We sincerely thank God and everyone who gave time, energy, skills, supplies and finances to make the trip possible to visit our neighbor kids and people in and around Ludlati Carepoint. KnownToMe started on the journey with Ludlati in November 2009 with a long term development plan to raise support and provide resources for the Swazi ladies (Bomake) who faithfully work at the carepoint, and build infrastructure and relationships. All these things help to meet true needs, but relationships are the only way to deliver encouragement, love, hope and life.
Everything we did during this first visit is part of the overall objective to build long term relationships at Ludlati. Here is a concise list of highlights from the trip:
Several if not all the Bomake are true believers doing the daily work at Ludlati. Now we see that they feel our love and support, and make excellent use of the resources received. They are very thankful to God for His abundant provision, and look forward to continued growth in areas of remaining need.
Extra funds raised for the trip provided two (very much needed) large iron pots, two large wooden cooking utensils, net ball hoops, net balls, daily fruit for the kids, meat for the fun day meal, towels for foot washing, batteries for a talking bible in Siswati, and home visit gift packs heavy with food and things considered luxuries in Swaziland (e.g. sugar, coffee).
Got to know personal situations and struggles of many kids, the Bomake, and Disciplers, and we were able to share compassion and pray with them.
Letters written to the kids are very well received. They feel love and friendship communicated through your letters. It is another effective way to build relationships that give hope. We also received a response letter from one of my family’s matched kids to bring home.
Two American men (myself and Dennis Brock) and two Swazi men (Bheki and Pastor Walter) visited a home of abusive parents to show our concern for their children, and invite them to join the carepoint festivities for the week. When men show this kind of loving concern for a family, and gently confront their situation, it is a significant event in Swaziland where men are generally not involved. The Lord used our presence and concern to influence the mother to let her kids come and share in the fun at Ludlati. Please pray for abuse in this family to stop, and this family finds freedom and peace in Christ.
We visited a mourning family where an Aunt of two kids had died. While we were following the kids to their homestead down the rough paths, Bheki asked me to share scriptures of encouragement with the family. Our whole team, both disciplers and many of the Bomake attended. Discipler Bheki started with a couple worship songs, followed by interpretations of the scriptures and words of encouragement shared. Two men of the family responded with gracious, genuine words of acceptance of the songs and scriptures, and thanked everyone on our team for coming so far to visit their family. They also thanked us for the work being done at Ludlati Carepoint. They told us the whole community finds hope and appreciates the work being done with the children at Ludlati Carepoint. It was humbling to receive their thanks on behalf of the community in the face of their personal loss. We thanked them for welcoming us into their home to share in their families time of loss and hope in Christ. We gave them two large home visit packs as gifts.
We got about 10-12 home visits completed during the trip. Having visitors come to a home is an exciting event in Swaziland. Some visits were easy and pleasant. Others revealed challenging living conditions and situations. One of the more common prayer requests was for fathers to leave new wives or girl friends, return home, spend time with their children, and at least send money home to support their family. In either case, we were able to pray with each family, and leave a nice home visit gift pack.
Shoes, foot washing, dresses, shorts, hats, school supplies, toiletry bags, fun day activities and fruit and candy treats were all well received by the kids. We were glad these things were accomplished, and there was a lot of physical work involved. The team did a great job, but the week was almost too busy. We saw the benefits and need for more interaction time with the kids, and thought we will build more time for relating this way into the next trip.
One month after we returned from the trip, we received messages from Bheki and Londiwe, the Discpileship Trainers.
“Everytime I go there now it feels like there’s more life…the kids are such an encouragement…I really am enjoying my time with them, so thanks a lot for all y’all did to impact the kids while you were here! Keep blessed then!” - Bheki
“Your trip had a great impact in our lives. It gives us hope to know that we are not alone, and it encourages us to know that you are praying for us. Be blessed in your families” -Londiwe
Many thanks were expressed by the children, Bomake, Discipleship Trainers, one man working at the carepoint, and people in the surrounding community for coming to visit and for bringing hope. Many requests were offered for us to stay and not leave. Everyone on the travel team expressed much thanks for the blessing we felt from each person we met during the trip. As we left in the van after giving our final goodbyes and hugs, we all felt a load of compassion and saddness for the kids and their circumstances as well as the joy of getting to know them and sharing a great week together. There were not many dry eyes in the van as we departed down the rough gravel road.
Above is a video of the trip titled “Journey to Ludlati Carepoint”. From it’s earliest beginning as “The Tree Carepoint”, much transformation has taken place over the last few years at Ludlati Carepoint. Because of God’s blessings of provision, infrastructure that we can see with our eyes has been built. Because of God’s blessings of community and relationship, friendship, encouragement, love and hope has been shared and continues to grow between our communities.
Bomake is a Siswati word pronounced Boh-mah-gay. It is a word that means “other mother”.
Make - pronounced mah-gay - is the Siswati word for mother. They are called Bomake as these
ladies are truly the “other mothers” of the Ludlati Carepoint children. Initially, we were told the
women were called Go-go which means grandmother. This is because many of the women working
at carepoints are Go-gos. Many mothers or “make” have died due to the AIDS epidemic in Swaziland.
During our visit, I asked Nonkululeko Matsebula (we call her Mage Matsebula for short)
if she was a Go-go, and she smiled very big and said no no. I asked her if any of the ladies
were Go-gos, and she said no, we are Bomakes, but you can call us Go-gos if you like.
So I told her that we would refer to them as Bomakes from now on. I think she appreciates
this, though she will make a great Go-go someday.
Mage Matsebula is the lady who started the carepoint. For those who do not know the story,
Mage started noticing some children wandering around who were hungry, and she began to feed them at her homestead.
Word quickly spread and more and more kids were coming to get food. She did not have
many resources, but she shared what she had, and asked the neighbors
to help as well. In a short time, so many kids were coming to her place, that she could not fit them on her
property. So she went to the Chief in her region to ask for some land to start a carepoint.
The Chief had noticed the need as well, and was happy that Mage was taking action to help. He
agreed to give her some land to use for the carepoint. This is where Ludlati Carepoint is now
located.
Mage Matsebula could not do all
the work on her own, and she gathered five other ladies to help her share the work load at Ludlati Carepoint.
We are so grateful and thank God for the six Bomake’s and their dedication and care given to the Ludlati Kids.
During our trip planning, we knew we wanted to bless the ladies (Bomake) who
work hard everyday at the carepoint. It can be easy to focus on the kids,
and forget who is doing much of the daily work.
They started the carepoint, believed God for His
provision, and started working faithfully with what little they had. Each of us who gives
monthly sponsorship funds to Ludlati Carepoint is providing the resources these ladies
use to feed and watch over our Ludlati neighbor kids everyday. The Bomake expressed
their thanks to God for the support.
We wanted these ladies to know we really appreciate them,
love them, and encourage them to continue the work God has called them to do.
During the trip we posted on the blog how the Bomake were blessed when God answered their prayers
for iron pots and untensiles for the carepoint. They had been using family size pots for cooking
and feeding 83 kids! They had a real need for more appropriate cooking equipment.
We used some flexible trip funds to purchase two new carepoint size pots which they were so
excited to receive. They thanked God for answering their prayers,
and put the pots to work the next day! It was a great joy to see them blessed by this provision,
but again we wanted them to be blessed personally and individually.
We had preplanned to honor and bless these ladies on the big fun day (Saturday) that we enjoyed
with the kids. While we were doing activities and playing with the kids, the Bomake cooked an extra
special meal for everyone with meat and vegetables.
Our team also ate the meal of beef stew, chicken stew, rice, potato salad, tomato salad, and I really liked the
beat salad which is a common dish there.
After the kids were fed and we had eaten our meal, we handed out the hygene gift bags, candy and cup cakes
to the kids.
Then we were finally able to invite the Bomage inside the kitchen room for their turn to be blessed.
The gift giving event started with the ladies sitting in a line. We thanked God for them, and for
the work they were doing daily at the carepoint. They also gave us a letter of thanks to God for
our team and everyone back home used by God to bless the Ludlati children. Then we
proceded to give them each a bag of gifts. While they were opening their gifts, the excitement
exploded in the room. Each of the six Bomage received
a bible, blanket, umbrella, and a towel set. They were very touched to receive a bible in Siswati. One of the
ladies said she didn’t even have a bible, and she was crying tears of joy for the gift. She actually held
it on top of her head and danced on her knees with joy she was so excited about it. After Mage Matsebula looked
into her gift bag, she jumped up and gave a big hug, and twirled into the corner looking into the bag
and holding it in joyfully in her arms. She really appreciated
the towel set which she held to her face. In Swaziland, blankets are charished gifts,
and all the Bomage danced with excitement as they pulled
the blankets out and wrapped them around their shoulders. All the gifts were very well received,
and even produced a rare smile on one Bomage described as quiet and introverted.
We also honored the ladies by giving them a special meal from KFC (yes,
that’s Kentucky Fried Chicken). It is a fancy meal and special treat in Swaziland rarely if ever
enjoyed by these ladies. As you can see in the pictures, these ladies were thoroughly blessed. All of us were
in tears with joy and thanks giving. The Lord truly blessed these special ladies, and
we are thankful we could be there to share it together.
Though the thanksgiving and blessings shared with the Bomake are grand,
we have more thankfulness to share from Ludlati Carepoint.
Watch for the next post as we describe the special friendships and bonds we developed with our driver and two
Discipleship team members who helped us all week. We are thankful we gained a deeper understanding
of the work and positive spiritual guidance these young leaders give to the Ludlati children and community.
In the last post, we are thankful for many things done at Ludlati Carepoint before we arrived. Now I want to dive
into God’s depth of provision and abundance of the finances, items, His word and Spirit we needed for the work He had planned for us to do
throughout the week.
We saw God fulfill His promise of provision for the six team members who committed to
go on the trip and sought many of you for fund donations to cover travel costs.
God provided these funds through all of you who gave.
We also sought additional funds to take along for VBS and other activities, other carepoint supplies,
and gifts planned for the trip.
God faithfully supplied again through His people to fufill the work He planned to have
done at and around Ludlati Carepoint. The supplies we took fit in 18 of our 24 total checked bags and 6 carry on suit cases!
These funds allowed us to supply all the following:
Shoes for each child at Ludlati Carepoint
foot cleaning supplies
food gift packs to give
for home visits in the surrounding community (beans, rice, bread, cooking oil, sugar,
coffee, tea, soap - some of these things are a luxury for most people in Swaziland),
special fruit treats (and nutrition) for the kids on each day
of our visit
a special meat meal on Fun Day (Saturday)
VBS supplies (paper, construction paper, crayons, stickers)
school supplies gift bags (pencil, pen, pencil sharpener, crayons, notebook, safety scissors, eraser)
hygene supplies gift bags (bar of soap, wash cloth, tooth paste, tooth brush)
soccer balls, net balls, net ball hoops
30 foot activity parachute
jump ropes, and frisbees donated by WBGL
kush balls, toy cars for boys, head bands for girls, fun wrist bands
gold ball caps
candy treats of course
We also had enough extra funds for special gifts for the hard working and dedicated Bomake (bo-mah-gay) and cooking equipment needed at Ludlati Carepoint.
As many of you know, one of our primary goals for this trip was provision of a new pair of shoes for each child at the Carepoint. The shoe fund drive goal was fulfilled! We thank God for individuals and churches who
donated enough funds for every child to receive
a new pair of shoes. The CHC/AIM staff measured the feet and ordered the shoes the week prior to our arrival. Kids too young for school were given a new pair of croc’s, and school age children were given a pair of school shoes (shoes are part of the required uniform). Prior to giving each child
their shoes, we washed each child’s feet as Jesus did for the Disciples, and He instructed
His disciples to do the same. We were thankful we had the opportunity to literally follow Jesus
instructions. We also cleaned and bandaged wounds if they had them. All the lines start with the littlest kids. One of the first little ones started to cry during the foot washing. This started a crying line of kids standing outside in line who became very unsure about what was going on in that building. The crying didn’t last long as they learned it was a harmless process. We also prayed for the kids physical and spiritual protection, provision and blessings as they came through the cleaning and fitting process.
Something was given on each day, and I want to share what happened with most of the gifts we gave away. We did not know the exact number of kids that
would show up on each of five planned full day visits. The numbers varied between
about 100 to 120 people. Before we left, we asked God to help us bring what we needed,
and He answered this prayer more than once. When we handed out the kush balls
and wrist bands, we had the exact number we needed. When we handed out the gold ball caps,
we had the exact number we needed. When we handed out the hygene supply gift bags, we
had the exact number we needed. We were never short on things we planned to give. For each of
these gifts, as we neared the end of the line and supplies, we started praying for multiplication
if we needed it
and looking at each other with wide eyes only to find in the end we had exaclty what we needed. Amazing!
We would just look at each other, laugh and say Thank You Lord!
Having a gift for everyone in the group is important in this culture. Everyone gets the same gift
or else it can be
a big problem. Jealousy can be very strong in this culture over seemingly small things.
God showed His grace is sufficient to take care of His children. We leave it to God to
deal with hearts in Swaziland
on the jealousy issue in His timing. In the meantime, He calls us all to actively do His work and love unconditionally as He loves us
and gives us grace with our heart issues
In the next post, we will share about the gifts and blessings that were showered on the Bomake (boh-mah-gay). We will give you more details we learned about each one during our visit with the six dedicated ladies who cook and watch over the kids at Ludlati Carepoint everyday. Thank God for them.
I have been trying to write a blog that gives thanks to God for so many good things done before and during the trip to Ludlati. I also want to share in more depth about the awesome work being done by the Bomake (boh-mah-gay) and the Discipleship team at Ludlati. After visiting and talking with them we have a much deeper appreciation for the way God uses them at Ludlati. We also received word from community members visiting the carepoint, and during home visits how they are blessed to see the good things being done at Ludlati Carepoint. As I have been writing, the text just keeps getting longer and longer to the point where I realize I need to break this into a multi-part series. So here goes…
Thankfulness at Ludlati - Part I
We are thankful for all the people who gave their time and sewing skills to the dress project.
It was started by Michelle Jacob with hopes that 100 would be made.
Over 500 dresses were hand made and donated. After the dress project
was started, a project to make shorts for boys was launched. Over
200 pairs of shorts came in. On top of the clothes, someone started
making homemade drawstring bags for the clothes. Each girl and boy at Ludlati
Carepoint received two dresses or two pairs of shorts, and were given inside
a homemade drawstring bag.
As part of the monthly sponsorships raised at Ludlati Carepoint, a water tank
and tower were installed at the Carepoint. The ladies who started Ludlati Carepoint,
and faithfully cook and feed the children each day were very thankful to have this
easy access to clean water for cooking and for the children to have water to drink. Until
the well installation is completed, water is brought in by truck to fill the tank.
Capital funding was raised earlier this year to build a fence and kitchen. Ludlati
was selected as one of two carepoints to receive a kitchen build donated by a Swaziland
government organization called NERCHA. Our funds were shifted from the kitchen to a
water well. When we arrived at Ludlati, the kitchen was 95% completed, and had an extra
room just large enough to use for some of our group gatherings. We used the room all
week for gathering together to sing praise songs, give away clothes, wash feet,
give away shoes, do VBS coloring projects. God’s timing for having and using this room
was perfect.
The water well is drilled, and located down the hill from Ludlati carepoint. A trench is partially dug heading from the well hole up
the hill to the kitchen. At this point, I think the plan is to install a solar powered water pump. Three other carepoints are using the solar powered
pumps, and the equipment is running effectively and reliably. There is a little more initial cost for the equipment, but no monthly power bills! Because of a significant
gift given by an anonymous donor, I believe we have the capital funds needed. Thank you Lord for being the provider to Ludlati!
The fence, which is fully funded, is not started yet. There
has been so much growth in the number of carepoints being sponsored in Swaziland through Childrens HopeChest
that they have had a hard time keeping up with the pace of
giving. The fence is planned to begin in two to three weeks. After I receive update
pictures, I will share them with everyone here on the blog.
As you can see, we have so much to be thankful for before we get into thanking God for trip provisions…more to come.
Three NFL football players, Cornell Green, George Foster, and Anthony Hargrove, went on a trip to Swaziland to offer their time and energy in service to children and people in need.
The video linked below gives a brief overview of their trip. Once again it is illustrated, when a person meets people where they live in poverty and the weight of so much death around them, a person gets to know the people, and begin to understand the situation. It is quickly realized that something must be done.
One of the players said, “How can I live the American Dream knowing that Swaziland people are dieing everyday.”
“Help is needed…we can’t let Swaziland disappear.”
You can see their story after you get through the short NFL commercial. Click on the image below to see the video.
Scott Borg who works with Adventures in Missions and Childrens HopeChest was their trip host and leader. For more details of their trip, you can read how God answered these men’s prayer for protection and rain for a family of orphan children headed by two teenage girls with a garden of crops facing drought.
Between August 18th and Sept 3rd, tax deductible donations payable to West Side Church may be sent by mail only.
Donation by Mail:
After August 18th - Before Sept 3rd arrival:
Make checks payable to: West Side Church
Please mail to:
Don King - Swazi Team Leader
860 CR 2100E
Sidney, IL 61877
I collect these checks and send the funds through West Side Church, and these funds will be applied to purchase shoes for the kids during the trip.
Information about giving shoes to our Ludlati Neighbor Kids:
We have assembled a team of six wonderful people planning to travel to Swaziland to visit our Neighbor Kids at Ludlati Carepoint Sept 4th through the 14th, 2010. As Christ works in and through the team members and each of you, there are many things planned for the trip, but…
...one need we want to meet is making sure every child at Ludlati Carepoint receives a new pair of school shoes.
For many of the children, this will become their only pair of shoes. It is estimated we will have 100+ children attending Ludlati carepoint during our visit, and shoes cost between $10-$20 a pair. This is our initial presentation of an opportunity for everyone following or involved in sponsoring a child at Ludlati Carepoint to contribute to the purchase of shoes for the children. We currently have just under half the children matched with sponsors.
So to cover every child we are hoping for the 1 for 2 deal! “1 sponsor for 2 children”
If you can give the gift and/or make the sacrifice, we suggest donation of $30 to cover your sponsored child and one more child.
Even if you are not currently sponsoring a child, we ask you for the same gift of $30 to cover two pairs of feet.
I look forward to sizing up and shoe-ing the little and big feet of our Ludlati Neighbor Kids, and sharing pictures back home of their and our smiling faces as we help them come to know Christ through this tangible gift of God’s love.
As best can be expressed through a blog post, I sincerely and humbly thank you for letting us make you aware of this need. We will send out a couple more notices and updates on progress with the shoe drive over the next 8 weeks. It will work best if gifts are sent before August 7th, 2010.
No gift is too small or too large for God to multiply.
Thanks in advance for your interest, support and love for the Ludlati Neighbor Kids and the people in their community. We also appreciate your prayers for the trip and team members fund raising and planning efforts. To God be all the Glory!
Yours in Christ,
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) 217-390-6798
p.s. Jumbo and Kriek Gerber will be helping us in Swaziland during our trip, and are the full time missionaries working with CHC and AIM. Here is a recent post on their blog describing another travel group bringing shoes for two carepoints. There is also some fun news about Jumbo and Kriek’s coming baby.
http://jumbogerber.myadventures.org/?filename=world-cup-and-another-great-trip
I met a man by the name of Todd Harrington on the vision trip to Swaziland in 2009. Todd is a pastor from Dawson Church in Birmingham, AL. He is in Swaziland this week with a team of men and women visiting their carepoint called EsKhaleni (es-kuh-lah-nee). We visited EsKhaleni during the vision trip. This carepoint is near the mountains and is a place of awesome beauty, but there are real dangers that exist for the kids in this area. We found the younger children at this remote carepoint were much less responsive than kids at other carepoints. They had not been exposed to many people (native or foreign), and their homes are much more spread out in this region. Many of them were left at home daily by themselves while usually a single mom tries to find work (12hrs at ~$3/day wage) or food to somehow get by. Now that this carepoint is sponsored, the kids will get two meals a day, emotional support, education opportunities, and discipleship training and mentoring.
It is exciting to read in their blog and see pictures of the team with the kids, Gogos, and men working on the carepoint. Blog posts and comments show how God is doing much of His working and blessing through relationship. Relationships fostered by working and playing together and during home visits. Similar to our calling to relate with Ludlati, God is using His people to bring His gospel of love, hope, salvation, and meet some basic physical needs for orphans and at-risk children in Swaziland.
I look forward to following the rest of their trip, and continue the planning for our trip to Ludlati this September!
While following the Dawson Church team’s trip, it is also fun for me to recognize some of the kids in the pictures. See the shy little girl in the lower right corner of this picture from the Dawson Church team? She is the same girl in the video below from the vision trip in 2009!
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Ludlati Carepoint Support Level 47 Kids Funded; 62 Kids To Go
About - KnownToMe
We have begun to ask ourselves...What would we do if our neighbor was starving right before our eyes? Would we not help? Today, their plight is not hidden from us. It is known. We believe there is a clear mandate that we must care for societies most vulnerable members, the widow, the orphan, those in extreme poverty. If you are stirred to a similar belief, if you know there is more that you must do, Known To Me will make you aware of specific needs and opportunities to help.
