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