I want to apologize for the long time between “Blogging” things here in Swaziland have been very busy for Don and I. And time has gone bye so fast…It started several months ago when we lost a dear beloved friend “Gugu” who worked in the accounting office with Children’s Cup. I became a full time volunteer working in the office to keep things running. Since that time Don has become a “full” time volunteer working in another positon as Operations Coordinator due to one of the Cup employees resigning. So our time has been rather busy trying to split between the office jobs and our day to day missionary ministry activities with our CarePoints.
About a month ago Don and I were scheduled to host a team from Mission of Mercy with about 36 people. It was a blast and a nice break from the 8 to 5 office settings we had currently been doing. The team members were a great group of people and there were several who came on this trip that had originally been with us the very first time we came to Swaziland in 2007 on our mission trip. It was great to see them again after so long and to reminisce about how we became full time missionaries on the field. They were such a blessing to us both. Several of our previous friends came bearing gifts….:) They brought Items that we cannot get here , such as a good deodorant, great Coffee and various other items. It was sad to see them leave but we know that there will some who come back again.
We were blessed to have our church send a team of 13 over to be able to see exactly what their support had been doing since we left February of 2009. Even though we send little excerpts of our life here, I believe that now they totally understand why God has us here for this time in our lives. In other words “ They Get it”
We were also blessed about 2 weeks after Piney Grove left that our daughter , son-in law, and grandson visited. It was so nice that they also saw what we are doing here along with some “tourist vacation” days added . I thank the Lord for them being able to come see face to face why God called us to Swaziland and that we are safe and well.
Today started the first of 6 more days of Christmas Celebrations. I have to say that missionaries Danny and MaryAnn Quirion have done a wonderful job putting this celebration together. This is my first year working with the celebrations (last year I was in N.C) Everyone said the first day would be chaotic because we would be trying to set the pattern for the rest of the other CarePoint celebrations, but it was a very very organized day. The Children were wonderful and grateful. There are 7 stations and each station teaches our theme for Christmas ..which is Comfort and Joy. Don is the coordinator for our team..*we are team #2* I am helping with Crafts..the children are making fleece scarves where they add colored beads to the tassels on the end, theme….when it is cold or wet use this as a warm wrap and remember that Jesus is always our comfort and joy, warmth and is with us all the time.
We set up tents for the “birthday party for Jesus where cup cakes are given and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus….then There is a drama, the birth of baby Jesus in the stable complete with real Hay…a room where the Jesus video is being shown * THANK YOU from all of us* there was a water slip n slide and a jumping castle..We had fried chicken and pop with a soup with donated green beans …it was really good and the weather was nice/ slightly overcast but none the less HOT. We had approximately 160 children today…it was a wonderful day.
As Don and I have stated many, many times, we are so blessed to have so many prayer warriors and supporters behind us and our prayers are also for you, for without you we could not perform the daily duties that God has asked us to do in HIS name. We love you all and appreciate all of you…We thank the Lord for each and everyone.
I have started this blog 3 different times/ different days/ different weeks, so I apologize if it seems rambling or “jumpy”. There is so much I really want to write about and will I promise..and it won’t be as long next time.
Blessings and sending Love your way!!!
Don and Diane
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The passing of a freind, traditional Swazi funeral
We have been mourning the loss of a very dear friend this past week. Gugu Dlamini, 41 with 3 girls ages 14, 12 and 7. She passed to be with God due to complications from pneumonia, her lungs gave out, you see here in Swaziland ventilators are rare and that is what she needed. Gugu was the first Swazi friend we had, her smiling face would meet and never fail to greet us with a loud “ Don and D” (that is what she called us even if there was only one of us present). Here in Swaziland it is important that you greet everyone before you start any kind of business, this was rather hard for us because in the U.S. you may say hello and then go into a business conversation but here it is different. You spend time greeting and small talk for a little while before you conduct business. Gugu taught us to stop and take time to build a relationship from the heart. Gugu will be greatly missed.
We attended our first traditional Swazi wake (it is called a memorial). The memorial took place in a small church around 2PM in the afternoon. The coffin is placed horizontally in front of the pulpit (closed) and a woman stands on each side and at the foot. This service is typically 2-3 hours long so there are other women who come and switch out every so often. I was told this is to honor the person who has died. The flowers here are also different, they are what we call a “spray” but these are only about a foot long and are placed on the floor surrounding the coffin unlike our very large floral arrangements on stands. There is a lot of singing and a lot of speakers. Each speaker telling how and what that person meant in their life. The immediate family also speaks. ( All of this was performed in SiSwati language, with the exception of Gugu’s daughters). After the service the body is loaded into the funeral truck and taken several hours to the “homestead” ( these are the rural areas that each family has together) Then starts the all night vidual. Large makeshift tents are erected and the body is placed in one of the houses on the property. Family and friends come and help prepare a meal which will be served to the guest once the burial is finished. This continues all night with singing and some more speaking. We were asked if we would like to view the body, so we went into a small room, empty of furniture but full of women sitting all over the floor so much we had to step over several to get to the coffin at the far end of the room. There I was very surprised at the viewing. The entire body is shrouded by a white cloth stretched over the entire opening of the coffin with only the face appearing through a hole, no hair just face, there is no silhouette of the body, the entire opening is covered by a clear plastic shield so the body cannot be touched. This is very different from what I have been use to in the U.S. Just before sunrise (tradition because in the old days before roads people had to travel a long way to reach the burial site, so they would come early and all during the night ) the body is taken to the grave site (which has been dug by hand) located on the property, as everyone followed on foot down the mountain side. This grave is not a typical one for burial in Swaziland, the hole had been lined with cinder blocks to make what we would call a vault. Once the pastor completed his service the coffin is lowered into the grave, a blanket is put on the top and there are small logs cut the width of the grave that is placed over the coffin along with mats made from tall brown grass. Then the men are asked to take a shovel and each take turns’ shoveling the dirt into the grave while one stands and packs the dirt down. All this is taking place while the family sits and watches. There is more singing and more speaking from various people in the community. Once the grave is filled we all start the walk back up the mountain back to the homestead. By this time the sun has risen and it is around 8AM. Each one who attended the burial is given a plate of food to eat or to take on their travel back to their individual homes. It is hard for us to understand why the family watches all this being done seems like torture to us is their way of life now and has always been for the Swazi people.
I am happy to say that I am confident that Gugu is now resting in the arms of Jesus and I will see her smiling face again in Heaven.
Hopefully this gives you an insight into some of the culture here in Swaziland.
Thank you all for your continued support and prayers… God Bless you all..
Love Don & Diane
We attended our first traditional Swazi wake (it is called a memorial). The memorial took place in a small church around 2PM in the afternoon. The coffin is placed horizontally in front of the pulpit (closed) and a woman stands on each side and at the foot. This service is typically 2-3 hours long so there are other women who come and switch out every so often. I was told this is to honor the person who has died. The flowers here are also different, they are what we call a “spray” but these are only about a foot long and are placed on the floor surrounding the coffin unlike our very large floral arrangements on stands. There is a lot of singing and a lot of speakers. Each speaker telling how and what that person meant in their life. The immediate family also speaks. ( All of this was performed in SiSwati language, with the exception of Gugu’s daughters). After the service the body is loaded into the funeral truck and taken several hours to the “homestead” ( these are the rural areas that each family has together) Then starts the all night vidual. Large makeshift tents are erected and the body is placed in one of the houses on the property. Family and friends come and help prepare a meal which will be served to the guest once the burial is finished. This continues all night with singing and some more speaking. We were asked if we would like to view the body, so we went into a small room, empty of furniture but full of women sitting all over the floor so much we had to step over several to get to the coffin at the far end of the room. There I was very surprised at the viewing. The entire body is shrouded by a white cloth stretched over the entire opening of the coffin with only the face appearing through a hole, no hair just face, there is no silhouette of the body, the entire opening is covered by a clear plastic shield so the body cannot be touched. This is very different from what I have been use to in the U.S. Just before sunrise (tradition because in the old days before roads people had to travel a long way to reach the burial site, so they would come early and all during the night ) the body is taken to the grave site (which has been dug by hand) located on the property, as everyone followed on foot down the mountain side. This grave is not a typical one for burial in Swaziland, the hole had been lined with cinder blocks to make what we would call a vault. Once the pastor completed his service the coffin is lowered into the grave, a blanket is put on the top and there are small logs cut the width of the grave that is placed over the coffin along with mats made from tall brown grass. Then the men are asked to take a shovel and each take turns’ shoveling the dirt into the grave while one stands and packs the dirt down. All this is taking place while the family sits and watches. There is more singing and more speaking from various people in the community. Once the grave is filled we all start the walk back up the mountain back to the homestead. By this time the sun has risen and it is around 8AM. Each one who attended the burial is given a plate of food to eat or to take on their travel back to their individual homes. It is hard for us to understand why the family watches all this being done seems like torture to us is their way of life now and has always been for the Swazi people.
I am happy to say that I am confident that Gugu is now resting in the arms of Jesus and I will see her smiling face again in Heaven.
Hopefully this gives you an insight into some of the culture here in Swaziland.
Thank you all for your continued support and prayers… God Bless you all..
Love Don & Diane
Thursday, April 15, 2010
A little bit of everything
Lot of things going on...Last week we had servolution and each day we went into various places and showed God's love for everyone. One day windshields (windscreens as they are called here) were washed for customers at three local petrol stations, one afternoon paid parking slips at the local grocery store was given to the patrons, and on one day (pictures included) we had a fun day at a local day care, puppet shows, face painting, coloring and drawing, and even a jumping castle. It was wonderful to see the faces of these children.
I was busy most of that week under the house of our neighbor Sandra with an electric sewing machine making decorative curtains to hang up in the HPC church sanctuary for the young adults and for our Easter services. >.the young adults of HPC were the ones serving other young adults from the area who were invited. Don and I helped with the serving of the food, we had cooked at Ben & Susan's house earlier that day, it consisted of Boer worst, chicken, peas, rice carrots..it was really nice. Don was the "grill master"/ We were up till after midnight helping wash/ dry and put away dishes that were used to feed around 100 young adults. Needless to say it was a very long day but very rewarding.
Really excited about several things that will be happening and we will be preparing for in the next several months.
1. A new sewing class will start when the children return to school,break for 3 weeks starts at the end of next week.
2. Don will be traveling with Ben and others to Zimbabwe to help with a medical mission there.
3. Some members (including our Home pastor and his wife) along with 10 others from our church will be coming over for a mission trip in September...and we will be the leaders while they are here..as they will actually see what their support has been for.
4. Hopefully our daughter, grandson and son-in-law will be coming for a visit in October.
In between all of the above there will be several groups coming over for mission trips and we will be leaders of some of them and new missionaries that will be joining us later this year. With some of the changes here with the government and schools please pray for all the children.
Please join us in prayer for all these task that God has given to us to be a part of.
Want to say thank you for all your support and prayers. God has Blessed all of it.
Will write again soon...Love you all !!! Don & Diane
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Miracle and the Parcetamol
Some may say that God is not working miracles in the twenty-first century. But I am writing to say this is just not true. God IS indeed still working miracles, matter of fact every morning we look in the mirror is a miracle of God. But this is not the miracle I want to tell, it is about the miracle and the paracetamol syrup. We have been having trouble here in Swaziland getting some of the medications we need to treat the children. There are many reasons why it is difficult ( Swazi Pharm not ordering meds.,delivery from South Africa, meds. just not available). One of the meds we use often is Paracetamol syrup (liquid Tylenol)for pain/fever. This is one of the hardest meds. to keep in stock due to the fact we treat hundreds of children every month. I had been to Swazi Pharm the pharmaceutical wholesaler here in Swaziland to place our med. order and as often as not, they had no paracetamol in stock and no idea how long it would be before any would come in. We were completely out of this medicine and needed it for the children. So after a prayer and a trip to Green cross pharmacy (one of a few here in Swaziland) they had seven 100 ML. bottles in stock so I made the purchase and at a 50% discount, this in its self is a small miracle they just don't give discounts. Long story short to help make this much needed medicine last and go further we were going to fill 50 Ml. bottles and dispense to the children. Now remember the paracetamol comes in 100 ML. bottles, so to make the medicine go further, we were to take each 100 ML. bottle fill 2 - 50ML Bottles..so we began to pour, one bottle, two bottles, three bottles and by the time we had finished pouring we had filled three times as many bottles as we mathmatically should have. You see God knew we needed this medicine and HE saw to it that we got it. This is something only God can do. This is just one of the many miracles we see God doing here in Swaziland everyday. I am always amazed at what God is doing in and through a faithful few. It is an honor and blessing to be here and be a part of what God is doing. Thank you all for your prayers and support, you all share a part of what God is doing by helping us be here to be a usable vessel for God and to Him we give all the glory and Honor. God Bless you all.
Don and Diane
Don and Diane
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Thief and The Blessing
Some may wonder and ask what does the title of this blog mean and how can these two things exist together, well I must say it is only through God. God blessed Diane and I to be able to return to the states for the Christmas holidays and what a blessing it was. Time with family and friends was awesome, being able to connect with some of our supports, make new friends and partners in the ministry God has called us to. We were very very busy and as always time went extremely to fast but the bottom line is we were so very blessed by it all. The leaving again was very difficult but knowing you where doing what God has called you to do made it a little easier. The return flights to Africa/Swaziland were good.. made it safely (God is Good). Sandra picked me up from the airport all is good.
I must step back just a bit to get you to where the thief and the blessing fits. Sandra one of our missionary neighbors (we share the same fenced yard) emailed and told me that it appeared someone had broken in our home due to some activity that was observed and a broken window at our house. Upon further investigation they (Sandra & Janet another missionary neighbor)in fact did discover it was a Brake-in. Nothing appeared missing the house was in order even the broken glass had been cleaned up.
The broken glass was repaired and all was well.
Upon arriving home was when I discovered my MP3 player and home speakers missing from an upstairs bedroom and our bedroom window had been broken but no entry to to room (bedroom door locked) but as reported everything seemed in order. It took a couple of days and putting more of the "puzzle pieces" together and that is when we determined that our car had also been taken but returned at noon the next day, yes this is really weired. This is where the blessing comes into play, you have your home broken into and the thief cleans up the broken glass, and the only thing that was stolen was an MP3 player that was loaded with over 800 christian music artist songs, your car taken then returned (I did have a a small amount of rand/money taken)that was inside the car, but it was returned -wow. God is good He protected our home and property, you may ask how your house was burglarized, car taken (even though it was returned)how was God protecting? My answer is with a question, why was nothing else taken, the car brought back, the mess cleaned up- God blinded there eyes to the other things in the house somehow convicted them to do no more harm and return our car. God put a hedge of protection around "our things". I have not had any anger about this, matter of fact I have an unexplainable peace about it and that is not a me thing... that is a God thing. Just to think the only thing that was actually stolen was full of Christan music (what a witness). Do I want the person or persons responsible to be caught? Yes, the police are doing an investigation but again I have such a peace about this and feel so blessed and am reminded that God does in fact take very very good care of his own children and to Him we give all the honor and glory. WE are truly so very blessed.
By the way the same thing happened just a day or so ago now at our neighbors (Sandra/Janet) no car taken but i-pod missing. Again, God blessed and blinded the eyes of the thief. Thank you Lord.
Will close with a Thank you to all our family/friends and supporters for you prayers, thoughts and concerns. And for helping us be here to minister to the wonderful children and people of Swaziland.
WE love you all God Bless
Don & Diane
I must step back just a bit to get you to where the thief and the blessing fits. Sandra one of our missionary neighbors (we share the same fenced yard) emailed and told me that it appeared someone had broken in our home due to some activity that was observed and a broken window at our house. Upon further investigation they (Sandra & Janet another missionary neighbor)in fact did discover it was a Brake-in. Nothing appeared missing the house was in order even the broken glass had been cleaned up.
The broken glass was repaired and all was well.
Upon arriving home was when I discovered my MP3 player and home speakers missing from an upstairs bedroom and our bedroom window had been broken but no entry to to room (bedroom door locked) but as reported everything seemed in order. It took a couple of days and putting more of the "puzzle pieces" together and that is when we determined that our car had also been taken but returned at noon the next day, yes this is really weired. This is where the blessing comes into play, you have your home broken into and the thief cleans up the broken glass, and the only thing that was stolen was an MP3 player that was loaded with over 800 christian music artist songs, your car taken then returned (I did have a a small amount of rand/money taken)that was inside the car, but it was returned -wow. God is good He protected our home and property, you may ask how your house was burglarized, car taken (even though it was returned)how was God protecting? My answer is with a question, why was nothing else taken, the car brought back, the mess cleaned up- God blinded there eyes to the other things in the house somehow convicted them to do no more harm and return our car. God put a hedge of protection around "our things". I have not had any anger about this, matter of fact I have an unexplainable peace about it and that is not a me thing... that is a God thing. Just to think the only thing that was actually stolen was full of Christan music (what a witness). Do I want the person or persons responsible to be caught? Yes, the police are doing an investigation but again I have such a peace about this and feel so blessed and am reminded that God does in fact take very very good care of his own children and to Him we give all the honor and glory. WE are truly so very blessed.
By the way the same thing happened just a day or so ago now at our neighbors (Sandra/Janet) no car taken but i-pod missing. Again, God blessed and blinded the eyes of the thief. Thank you Lord.
Will close with a Thank you to all our family/friends and supporters for you prayers, thoughts and concerns. And for helping us be here to minister to the wonderful children and people of Swaziland.
WE love you all God Bless
Don & Diane
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