Live @ the OC

Since being in the states I have seen family and friends from St. Louis, MO to Tulsa, OK to Loganville, GA and now Clarksburg, MO. I have enjoyed Dr. Pepper and free fountain refills (not found in Swaziland). I have stayed on the right side of the road while driving although I drove my mom's manual yesterday and kept hitting my left hand on the door when I needed to shift (in Swaziland the stick is on your left because the steering wheel is on the right side of the car--think about it). I think I'll stick with the automatic. Only had one moment of almost breaking down since returning to the states. It was when I went grocery shopping and couldn't decide which salad dressing to buy (more choices here than in Swaziland). Sometimes I miss the fewer choices. I'm enjoying watching my reality shows, Amazing Race, Survivor and Bigger Loser (although I've gained 10 pounds since arriving) but I realize I'm reading, crocheting and being less creative with my time.

I have enjoyed sharing my passion, my kids in Swaziland! I've become very possessive just like a teacher with their class or a principal with their school and I am excited to see them grow. It is exciting to share how through people's support here, lives are changing half way around the world.

On Wednesday night, April 29th @ 7 pm at the Oasis Church in Loganville, GA on Hwy 81 I will be showing a video and sharing about what has happened over the last 1 1/2 years since I left for Swaziland. If you live in Georgia I pray that you come. On Sunday, May 3rd there will be a miracle offering which includes the funding to continue support for the CarePoints. I feel it is important for everyone to see what their previous steps of faith have been able to accomplish as they pray about what God has called them to contribute towards the coming year. The Oasis Church is the only church that has stepped up to fully fund a CarePoint and they support 2!!! I am proud of the impact they have made and excited to share the faces and stories of the lives they have touched. If you can, COME!

(Get directions by going to http://loganville.theoasischurch.org/index.php?link=contactus )

If you can't come, sign up as a follower and comment on this blog with any questions you might have about Swaziland or the children I work with.

Faith Like Potatoes

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and words of comfort before, during and after my dad's passing. It was such a blessing to hear how my dad had influenced and impacted so many lives. I thank everyone for sharing with me. I also want to publically thank all those who gave to my mission work through Oasis Compassion in memory of my dad. I am touched and honored.

I have neglected my blog in all this but will probably type a lengthy one today because my devotional so excited me. Tomorrow or so I will post pictures of my shorter hair and tell you how America is the same but different from Swaziland. :)

There is a movie made in South Africa, "Faith Like Potatoes" that all us missionaries have seen but have been unable to bring back to the states because South African DVDs don't play on American DVD players. I was so excited when I arrived in the states to see a sign at WalMart and then on a RedBox rental that said "Faith Like Potatoes" was arriving April 7th!!! All those reading this in the US should go rent it and watch it ASAP (and the Zulu you will hear in it is a lot like Siswati).
I was impacted when I saw this movie of a farmer who came to know the Lord and just simply took God at His word. How simple but for one who grew up in church and "knows it" so well, I often forget to put it in practice. Anyway, Angus Buchan (the farmer) has a devotional that I gave out to my coworkers and family that is just straight forward and challenging in it's simplicity in doing what the Word says. Today's excited me and challanged me and I just want to share it.

"Continuous Rivival" (April 8th)

"'Therefore. . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;' Plilippians 2:12

(my other translation says 'put into action God's saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep revernce and fear.')

To serve the Lord Jesus Christ is not just a 'one off' emotional event. We must be 'born again,' as the Bible clearly says in John 3:7, but thereafter we have to walk in obedience to our Lord and Saviour. Jesus said, 'But why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?' (Luke 6:46).

John Wesley, a mighty man of God, turned the British Isles upside down for Christ when he had an experience with the Lord at a little Bible study in Aldersgate, London. when he was in his late 80s, someone asked him what the biggest obstacle was in his walk of faith. He responded, 'The lust of the flesh.' This godly man continued throughout his life to wrestle with areas that were still troubling him, as we all do. He was working out his salvation with fear and trembling.

What about us? I always feel sad when I hear Christians talking about a revival that took place twenty or thirty years ago, or about some supernatural happening in the mid 1950s. Our faith must be relevant to our generation. (I love this line!!!)

When I was a young man and about to preach my first sermon, the elders of my little church laid their hands on me and began to pray. One of them, a man in his 60s, said to me, 'Well, son, get in there and preach the gospel. I've done my bit.' I couldn't understand what he meant and I still don't. We never stop walking by faith, living by faith, sharing the gospel by faith and being open and ready for testing in our lives.

Work out that which God has worked in you -- through prayer, supplication and repentance -- and then press on to take the world for Jesus.

We should never stop striving to be all God wants us to be. There are such blessings we so often miss out on because we stop walking by faith (doing things we don't see or understand because God tells us to) and truely living out our faith. May the Lord bless us today and challenge each of us, me included, to step out in faith today. (You will have to watch the movie though to understand 'faith like potatoes')

Tribute to my dad!

My dad, Howard Sparks passed away today.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last fall and given 6 months. He called and said I wasn't scheduled to come home for 8 months. I told him I would come home early if he needed me. He tried chemo but last Saturday I arrived home earlier that orignally planned and today he took his final breath.

My brother and I tease that he lived 3 separate lives. His early years before marriage and while we were young he owned a motorcycle, then a boat and then a Cessna airplane. It was the years he could be on a bowling league and stay out late and get up early for his delivery route.

I remember him the most in his "corporate life". My dad is the only person I know who started with a company - Wonder Bread/Hostess Cake when he was 22- and stayed with them until he retired, 35 years later, never having worked for any other company. Now that's impressive!
His last life was after he retired. He worked hard those work years and we wondered how he would ever adjust to retirement, but he did. My dad blossomed into a social golf butterfly. My dad took up golf, he had starting into golf prior to retiring but then began golfing 36 holes a day, every day. Sundays and Mondays he would take it easy and only do 18 holes. There are years he had the nation's top number of golf rounds played for the season. He had the first tee time at his country club every morning for 16 years. My dad was the one who organized get togethers for the ORFS (for those non golfers it stands for "Old Retired FartS"). Where he was socially isolated during his corporate years to business associates only, I now say he has a numerous following of friends who have loved him enormously and will miss him deeply.

We will miss you Dad!

Oh Happy Day!!

Saturday was definately a happy day as our co-worker Roger married his long time sweetheart Mary!!!. Mary used to be a teacher at our Fonteyn CarePoint when Oasis @ Swaziland was first started. Roger worked with Jacci in our cooks bible study ministry up until last year. Last fall Roger and Mary decided to grow in their relationship with each other, God and in ministry as they signed up for a 6 month Adventures In Missions program. That solidified that they were God's choice for each other. Since returning to Swaziland, Roger has become one of the Healing Place Church pastors. Saturday was a fun day of celebration!!! For all those who find it difficult to remain pure in this day and time, Roger has one thing to say "It's worth the wait!!!!!" Congratulations!!!

Tito

The end of January is the season of frustration for me. It is the beginning of the school year which should be exciting but ends up being when I feel the most useless!
Government schools in Swaziland cost money. Not a lot to an American, just under $100/year for elementary and $250/year for high school, but for the unemployed or even those that have a job that pays about $5/day, it is out of reach. On top of the fees they have to buy school uniforms that total about $100 (although they can wear it more than one year if they are lucky) How do you decide who you can help and who you can't? Now that I've shared my struggle with this time of year, let me share a success!!

This is Tito.

Tito is 17 years old (he looks 15) and was one of the youth from Mangwaneni CarePoint that Thabo (Cup employee) chose to help make the round cement blocks our Oct. team used for the retaining wall at Fonteyn. The other boys that worked had money credited to thier school fee balance they still owed but Tito said he wasn't in school. He said he wanted to go but couldn't afford it. I told him to see me in January and I would help with school. Instead of just leaving it at that, Tito started coming to the office everyday and going out to work with Thabo. The picture above was when he was helping with the Oasis team. Tito worked without pay everyday from the end of August until school started in January except for Christmas break. He is a hard worker! By November we had promised him that if he continued until school started, we would pay all his fees for next year. He has shown a willingness to work with excellence and with integrity, two of the 6 core values we are working to instill in our young people.

It happened I needed someone to cut my grass early in January. I was able to steal Tito from the work crew that day. When I took him to be trained on my grass cutter (weedeater in the US--that's what they use to cut the WHOLE lawn here) he listened intently. When we got back in my bakki (truck) he exclaimed "I like this!" Tito worked hard that day and we worked out that he would cut my yard on Saturdays and I would buy his school uniform (2 shirts, tie, sweater, pants, shoes and socks). I would pay him to work for me on Saturdays as long as he keeps up in school. In April we will also see about getting him some training at the garden center since he has a passion for yard work. This way he will also have some skills training.

Tito, lives with an "Auntie" and his mother who is very sick. Neither of them would help him find a place in school. Did I mention that even once you have money you must find a school to accept you and it's not necessarily the one closest to your home? (The schools are overcrowded to where there are 50 or more in most classrooms.) Some of our staff helped Tito find a place in a school not too far away and he has started the equivilent of the first year of high school in the US. He is so excited. He has promised to come ask for help if he starts struggling in a subject. Tito attends the HPC church and youth group because Mangwaneni is the one CarePoint close to our HPC Swaziland church. We cannot help them all but we can help some and I know that God has a plan for Tito's life. Pray he grows in his walk with God and becomes a young man God will use to change a generation!!!

Today Was the Day

Friday, January 30th 2009 (Don't know why it is saying January 27th)
All week God has been impressing upon me that relationships are more important than tasks. Not how I usually operate. The prayer I read in the Purpose Driven Life goes like this:
“God, whether I get anything else done today, I want to make sure that I spend time loving you and loving other people – because that’s what life is all about. I don’t want to waste this day.”
Simple enough but such a difficult shift in my mindset. But God is so good! This is how God help me deviate from just having a “to do” list.
Monday: Spent time shopping with an older student for school uniform. Tell you more about Tito on another blog.
Tuesday: Hung out at Mangwaneni CarePoint in the pouring rain and brought stuff for the older girls to make bead bracelets and took pictures of kids and showed them back to them.
Wednesday: Spent time with a headmaster (principal) and teacher at a school trying to get 2 students enrolled and ending up learning more about how the school system works, having empathy for overcrowded classrooms, understanding my students better and having a mutual respect for the headmaster.
Thursday: Spent time with a friend who is a new mother and who I haven’t gotten to see because I’m “too busy”. What a blessing!
Friday: Visited an employee whose daughter had major surgery for scoliosis and had to conquer her own fear of hospitals to be there for her child. Then bumped into an acquaintance whose husband has cancer and who be moving in a few months to Botswana to be with her daughter. (I will plan time for tea and a longer chat before she departs.)

This is the blog I intended to expound on as God has blessed me tremendously this week in relationships. Then it happened------- For those who have read my blog since I came to Swaziland might remember when I wondered what it was going to feel like when someone I knew died of AIDS. Today (Friday the 30th of January)was the day and my heart aches.

When HPC (Healing Place Church) Swaziland began, I started watching the 5 and under children during children’s church. That is when I met Celmusa (“click”-el-moo-sah). He was 4 but looked about 2. He and his mom spoke and understood very little English but came to church after members had prayed for Celmusa when he was sick. His mother said she liked to come because she could feel God’s love at our church. Celmusa was very attached to his mother and would scream if I tried take him to class. His mom would bring him back and gradually he was fine with staying and playing.
Celmusa had the cutest smile. He got to where he would give me high fives, dance with me during worship, play blocks with me in class and just smile every time I greeted him at church. I would ask “How’s my Musa today?” and he would just grin.
Last Sunday his mom said he wasn’t feeling well. He didn’t go to class but slept through service. His mom was worried. Jessie our nurse visited with her (with an interpreter). He was running a fever and had other symptoms and she was advised to take him to the doctor. Jessie assured mom she was taking good care of her son and it was the disease not her care that was the problem. Celmusa’s mom took him to the government hospital that afternoon. Celmusa was admitted, put on oxygen and died on Thursday. He died. I didn’t even realize he was in the hospital all week. (It is a dismal place.) This little life I love interacting with is no longer here because of this disease that is tearing at this whole nation!
It hurts! I don’t want Celmusa to be gone. I want to see his smile on Sunday and give him a high five! My heart breaks because 1 out of every 2 people I know here is probably HIV positive. I hate it! My flesh wants to yell “what’s the point!!!” But God is in control and He wants fellowship with each and every one of us. Why He let Celmusa die I don’t know. To relieve Celmusa’s pain? So his mom could hear and understand about heaven and hell so she may know Christ as her Savior? For a totally different reason? I don’t know. God was not caught by surprise but it has rocked my world. People I know are suffering, struggling to find food to eat most days, shivering in the rain and even dying; but this life is but a drop in the bucket. Where will they spend eternity? Where will they find true peace in the midst of such hopelessness? Our hope is in Christ but what am I doing to make sure they find it? It’s not in being only focused on office work --- it’s in spending TIME with individuals; sharing in their lives; showing them, not telling them, about my relationship with Christ. Thank you Celmusa for the wakeup call! I know God is enjoying your smile as you dance pain free tonight. I’ll miss you!!!
“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now, rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:18
Grief is not a luxury most Swazi’s will indulge in. Death occurs too frequently for that. But Celmusa’s mother is the most loving mother I have seen. She loved Celmusa with all her heart and I could always tell that he knew that. There is a newborn brother and other siblings to care for. We are having Swazi leaders in our church ministering to mom’s spiritual needs as the church also helps with the physical needs. Pray for Celmusa’s family. Thank you those that make it possible for me to be here. Even with the pain in my growing spiritually, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Michael's Trip -- The Animals of Africa

What a fun time I had with Michael at Kruger! I even let him drive on the left hand side of the road (since he couldn't go faster than 50 km/hr [30 mph] - and could stop on the wrong side of the road to look at animals). Check out the hyena on the early morning drive and the great sunset. Thank you Lord for such a wonderful time with my son while we celebrated the birth of your son!