Jenny will be leaving for Ethiopia in the wee hours Saturday morning. Our Charlie and her sister Barbra will be going with her. It is unsettling not to be with her. But those feelings are mild this time, better for having been there before and having grown so much in our faith and confidence in putting ourselves in His hands. They will be traveling with Greg and Melissa (also active here at KTM), who happen to have been friends of Jenny and Barbra since they were kids. Greg and Melissa will be bringing home an addition to their family as well. God is so good in putting all of this together so the timing worked out like this. We had no control over it, and the odds were essentially zero… or maybe the odds were 100% all along.
Anyway, we appreciate your prayers for all of us. I know my part isn’t as hard as Jenny’s but we have several traveling and three partial families at home - we all need Him through this, even those of us staying here. But I suppose that, in and of itself, isn’t different from any other day.
Read the linked blog post below. Really. You need to. It is not easy to read or hear, but the Church must become aware of what we are allowing to exist.
This unfortunately ties in to discussions I’ve had recently with several well-intentioned, serious Christian brothers and sisters who have heard “prophecies” of impending financial collapse. First, let’s clarify what biblical prophets were (are). Biblical prophets had a direct, shattering experience with God. An experience that often compelled things like smearing themselves with excrement, marrying a prostitute to illustrate God’s faithfulness to an unfaithful nation, accepting the death of a wife (described by God as “the light of your eyes” when He told the prophet she would die so He could illustrate the message with more power)... False prophets were stoned. You had to be absolutely certain of your experience with God to speak as a prophet or you did so at risk of your life. Biblical prophets spoke directly for God, passing on a specific message He gave them. They were never scholars who, through their own diligence, insight, education, and research, figured out the timing and details of the future. In fact, the future was never their primary concern at all. Their primary concern was confronting God’s people with their unfaithfulness, and calling for repentance and a return to devotion to God as their Lord and Master. They did not pull any punches, and were never widely accepted by God’s people - Amos referred to the wealthy women of Samaria as “cows of Bashan” (that particular breed was a show cow, overfed, useless for any practical purpose, and fat even for the bovine species). These were not popular guys, and they did not give hollow predictions. The future predictions were only a means to that end - a description of what would come to pass if the repentance was not forthcoming.
Did you link through to that blog post above? Please do. Really.
Then consider this. Even if the “prophecies” I’m talking about are accurate, what should they motivate us to do? Does this sound right? We should worry. Then we should spend our time, effort, and emotional focus on figuring out how to best invest/hide/use our wealth so that our standard of living is impacted as little as possible. Then we should worry some more. Then we should spend most of our prayer time seeking specifics about how to keep our standard of living where it is “if” things get bad. Then probably some more worry. Because, after all, it is all about us.
In case the post I linked didn’t get the message across, things are already bad. Things are, in fact, desperate for billions of people, many of whom have never heard the Gospel. If our time is short, where should our focus be? If we have only a short time before the wealth of this nation collapses, what should we do with that wealth before it disappears? Really. What does the bible say about how we should use our excess. That’s the prophecy this nation needs to hear. The only problem? Throughout history, true prophecy is harsh, raw, and requires that the hearer turn from selfish indulgences. No one has ever wanted to hear that, and the Church does not want to hear it now.
I apologize for the tone. Really. I don’t want to offend anyone, but did you read that link? My kids grew up in that city. This is personal to me. I’ll kiss two kids goodnight tonight who once faced that future. I love them dearly, and I now see the kids who suffer and die every day due to hunger. I know them now. And I love them. I will fight for them, and I will call things the way I see them on their behalf. Please read this with the understanding that I am a father to two (soon to be five) of these kids, understand my sense of urgency in that light, and forgive my passion for them if it has offended.
A story from Children’s HopeChest shows how the Lord called a poor pastor in Swaziland, Pastor Walter, to give out of his pocket. Pastor Walter describes how his heart was so moved to obeyed God’s word and call in James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress….
Watch how God has blessed and continues to bless Pastor Walter’s obedience and work…
During my visit to Swaziland in October 2009, I met Pastor Walter and his wife, saw the carepoints he started and are now supported by people through Children’s HopeChest. The video below shows progress made toward Pastor Walter’s vision by October 2009 as the walls are built onto the Church building at Bhalekane. It is not shown in this video, but a primary school is also added to the grounds, and a field on the grounds was freshly plowed to grow cash crops. More importantly, there is a noticeable improvement in the countenance of the children at Bhalekane carepoint relative to children of Ludlati carepoint who did not have this level of care and resource. We are so happy to get started with Ludlati, and we look forward to watching love turn into hope and joy.
Though we are not “pastors”, all followers of Christ are instructed by Jesus to obey God’s commands to love one another and care for the needy, and we are blessed with joy when we obey. We can share in some joy now by reading a young swazi boy’s perspective how his life is changed through the support of a carepoint…
Story from a boy in Swaziland named Musa (from Children’s HopeChest):
“My name is Musa. I am five. My mother and father are dead from AIDS. Now my sister Zodwa is taking care of me. She’s 12. After my parents died, we ate grass for food, but now that is changed. Every day the go-gos cook food for us at the carepoint. At the carepoint, Zodwa and I eat two meals each day. I no longer think about food so much. Now I dream of school. Thank you for making this place for me and Zodwa. Please do not ever forget us. I do not want to be hungry again.”
Most of us are overcome with concern as we read about the devastation resulting from the earthquake in Haiti. I have read the stories, seen the pictures, and taken the ache of it to my Father in Heaven. Still, I can’t help but think of James 2:15-16, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?” But what are we to do from the safety of our American homes? I have considered this a lot. Part of me feels so helpless. I wish I could be moving rubble alongside the mothers looking for their children, though I would certainly be inadequate to the task. I can’t do that, but compassion and James 2 don’t allow me to do nothing.
Thankfully, as a body of Christ we are able to do what it takes to get actual physical aid to the people of Haiti. If we all give, even tiny dollar amounts will make a big difference. Our job is to bring our loaves and fishes. It is God’s pleasure to multiply it to his purposes.
This morning I read the amazing account of 4 typical moms from North Carolina who arrived in Haiti just one hour before the earthquake occurred. I was inspired to hear how our Lord has been using these moms in the midst of this crisis. Isn’t it exciting to think that he has planned out works for each of His children to do for the kingdom.
Written by Deanna Jones
I spent Sunday after church in the usual manner, trying to gather all of my 6 kids from their various Sunday school classes. All of us church moms quickly whisk by each other with our quick “hey Linda I have your casserole pan in the car.” Or “Are you coming next Friday?” while grabbing our kids, placing Sunday school craft projects in our purses or under our arms as we put on jackets and hats of our little ones. We greet our closest friends quickly with our focus on making sure our families all are in one place so we can march back into our SUV’s or minivans and ‘off we go’ to our slow cooker lunches. Our quality adult time seems to be in small group meetings on Friday or Saturday nights when we can arrange baby sitters. Or we meet our girlfriends over coffee at Starbucks during the week or set up lunch dates. This past Sunday I called out to Linda, my church ‘sister’ and said “hey Linda we have to get together it has been almost a month.” Linda says “Come over today at 1:45 and pray for Lisa, Kellee and myself.” I call out “are you okay?” She says “Yeah, just having some prayer time.” I say “I have to stay with the kids.” Linda assumed that I was aware that she was taking off on a mission trip that Tuesday. I had no idea. We belong to a church in Durham, NC called Kings Park International Church. We take the ‘international” part very seriously. It isn’t unusual for someone to be in Ethiopia, Uganda, Guatemala and for my friend Linda it isn’t unusual for her to be in China, Japan or any of the Asian countries. Linda and her husband have seen earthquakes in China been in the middle of hurricanes/typhoons and are not novices to mission work But what I did not know due to our multi tasking ‘busy mom’ schedules is that Linda had planned to go to Haiti on Tuesday with two of our other church friends and a dentist from Raleigh. So, the prayer time that I missed was to bless the trip.
So, on Tuesday when I received a text from my husband midday saying “how is Linda?” I was perplexed. How is Linda? She is probably fine, I think. Why wouldn’t Linda be fine? I start to worry. Then I look in my email for prayer requests letting me know that my friend Linda and two of my other church ‘sisters’ are in Haiti on a mission trip and landed at the airport one hour prior to the 7.2 massive earthquake. They were traveling on missions for the Christianville Foundation. One of their travelers, Julia is a dentist. They had collected donations that were dental instruments, gauze, pain relievers, cold meds…band aids, antibiotic creams. It was known that they had arrived around 3:50 but Tuesday night we spent wondering where they were, having no communication. Were they still at the damaged airport? Were they okay? Were they on the road? Were they okay? My friend who did go to prayer time with Linda, Kellee, and Lisa said the prayer time was powerful and she felt like they would be protected. Linda’s husband’s facebook page said “I am full of faith.” I also felt ‘full of faith.’ But after not sleeping on Tuesday night, I started to wonder and worry a little today. Between the women they are parents to 10 children or more (I don’t know Julia). I started to be concerned that there was more damage to the airport that could have hurt someone. Or I worried about them being hurt by debris in a car-ride etc. So, when would we hear from them? Today I felt compelled to pray with my friend from 2-2:30. At 2:40 we received a phone call from Linda’s 12 year old son Matthew that Linda had made a call via SKYPE. They were alive!!! Praise God! Not only were they alive but they had found their way to a soccer field adjacent to a hospital where many wounded were. Linda’s son said “They are like doctors and nurses!” Matthew’s voice was so filled with pride. Linda, Kellee, Lisa and Julia had already delivered two babies. All of this brought tears to my eyes. I was mainly relieved but also in awe with God. He had scheduled the mothers to land in Haiti with medical supplies in their bags one hour before the worst earthquake to hit Haiti in 200 years. The Lord had sent 4 mothers from North Carolina to be first responders to this catastrophe. No longer were we worried, instead we were humbled at the extent of care God would go to in order to save His children. Why them? What did they have to offer? I am the type of mother who can put a band aid on my child or take out a sliver. I am capable of placing bacitracin on a scratch or make sure the tooth fairy remembers to visit. But I can’t imagine dressing a major trauma head wound or assisting in giving birth. What I have learned is that the team of 4 women is pretty awesome. Linda did study at UNC for awhile in premed. Julia is a dentist so must know how to stitch things up or give CPR and most likely has medical training. Kellee has been to Haiti several times and speaks creole. I don’t know Lisa very well but can imagine that God has appointed her as well due to her unique gifts. Mothers from North Carolina in a make shift hospital in the middle of Haiti saving lives….these women are truly Mothering the World. I am sure that Linda, Kellee, Lisa and Julia will be able to tell a much more amazing story after they return. But as information comes in talking about how the building at the airport collapsed minutes after they walked out of the door (thank you Jesus for bringing in the flight early)….for going before them and covering them in protection. Sometimes this world seems chaotic and without any kind of order ….GOD is still on the throne. The take away for me is that God continues to use people equipped with faith but by the world’s standards are lacking in official worldly capacity or titles. He cares and is aware of even the smallest of details and that even mothers from north Carolina can Mother the World and be she-ros using their ‘band-aid…boo-boo” skills to save lives…..
Just ordinary moms on a mission trip used by God in a big way.
Wanting to send off some of your loaves and fishes to Haiti, today? Here is a list from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability of 36 faith-based non-profit disaster organizations operating in Haiti. Categories of aid include hunger relief, humanitarian relief and water. Compassion Intl. is listed here, Samaritan’s Purse is listed here and many, many others. http://www.ecfa.org/ServantMatch.aspx?Type=Haiti
“Khisimusi lomuhle” (sounds like: giseemoosee lahmoolah) is how to say “Merry Christmas” in the language of Swaziland, Siswati. On October 24, 2009 in Swaziland, our team traveled to Mahlabaneni Carepoint to participate in a Christmas party with nearly 200 kids. I want to share with you a group of young boys I met around the ages of 10-12 years old.
Several of them spoke English well enough to carry on conversation with me. I felt a real connection with them, and it seemed they had the same with me. I was able to encourage them with actions and words. They were so open and eager to allow me to do that.
In this picture, you can see my hand on one of the boy’s chest in a gesture of acknowledgment and reassurance that I think he is alright! At the same time, he is holding my hand in a gesture of acceptance and appreciation which touched me in return.
I met these boys as I was standing on the outer edge of the shade provided by the open shelter where the Discipleship team was giving a Christmas program for the children and adults in attendance. They came up to me with smiles and a chair which I accepted. Then they gathered around my chair, and we began to get to know each other. We shared about our families, and I learned about some of their needs and struggles.
The young man in the yellow shirt is named, Siyabonga. He seemed to be the leader of this group of boys, but also seemed to have the biggest needs. He did not have shoes like the others and his shirt has several holes and tears. He mentioned that he would like to have a pair of soccer shoes size 6. He also mentioned he would prefer to have shoes so he could go to school without feeling uncomfortable. He has to live with his grandmother during the week so he can walk to school. During the weekends he goes home to be with his father. I asked him if I could pray for him and his needs, and he agreed. We thanked God for the day, that He is the provider, and that He knows Siyabonga’s needs and requests. I told him I have seen God answer prayers, and I believe God answers his prayers. I hope I get to hear how this young boy’s needs and requests are met. I wanted to run and get him what he requested, but logistically could not get this done on the trip. On this Christmas Day, Siyabonga’s requests are still on my heart. I hope he has what he needs today, but I hope to find out his status through letters. And I just want to get to know him and his friends better.
My wife and I love this video. Please listen to this young man of 11 years (in the olive green collar shirt) sing verses from the well known 23rd Psalm. He wanted to show me he could sing well, and chose this song. Of course some of his friends joined in and added some great supporting musical lines. I feel these words have significant meaning considering the poverty in Swaziland in this region near Big Bend.
I would like to say “Khisimusi lomuhle” to you young men. I know you can’t hear me or most likely read this post, but I really enjoyed meeting all of you. You have a place in my heart, and I pray for you. I know life is too hard for you, and I hope to see conditions improve. It was a special time for me to hang out, shake hands, put arms around each others shoulders, share troubles, pray, sing and have fun together. I hope I can see you on my next trip.
Don is downloading the profiles now. We will be preparing them and getting them out to you! More details to come.
The children range in age from 2-16 years. We cannot wait to meet them on paper (and in person).
Speaking of that, REMINDER, we will have a Swaziland travel meeting Tuesday night December 22nd at First Christian Church from 6:30-8:00pm near the Play Area. Please come if you would like to hear more about travel to Swaziland anytime in the future! A trip is being planned for fall 2010. Plus, we just might have some of these profiles prepared by tomorrow night’s meeting.
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 1:27
Visiting orphans and widows in their distress. What must a visit be like for those orphans and at-risk children? For me, the only thing that I can think of that could possibly compare is my memories of summer time visits of my California cousins. Our mundane summer days were exchanged for full days of cousin fun. So refreshing. This was my experience as a child who was never alone, never at-risk. Imagine what a visit could mean to a child who is alone and very much at-risk in her society. Could it be the joy of what visitors mean that causes the squeals of delight from the kids when a team arrives at the established care points in Swaziland?
If you have watched the kids approach the Ludlati carepoint,
you can see that these kids aren’t all together certain what these kind of visits are like. The more established care points are the places where the kids know the joy of interacting with new friends. The Ludlati kids have yet to experience the days of games and loving attention. None of them have received letters and pictures from someone far away who cares about them, followed by the chance to meet them face to face at last. Do not underestimate the value of hope and self worth this communicates to the kids! What a change is in store for all of us! What hope will be realized in this community here and there! If you are interested in supporting a child, please click here for the application instructions.
In the fall of 2010, a trip is being planned to visit our Ludlati neighbor kids! We will get to spend time with our Ludlati kids, possibly do some home visits in their area, and visit some other care points as well. Depending upon the timing of the trip, there could be other projects for us as well. This is the first of what we hope to be semi-annual or at the very least annual trips. I am not sure we are going to be able to keep Don away from Swaziland any longer than that! Warning to all who travel. You may want to go more than once!! The kids will definitely want you to come back!
Let’s get together and talk about travel. Tuesday, December 22 from 6:30 - 8:00 pm at First Christian Church (in the Playground area) we will have an important planning meeting about the fall trip and travel in general. We will share information, discuss plans and answer questions. While we have yet to have our official launch of the Ludlati Carepoint, it is never too soon to discuss the upcoming trip. If you want to know more about the trip, are considering travel this year or another year, or want to support others travels, this meeting is for you.
We want the meeting to be as efficient as possible so we encourage you to send any questions you already have ahead of time. Click here to go to the forum thread available for posting questions for the trip meeting (you must be a KTM member to post in the forum) or you can post them in the comments section after this post. You can also send them to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
When my daughter Jennifer, grandson Charlie, and I traveled to Ethiopia in July I traveled with a sense that the Lord wanted to show me something special. Indeed the excitement of bringing Nati and Feven home after so many months was very special, but there was something else I couldn’t put my finger on.
On our third night in Africa I found myself awake in the middle of the night. The dogs really do sleep all day and bark all night! As I lay there on my bed I asked, “Lord, what is it you brought me here to see?” “I wanted you to see the face of the least of these,” was the reply in my spirit. By this time we had seen many faces of “the least of these” and had been profoundly affected by them. I accepted this explanation and went back to sleep satisfied with His answer.
The next morning while riding in a window van we were stopped in traffic in a particularly congested area of Addis Ababa. I saw a man walking between the cars of the traffic jam, heading straight toward our van. Like the others in the van I was taken aback by his appearance. His face was a mass of scar tissue, barely recognizable as a face at all. He walked directly up to our van, but didn’t say a word. He did not ask us for anything nor did he extend a hand in any type of gesture of solicitation. He merely fixed us with his gaze and slowly side stepped his way along the windows of the van then turned and walked away through the stopped vehicles.
You could have heard a pin drop in that van. I said, “That was Jesus who just walked by our van.” I then related what the Spirit had revealed to me in the night. It was clear that the Lord had in mind a particular face to represent, for me, the, “least of these.” Everyone in the van was profoundly affected by this encounter and no one who saw him will ever forget that face.
I had been home from Ethiopia for about one week when the Lord spoke to me again about this experience. I was walking and praying near my home when the Spirit said, “The man you saw in Ethiopia was not just figuratively Jesus, but it was Jesus Himself!” I said, “Wait a minute, I do not want to make of this something that it was not.” I was already completely blessed by this encounter that was to help me put a face on “the least of these” in a way I had never been able to before. The Spirit, however, was quite convincing about this being a manifestation of Jesus Himself. As I embraced the wonder of what He was saying to me I said, “Lord, if I had known that it really was you, I would have pursued you through the traffic and embraced you!” He said, “That is the point of it all, I want you to embrace “the least of these my brothers” with the same enthusiasm you would have shown had you known it was me!”
I hear you Lord. Give me the grace to embrace “the least of these” as I would you.
On the second day of my trip to Swaziland, we visited a total of four carepoints. This is a lot considering it takes several hours just to say ‘Hi’ to the many many kids at one carepoint. Below are four kids I met that had a personal impact on me from two carepoints visited that day, Thembini and Mpholi.
This little girl from Thembini in the white sweater was shy for about 15 seconds. She warmed up to me very quickly, and was sitting in my lap in no time. When I got up to move around, she wanted me to hold her. So I did. My arms were in shape since I am often carrying one (or two) of my own children. And when it was time for me to leave she did NOT want me to put her down. So she would fully pull her legs up such that I had to place her on the ground. Her tactic worked a few times, because it was difficult to put her down knowing that the holding time she received that day is some of the few moments of holding she would receive in her life. Plus I enjoy holding the kids. I am glad this carepoint is fully supported by a church in the United States, and has visitors come a couple times a year to spend time with the children and people at this carepoint.
The next child is an older girl who was hanging out at the carepoint. I was able to say hello to her, and she responded with a shy reply. There were a few other kids her age at the carepoint, but this girl was isolated. She seemed lonely and sad. Maybe on a warmer, brighter day with more kids around she has some others to interact with. But my heart went out to her because she seemed like one of those kids who gets isolated because they are different in some way. I am glad she has access to a really good carepoint.
The picture below is the first child I met at our carepoint, Ludlati. Evidence of his adventurous spirit is marked in scars and dirt on his face and legs. He loved to climb the dirt hill and run down. He was happy to shake hands and give a smile. You can see him in the Ludlati video showing more expressive clapping and stomping while the kids where singing. He was a fun little boy.
We really like this second picture of him taken by Hannah Leman. To us this picture is an artistic expression of hope for children climbing out of the dirt reaching for a brighter future. I look forward to seeing him again on our next trip to visit our carepoint. I hope some of you will make plans to come along on the next trip to meet him as well.
If you have followed our blog entries about the trip, you have seen this young lady carrying her baby sister on her back. She is actually one of the older children watching a younger sibling. I heard and read about these circumstances, and felt sad, and wanted to do something to help. When I meet this circumstance face to face, yes I felt sad, but I was impacted in my mind, heart and gut. This girl and her baby sister’s cry are permanently marked in my soul. Now these kids are my neighbors. Now I really really want to do the right things to help, and I am thankful you are along since I can not do what is needed by myself. It’s one thing for a child to learn to care for a younger sibling, but it’s too much for a child to be the provider and protector of their siblings. This young girl does what she has to do (I hope it is not the worst of things) to take care of her sister. Thankfully she has Mpholi carepoint as a life saving resource and support for her. I look forward to seeing our collective support, letters, visits and actions of love sent to Ludlati in the near future.
There are many more children I want to share in future posts…
At the various carepoints visited during the Swaziland trip we saw over 700 children. If it had not been for one day of rainy weather and another day of school exams, the number would have been over 1000. I have a handful of children I met that made a distinct impression on me, or that I found myself overcome with compassion.
This first little man has a very bright smile. I remember him, because this is the first little face that I saw when I came out of the van.
In fact, I could hardly get out of the van because this little guy was standing right in front of the door with his head tilted back and smiling face beaming up at me. As I gently worked myself into a space next to him on the ground, this little guy reached for my hand, and walked with me toward the community building at Balekane. I will never forget the warm welcome he gave to me.
The next child is a little girl who you may see in many pictures of the members of our team. I wish I could remember her name, because she walked up to me and said in English, “My name is ____, I am six years old, I am a girl.” as she gracefully placed her hand on her chest while she spoke.
She is a precious little girl. She loved to be held, or sit next to us. She was one of the last children to leave Balekane carepoint. The kids have to get to their homes before dark. As she walked away on her bare feet, it was hard to imagine if she had a parent or no one waiting for her at home.
The last child I interacted with at Balekane is this nine year old boy. His name had a Siswati click sound in it. He really impressed me with his ability to communicate in English. His mother is one of the people who helps at Balekane carepoint. At first he asked me to help him find his backpack. I pointed him to one laying near the soccer field. He came back to talk some more, and it was time for me to leave or be left. I was impressed by his last two remarks. He did not ask me if we could be friends or if I would like to be his friend. He simply said, “I want you to be my friend.”
He was quite sure about it. No reservations or insecurity of thought. Frankly, it made me feel good like I was in second grade again, and had someone make me his friend as soon as I walked in the room as the new kid. I said I was glad to be friends with him. Then he asked, “When are you coming back?” I could not give him a definite answer, but I told him I would be back sometime in the next several months. As I mentioned, I had to jump into the van or be left, and I felt a drag on my heart as we drove away, and I waved goodbye to my new friend. The desire to stay and visit longer was strong.
Meeting the children made me understand how important just being there is. It gives great hope and communicates that they are valued. I did not go to receive anything in return, but I did. I felt honored and humbled to be known by them for a little while. By their desire to just be with me and relate. I hope everyone gets a chance to go. Being there allows you to know what may be difficult to fully describe. I really can’t I guess because each person is effected in a personal way.
I look forward to getting our letters started with the children of our Ludlati Carepoint. And I can hardly wait to meet them face to face. I also look forward to sharing more kids and stories from my trip over the next few posts.
On the second day of the carepoint visits we went more rural and off-road outside of Manzini, Swaziland. The prior day we traveled mostly good roads to visit Bhalekane which is the most developed carepoint just outside Manzini. After three years of support and capital projects, they have a fence, kitchen, community building, school, a water well, a freshly plowed field for planting rose geraniums, and lots of children with hope. On our way to Ludlati, we bumped through some rough roads and a dry water way up to the top of a hill. It was described as “The Tree Carepoint” because a nice shade tree was the cooking and gathering place. In a bit of perfect timing by our hosts, we arrived seconds before the women who cook the food for the children. We saw the ladies walking down a dirt path carrying large iron kettles, containers of water, a box of food on one’s head, cooking utensils and some bowls. I am guessing these women walked a fair distance, but even a short distance becomes an event when it is done everyday. They chopped some wood from the brush with a machete, started a fire and began cooking. Our entire team was impacted by the conditions at Ludlati.
Some homes could be seen in the valley in the distance, but nothing was close. There were three young children waiting near the tree when we arrived. After the women started cooking, more kids began wandering out of the brush on worn trails. Many are bare foot, and most had tattered clothes. Watching the children slowly walking in spread out lines had significant impact on the team. Everyone was filled with compassion, and some even angered that children have to live and survive such conditions. We wondered which ones live in child lead households, which ones had a parent dieing of AIDS. Maybe they have extended family, but no food and nurturing. Without one meal per day provided at this carepoint, these kids would be starving.
This carepoint was started by a woman who lives in the area. Because of the AIDS pandemic, children are orphaned at an alarming rate. Children began wandering around looking for food, and she began about one year ago by feeding them at her home. Keep in mind her limited resources and living conditions. She would go around to neighbors in her community asking for help with food. The number quickly grew to around 100 kids, and they would not even fit on her property. So she talked to the Chief and said “We have to do something for these children, there are so many”. He gave her a sizable piece of land on top of the hill she could use as a carepoint. I also later learned that she makes school uniforms for some of the children so they can go to school.
There are several ladies who help cook food. Our support will flow to these ladies working on the ground too. They are provided with food for their families, and they can work on a purse and bag making project that gives them an opportunity to earn money from the sales. While we were there one lady provided some preschool activities for the kids while they wait. In addition to providing two meals per day, education will be more formalized with our support as preschool, school, health care education and discipleship training. You can hear some examples of preschool songs, counting, and English training in the video. She also began standing them in front of me one at a time asking them to say their name and age in English. Most of the kids were still pretty shy. But now that our community is starting to provide support, we will get to be part of an awesome transformation. Maybe it will take three years to be like Bhalekane, or maybe we will be able to develop this carepoint faster. It starts with God’s desire for these orphans planted in us. But action and support flows from Him through us. Over the next six to eight weeks, Children’s Hopechest will collect profile information on each child consistently coming to the carepoint. Since I have already met some of our Ludlati children, it makes me feel like we have added 100 children to our families. I look forward to letter correspondence from our community members to build relationships with each child. And I am eager to go on return trips to our Connect Community Carepoint together where we can meet face to face and hug, laugh, cry, and play with these children and their carepoint care takers.
I came home from Swaziland late last week. I appreciate your messages, prayers and those who supported my family while I was gone. Thanks so much to you all. It was great to return home from the Swaziland trip, and feel extremely blessed to be a husband and father that receives warm, exuberant hugs, peels of vocal excitement and sighs of relief at my return. The last few days of rest were used to recover from jet lag, share African gifts with my family, record additional thoughts in my journal, and put together some pictures and video to share with everyone. Over the coming weeks, I can share many more experiences and thoughts from the trip, but for the first report after I return home, I feel compelled to share a thought about giving and receiving.
In reading and hearing others stories about similar trips, it is both wonderful and challenging to visit places where poverty and suffering are daily life for each person. Many of the children and people are so happy to meet us. The children are especially excited and crave much needed interaction and attention. As you see in the pictures, playing ball, holding hands, climbing on backs, and being held and hugged is great fun.
At the same time, there are some among the crowd with what my wife and I call “the fussy look”. These are the ones who’s hurts show on the outside, and require extra sensitivity and encouragement to open up and return a smile. There was one four or five year old girl that willingly let me hold her for about an hour, but never did yield a smile. I will pray for her whenever I remember her face.
It is wonderful to share in the fun and loving interaction, and it is challenging to see or listen to personal accounts of sickness, death, suffering, loss, hunger and loneliness. I had multiple heart pained and some tearful goodbyes because a heart felt bond was built quickly, or compassion welled up, or because a child was still “fussy” and I had to leave without a break through. But being there to interact, share a smile, give a hug, shake a hand, say a prayer, or have a short visit at a home is simple, important and greatly appreciated by those who can show it. It is humbling to be placed in such a seemingly honored position. In giving simple actions of love, so much was given back to me that I can almost imagine I am in danger of taking from the poor. I think Mother Teresa said it well, “Only in heaven will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love God better because of them.”
If I did return home only to remember my experiences, and show off my passport stamps, a charge of theft might be warranted. This is an attempt at a clever way to say, “We are not doing that!”. The trip has developed the awareness we desired to select a carepoint, adopt it as our Connect Community, and begin building relationships with the children and workers on the ground there. I hope and believe each individual in both our connected communities will receive the riches of life from God through each other as we work together to give and share simple acts of love.
The movie below shows pictures and video from the entire trip. The movie is published in two parts and lasts a total of ~25 minutes. The pictures will scroll by without music. I believe the silence will allow the pictures to speak for themselves. There is music and audio included in the movie that was captured during recordings (be prepared to adjust your volume level for the first audio section). All the carepoints we visited are shown in the movie, but we will publish another movie on our selected carepoint with more pictures, video and information in the near future. Without further suspense or delay, I am happy to announce the 100 kids of Ludlati are now OUR KnownToMe kids! You can find some of the pictures and video from Ludlati in the movie below.
Yesterday afternoon we split our team into three groups and did one home visit each. Pastor Gift had a list of people he wanted to receive a visit. We also brought a two week supply of food with us to leave as a gift after the visit. We were given some basic instructions on how a Swazi visit would likely flow.
We had an interpreter named Neli. We met Frola at her home. She is 70 years old and has been a believer since she was young. She has lived in the area all her life.
Her home is humble (picture below). She lives in a 14x10ft home with nine of her grand children that range in age from 23 to 2. All seven of her children are dead, most likely from AIDS. Her mother is still alive, but she was raised by her Go-go.
She talked about how hard life is, that she suffers, and she prays to God to take her life. During our conversations, she laughed alot, and said some funny things. She was so excited for us to visit with her. We were honored to be with her too.
We prayed for the sickness to leave her body, and I felt words appropriate for her are her reward in heaven will be huge.
She had not seen the food we brought with us, so as we were leaving, we gave her the food, and she cried more, and praised God for answering her prayer as she had not eaten in three days.
God bless this lovely woman, first because you love her and because she takes wonderful care of her grandchildren.
Go-go Frola in the center, CW from left: Nelly (interpreter), Don, Josh, Joan, and four of Frola’s grandchildren.
We happened to stop by a lunch place in a market place in Matata that has good internet service. So I will share with everyone a picture or two from two carepoints we visited this morning.
We were able to visit a “Mountain carepoint” this morning. It is not one of the two we heard about that are in really bad shape, but this is a small carepoint down a muddy road that exists somewhere in between the main road and the Mountains. It is within walking distance of the South African border on the South Eastern border of Swaziland. The kids here are young, and the parents leave them at home by themselves while they work from 5am to 5pm. Keep in mind 1 to 2 hours time one way added in for walking to and fro. Because the homes are so spread out in this part of the country, the children are literally by themselves when their mother leaves for work. Pastor Gift who started this carepoint recently found some Go-gos to get this carepoint running again, and currently support about 60 children with one meal per day. The children here are very quiet and shy. The lack of nurturing is quite evident. But a group of girls on an AIM mission trip for 3 months have been visiting this place regularly for eight weeks, and it is starting to make a difference. A little girl let me hold her, but her responsiveness was very very minimal for understandable reasons. This carepoint is available for a community partner.
The members of the team had a great meeting last night to discuss each persons feelings and potential carepoint selections. Everyone wants to finish the trip before making a final choice. The target date for final selections is November 30th, but I have mentioned that our group will likely be ready to select a carepoint and get started as soon as possible on the paperwork. The initial step is to gather profile information on each child coming to the carepoint for meals on a regular basis. It can take a month or two to get this done. Once completed, we can get started on capital projects. For most of the carepoints, we need to start with a fence, kitchen and well. You don’t do anything without a fence in Africa. A kitchen helps with storage and feeding especially on rainy days. Based on economics of drilling wells here, they are drilled three at a time. When a well gets completed depends on when three wells are funded on the list.
Quick fact. They did AIDS testing at the clinic at an Nsoko care point and found 90% infection rate.
This afternoon we are planning to split into three groups and do home visits with people who live near Pastor Gift in Nsoko.
Today we visited Mahlabaneni carepoint, and participated in a Christmas party with the kids. Nearly 200 kids showed up for the party today. The pots of food did not look big enough for everyone to have enough, but everyone received a heaping helping, and everyone was served (heard this fishes and loaves story before?). They start now with Christmas parties since they throw several more parties for combinations of carepoints to include all in the area. We brought soccer balls, a jumping gym, crayons and paper, and special food (meat, oranges, candy). This was the longest period of time we have spent at a carepoint. It was great to be more relaxed and spend time relating with the kids. More holding little ones, camera fun, games, food, treats, and hanging out with some fine young gentlemen, but the standout today was watching the Discipleship trainers (a.k.a. D-team) work with the kids. There are two young men and three young ladies on the D-team today. Mousa is an outstanding leader. Watching him work is amazing (see video below). He is so gifted at health training, teaching, preaching, singing, dancing and relating to the kids, it seems obvious to all of us on this trip this young man was born for the purpose of leading change for kids in Swaziland. A teaching and preaching time before the meal was very fun and moving (Okay…I cried a little being so moved by the prayers of praise and thankfulness to God from the people in this place). The D-teams are an important part of Children’s Hope Chest strategy to have Swaziland people in leadership roles.
A quick word about carepoints in general. This particular carepoint is sponsored by Bob Mudd’s Church. Prior to sponsorship, these kids were starving. This is true of all the carepoints. Without community support, gifts and grants, there would be starvation, malnutrition and death. The GREAT news is carepoints like this make a huge difference. These children are now much healthier, happier and feel more secure. On top of that, they are learning and growing. There are a few unsponsored carepoints that receive food from Children’s Hope Chest through a limited supply grant that will run out in Feb 2010.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments below. I hope to expand on these details when I have more time to post. The pictures and video below help tell the story of today’s experience.
Holding little ones. Often they don’t want to be put down.
Fun in the Jumping Gym.
Many of the children don’t have shoes. One of the little ones had a thorn removed from his foot.
Awesome disciplship trainer helping a blind young boy have some fun in the Jumping Gym. It was very touching watching the other kids help this boy when he needed a little assistance. As a community they watch out for each other in many ways very well.
Here is a group of 12 to 14 year old boys I spent a long time talking and hanging out with. The boy on the lower left told me his story. His father is dead, and he lives at his grandma’s place. He does go to school, but he told me he does not like going to school without shoes. He had no shoes, and he is very interested in a pair of size 6 soccer shoes. We prayed together for God to meet his needs and assured him that God knows his request. Let’s see how He fulfills the prayer. I showed all these boys the family pictures I brought with me. They all thought my wife, Barbra, is very beautiful, and they liked the picture of my huge extended family of 8 brothers and sisters and kids.
Another group shot of the boys.
Tomorrow we go to a 3 to 4 hour Swaziland church service. Afterward we drive south to Nsoko. We will do home visits over the next two days. I am told by the people who work here on the ground, this is where the hidden side of living conditions and suffering is learned.
Ludlati Carepoint Support Level 41 Kids Funded; 42 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.
She is actually one of the older children watching a younger sibling. I heard and read about these circumstances, and felt sad, and wanted to do something to help. When I meet this circumstance face to face, yes I felt sad, but I was impacted in my mind, heart and gut. This girl and her baby sister’s cry are permanently marked in my soul. Now these kids are my neighbors. Now I really really want to do the right things to help, and I am thankful you are along since I can not do what is needed by myself. It’s one thing for a child to learn to care for a younger sibling, but it’s too much for a child to be the provider and protector of their siblings. This young girl does what she has to do (I hope it is not the worst of things) to take care of her sister. Thankfully she has Mpholi carepoint as a life saving resource and support for her. I look forward to seeing our collective support, letters, visits and actions of love sent to Ludlati in the near future.
