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.

Picture of the Dawson Church team:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=5373890&id=674291457&fbid=412772191457

See some pictures of people in Swaziland this week:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5375953&id=674291457&fbid=412920706457#!/album.php?aid=211034&id=674291457

You can read some blog posts from their trip here:
http://journeyswazi.wordpress.com/

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!

Shy Sweet Sweet Little Girl from KnownToMe on Vimeo.