It's Just the Way We Like It!!

As I mentioned in Jordan and Natalie’s blog, we had a team of 37 ladies arrive from the Midwest area who were here for 10 days. I don’t think there is an all male team who could have done any more than these ladies did. They accomplished an unbelievable amount in their short stay. I’m exhausted! Now to be honest, when I got an email asking the color of the tablecloths at the cooks luncheon, I was worried that we were going to have a bus load of high maintance women! I could not have been further off the mark!! The team had a story that ended with the line "It's just the way we like it!" and they were to use it any time things did not go the way they would have prefered it to go. It worked! If I've learned anything in my time here, things do not go the way you plan or prefer quite a bit of the time. I did not hear one person on the team ever complain -- never -- the whole trip!! Not when luggage got lost, wallpaper border wouldn't stick, had to ride in non A/C buses or when it was super hot 100 degrees and the Maphiveni CarePoint!! They were inspiring!
I rode a charter bus with Ben to pick them up at the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa a week ago Sat. We couldn’t remember which airline they were coming in on and of course there were 2 flights coming in through 2 different terminals at the same time so we each stationed ourselves at one. When the Delta flight from Atlanta started coming through I asked a gentleman getting off if he had noticed a group of 37 women on the flight, he just laughed and said yes, they are all wearing blue! Okay finding them turned out to be easy but keeping up their pace from then on was definitely a challenge.
Jacci was the missionary who handled the overall team and I was blessed to work with a fourth of the group at the Zombodze CarePoint for the first half of the week. They were fantastic!!The other ladies worked at Logoba, Madonsa or Makholweni. They did crafts with the classroom children, painted and put up borders in the classrooms and outside, went to visit homes in the communities around each CarePoint, had a time with the teachers from all of Children’s Cup’s CarePoints and then had the most amazing brunch for the cooks from all the CarePoints!! They treated these ladies who work for free cooking at the CarePoints like royalty. The lunch was filling, the team gave testimonies of how the Lord had brought them through some difficult situations and they presented each cook with a Polaroid of themselves along with a china teapot with cup and saucer!! During the lunch they gave tribute to a cook who had died last year. Ben felt led to give an invitation. We had all talked about her being in heaven but the Lord spoke through Ben on a level the cooks were able to comprehend that just because we die doesn’t mean we will go to heaven. That is where God wants us to go but there is also a place of pain and suffering after death. Heaven is only open to those who have personally come to know Christ and who accept His sacrifice, His love and His free gift of eternal life in heaven. So simple yet how many people will not spend eternity in heaven? Well, 22 cooks went forward and accepted Christ!!!!! Praise God!! So many go through the motions and seem to be “Christians” but have never made a decision to accept Christ and who we have failed to even ask them to!! Do you personally know Christ? Not in your head but in your heart. If not, I’m asking you to make that choice. The particular words aren’t crucial, just the attitude of your heart. “Jesus, I want you. I know I’ve made mistakes and am not worthy on my own. I accept that You gave Your life so I could spend eternity with God. Take my life and mold it after You. I thank you that You are now with me.” If you prayed this CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Email me if you feel led but regardless, contact a local church or pastor to guide you as you grow in your relationship with God. You should be feeling a peace beyond want you can describe, kind of like a weight being lifted. That is the peace of God or the Holy Spirit. Relax, enjoy and continue to just talk to God. Don’t worry, I doubt you will start hearing voices but you will start knowing in your spirit His direction, assurance and love. Praise God!!

Jordan and Natalie

Wow!! So much to tell you about! (I did not fall off the face of the earth but between lack of internet and being extremely busy I haven’t kept you up to date—sorry!) Let’s try to blog in order. Jordan and Natalie have arrived!!! (Okay they arrived 2 weeks ago!) For those from the Oasis you will probably be relieved to hear that Jordan is here and fine. He came in with Ben and his family and the other intern, Natalie. They have hit the ground running. Our internet was down when they arrived and then on Valentine’s Day we moved our office –one of the first jobs they got roped in to!! (Needless to say the internet satellite had to be moved and reset up.) On the following Sat. a team of 37 women arrived and they both jumped in and helped wherever needed! Jordan has been a work horse. Jordan lives next door to me with Patrick and Natalie moved in upstairs at my house. They have both gotten sunburned (tried to tell them to use sunscreenJ), nothing severe. Natalie is very health conscious and hates clutter. Okay, my friends and family who know what a clutter bug I am, stop laughing and just pray I don’t drive her crazy—she’s here until November. I’m working on doing dishes promptly and trying to confine my clutter to my room. All kidding aside, they are both great individuals, energetic, on fire for God and eager to serve. It is going to be great having them both here. It was great to get a few things from home so I thank Jordan and those who bugged him to squeeze it in his suitcase. He also brought a DVD my son made that was so special to me. They are already both driving on the left side of the road, taking lots of pictures and video, and are getting started working with the youth in Mbabane. I finally got photos of them. Jordan is helping a cook pick out the "bad beans" before cooking them and Natalie is loving on a child at the Zombodze CarePoint. They are both a great blessing and addition to the Children's Cup team!!

Lessons learned

Someone asked if I really liked being an African missionary or was I just saying it. I have to say I honestly love it here! God is growing me in many ways. I promised to process my lessons learned from Pepe so let me pause to reflect.
1) I learned not to become overwelmed by the whole but focus on what I can do for the one. There are so many sick children in Africa that suffer from malnutrition, aids, TB and other diseases.
Can we take in every child? No.
Did we need to take in Pepe and Mfana? Yes.
2) I am to listen to God and move when He says go forth. When I took Pepe in, the father had not "signed away his rights" officially. I was asked if she died in my care would Children's Cup be liable. I said yes but had a great peace that He was in it and it would be okay. I am confident I had reached out with God's direction not out of my own desire to be this child's rescuer. That's a good feeling when you can look back and actually know that for once you were able to stand aside and let God use you.
3) I don't have to have all the answers. My rational side could have had a field day with the "what ifs". I had no idea how long I would have Pepe, how to communicate with her, how sick she would be or how we would get along. It didn't matter. God worked it all out, at the moment it was needed, rarely before. He knew the answers and it was a blessing to rest in that and let Him worry about the answers.
4) I need to listen better. Yes, Siswati is full of clicks and strange sounds and sometimes Pepe would say some Siswati or ask for a food that I'm not familiar with "emasi" (sour milk) but the hysterical thing was that not once, not twice but 3 times I assumed she was saying something in Siswati and I would call a coworker to translate and it turned out Pepe was speaking English!! It was quite comical and became the running joke if I called Zinty to translate, Pepe would be speaking English not Siswati.
5) I do have a soft side. For those of you who know me well, you know I hardly ever shed a tear. I have realized for a long time that God wanted me to feel my emotions in a deeper way. I have known it and been working on it but last Thursday morning I sat at Baylor clinic holding a sick child who was at her lowest physical point since she had been with me. I thought she might be running a fever (she wasn't). She was lethargic and slept the whole time we sat waiting for the doctors where other days she had sat waiting with anxiety, alert and never dosing. I had fought so hard to keep her out of the hospital but that day I didn't know if that was what was best for her. I had told God that if her weight was down for the 4th day in a row that I would not argue if the doctors wanted to admit her. I sat there rocking her and praying. I realized God was using her to help me "feel". Many of you are already in tears when you read this but not I. I prayed God would help me "feel" but not at Pepe's expense or suffering. I knew, because of her fear of the hospital that I would break down if she had to be admitted but I didn't want her to have to be admitted for me to shed tears. As I sat there I prayed that God would help me take down my walls around my emotions without allowing suffering in others, I felt some of the bricks fall. I still haven't had a melt down or a big cry but I am becoming aware and better able to recognize and feel emotional pain rather than conceal it. (She did not have to be admitted.)
6) God is in control and does a better job than I. A week before we had been clueless as to where these two children could stay permanently, then last Friday we found a Methodist church run group home here in town. I had reached the point of feeling overwelmed and tired. How could I care properly for this child over the long haul. She needed to be with other Swazi children and in her own environment, not with a white lady who cared but whose culture confused Pepe. The group home has room for 2 children with this "Make" (Mah-gay) or mother. They are holding Mfana's spot for when he gets out of the hospital. They have children that range from 5 to 18. They have cared for children who were as sick as Pepe and Mfana and those children are now in school. They have several children that came from our Fonteyn CarePoint when parents had been unable to care for them and those children are now doing well and thriving. It is probably the closest facility to Teresa's and my home and will be easy to keep in touch with Pepe and Mfana. Isn't God good??? Beyond what we ever imagine.
7) I am excited about the future! I have no clue what my future holds and remarkably that's okay. I don't have a 5 year plan and it doesn't bother me. I feel I'm on a roller coaster ride that will have twists and turns and be beyond what I could ever imagine!! Exciting, and fun and meaningful if I continue to move aside and be God's vessel.
A quote from my bible study about what God desires: "I delight in a heart that welcomes My work rather than resents it. A willing, teachable spirit is all I'm looking for. A life so surrendered to me, I can do My work unhindered." May I have have that teachable, surrendered spirit!!!

"I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wonderously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong! By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward -- to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back." Philippians 3:12-14 (The Message Translation)

Pepe

Sorry for the long break in posting my blog. The last 10 days I have had to put on my "mothering" hat. Long story short, we had to have emergency care for a 11 year old girl named Pepe. She will be 12 in May. She was very sick and needed special attention. Her brother, Mfana was admitted to the hospital but they did not admit her which was good in that she is very afraid of them. We could not find a Swazi home on such short notice, so I became her caretaker for a brief time. She was very sick and weighed only 17 kg (37 lbs). She wears a size 5-6. She looks good but is on so much medication and had pnemonia that it was hard for her to keep in food down. Since I am the only missionary who is a mother but without children at home, I was the perfect person to get the opportunity to care for Pepe. I feel for the father who just was unable to care for them and had reached a point of giving up. Pepe and Mfana lost their mother several years ago and their aunt 1 1/2 years ago to Aids. It was a roller coaster of ups and downs all week as we sat at the doctor's clinic most mornings and got antibiotic injections to keep her out of the hospital and had to take so many meds, I had to write it down on a schedule. Pepe is a trooper at taking her meds though; as you can see in the photo. She's a pro!!! I don't think my grown sons could swallow all the pills she has to take. She has an adorable smile but often when we tried to take pictures she was not feeling up to showing her smile. She would smile and light up when we showed them to her. The tux shirt was mine (okay Michael's) that she used for a night shirt. The pink is a new outfit she picked out including shoes. (Girls are still girls even in Swaziland and she wanted to be sure to get matching shoes with her new outfit!!)

Pepe has been active at the Kakhoza ("Ga-ko-zah") CarePoint, also known as Gigi's Place, since Children's Cup began working there 4 years ago. Teresa, our nurse, has been seeing her the 2 1/2 years she has been here. Pepe has had a long struggle including a month in the hospital last year. Her brother, Mfana only recently became extremely ill. He had been going to school the first 2 terms last year (there are 3 terms in the school year here) until he became ill. Pepe completed the CarePoint school but has never had the strength to attend the government school. She is very bright. She speaks a little English and I speak very little Siswati. An interesting combination. She talks little but then she would blurt out something and shock me several times with an English phrase -- "Let's go home", "Go to sleep", "mayonaise" (still haven't figured out how she knew that), and "cooked egg not fried" (meaning she wanted a hard boiled egg). I learned that "chips" are french fries and "emasi" is like buttermilk and she loves it. She loves grapes but peels them like they were litches (a grape like fruit that is bigger and has a rough covering). It has been an interesting week. I feel for every working single mother!!! When she was being watched by others she would cry for Auntie Sandra but then when I spent the day with her she would cry for Auntie Teresa. I don't think I would have been able to care for both Pepe and her brother at the same time so I feel for the struggle their father must have had.

Update, Pepe had a good weekend. Her appetite has increased and although it doesn't always stay down, more of it is. We found a group home for her that is actually very close by and took her there today. It was hard. They will take her brother when he gets out of the hospital. When we visited him at the hospital on Sunday, Mfana had a good appetite and was even able to walk us out when we left. He would have never been able to do that a week ago.

As I process all that has happened, I will blog the spiritual journey God has been growing in me this past 10 days. Pray for Pepe and Mfana for their continued renewed strength, adjustment to their new home and that they grow up to become all God has for them to be!!!