when now I think of the splendor and happiness that Thaudeka is feeling right now as she rests in the arms of Jesus. No more pain, no one abusing her, no one touching her in ways no one and especially a 12 year old girl should be touched. But now feeling the tender loving touch of our Lord and savior Jesus. Thaudeka’s dad died of Aids sometime ago, I also hope he is feeling the same as his daughter but chances are he never understood the terrible sinful thing he had done and never repented, and now he is felling pain that has been increased a thousand times over to last throughout all eternity. Please pray for the vulnerable children her in Swaziland and for us to show them the Love of Jesus. On a brighter note God is at work, lives are being changed, people are being saved spiritual and physically, we conducted two community clinics a few weeks ago with a visiting medical team from South Carolina (man it was good to hear some southern slang) 410 patients were seen in just over four hours and all that agreed to be tested for AIDS were HIV negative! To God is the glory. The odds are one in three people here are HIV positive so this tells us God is honoring the work that is being done. Thank you for your prayers and for your support that helps us help others. Until our next post uNkulunkulu Busisa (God Bless).

AHH...

Well, finally get some time to write. There is so much to write about since the last posting for which I appologise. The last couple of weeks have really been busy. As I mentioned before we had around 84 people which came from the US to help Healing Place Church put on a conference for the pastors here in Swaziland. The focus of the conference was to minister to and help the pastors. The culture here is different from in the U.S. Pastors here do not come together anytime as a group, they do not have an ongoing relationship with their congregation or the community. This conference was to help empower them and bring them together so that maybe in the long term they will also help with the issues in the communities. During the conference I was in charge of the budgets for the groups and making sure they had accommodations each night and dinners. It was fun..but there was a lot to do, and Thank the Lord it came off without many problems. I have finally wrapped up all the receipts and other items to where today is a rest day for me. Kristin Evans and I were responsible for the costumes for around 20 CarePoint teenagers to do a dance each night. ( I made the skirts) I am going to try to post the video on this blog..(hopefully it will work) We were fortunate enough to go with Greg & Kristin’s group when they visited a game park so we were able to see the animals up close and personal. Thanks to TLC church in Memphis Tenn. For their hospitality ! The sun is shining today; we have had about 3 days of rain and cold temperatures. We have burnt a lot of wood trying to keep the dampness out of the house. We have not been having any heat at all until now. It has just been 2 pairs of sox, 2 shirts, flannel pj bottoms and a scarf. Reminds me kind of like frosty the snowman...ha ha. Soon we will be back on a normal routine and visiting our CarePoint more in the coming weeks so I will have much more to write about. This coming Wednesday, June 17th will be our 30th wedding anniversary and how blessed we will be to be spending it in Swaziland. Time sure does fly...and I know I am getting older when you read this you will know also. I finally caught my sister-in-law on face book the other night and she said “ just read that Leslie had her baby” well, I thought and then responded “Leslie who?” and she came back with “ ha ha very funny, your cousin Leslie” well, I had totally forgotten .. When we received the news she was expecting we were in the middle of trying to sell everything and wrap everything up to move here and I totally forgot. So, maybe it wasn’t totally old age...ha ha . Congratulations Leslie.. Going to say bye for now. Will write again soon. Oh, wanted to tell The AWANA class at Piney Grove Chapel thank you for all your cards. We will write and mail you some replies, I know AWANA is over for the summer but wanted to let you know we got them..Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers and thanks to our good friends Tracy and Daniel for the Potato soup recipe..um um good..and try to post a picture of a friend we had visit…yuck..I hate spiders.. Love you all.. Diane

See-ahh-bone-ahh

That is the way we as Americans pronounce the name of this child. He is at our CarePoint (Moneni). Today we visited our CarePoint and he came directly up to me speaking SiSwati and pointing his little hands towards 2 stray dogs which had found their way into the CarePoint fence. I guess he was trying to tell me about the dogs, so I in turn looked him in the face and said ruff-ruff…dog..(Since my SiSwati is not good at all ) he also repeated the sound I had made for the dog. The rest of the time I was there he stayed next to me and constantly looked at me and said ruff-ruff and chased me around holding his little bowl of rice which he had not eaten. School is out for the next couple of weeks but the CarePoint still feeds the children. Each child brings a stick or piece of wood which helps when cooking the food the next day, and in turn they receive a bowl of rice and beans or Pop depending on what is cooked that day. (The piece of wood is not required to be able to eat, it is just helpful). This little boy is just one of many sweet children at this CarePoint and as we continue to serve here and oversee this CarePoint I will continue to try to post pictures and tell some stories about the children. Please continue to pray for them.
Thanks to you all...God Bless


The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Romans 8:15-17

Something interesting

This Friday, April 24, 2009, is another serve day for the Children’s cup staff and missionaries, it is the last day of school for 3 weeks. Our role in this day is to help the teachers and cooks do their everyday job at the CarePoints we oversee. Ours is called Moneni. This will be a good day for us to see exactly what goes into one day’s work at the CarePoint. I will try to post pictures and write another blog after we go.
Over the next few weeks we will be very busy. I have mentioned before that we will be hosting a large group of pastors the last week of May into the first week of June. Pastor Ben has put me in charge of the financial side. I never realized how much it took to schedule and bring in groups of people. I have to make sure that the meals, rooms, transport, game park visits are paid for and missionaries have enough money for extra items that may come up. This will be a really busy time for all, but am looking forward to it. Ben has left for the US this week for an ARC conference being held at a church in Clayton so I have sent a CD containing a power point presentation for our church. He should deliver it to Amanda this Saturday night when the original mission trip group gets together in Dunn for a reunion. Wish we could be there to see the old gang..(ha ha).. but Amanda is going as our stand in and will be able to be with them for us and to meet Ben for the first time.
Speaking of the old gang..we will have “ company” here at our house this coming July 4th. Brett Asher, one of the men who went with us on the original mission trip in 2007 is coming back to Swaziland for a visit and will be staying with us..We went yesterday and purchased a bed so he will have something soft to lay on instead of the hard cold tile floor. I asked him to bring a set of sheets because the sheets you buy here are like sandpaper, I told him that I did not think his wife, Pam, would appreciate him coming back home to her with no skin. He agreed!!
It is getting colder here. Last night I had a shirt, sweater, flannel pants and 2 pair of socks and was wrapped up on the couch with a heavy blanket and that was just right. And they tell us it is not as cold as it is going to be in mid June and July…(not looking forward to that). So Brett, if you are reading this blog, you better bring some “long johns”. We found what is the equivalent of an electric blanket, it is the opposite, instead of it being like a blanket it is like a fitted sheet that goes over the mattress and under the sheet and has duel controls for each side. That is really good because you can cut it on before you get into the bed and the bed is warm for you, the nights before we found this the sheets were like ice and it was hard to get warm. Thank you Lord!!
Just a short note: I found a vegetable that we call yellow squash, it is named yellow pity pats here and it looks like a small yellow ball. I quickly bought almost all they had and came home cut it up and cooked it with onion…yep, taste like our yellow squash…but the sad news is that I went back to the market the next day and “no pity pats.. So much for the almost home taste. Last night I ate Lamb for the first time. Donald put it on the grill like steak and it was rather good. Most meats (with the exception of Chicken) have a funny flavor and are very hard for me to eat. Maybe it was because I did not know what to expect for the taste of the Lamb, but it was good. Bread here is different also, it is baked daily at the grocery store and you cannot keep it (even in the refrigerator) for over a day or two because it starts to grow green mold, they do not put preservatives in most everything they make so it doesn’t last as long but it is better for you. It is the same with cheeses. The eggs sold here are brown and are not cleaned up when you get them, it is like they just take them from under the chicken and put them in the container for the store, they are date stamped though…(I would rather them be cleaned). Sorry to ramble on but just wanted to give you some insite on the life here in Swaziland.
We received several cards from our friends at church this week and they are such a blessing and encouragement to us. Thank you all…for your prayers and your support. ( and thank you for taking care of our family) We could not be here if it were not for all of you…God Bless and will blog again soon..

Easter Week in review

Today is Easter Sunday, How precious what this day stands for. We have had a long week here in Swaziland, The church started 7 days of serveolution. Each day we did something different for the community to show God’s love in action. The Second day two groups of church members went to a “homestead” to rebuild the mud and rock walls of a house for a poor woman. Homesteads are outside of the communities and are usually built of rocks dropped in-between sticks and packed with mud. They also mixed bags of concrete and concreted the floor which was once red mud. The third day is Sunday, We will not have a church service instead we will be going out as a group to clean up the local “kombie” rink. A group painted the concrete walls orange and the remainder of us walked and picked up trash from the ground. We received “thank you” from a lot of the locals. Third day was to cook and feed around 250 people. We all gathered at Pastor Ben’s home and cooked rice, beef stew, butternut squash and carrots for carrot slaw.( both of which had to be peeled by hand) We served it into containers and carried it out to a service station and offered it with “Love from Jesus” to the people, some of which were afraid to take it because food is not so freely given here in Swaziland. Day 4 began with low clouds and rain and looked like our plans for the day would be called off, but no, it gave a better reason to have your windshield or windscreen as they call it here, to be washed. Groups went to two different petrol stations and washed windshields for anyone stopping to get fuel for their car..in the Love of Jesus. Then “hot dogs” were cooked and served to all the employees and others who worked at the stations. Day 5 was taking packets that consisted of a wash cloth, tooth brush, soap, and toothpaste to patients in the local government hospital. I was head of the Make group of ladies; Make is pronounced Mog-gay which means Mother. So us older women –Makes- were in one group. They were the most wonderful women, they started singing the moment we got into the kombi( small minivan) and did not stop the whole way there and even the whole way back. Please pray for the people in the Government hospital, most of them are sent there to die, But, us Makes helped to lead 2 women to the Lord. So there will be two more souls in heaven. Day 6 consisted of cooking meat and rice and delivering it to the local bank branch and to the police station to also let them know that Jesus loves them. This brings us to Good Friday night. This night we showed the movie “the PASSION OF THE CHRIST” Can you remember how it was the first time you saw it?? Having to read sub-titles in English and trying to see the movie?? well, it was the same movie…so the Swazi’s had to read the English subtitles also, but like the Bible says, my word will not return void, we had 20 to accept the Lord Jesus as savior.. He speaks in all languages. Today is Easter Sunday. Our service was a little different than past Easters for us but good none the less. Pastor Ben really got everyone’s attention with the real coffin he had brought on stage. This one was an actual one used for burial here it reminds me of the old Dracula movies just a oblong box with only a small draping of material inside the box and a small pillow. There are bolts with fancy wing nuts which are used to screw down the flat lid over the body no fancy wheels or draping, no vaults in the ground.. just a plain white box. It made a good representation of how if we are saved there is nothing to be afraid of because only our flesh will be there and our souls will be with Christ.
I hope each one who reads this blog will realize how much we can be a witness even without a sermon.
Bless you all and hoping you have a blessed Sunday and remember what EASTER really means. We are really thankful to be a part of God’s family..Thank you all for your prayers and support. Love you ALL!!

Just a few pictures

Moneni

Donald and I have been assigned a CarePoint . The name of our CarePoint is Moneni. It will be another week before we will be taken and introduced to the teachers, cooks and children. I am really looking forward to starting to make a relationship with them and to spread the gospel. We have been told by the previous missionary that “it's a tough place physically and spiritually, the teacher’s cooks and staff are precious but it takes a while to break down their walls and Moneni as a community has a dis-proportionate percent of HIV, STI and sexual abuse. Many kids are orphaned or double orphaned, and one child lives with her 24 cousins in one house”. Most of the teenagers in the community have little or no education so if we can bring in some skill training for them it would help. Once we begin to get more involved there will definitely be more postings on the blog and prayer needed.
Donald is attending a class all this week in HIV and will learn more about the culture. I was suppose to attend this also but at the last minute they canceled 3 slots and it is more important for Donald to go than I. Another class will be offered later in the year and I will try to go then. Today I am at home writing emails to family in the form of a word document so that when we go to the office and if the internet is up and running I can just copy and paste into email and send, you have to be quick sometimes because if you try to write long emails the chances are that it will go down before you finish.
In May Children’s cup is hosting a pastors conference here in Swaziland for the Association of Churches where there will be around 150+ pastors and members coming. That will be our first taste of hosting a group of visitors. We will be responsible for a small group and will be showing them around and even supervise some activities that is planned for them at the CarePoints, like building , painting, and even feeding the children. When we have visiting groups each of the Missionaries takes a turn at hosting, but with this large a group we will ALL be hosting this time. I am looking forward to it.
This past Saturday we decided to take a drive up to one of our furtherest CarePoints about 2 hours away from where we live. It was a nice drive and on the way we spotted 3 giraffes and a large heard of wildebeest. No Elephants or Zebra’s but it was still a wonderful drive. Not something that is routine in the states but…. As much as I am a routine person, Life here is still not routine, and I don’t think it will ever be.
Thank each and everyone who is supporting us both by monetarily and especially with your prayers, please continue and we know you are……. we can see it working in our lives here everyday.
God Bless and know we Love each and everyone of you..

SAY WHAT ??

Just thought I would let you in on the language of SiSwati… It is hard for a southern girl to pronounce..
1. I sing all the time. Ngi hlabela sonkhe sikhatsi.
(I sing all the time)
2. They teach the Word of God. Ba fundzisa livi leNkhosi.
(The teach the Word of the Lord)
3. You ask a lot of questions. U buta imibuto leminengi.
(You ask questions that are many)
4. I understand you. Ngi ya kuva
(I you understand)
5. We give food to the children. Si pha bantfwana kudla
(We give the children food)
Ok, so I know a lot of you have been wanting more information on our house and car so I am posting this small picture (hopefully).. God has been so gracious to us, Children’s Cup has rental houses under contract just for their missionaries. This house was a previous missionary couple who returned to the States, so we were very lucky to get this one. So far everything, our Car, our furniture and all the kitchen accessories and appliances including 2 months rent has come from our personal savings account and not from the ministry budget. We have not spent any of our ministry budget as of yet. God has made sure that our personal money has stretched further that we could ever imagine. All of the missionaries here told us to make our home our sanctuary a place we could come home to for peace and warmth because everything you see here and are involved in day to day will eventually take its toll. From the blessings of God we have done just that. Thank you all for your prayers and contributions we know God will bless each of you.
This past Sunday after morning service, we got a chance to eat lunch with a group visiting from the Oasis Church. The Pastor who preached from the group is from Phoenix but is originally from South Carolina. We went to a local hotel and ate from the buffet which cost E 250.00 (the E stands for Emilinigini ) for both of us to eat and that is not including our Coke lights..(AKA =Diet Coke) Anyway, on the buffet there was a bowl which contained home cooked pork skins..yum..he had noticed my plate and asked what it was..when he found out he went and got some for himself and said it reminded him of “home”. Like we have said, everything is almost the same but different.
After the meal we were invited to execution rock to hike approx. 6 miles straight up.. ha ha, not me..but Donald took them up on it. The time was late when they left the restaurant for the hike so they drove half way then walked to the top. He has some good pictures but I have to figure out how to download them from his cell phone. They saw mountain lion tracks and a huge alligator in one of the ponds. He said he almost did not make it all the way to the top. Since we are at such a high altitude it seems harder to walk or run I have definitely noticed that. Well guess I better go for now. Thank you again for your prayers, we know you are praying for us we can see it everyday.

Short Thank you note

Luke 18:28-30 Then Peter said, “Look we have left what we had and followed You.” So He said to them, “ I assure you: There is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers, parents or children because of the kingdom of God, Who will not receive many times more at this time, and eternal life in the age to come.”
Oh, how I am reminded of the truth of how this verse is definitely working in our life. Yesterday, I could not remember what I had done with my wallet. Mind you there is not a lot in it but everything that is in it is very vital to us here. One of our dear missionary friends (Karen) said a prayer for me and in 15 minutes Donald found it in the car floorboard for where it had been all night and that day and by God’s grace it did not fall out when the doors had been opened several times that day. Today we received our vehicle after 2 weeks of waiting for it to come in on a ship from Japan. Everyone had told us that the cars usually come in very dirty and would need a full going over by a mechanic, new fluids, belts and possibly tires. ( We learned from another missionary couple that tires are very, very expensive) but to our amazement the vehicle looks terrific and is very clean and upon Donald’s inspection it looks like the fluids are new and the belts also, and so are the tires. Thank you Jesus….these are just a few of the examples of what God has done for us every day since we arrived here in Swaziland. It seems that God is working in our lives just like the verse says. We have received so many blessings beginning with getting great “deals” on furniture for the house. This is my short note of thanks to he who makes all things possible and always holds to his promises. Diane

The Same Just Different

"The same just different" that is what you hear most of the missionaries say alot here, Diane and I are also beginning to pick up on that saying. The weather here is the same as in NC just different it is hotter more dry, the meat here is the same just different pork? and beef? just does not taste the same, but we are getting accustom to it. I could go on and on about the differences here but I think you all get the point but there is one thing here that is the same people are hurting they have needs, wants,desires they want to be loved just like people all over the world wants love. And yes there is something else here that is the same all over the world and universe for that matter and that is GOD, He is the same as He was yesterday and will be the same tomorrow. God wants the same for His precious people in Swaziland as He does in any other place in the world, for them to Know Him through knowing His son The Lord Jesus, and by the grace of God we are going to make sure they do just that to know the love of God and what He has done for them through His son Jesus.

We are still setteling in, we are in "our home" now but will take some time to get everything together we just have to keep reminding ourselfes we are now on Swazi time and that is a lot slower than US time, just takes longer for things to come together.Diane is in South Africa for the next few days with Sandra another cup missionary (Sandra for some R&R Diane for shopping for more things for the house) so please pray for their safety.Next week we both hope to be able to focus more on the medical program and just loving on the kids showing them Jesus. As always Thank You to all our supporters and surely Piney Grove for helping us be here to do the work God has called us to do. We will try and up date as often as we can (internet VERY slow). Until next post God Bless you all and know we miss you all.

Donald/Diane

Learning the differences

Yes, some things are done the same but most are different. We went shopping at the SPAR for groceries parking cost 2 rand and you even have to pay for a shopping cart. There is lettuce here but no head lettuce just leaf lettuce. Cucumbers are very large and look a lot like zucchini which looks like small skinny green cucumbers.
Driving here is interesting. Driving on the left side of the road is not too bad but the right turns are something else ( you have to remember to end up on the left side) Stoplights are called robots here, they are very hard to see and are basically hidden. Also, some roads have no stop signs but it is faintly written on the road itself. We do not have our own car yet, but it is in the works, hopefully in the next few weeks. We have been driving the spare vehicle that Children’s cup has.
We have met several great friends and the missionaries here have a good support network.

Donald held his first clinic with the Swazi nurse kosilathati on Friday Feb 6th . There was a 7 month old which Donald diagnosed as toxic epidermal necrolysis ( infection so bad it is blistering the skin and turning the lips blue) she was marked for urgent to go to the “government hospital” but could not be taken until Monday. Donald prayed with the babies Gogo (care giver/grandmother) that God would take care of her baby HE did the baby died Saturday morning. So now she is with the Lord and not in any more pain. This is a frequent occurrence this is “normal” for Swaziland.
There was a little boy age 4 named MUSU who was a child of a member of the church here who just died from TB. The funerals here are a lot different than at home, they must bury the body before the sun rises, so the funeral starts and goes all night then burial before sun up.
While Donald was doing the clinics I went with Sandra to one of her Carepoints Called Fontane, there were about 150 children divided into 2 groups they were taught the Bible Story about Sampson and Delilah they seemed to be able to answer questions about a serving heart for Christ. Afterward we gave out wedge sandals to only the girls that were sent over in a container from some company in the US> you should have seen their faces light up..Even the teachers and cooks received a pair, one of them danced around and sang “thanks my Jesus” Such a blessing to be a part of this..
We are trying to get into what will be “home” here. Very slow finding things to buy and getting them delivered. We are hoping to be in the house in the next week or so. Will post pictures when we can.
Internet here is very sporratic so blogging will be “when ever we can” Thanks to all of you who are PRAYING for us and thank you for all your support. Keep reading .
God Bless, till we blog again..

WE’RE HERE !!

This is the real beginning of our journey, we are now where GOD has called us to be and the joyful work of the Lord will be administered.
Sunday February 1st. Our day began with worshiping at our home church. Lunch with our family and a long drawn out packing fest which consisted of one visit to the one and only…… Wal-Mart for more luggage. Watching our grandson try to pack himself in one of the suitcases closing the lid and saying “Hep me” We stayed up all night packing so we will sleep on the long flight after we leave Atlanta??

Monday, February 2nd, since we did not sleep we continued our Good bye with our Grandson for which Amanda & Travis took him to daycare. Then pack the Church Van (very appreciative for the use) My sister came with us to the airport, Our Pastor Timmy Blair and Youth Pastor Tim Lynch met us there for support.. and we really needed it. It was very hard saying good bye. The last thing my daughter whispered in my ear was “ Go tell them about Jesus, Mom.” How blessed to have a daughter that even though it breaks her heart for her parents to be moving over 8 thousand miles away that she understands the call of God and how important it is. Thank you Jesus!! So 11:30am we are off..The flight was a smooth one and so was our connection to Atlanta..In Atlanta we had enough time to eat lunch, Mexican..my favorite, not so much Donald’s but it was the closest food to the departure gate. 4:30 pm board Delta for a very long flight approximately 9 hours over the ocean to Senegal (a short stop for refuel). Off again for another 9 hours to Johannesburg (Joberg for short). The flights have been great, no turbulence but also no sleep for me (much) .

Tuesday, February 3rd, 5:30 pm arrived in Joberg. After receiving the good news that our luggage (all 8 pieces) arrived with us but were checked straight through to a holding bldg. till Wed. morning when our final flight will leave for Manzini. We crossed the street and took a shuttle bus over to a nice hotel called the Southern Sun. ( Appropriately since we are southern and we are to be a bright and shining light in the darkness for Jesus..) After a nice meal (for which I not thinking ordered TEA, Tea here is served warm, which I enjoyed) in the hotel restaurant we went up to our room and…. Oh please, let me ship the bed to our new home in Mbabane, it was wonderful, reminded me of dreams of jumping into a big pile of feathers…Needless to say I slept like a baby till 4 AM Wednesday morning .

Wednesday, February 4th, 4am Joberg time, 9:00 pm Tuesday night U.S time. The internet was not free so we bought a few minutes and tried to connect with our daughter who was out and about with our Pastor’s wife, Wendy, God bless her, she took Amanda for the day to try to keep her mind off missing us.(.Love you Wendy.. and Timmy) and back to their home to eat dinner for which our Pastor prepared. Run, Run, Run through the airport, the passport area took longer than we expected but we did make the flight..This flight was a lot different, this was a 29 passenger prop propeller tiny plane but they served a very good breakfast. It was cloudy so I could not see much of the country side as Donald did when he flew in April of 2008 but as we were landing you could see the large mountains and rock..it was beautiful and since it is summer here in Swaziland everything is green, but also very wet. They have a cyclone off the coast and it has brought a lot of rain. 8:00 AM We step off the tiny plane and the Airport is painted very colorful and it is very small, quaint. We were picked up at the airport by one of our fellow missionaries, Sandra Chesterman. She and house-mate Jessie will be our neighbors. We could not believe that ALL 8 pieces of luggage arrived with us. This is very rare; usually it can be as long as weeks before you receive your entire luggage since the plane is so small there is not much room on the flight. Sandra informed us that the plans had changed for a couple of days due to her and Jessie were having to drive to Joberg to pick up a child who had surgery several weeks ago and they were finally letting her come back home. So for the next few days we will be kind of on our own. The Rogers have a house keeper named ma-gay Joice who will be fixing us meals. So we start unpacking some of the suit cases, don’t want to unpack a lot since we do not know how long we will be here in the Guest house before we move to our house. It has rained solid since we hit the ground this morning. We received our first visitors today, 2 missionaries Greg and Kristen since ma-gay Joice prepared lunch (a lot of food) We invited them to join us then they were so kind as to drive us over to where our house is located, we could not go up the hill to the house since we did not have access to the gate. Our house is having some light repairs done since the house was previously rented by a few bachelors. Lunch consisted of a type of vegetable beef stew to go over some spiral noodles and homemade rolls, yes rolls, better than the ones they serve at Golden Corral. I will have to get her to teach me how to make them. Things are cooked different here due to the altitude we are at. So with a full stomach and a sightseeing tour we came back to the guest house and with it being cool and damp and raining outside we both decided to take a nap. The nap for me consisted of about 4 hours, did not realize how tired we were.

Wednesday night 9 pm : As I sit here at the counter typing this blog and drinking hot tea, I am thanking our most gracious heavenly father , our family, church family and friends who have made this possible though donations and prayers. Please continue to pray for us, we have a lot of work ahead of us here. Thank you and God’s Blessings to you all.

Ticking down

Well, we have moved out of the house, big transition needless to say. We are now living with our daughter, son-in-law and grandson. Things are going well but I am afraid that when Feb. 2nd comes it may make leaving a bit hard...Time is really ticking down, pray for us all.
We look around and know that God is all around. Thanks to God, and
Once again a big thank you to all our supporters.