The Page's - Donald and Diane

Finally a post.....

2011-07-01T17:20:00.001-04:00

Hello All,
This is our first post since we returned from our Furlough in the U.S. A lot has been going on; we have hosted 2 teams within a 3 week period. The first was a VIP mission’s team from HPC El Paso Texas a total of 6 people. This team wanted to learn how our CarePoints operated so they could go back and create mission CarePoints in Mexico. This is a terrific group of people, Pastor Buck and wife Esther and members of the HPC El Paso Church. One of the days we took a break and rode horses in the Game Park Mlilwane, wow, it had been 35 years since I had been on a horse, but it was fun once I got use to it. 
The second team was a split team, ½ from HPC Baton Rouge Louisiana and the other ½ from Raleigh NC a church (Ekkelsia) that fully sponsor the Moneni CarePoints that Don and I oversee. It was a wonderful but busy time for us. The NC group paid to have a new sliding board, swings and a see-saw the children have not had anything to play on for about a year. Don went down and busted concrete for 2 days to prepare it for the setup of the swings. Poor fellow, he wound up with blisters on both hands but it was worth it to see the children playing and having a great time.
Patty Tebron and her friend Bernie came that has come for the last few years. Every year Patty has done a major project for the children here. Last year she brought mittens and hats for as many children as she could possibly bring over. This year it began as “Blankets for the Children of Swaziland” This took off like a rocket. Patty was hoping for around 1,000 blankets but when word got out Patty had a grand total of around 2,300. She brought over 1,300 blankets with her (11 full size suitcases) and the remainder will be shipped to our home office in Louisiana and come over on the 1 time a year cargo shipment sometime in August or Sept. This has made a big impact here; they were greatly needed especially this time of year. She would wrap the blanket around the children, kiss them and tell them that she loved them. How blessed and warm the children are now at night with it being cold. Thank- you Patty & Bernie, May God Bless and watch over you both.
Things are back to normal now and we are hoping to spend more time at each of our CarePoints helping with the feedings and playing with the Children.
It is funny to read that temperatures in our home town are in the 80 / 90’s when here we are having beautiful days but as soon as the sun drops in the sky so does the temperature. This weekend is July 4th so even though Swaziland does not celebrate we will. This Saturday there is a “get together” of Americans here to celebrate, live music, hot dogs (if that is what you call them here, we call them Vienna sausages) hamburgers, and a Chili Cook-off (Last year I took 1st place and Don took 2nd) I think there will be more competition this year, but we will let you know how we do.
I feel that since we returned from furlough that the finance office is under control enough that I will be able to be out in the field about 2-3 days a week and I am really looking forward to spending more time at Ludze Ludze and Moneni. The days we spent there with the teams felt like it did when we first moved here. Spending time loving on the children feels like what God wants me to “get back to”.
Thank you again for all your support and prayers, without them, HIS ministry here would not be possible. Love in Christ…..Don and Diane
Please pray for:
Guidance in our ministry / Children at the CarePoints / Government of Swaziland / Leaders of our Organization / missionaries in the field / direction for possibility of a new sewing class/ Our health and Safety / someone to eventually take over the finance department /

For my Bronx Sister....

2011-04-14T16:52:00.004-04:00

This is for an old friend of mine that I had lunch today. You know who you are .....

There will be another video posted after our presentation Sunday April 17th at our home church....

Thanks for bearing with us for the long distance in posting on the blog...

Love and appreciate you all..

Don and Diane

Oh so sorry!!!

2010-12-04T14:16:00.000-05:00

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

The passing of a freind, traditional Swazi funeral

2010-05-27T17:55:00.002-04:00

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

A little bit of everything

2010-04-15T16:30:00.009-04:00

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

The Miracle and the Parcetamol

2010-03-14T08:53:00.003-04:00

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

The Thief and The Blessing

2010-01-30T02:39:00.003-05:00

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

The Death of a Swazi child

2009-11-07T16:21:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-02T01:32:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-15T10:45:00.002-04:00

Sewing Classes and other things

2009-08-15T10:40:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-04T08:55:00.003-04:00

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

2009-07-16T06:23:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-28T13:32:00.000-04:00

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...

2009-06-12T08:30:00.004-04:00

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

2009-05-11T03:49:00.001-04:00

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

2009-04-23T09:50:00.000-04:00

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

2009-04-12T14:30:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-23T11:28:00.002-04:00

Moneni

2009-03-23T11:24:00.002-04:00

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 ??

2009-03-10T06:21:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-04T01:20:00.000-05:00

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

2009-02-16T05:18:00.002-05:00

"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

2009-02-11T04:38:00.001-05:00

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 !!

2009-02-05T04:36:00.000-05:00

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

2009-01-07T12:05:00.002-05:00

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.

Something for CHRISTmas

2008-12-22T11:09:00.002-05:00

My daughter sent this to me in an email..I enjoyed it so much I thought you might like to read it . Merry CHRISTmas everyone. Its a little long but worth it.
Subject: John 3 : 16
God Bless all.....

John 3:16

A little boy was selling newspapers on the corner, the
People were in and out of the cold. The little boy was so cold that he wasn't trying to sell many papers. He walked up to a policeman and said, 'Mister, you wouldn't happen to know where a poor boy could find a warm place to sleep tonight would you? You see, I sleep in a box up around the corner there and down the alley and its awful cold in there for tonight. Sure would be nice to have a warm place to stay.'
The policeman looked down at the little boy and said, ‘you go down the
Street to that big white house and you knock on the door. When they
Come out the door you just say John 3:16 and they will let you in.'
So he did. He walked up the step s and knocked on the door, and a lady
answered. He looked up and said, 'John 3:16.' The lady said, 'Come on
in, Son.' She took him in and she sat him down in a split bottom rocker in front of a great big old fireplace, and she went off. The boy sat there for a while and thought to himself: John 3:16...I don't understand it, but it sure makes a cold boy warm. Later she came back and asked him 'Are you hungry? He said, 'Well, just a little. I haven't eaten in a couple of days, and I guess I could stand a little bit of food,’ The lady took him in the kitchen and sat him down to
a table full of wonderful food. He ate and ate until he couldn't eat any more. Then he thought to himself:
John 3:16 ...Boy, I sure don't understand it but it sure makes a hungry boy full. She took him upstairs to a bathroom to a huge bathtub filled with warm water, and he sat there and soaked for a while. As he soaked, he thought to himself: John 3:16
I sure don't understand it, but it sure makes a dirty boy clean. You know, I've not had a bath, a real bath, in my whole life. The only bath I ever had was when I stood in front of that big old fire hydrant as they flushed it out. The lady came in and got him. She took him to a
room, tucked him into a big old feather bed, pulled the covers up around his neck, kissed him goodnight and turned out the lights. As he lay in the darkness and looked out the window at the snow coming down on that cold night, he thought to himself: John 3:16 ...I don't understand it but it sure makes a tired boy rested. The next morning the lady came back up and took him down again to that same big table full of food. After he ate, she took him back to that same big old split bottom rocker in front of the fireplace and picked up a big old Bible.
She sat down in front of him and looked into his young face. 'Do you understand John 3:16? 'She asked gently. He replied, 'No, Ma'am, I don't. The first time I ever heard it was last night when the policeman told me to use it,’ She opened the Bible to John 3:16 and began to
Explain to him about Jesus. Right there, in front of that big old fireplace, he gave his heart and life to Jesus. He
Sat there and thought: John 3:16 -- don't understand it, but it sure makes a lost boy feel safe.
You know, I have to confess I don't understand it either, how God was willing to send His Son to die for me, and how Jesus would agree to do such a thing. I don't understand the agony of the Father and every angel in
Heaven as they watched Jesus suffer and die. I don't understand
The intense love for ME that kept Jesus on the cross till the end.
I don't understand it, but it sure does make life worth living. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. If you aren't ashamed to do this, please follow the directions. Jesus said, 'If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before my Father.' Pass this on only if you mean it.
I do Love God. He is my source of existence.. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Phil 4:13 If you love God and are not ashamed of all the marvelous things he has done for you, let someone know.. let them know today...

Thankfulness

2008-11-25T20:48:00.002-05:00

Forbes Magazine reported that once again this year the richest man in America is none other that Bill Gates owner of Microsoft. His reported net worth is just over 46 billion dollars. This adds up to him making 65 dollars every second,3,900 dollars a minute, 23,000 dollars an hour every day.The world and the bible differ their view in what makes us successful/rich. The bible tells a story of a man that in his day would have been a Bill Gates, Luke 12:15-21 describe a man that was successful in life, that he enjoyed his riches and looked forward to a secure retirement. We also see that this man was selfish instead of giving some of his riches to those who needed it, rather he would tear down his barns to build bigger ones to store his riches.This man also was letting his riches rule his life greed had filled his heart and he found no room for God. We also are reminded in these passages the shortness of life, the brevity of life and what should be our priority, and that is to be rich with God. God called this man a fool for not preparing for his eternal future. God says it does not matter what we may have or not as long as we or rather He has us.Let us be thankful for what we have and to share what we have with others.And to prepare our eternal future in Him (Jesus). This thanksgiving Diane and I have have sold or given away most of our earthly goods and we have less than we ever have had but I for one feel like I have more than I ever have had. I have a closer walk with God, more in His will, finely ready to do what He has called us to do. So this thanksgiving as we all are having that turkey dinner with family and friends lets remember the "little" things in life are really the most important anyway and most of all to thank God for giving Himself through His Son Jesus Christ and to lay up that treasure in heaven so we can be rich toward God. Please pray for the children in Africa that have so little but in Jesus have everything.
God Bless you all. Happy Thanksgiving.
Donald/Diane

We’re Commissioned!!

2008-11-11T19:26:00.000-05:00

We are now commissioned by our church as Missionaries to Swaziland.
How exciting.
It was so fitting that the special singer was a little girl, she sang before the pastor started to speak. We received a certificate and had beautifully decorated cake, fellowship, hugs and tears afterwards.

We had 3 of our previous mission trip “family” who joined us. It was great to see Mr. Jernigan, his son Kevin, Brett and Pam Asher. Thank you for joining us in another step in our journey

We tried to explain our calling and what our goals are for the time we will spend
in Swaziland. Donald did an excellent job but I am not sure I did too well since most of my time was spent in tears.

Time is moving by so fast.
It is a bittersweet feeling,
Excitement about leaving to start the calling God has given us while the heartbreak of leaving our daughter, son-in-law and grandson, sisters & brothers and ailing grandparents and all our family. Please put our daughter in your special prayers we have always been a very close family and 8.000 miles without talking everyday will be quite a distance to get use to.

Thanks to all of you for your support in all you have done and continue to do
. Your prayers are coveted.

An Invitation

2008-11-01T21:45:00.000-04:00

This is an invitation to anyone who happens to read our blog and would like to attend our commissioning service our church Is holding for us.
The date : Sunday Night November 9th 2008
The Place: Piney Grove Chapel Baptist Church, Angier, NC
The Time: 6:00 p.m.
If you would like directions please email or call : ddapage@hughes.net or 919-552-6920.

Hope to see you there !!!!!

God Bless..
Following HIS lead.
Donald & Diane

Wonderful Blessings

2008-09-30T12:37:00.001-04:00

God has blessed us with wonderful relatives and friends. This past Friday our family and friends gave us a BBQ Fundraiser. Lot of work but great blessings. We cleared enough After expenses to pay for our airfare to Swaziland. We now have a concrete date Of when we are leaving.
February 2nd 2009.
Our flight will take us through Atlanta to Johannesburg and then on to Manzini. Won’t be much longer..
Please know you All will be a part of us helping to spread the Gospel to the people of Swaziland.

Really want to say a big “thank you” for all who helped in ALL aspects of the Fundraiser.
Most of the ones there took off work to help and there are no words which will repay you for your time and hard work but I know God will bless you all.

It was nice to see friends we haven’t see in a while ( Brett Asher and his wife) and also
Thanks to Lorena and Mark for waiting around for me to return from plate deliveries
For all the gifts, thoughts and prayers you have given us.

God Bless you all…

ALMOST GONE

2008-09-22T14:01:00.001-04:00

Well, all the “things” we have are almost gone. We had a moving sale this past weekend and sold almost everything we had. We have a computer cabinet , a tanning bed and some miscellaneous items left. It was funny, at the end of the day we looked and said we don’t have anywhere to put our plates to eat !! We even sold the tray tables we had..
Our house is almost empty now and it looks so much larger.
Our family will be giving us a “fundraiser plate sale” this coming Friday from 11am to 7pm at the Depot in Angier, NC. Plates are $7.00 each with your choice of BBQ chicken or BBQ pork. Come and enjoy.

Another note…we have our airplane reservations. We will be leaving for Swaziland
February 2, 2009.

Thank you to all those who are supporting us and for those who will continue.
God will greatly bless you..

Greatly Blessed

2008-08-25T21:19:00.005-04:00

Well gald to say the yard sale was a success. We sold around 470.00 in about 4 hours. Big thank you to my special loving daughter, Amanda who was the the one who brought the family together for this idea and taking the reigns :) (she took these pictures and is not in any of them :( ..
..and a special thanks to my sis who went to bed at 1:30am and woke at 5:00am to set out all the items for sale with the help of head lights from the truck in the dark , thanks Sherry :P,

and my sis in law, Suzie for the breakfast from "Bo's" of course I can't leave out the men....what can I say...Love you all....

There will be another sale here at our house in the next few weeks a Moving sale, everything must go....
Keep us in your prayers. Time is ticking bye..

Till next blog...

quite some time

2008-08-14T14:25:00.003-04:00

Hello out there..
Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Just want to give a short update on how God is working. We sold Donald's motorcycle and now the only item we have left is our camper/ toyhauler. If we don't sell it we will store it till we come back home on furlough then we can stay in it without disrupting anyone for a place to stay.
What can I say..God is Great !!

Oh, forgot, you can now read our blog from the Children's Cup Website, www.childrenscup.org,click on our blogs in the upper right of the page.
thank you Stephanie...

We want to express thanks for all the cards and prayers with the death of my dad and a continuing "thank you" from the bottom of our hearts to all of our supporters of prayer and monitary donations.

Our families are putting on a yard sale Saturday Aug.23rd to raise money to purchase items for a BBQ pork and chicken plate sale in September...

We are greatly blessed...
thank YOU and please continue the prayers for us !!!

God Bless
Donald & Diane

Remembering

2008-08-06T13:33:00.002-04:00

Remembering a year ago today "My birthday" the first time Diane and I were in Swaziland at our first care point stop where an over privileged spoild american was honored by over two-hundred under privileged Swazi children that sang happy birthday to me. To date that was the best birthday ever, no there was no cake with many candles, no ballons or many brigthly wrapped birthday gifts but just an awsome knowledge of knowing just how very blessed I (we) are. It was also two days from now a year ago that God confiremen in mine amd Diane's heart that this would be our new home, the place that HE was calling us to help minister to those most vaugnerable and very vauluable children. It is just but a few months now God willing we will be back in that place God has called us to. Please keep us and our families in your prayers during this time of transsition for us and espesially the children of Swaziland. Thank you all our supporters and for a wonderful church family. To God be the glory great thing He is doing.

40 days of Prayer

2008-06-30T11:10:00.000-04:00

Hey,
Children's cup is staring their 40 days of prayer...check it out..

http://www.childrenscup.org/v2/fortydays

We will be praying...

Exaltations

2008-06-25T11:08:00.002-04:00

Just as David praised...........This is my praise..

10 David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
"Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
1 Chron. 29:10-11

AMEN
(this says it all)

Blown Away !

2008-05-21T12:03:00.001-04:00

No, not weather related, God Elated..
God is Great!! He has blessed us with wonderful friends who are loving and compassionate to our call to the mission field.
Just want to say "Bless you"

With Love in Christ always.

Patience

2008-05-19T09:38:00.002-04:00

God makes a promise, faith believes it, hope anticipates it, patience quietly awaits it.
unknown
I read this today in my devotional and thought how true..
After several months of waiting God sent someone to purchase my motorcycle. Patience quietly waits, in HIS time.. my faith stayed strong and his promise always rings true.

Long time no blog

2008-04-29T10:09:00.003-04:00

Sorry it has been so long between blogs. We have been very busy.
Donald's return from Swaziland was good, no flight problems on the return but he told me when they were on the flight going over they wound up having a 4 hour delay at one of the stops for them to repair something on the engine.
While he was there the team treated around 1700 children and adults. There were a large number who came to know the Lord during their 5 days working in the clinic. "To God be the Glory".
Donald said he would not have come home if it would have been possible for me to join him, things there are worse than when we were there in August 2007.
We attended a meeting at one of our local churches last week and enjoyed the music and preaching, Met a wonderful young missionary couple and received a lot of pointers.
We are now trying to get our information printed on brochures and prayer cards.
Still working on our support and need your prayers. Special thank you to all for everything you do for us.
Thanks for hanging in there with us....God Bless and will try to write again a lot sooner than last.

Love you all..

up up and away (ha ha )

2008-04-04T13:57:00.002-04:00

Well, Donald has left for Swaziland this morning. Hoping his flight will be a safe one, please pray for him. This is the first time he has flown anywhere (especially 18 hours) without me.
He is joining a the Doctor and a few more to do medical visits to all the care points.
He's only been gone 2 hours and I miss him already. Since the flight is so long I probably won't hear from him until Monday, but I know God is with him and will take care of him for me.
Its hard after 29 years of marriage not to think I take care of him when we all know the truth...its God....

Our donations are still short and slow, but I have to keep the faith that God has called us and he will provide.
Thank YOU to all who have given and thankYOU to all who are keeping us in your prayers, (please continue)

God watches over us all the time, my car broke down this week and we were expecting a large repair bill but...God had sent us someone a couple of months ago who has a car like ours (20 year old Mazda) who had told us that if we ever needed repairs done to let him know, he just enjoyed working on them. Well, we called and he fixed ...how about $80.00 ...Tell me God is not Great !!!

Please reply if you read this so I will know if anyone is really reading this..
Till next time...

EGG or POTATO ?

2008-03-13T08:39:00.001-04:00

I ran across this and thought about Mankind….
A person can respond to suffering like an egg, or like a potato. A potato goes into the boiling water hard, but comes out pliable. An egg goes into the boiling water soft and comes out hard. Author Unknown

Kind of like us…before Jesus – hard like the egg… but, after we accept Jesus in our hearts we become pliable and useful, soft and sensitive to suffering.

Our prayer is that more people will become like the Potato.

short update

2008-03-05T08:10:00.004-05:00

Well, its been a while since our last blog. So much going on.

We have finally received our remittance envelopes and will be soon sending out our support letter. I have sent out around 30 e-mails with our support letter attached to churches in our area but have not received any responses as of this time. We are still in need of around 20,000 for each year short of our budget. Sometimes I worry that we will not have it by the end of the year to be able to leave and then again I know that God will provide :).

Everyone is so supportive and your prayers are very much welcomed.

We are still trying to sell my motorcycle and the camper, I am hoping that this spring we will be able to get them sold.

Praise..

We had our first donation to our account last week and we

want to say "thank you" it is greatly appreciated.

Our thanks to those who prayed for our Grandson who had surgery on his adenoids and seems to be getting along a little bit better.

Until next time, God Bless....

Treasures

2008-01-21T11:18:00.000-05:00

As we are selling our things (earthly treasures) I am reminded of just how blessed we are.
God has poured out His blessings on us in every way and surely with earthly possessions.
I think we both have had a feeling of sadness and at one point I had a feeling of guilt in selling some of these things, in that God had blessed us with them and now we are selling them as though we where not thankful. But God spoke to my heart and reminded me of what He tells us in His word in Matthew chapter six about treasures, not to lay them up here on earth where moth and rust corrupt, where thieves can steal and I may add and depreciate to be worth almost nothing, but to lay your treasures in heaven where nothing can take them. We are not selling these things to make a profit but selling them to go and do what God has called us to do, When I'm reminded of that I have a feeling of satisfaction and a feeling of blessedness more than I can explain.
Things (treasures) are good but doing The Thing God has called you to do is the BEST.
Please pray that God will help us to continue on the journey. God Bless.

Wonderful

2008-01-17T11:18:00.001-05:00

Well it's been another interesting week. We now have sold my car which has left us with one vehicle which we will be parting with this Saturday. With Donald's 24hr on and 24hr off it makes it hard for us with just one vehicle. But get this..... Thanks to some very loving friends of ours we have not suffered...they loaned us their personal truck for a while till we find another vehicle for me. And even more.....The family who is buying our truck has so graciously offered to loan us a vehicle for us to use till we leave for Africa....God Is so Great...We still have one motorcycle and a camper to sell but I know God will send someone for them also. We are working on getting our support letter together and hopfully be sending it out soon.
We ask for your prayers for obtaining our support.
Till next time...
God Bless !!!

Meet Bubba

2008-01-08T12:43:00.001-05:00

Would like for you to meet the "apple of our eye"

This is Brett, we call him Bubba, our one and only grandbaby..

Can you guess who bought him the tractor???

Papa & Meme.....

What a Wonderful CHRISTmas...

Happenings

2008-01-08T12:43:00.000-05:00

This past Thursday we closed on the sale of our house. We are no longer home owners…I thought I would cry at the closing knowing that the home we had thought we would own until we were no longer here on the earth was going to be someone else’s.
No, I didn’t cry…...matter of fact, It really feels like we are on our way to fulfill God’s will for our lives. (The day we move out may be a different story???) Our new landlord came today with a Rental Contract for us to sign. The amount of the monthly payment has been reduced by 50.00 and we only have to pay ½ rent for this month. WOW !! Anyway, God is really working. Out of the blue someone called last night asking about Donald’s truck. We really had not planned to sell it till later but evidently God has other plans.
We have not Advertised it for sale just to a couple of close friends, but if it’s God’s will it might be sold in the next week or so..(update b4 posting) They definitely want to purchase the truck in the next week or two…..
. There is still so much to do but I know he is there helping us every step of the way. So I will end this short blog with……..
God is Awesome !!!!!

Ready or Not

2007-12-30T22:02:00.000-05:00

Funny how things you read or see co-inside with things that is going on in your life at the current time.
I was reading Matthew 26:39-45
No matter what the pain, we must obey the mission God has given us. Jesus had lived his life in perfect obedience to his Father's will; in these verses he chose the Father's plan over his own desire. Yes, his own desire, I am sure that being fully human Jesus facing his death was the same as what we would feel if we were diagnosed with a terminal illness and was told we would die in 3 days. His human ability to submit to the will of the Father in obedience is an example for us to follow. I read in a commentary that “Living for God does not always mean that we feel we are prepared to face what God calls us to face; BUT.. it does mean that we choose to face it anyway. Thus when the test arrives, Jesus summons all his disciples to rise to face it--ready or not (26:45)”
I know that If he calls us to face it he will also prepare us for what is to come. We have chosen to rise and face whatever God has in store for us and over the next 12 months we will be praying for him to prepare us whether we think we are ready or not.

2007-12-26T08:09:00.000-05:00

We took a flight from RDU to New Orleans, LA for a meeting which helped us to understand God’s will for our future.
We met the most wonderful loving couple, their names; Jean and David Ohlerking…
Founders of Children’s Cup International.

After spending 3 days of talking their “ears off” and eating a great deal of delicious food ( for which I now have to spend 3 months of dieting to loose) and meeting all their Children and Grandchildren, we have found two truly great friends who are now a part of our Journey.

There is still the paperwork to complete and the budget to create and rounding up support for one year, a lot of material items to get rid of…but….. I rely greatly on this passage:
Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
We know this cannot be done of ourselves but only through God.

The Plan: To be in Swaziland Africa around January 2009. A year seems like a very long time but it will go bye quickly and there is so much to do.

It is amazing to us what has transpired over the last 4 months, we know God has his hand in this. We close on the sale of our house and land January 3rd 2007 (little scary) No, we will not be homeless for the next year, the buyer has agreed for us to stay in our home month by month without any ties until we leave for Africa.. and get this -- At half of our mortgage payment. (What a blessing given by God).
Until the next entry:
We ask for your prayers for us and our family as we pursue what God has in store for us.
Our email address is ddapage@hughes.net