After a not-so-long bus ride, we’re safe in Swaziland, and have been for almost a week. Sorry, this is the first we’ve had internet! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement with being tired. Honestly, I still am, but I don’t doubt that there’s purpose and God is so good. So thank you. I’ll be posting a better blog next week, but I wanted to just give you some idea of our lives here.
-I am still living out of just my daypack. It’s a challenge, but we’ve learned to live on so much less, and that’s a blessing!
-We are cooking for ourselves again, similarly to Romania, since we have 2 teams living together. I finally can make some legitimate African Rice and Beans.
-WE HAVE BEDS. The girls are living in a circular house with a thatched roof, and we have bunks. So far we’ve only had a few flying cockroaches, a scorpion, and a snake.
-We have three-sided, no-door, hole in the ground, bathrooms. Love it.
-There’s a tree out back where we’ve hung five hammocks, and it’s the perfect break from hot African sun and ministry.
-At church on Sunday, we met Shanita Foster (wife of George Foster, NFL player for the Saints), as well as the Emmy Award winning director, Mark Jacobs, who are both born again Christians working with Shanita’s organization Beyond the Game, bringing hope to Swaziland. We’ve worked with them a couple times. It’s crazy 🙂
-Swazi, though desolate, is beautiful! We live in the mountains and it’s incredible. We can see the Milky Way.
-The situation here is not anywhere near perfect, however present God may be. While going through a FOURTH grade school workbook, the spelling words for that week were: Rape, Fright, Imagine, Magistrate, and Abuse. WHAT?! The story they used to imput past participles was about a little girl’s uncle’s sexual abuse. And another story was about a python eating a one-year-old baby. I am still processing that.
-We visit Care Points and feedings, visit and encourage HIV/AIDS, TB, and Cancer ridden terminally ill patients, have team times, go to church, and do whatever else the Lord presents.
Thanks for your prayers. Swaziland needs them. We need them.
“And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?”
Glad you have bunks. Eat the cockroaches, scorpions, and snakes… goes well with rice and beans. :-). …cool connection with Shanita and “Beyond the Game.” Spelling words? Ugh! Indicates the state of the culture…sad. Be well, be encouraged, be safe. Trust in Him completely. Praying for you all.
Love, Dad
Dear Father, help this team be Your “light shining in the darkness” – prepare souls to understand it.
Give Stephanie the confidence from 1 John 4:4 that she is “from God and has overcome them, because the One who is in her is greater than the one who is in the world.”
May she trust from Luke 10:19 that You “have given her authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm her.” Thank You for blessing and fortifying this team. In our Lord Jesus. AMEN
WHOA…it’s a whole different kettle of fish in Africa! I was amazed at the amount of sexual abuse with children, and in some places children have no value, thusly can be used for anything you want. AHhhhh, the bugs and snakes, You have to put away the American “Eeeek a spider!”, as all arfe KING size there. Remember with all these things coming at you….HE IS YOUR STRENGTH AND SHIELD!!!!!!!!! You are doing the Lords work, and Satan is angry and attacking, but Jesus last words on the cross “It is finished”. Greater is the one in you than he that is in the world!! Praying for you and the team.
Susan
we have finished our conference in Cajamarca, Peru and now we are in Cuzco, Peru. still praying for the team and that you might bear fruit……