Sawubona bobhuti y bosisi! (whenever I don't know a word in a foreign language I always blindly substitute Spanish...)
So, medical school has officially started and my lazy days of summer and happy times in Swaziland are now completely done. However, that doesn't mean that I have ceased writing stories from my trip! I am still trying to type down a few to share with you all as I come to it (although I will admit that they will probably appear with less frequency now). Today's story presents one of my favorite memories from the trip...nightly worship in Nsubane in our hut around a candle with fellow believers. The story goes as follows:
In one of our more primitive locations, we stayed on a homestead with a family in the community. The girls slept all together in a rondavul (a round hut with a thatched roof). On the night of our arrival, the family informed us that they wanted to worship with us after dinner. After an exciting meal of pap (ugali...flavorless cornmeal, water and salt in the rough consistency of lumpy mashed potatoes for those of you who don't know what that is) and chicken, the family gathered with us inside of our rondavul around the candles lit in the floor. Unsure of what to do, we started to sing. The evening continued with the group simply singing and worshiping the Lord, first in SiSwati, then in English, and back and forth. As I looked around at the candle lit faces, I began to think of the church spoken of in Acts where the believers ate and lived together and worshiped daily together as the Lord continued to add to their numbers...and add to our numbers he did! We continued in this fashion of nightly worship until our last night in Nsubane. By the end of our stay, some students from the University of Swaziland helping with a community project had also joined our homestead. They joined in our worship until on the last evening we had 45 people gathered by candlelight in our 15 foot diameter hut. It was such a beautiful sound to hear the worship of the Lord in another tongue and visualize that day that every tongue would worship our Lord!
Oh that you could have sat in that candlelit room and seen the adoration of the Lord on each face as voices were lifted pure and unaided to the glory of the Lord! In those moments I think I learned the true meaning of "He inhabits the praises of his people."
Well, I suppose that will be all for now. I have uploaded some pictures online at yorkphoto.com (you'll have to email me for the link though because it's under my password). I hope all is well with you, and if I haven't seen you already in person, I hope to share more with you soon!
Phendulile
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
The Lord's Protection
Hello again!
Today I have the stories from our van (kombi) flip to share with you. I share it only with the disclaimer that the goal is not to show how scary one of our days was, but to show how amazingly God took care of us while we were away and how the Lord answered all of your prayers for protection! With that being said...here's the story...again exceperted from an email to a friend.
I suppose since I mentioned the kombi flip of which you had no idea, I will spend the rest of my email explaining the accident. It was a Sunday morning and we had planned to do an ATL[meaning a time where we pray and Ask the Lord what he would have us do with our day] (our own church service didn't start until 4PM). We were going to worship and then start the ATL at 11AM. Sometime during breakfast, we received a text from one of our host pastors asking us to join him at his church service 40 minutes away that morning at 11. We prayed about it as a leadership team and felt that this was the Lord's answer for our ATL before we even sat as a team and formally "asked the Lord." Thus, we made plans to get the team ready for church. One problem we had was that the vehicle we had been provided was only large enough to carry half of our team...so we again prayed about what to do. If we shuttled, half the team would be about an hour late to church. If we crammed everyone in (as everyone in Africa does) it would be unsafe. If we put people on public, it would take way too long, would be expensive and again...unsafe. Therefore after prayer, we decided the best option was to just shuttle people even if that meant we were late. So on our way to Ezendwidwini we went.
I was in the second group to be shuttled and my co-leader Teresa was driving. We were on our way to church, but Teresa was a little frazzled because of how late we were. We turned onto a dirt road on the way and Teresa ironically shouted back to the girls, "This is going to be a bumpy ride." A few kilometers in, we hit a patch of loose gravel and began to fish tail. Before the fishtailing was over, we ended up turning a 180 and flipped on the opposite side of the road (blast the Japanese made vans that are not at all suited to drive down African roads!). When we landed for some reason I was extremely calm while everyone panicked. We got all of the girls safely out of the van (one girl was certain that it was going to catch fire) and made sure that no one was seriously injured. After a tearful prayer to the Lord thanking him for our safety, Teresa took two girls and started on the journey to the church about 5 miles or so away (Stephen had our only cell phone and he was already in church). I stayed back with all the girls that were too emotional unstable to go anywhere. I brought them away from the van just in case something did happen to it (it was making this horrible noise and the keys were stuck in the ignition) and we sat under a tree in the middle of the bush (this was when thoughts of elephant dung survival started running through my head as I was unsure if we would have to walk back the 40 minutes we had just driven to our location;). I starting feeling bones for breaks and trying to get the girls to laugh to release some of the emotional tension.
After we had been sitting for a while, a man and his sister drove up who spoke English. He started to ask what had happened and if there was anything he could do to help. I told him we were ok and that we would just wait for our team. However, I felt that the Lord had led me to this man (who I found out later had a name that meant blessing in SiSwati). Therefore, after he asked a second time, I made the decision to get our girls into his truck as he took us to the church. In my mind I was thinking that we would see Teresa and the other girls on the road and that we would be able to get them to the church faster and we could just all be in one place and make a decision from there. Thus, I feel that God enabled me to make this decision that I normally never would have made. (I'm not sure at this time if it was the wisest decision, but I'm still confident that the Lord had led me to do it.) We got in the truck and headed toward the church. However, by the time we finally arrived, Teresa was no where in sight. Somehow, she had flagged down a Swazi police truck and was aboard on her way to pick us up. I quickly talked to Stephen before he jumped in the truck with the man who had brought us to the church with a load of other men going to flip our van upright for us. I stayed at the church with the remainder of the team where the Swazi women just loved on us and cared for us. It was probably my favorite time of fellowship during the entire trip. None of them spoke English and we barely knew any SiSwati as it was early in the trip, but there was Christ's love between us. We sang songs and tried to teach each other and just waited for what to do next. In the meantime Stephen caught up to Teresa and told her where we were and that we were ok (she had gone to the scene to find us missing at this point and was pretty freaked out...again why I'm not sure my decision was the wisest, but I felt it was right at the time and if it had not been for that man, our van would still be on the side of the road in Swaziland). Eventually a man in the church who owned a kombi gathered our team and we were all together and on our way home after a very long and exhausting afternoon.
That evening several of the girls went to the city to a clinic to get checked out (amazingly even though 3 girls weren't wearing seat belts, there wasn't even a bad cut on any of them). There was one girl who was pretty sore and whom we had actually felt a fractured collar bone on. The doctor confirmed the fracture, but by the time the X-rays returned, there wasn't a break to be found! Praise the Lord who heals! Later that night one of the girls whom I had stayed with was having trouble breathing, but by the time we had her checked out, it was confirmed that she had nothing more than shock and was soon calmed down. In two days all of the girls were back to full health with not even soreness to report. Our Lord was so mighty on that day to provide and protect his children! Even though it was a nightmare of a day, I would say that it was one of my favorites simply because of how clearly the Lord's power was displayed and his protection of his children and answer to many prayers for protection I know that had been prayed at home. My mom even told me when I got home that that morning she had awoken suddenly in the night and began to pray for my team and I. What a wonderful Lord!
That will be all for today...but I will try to continue posting more soon!
T
Today I have the stories from our van (kombi) flip to share with you. I share it only with the disclaimer that the goal is not to show how scary one of our days was, but to show how amazingly God took care of us while we were away and how the Lord answered all of your prayers for protection! With that being said...here's the story...again exceperted from an email to a friend.
I suppose since I mentioned the kombi flip of which you had no idea, I will spend the rest of my email explaining the accident. It was a Sunday morning and we had planned to do an ATL[meaning a time where we pray and Ask the Lord what he would have us do with our day] (our own church service didn't start until 4PM). We were going to worship and then start the ATL at 11AM. Sometime during breakfast, we received a text from one of our host pastors asking us to join him at his church service 40 minutes away that morning at 11. We prayed about it as a leadership team and felt that this was the Lord's answer for our ATL before we even sat as a team and formally "asked the Lord." Thus, we made plans to get the team ready for church. One problem we had was that the vehicle we had been provided was only large enough to carry half of our team...so we again prayed about what to do. If we shuttled, half the team would be about an hour late to church. If we crammed everyone in (as everyone in Africa does) it would be unsafe. If we put people on public, it would take way too long, would be expensive and again...unsafe. Therefore after prayer, we decided the best option was to just shuttle people even if that meant we were late. So on our way to Ezendwidwini we went.
I was in the second group to be shuttled and my co-leader Teresa was driving. We were on our way to church, but Teresa was a little frazzled because of how late we were. We turned onto a dirt road on the way and Teresa ironically shouted back to the girls, "This is going to be a bumpy ride." A few kilometers in, we hit a patch of loose gravel and began to fish tail. Before the fishtailing was over, we ended up turning a 180 and flipped on the opposite side of the road (blast the Japanese made vans that are not at all suited to drive down African roads!). When we landed for some reason I was extremely calm while everyone panicked. We got all of the girls safely out of the van (one girl was certain that it was going to catch fire) and made sure that no one was seriously injured. After a tearful prayer to the Lord thanking him for our safety, Teresa took two girls and started on the journey to the church about 5 miles or so away (Stephen had our only cell phone and he was already in church). I stayed back with all the girls that were too emotional unstable to go anywhere. I brought them away from the van just in case something did happen to it (it was making this horrible noise and the keys were stuck in the ignition) and we sat under a tree in the middle of the bush (this was when thoughts of elephant dung survival started running through my head as I was unsure if we would have to walk back the 40 minutes we had just driven to our location;). I starting feeling bones for breaks and trying to get the girls to laugh to release some of the emotional tension.
After we had been sitting for a while, a man and his sister drove up who spoke English. He started to ask what had happened and if there was anything he could do to help. I told him we were ok and that we would just wait for our team. However, I felt that the Lord had led me to this man (who I found out later had a name that meant blessing in SiSwati). Therefore, after he asked a second time, I made the decision to get our girls into his truck as he took us to the church. In my mind I was thinking that we would see Teresa and the other girls on the road and that we would be able to get them to the church faster and we could just all be in one place and make a decision from there. Thus, I feel that God enabled me to make this decision that I normally never would have made. (I'm not sure at this time if it was the wisest decision, but I'm still confident that the Lord had led me to do it.) We got in the truck and headed toward the church. However, by the time we finally arrived, Teresa was no where in sight. Somehow, she had flagged down a Swazi police truck and was aboard on her way to pick us up. I quickly talked to Stephen before he jumped in the truck with the man who had brought us to the church with a load of other men going to flip our van upright for us. I stayed at the church with the remainder of the team where the Swazi women just loved on us and cared for us. It was probably my favorite time of fellowship during the entire trip. None of them spoke English and we barely knew any SiSwati as it was early in the trip, but there was Christ's love between us. We sang songs and tried to teach each other and just waited for what to do next. In the meantime Stephen caught up to Teresa and told her where we were and that we were ok (she had gone to the scene to find us missing at this point and was pretty freaked out...again why I'm not sure my decision was the wisest, but I felt it was right at the time and if it had not been for that man, our van would still be on the side of the road in Swaziland). Eventually a man in the church who owned a kombi gathered our team and we were all together and on our way home after a very long and exhausting afternoon.
That evening several of the girls went to the city to a clinic to get checked out (amazingly even though 3 girls weren't wearing seat belts, there wasn't even a bad cut on any of them). There was one girl who was pretty sore and whom we had actually felt a fractured collar bone on. The doctor confirmed the fracture, but by the time the X-rays returned, there wasn't a break to be found! Praise the Lord who heals! Later that night one of the girls whom I had stayed with was having trouble breathing, but by the time we had her checked out, it was confirmed that she had nothing more than shock and was soon calmed down. In two days all of the girls were back to full health with not even soreness to report. Our Lord was so mighty on that day to provide and protect his children! Even though it was a nightmare of a day, I would say that it was one of my favorites simply because of how clearly the Lord's power was displayed and his protection of his children and answer to many prayers for protection I know that had been prayed at home. My mom even told me when I got home that that morning she had awoken suddenly in the night and began to pray for my team and I. What a wonderful Lord!
That will be all for today...but I will try to continue posting more soon!
T
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Home Again!
Sanibonani ungani wami! I have returned safely to the states! I am sorry I was not able to upload anything while I was away! Unfortunately I only accessed the internet once, and it was too terribly slow to even open email. Thus, I will have to send you stories as I start to write them. I wish I could share with all of you what the Lord did, even though I know that will be impossible. Thus, I will try to give you a small glimpse...
This is an exerpt from an email that I send to a friend (I tell you this so that the wording of some of my sentences makes more sense):
We had a crazy month in Swaziland! I'm not sure where to even begin in relaying any stories, but maybe I'll just pick one or two and begin there. First, I must give you a background on Swaziland since I don't believe you have ever been there, but you may find yourself called there at some point. The country itself is beautiful! It is full of majestic mountains and typical "African" landscapes. The people also are wonderful and their culture is one steeped in tradition. Compared to Kenyans, they are a very shy, quiet people who often hide behind walls. Their closed nature at times made ministry in Swazi a little challenging, and certainly different than Kenya. However, I feel that the relational nature of ministry and the challenge left our team better prepared to minister to those in the states where the atmosphere is similar. I actually found myself learning a lot about God's heart for the nations and for his people rather than a particular culture or location while in Swaziland as I didn't find myself "in love" with the culture the way that I was in Kenya. It was a great experience to start to see that: 1. God is confirming my heart for Kenya and that I will return there soon one day and that 2. God really does desire us to have a passion for HIS NAME alone in spreading the gospel to all tribes tongues and nations!
Our team itself was very interesting. As leaders we were faced with opposition from the very beginning with losing one of team members because of her outright refusal of the Gospel before we even left for the field. It was a spiritually exhausting situation, but as odd as it seems, I think our team was better for sending her home. Somehow a spirit of oppression was lifted after she left. As one of my friends commented, you wouldn't send a football player into the superbowl without being properly trained to play. Similarly, you can't send someone to preach the love of Jesus if she herself didn't know the love of Jesus...it's dangerous for both her and the team. We continue to pray for her and hope to follow up somehow. I am confident that she was led to training camp for a reason to be exposed to the Lord in a new way (as it seems her church was not preaching the salvation that you and I know), and I'm confident that he is going to use those few days to impact her.
The rest of the team was a great group of girls! They were quite young, but they were always positive, encouraging, and extremelly unified (especially for a group of 11 girls!) However, because of the things that they had never been exposed to, they were forever changed by the trip! I saw such growth in them and continue to see it occurring as they are already back home processing what the Lord did in and through them and its finally hitting them what happened over the month in Africa! Many of them had dealt with far more than any teenager should have to go through, and the fact that they were dealing with much of that baggage on the field made for an interesting trip. It was great to be a part of walking them through that and pointing them to the Lord and watching the change in them after God had spoken to them. I realized in a whole new way on this trip my own heart for discipleship and teaching these girls more about the Lord. I hope to be able to continue those relationships in some capacity, as I started to see the team as my own little sisters.
My leadership team was amazing! I could not have asked for two better co-leaders. We continually referred to ourselves as a triple braided cord, for the Lord had knit us together perfectly in our strengths and weaknesses as a group. We are all very different people which worked out well in defining our roles with the team. I was so thankful that we were so unified, for I think it affected the whole team's unity, of which there were absolutely no problems! Our male leader, Stephen, did great with all of the girls. Because there wasn't a guy for him to be discipiling, he was able to focus his attention to caring for and protecting the girls as a father would. They felt comfortable enough to share with him and learned from him so much about what a godly man looks like (which so many of them needed in their lives!). Teresa H. also was an incredible rock and mother figure for our team. As the A leader she was often weighed down with logistics, but she carried the burden so gracefully. She was such a great friend to me, and I know that's not the last time we will see each other.
I know I could sit here all day and type out stories about dear Swaziland and South Africa (as the mountain village we had the privilege to go to was actually found within the larger countries borders), I suppose for now I will relay just one of the many. We refer to this day as "MacGyvica Day" (MacGyver in Africa). I suppose you heard about our kombi flip. [on June 24, our van flipped on a dirt road in the middle of the African bush...we had no communication and were pretty far from anything. By the grace of God, not a single person was even cut badly! One girl was suspected to have a fractured collar bone by the doctor, but by the time the x-rays returned...no fracture could be found...praise the Lord for his healing and protection!] That day was indeed a scary one, although the Lord protected our team in a huge way! Even though during that accident, I saw that the Lord had given me my calm personality for such a time as that as I was given the job of getting the girls out of the van and calming them down, I still was a little scared myself to get back in a van on a gravel Swazi road for a few days after the disaster. On MacGyvica Day, we were riding to a new location a few days following the accident and we found ourselves once again on a dangerous Swazi road with our driver swerving back and forth. The girls rode in silence and tears as I prayed that day to see the Lord's hand at work. After finally making it safely to our location, we unloaded the team and Teresa and I prepared to go to the grocery store with out host pastor and cook in his car. I got in the vehicle to find that it was a little worn down and contained no seat belts. When he tried to start it, the only thing that occurred was the car rolling backwards to almost hit a fence. I thought to myself "Great...we're going to get in another wreck today." After a few unsuccessful attempts at starting the car, it was decided the battery was dead. In this rural community with no other vehicles, there was no obvious way to remedy this situation. We tried to push start the car, but again to no avail. The pastor even tried changing the battery with what appeared to be a lawn mower battery...but again to no avail. At this point I had a vision of the team laying hands and praying for the car, so I ran back to where they were having quiet time and told all of them to sit and pray until the car started. I felt that the Lord wanted to increase their faith by showing them that even in times like this he would hear and answer their prayers.
Meanwhile back at the car, Stephen had noticed that not only was the battery dead as a doornail, but the car was completely missing a major belt. As we were in the middle of the African bush, our only choice of remedy was to find some acceptable belt alternative. We turned to none other than some ratty panty hose and medical tape to hold the car together. Watching and laughing as they tried to rig together the belt, I thought to myself, "Lord it is only by your grace that this car is going to start because this would never work without you!" We gathered once again behind the car and pushed it down the cow patty ridden road and almost hit a dear cow before the vehicle started! I felt the Lord's great victory in that moment as we hopped in and made our way to the store.
Unfortunately we made a stop at a mechanic on the way and saw that the water in the radiator was boiling, so we ended up leaving the car and hitching a ride with a random Swazi man (most of whom are pretty scary characters at times). After getting to the store we found that they had no water or us to purchase for the team and we had no ride back. But leave it to God to again rescue us. We ran into the world race team [another group of AIM missionaries] who informed us that they were actually just down the road from us and that they had running water. We purchased some buckets and prepared to hitch a ride back when the Lord saw fit to arrange such that the world race driver had been friends with our cook (even though they have not seen each other in nearly 10 years). Because of either his genuine kindness or interest in our cook (I tend to think it was the latter, but I can hope), he offered to take us all the way back to our rural location. It was a grand day of the Lord's provision, as well as one of chuckles as we tried to fix the car MacGyver style!
I suppose that will be the end of my stories for now, although be assured that I have plenty more! I can't wait to see everyone and to begin to share how the Lord has worked and changed myself and my team!
T aka Phendulile (they give each person SiSwati names...mine means "The Lord's Answer to Prayer")
This is an exerpt from an email that I send to a friend (I tell you this so that the wording of some of my sentences makes more sense):
We had a crazy month in Swaziland! I'm not sure where to even begin in relaying any stories, but maybe I'll just pick one or two and begin there. First, I must give you a background on Swaziland since I don't believe you have ever been there, but you may find yourself called there at some point. The country itself is beautiful! It is full of majestic mountains and typical "African" landscapes. The people also are wonderful and their culture is one steeped in tradition. Compared to Kenyans, they are a very shy, quiet people who often hide behind walls. Their closed nature at times made ministry in Swazi a little challenging, and certainly different than Kenya. However, I feel that the relational nature of ministry and the challenge left our team better prepared to minister to those in the states where the atmosphere is similar. I actually found myself learning a lot about God's heart for the nations and for his people rather than a particular culture or location while in Swaziland as I didn't find myself "in love" with the culture the way that I was in Kenya. It was a great experience to start to see that: 1. God is confirming my heart for Kenya and that I will return there soon one day and that 2. God really does desire us to have a passion for HIS NAME alone in spreading the gospel to all tribes tongues and nations!
Our team itself was very interesting. As leaders we were faced with opposition from the very beginning with losing one of team members because of her outright refusal of the Gospel before we even left for the field. It was a spiritually exhausting situation, but as odd as it seems, I think our team was better for sending her home. Somehow a spirit of oppression was lifted after she left. As one of my friends commented, you wouldn't send a football player into the superbowl without being properly trained to play. Similarly, you can't send someone to preach the love of Jesus if she herself didn't know the love of Jesus...it's dangerous for both her and the team. We continue to pray for her and hope to follow up somehow. I am confident that she was led to training camp for a reason to be exposed to the Lord in a new way (as it seems her church was not preaching the salvation that you and I know), and I'm confident that he is going to use those few days to impact her.
The rest of the team was a great group of girls! They were quite young, but they were always positive, encouraging, and extremelly unified (especially for a group of 11 girls!) However, because of the things that they had never been exposed to, they were forever changed by the trip! I saw such growth in them and continue to see it occurring as they are already back home processing what the Lord did in and through them and its finally hitting them what happened over the month in Africa! Many of them had dealt with far more than any teenager should have to go through, and the fact that they were dealing with much of that baggage on the field made for an interesting trip. It was great to be a part of walking them through that and pointing them to the Lord and watching the change in them after God had spoken to them. I realized in a whole new way on this trip my own heart for discipleship and teaching these girls more about the Lord. I hope to be able to continue those relationships in some capacity, as I started to see the team as my own little sisters.
My leadership team was amazing! I could not have asked for two better co-leaders. We continually referred to ourselves as a triple braided cord, for the Lord had knit us together perfectly in our strengths and weaknesses as a group. We are all very different people which worked out well in defining our roles with the team. I was so thankful that we were so unified, for I think it affected the whole team's unity, of which there were absolutely no problems! Our male leader, Stephen, did great with all of the girls. Because there wasn't a guy for him to be discipiling, he was able to focus his attention to caring for and protecting the girls as a father would. They felt comfortable enough to share with him and learned from him so much about what a godly man looks like (which so many of them needed in their lives!). Teresa H. also was an incredible rock and mother figure for our team. As the A leader she was often weighed down with logistics, but she carried the burden so gracefully. She was such a great friend to me, and I know that's not the last time we will see each other.
I know I could sit here all day and type out stories about dear Swaziland and South Africa (as the mountain village we had the privilege to go to was actually found within the larger countries borders), I suppose for now I will relay just one of the many. We refer to this day as "MacGyvica Day" (MacGyver in Africa). I suppose you heard about our kombi flip. [on June 24, our van flipped on a dirt road in the middle of the African bush...we had no communication and were pretty far from anything. By the grace of God, not a single person was even cut badly! One girl was suspected to have a fractured collar bone by the doctor, but by the time the x-rays returned...no fracture could be found...praise the Lord for his healing and protection!] That day was indeed a scary one, although the Lord protected our team in a huge way! Even though during that accident, I saw that the Lord had given me my calm personality for such a time as that as I was given the job of getting the girls out of the van and calming them down, I still was a little scared myself to get back in a van on a gravel Swazi road for a few days after the disaster. On MacGyvica Day, we were riding to a new location a few days following the accident and we found ourselves once again on a dangerous Swazi road with our driver swerving back and forth. The girls rode in silence and tears as I prayed that day to see the Lord's hand at work. After finally making it safely to our location, we unloaded the team and Teresa and I prepared to go to the grocery store with out host pastor and cook in his car. I got in the vehicle to find that it was a little worn down and contained no seat belts. When he tried to start it, the only thing that occurred was the car rolling backwards to almost hit a fence. I thought to myself "Great...we're going to get in another wreck today." After a few unsuccessful attempts at starting the car, it was decided the battery was dead. In this rural community with no other vehicles, there was no obvious way to remedy this situation. We tried to push start the car, but again to no avail. The pastor even tried changing the battery with what appeared to be a lawn mower battery...but again to no avail. At this point I had a vision of the team laying hands and praying for the car, so I ran back to where they were having quiet time and told all of them to sit and pray until the car started. I felt that the Lord wanted to increase their faith by showing them that even in times like this he would hear and answer their prayers.
Meanwhile back at the car, Stephen had noticed that not only was the battery dead as a doornail, but the car was completely missing a major belt. As we were in the middle of the African bush, our only choice of remedy was to find some acceptable belt alternative. We turned to none other than some ratty panty hose and medical tape to hold the car together. Watching and laughing as they tried to rig together the belt, I thought to myself, "Lord it is only by your grace that this car is going to start because this would never work without you!" We gathered once again behind the car and pushed it down the cow patty ridden road and almost hit a dear cow before the vehicle started! I felt the Lord's great victory in that moment as we hopped in and made our way to the store.
Unfortunately we made a stop at a mechanic on the way and saw that the water in the radiator was boiling, so we ended up leaving the car and hitching a ride with a random Swazi man (most of whom are pretty scary characters at times). After getting to the store we found that they had no water or us to purchase for the team and we had no ride back. But leave it to God to again rescue us. We ran into the world race team [another group of AIM missionaries] who informed us that they were actually just down the road from us and that they had running water. We purchased some buckets and prepared to hitch a ride back when the Lord saw fit to arrange such that the world race driver had been friends with our cook (even though they have not seen each other in nearly 10 years). Because of either his genuine kindness or interest in our cook (I tend to think it was the latter, but I can hope), he offered to take us all the way back to our rural location. It was a grand day of the Lord's provision, as well as one of chuckles as we tried to fix the car MacGyver style!
I suppose that will be the end of my stories for now, although be assured that I have plenty more! I can't wait to see everyone and to begin to share how the Lord has worked and changed myself and my team!
T aka Phendulile (they give each person SiSwati names...mine means "The Lord's Answer to Prayer")
Sunday, June 10, 2007
I'm leaving tomorrow!
In about 12 hours, I will getting in my car to make the trek to training camp and away from civilization for the next 5 weeks! There are so many emotions going on inside me right now, but I'm almost too busy to feel them all at once! There's still so much left to do! If it were not for the fact that I know tonight is my last good night of sleep for a while and that I have to drive 5 hours in the morning, I know I would be staying up all night to get it all done! I'm so excited, nervous, overwhelmed, relieved, anxious, and overjoyed to begin this journey that the Lord has set in front of me. I can't wait to come home and share with all of you the amazing ways the Lord has worked in the Swazi people, my team, and my own personal life!
I'm not sure if I'll have time at all to update this blog while I'm away, but please check out the trip report website, because we will have updates there. If I get time, I'll update this rather than sending an email to everyone. Thank you all for your prayers, your thoughts, and your support!
In HIM~T
I'm not sure if I'll have time at all to update this blog while I'm away, but please check out the trip report website, because we will have updates there. If I get time, I'll update this rather than sending an email to everyone. Thank you all for your prayers, your thoughts, and your support!
In HIM~T
Friday, June 8, 2007
Habari Yaku!
No...it's not Siwati, it's actually Swahili (the language spoken in Kenya) for how are you? I'm writing this post to you today to tell you about a wonderful treasure I receieved in the mail earlier this week. When I was in Kenya, I befriened three wonderful girls: Janet, Effy, and Evaline. The girls were 14 at the time and all lived in the AIM orphanage. I didn't have the chance to spend much time with them because we were not in their area long, but they left a lasting impression on my heart. In talking with my former leader a few months ago who still resides in Kenya, I asked him about the three girls. He informed me that they were still around and that he would tell them hello for me. I doubted they would even remember me, but this week I recieved a letter from one of the girls, Janet. I wanted to share its contents with you, as it almost brought me to tears:
"Dear Teresa, First is much greeting coming to you like water flowing from high land to low land. Second, is to thank our heavenly Father for granting me this opportunity to communicate with this sheet of [paper].
The main aim of writing this letter is to tell you that I miss you very much, Effy and I. We miss you. I don't know what I can tell you, but if I saw you, I would be very happy about you and I am happy to hear that you are still remembering me and Effy. The day Scott told me about you I sit down and stating remembering you. Right now I remember you very well. I am told that you will come again to Kenya. I thank only God and I am praying for you. Every time I put you first in my prayer and I know you always praying for us too.
May God Bless You...From J"
Janet is now 16 years old, and it warmed my heart so to think of her prayers for me and her joy and thankfulness in the Lord. I am praying that as we go to Swaziland, I will be able to truly see the people for the beauty they possess in the Lord and cultivate friendships like my one with Janet that span oceans and years...into eternity!
"Dear Teresa, First is much greeting coming to you like water flowing from high land to low land. Second, is to thank our heavenly Father for granting me this opportunity to communicate with this sheet of [paper].
The main aim of writing this letter is to tell you that I miss you very much, Effy and I. We miss you. I don't know what I can tell you, but if I saw you, I would be very happy about you and I am happy to hear that you are still remembering me and Effy. The day Scott told me about you I sit down and stating remembering you. Right now I remember you very well. I am told that you will come again to Kenya. I thank only God and I am praying for you. Every time I put you first in my prayer and I know you always praying for us too.
May God Bless You...From J"
Janet is now 16 years old, and it warmed my heart so to think of her prayers for me and her joy and thankfulness in the Lord. I am praying that as we go to Swaziland, I will be able to truly see the people for the beauty they possess in the Lord and cultivate friendships like my one with Janet that span oceans and years...into eternity!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
6 days!...Learning to Abide
I can't believe it is less than a week before I go to GA to prepare to meet my team! I just got home from a relaxing vacation with my family, but that leaves little time to finish everything that I have to do. I know that only through our Lord will be able to finish it all! However, things are starting to fall into place. All of my money is in and being mailed to AIM today! Bwana Asifiwe! Thank you for all of your prayers and your support in that!
I have also begun to dive into the devotional that AIM provides for our teams. It starts 3 weeks before we head to the field and contains some wonderful insight about God's heart and cross cultural ministry. In the past week, one of the days focused on abiding in our Lord....just living for him and savoring his goodness throughout the day. I learned that day just to have my eyes open to those around me, and see the LIFE exuding out of them like never before. I found such joy in just watching people live the lives God gave them. I know that sounds funny, but that's the only way I can describe my feelings from that day. I hope that on my trip I can watch my team and the people of Swaziland and see GOD in each one of them...not because they do or say anything super spiritual, but just because they are taking full advantage of every opportunity this life affords and just living it up! Too often we sit around and wait for something better, when God wants us to live each moment as if it were the last. As Jim Elliot said once, "Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living!"
Also in the past week I had the opportunity to read through my entire journal from Kenya. One thing that pervaded my prayers throughout was that God would give me a broken heart for the people and that he would remove any barriers that I had keeping me from "experiencing" and savoring every minute God had given me in Africa for his glory. I pray that for this trip as well, as the last thing I want is that it should pass me by. I feel that this time my trip will be very different, but I'm not sure how yet. I'm excited, however to see what God will do and to learn how to abide!
I wanted to leave with a quote I found in my journal from my third day at training camp in 2005. It echos my current thoughts and prayers:
"I'm not here for a cool trip, stories or pictures. I'm here to praise YOU and love you and make you known to the nations. It's not about me. I die to myself. Help me to bear my friends burdens and lift them up to you Lord. Lay down my life and pick up your cross daily. Change me to be refreshed in you...in wonderment and awe of who you are. Make me genuine. Don't allow the devil to gain a stronghold. Protect all of us and make us YOURS...whole-heartedly and single mindedly!"
I have also begun to dive into the devotional that AIM provides for our teams. It starts 3 weeks before we head to the field and contains some wonderful insight about God's heart and cross cultural ministry. In the past week, one of the days focused on abiding in our Lord....just living for him and savoring his goodness throughout the day. I learned that day just to have my eyes open to those around me, and see the LIFE exuding out of them like never before. I found such joy in just watching people live the lives God gave them. I know that sounds funny, but that's the only way I can describe my feelings from that day. I hope that on my trip I can watch my team and the people of Swaziland and see GOD in each one of them...not because they do or say anything super spiritual, but just because they are taking full advantage of every opportunity this life affords and just living it up! Too often we sit around and wait for something better, when God wants us to live each moment as if it were the last. As Jim Elliot said once, "Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living!"
Also in the past week I had the opportunity to read through my entire journal from Kenya. One thing that pervaded my prayers throughout was that God would give me a broken heart for the people and that he would remove any barriers that I had keeping me from "experiencing" and savoring every minute God had given me in Africa for his glory. I pray that for this trip as well, as the last thing I want is that it should pass me by. I feel that this time my trip will be very different, but I'm not sure how yet. I'm excited, however to see what God will do and to learn how to abide!
I wanted to leave with a quote I found in my journal from my third day at training camp in 2005. It echos my current thoughts and prayers:
"I'm not here for a cool trip, stories or pictures. I'm here to praise YOU and love you and make you known to the nations. It's not about me. I die to myself. Help me to bear my friends burdens and lift them up to you Lord. Lay down my life and pick up your cross daily. Change me to be refreshed in you...in wonderment and awe of who you are. Make me genuine. Don't allow the devil to gain a stronghold. Protect all of us and make us YOURS...whole-heartedly and single mindedly!"
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Jehovah Jirah
Ok...so I have no idea if I spelled that right or if I picked the right name, but I meant to title this post about our Lord the Provider!
Yesterday I started going through the devotional that AIM provides for the teams. It's actually really good. It starts three weeks prior to the trip and ends three weeks after we come home and has some great daily devotionals as well as thoughts about cross cultural ministry and such. As part of yesterday's devotional, we were challenged to write about all the ways that the Lord has provided for this trip up to this point. In order to give him all the glory he deserves, I thought I would share with you the incomplete list that I came up with in no particular order:
God's leading to AIM with my trip to Kenya...I knew nothing about them then
My leaders from my Kenya trip who were so impactful in my own life that I wanted to do the same for others
Those same leaders having enough faith in my ability to encourage me to do this and to recommend me to AIM
Letting my application process finally work out (after months of uncertainty)
Giving me clear direction to Swaziland over Kenya
Letting this work so that the trip was a time that I could go!
My parents being willing to let me go (even though they aren't quiet about their misgivings...they still support me no matter what)
Keeping me healthy enough to be able to go
Putting our team and leaders together...I can already see his purpose in this group!
The job that literally fell into my lap that is giving me exactly the money that I need to pay for the balance of my trip
All of my supporters who have allowed God to use them to make this trip possible!...Their support is more of a blessing that they can know!
All of the people who have wanted to pray for me and my team...some that don't even know me! God has overwhelmed me with the love that he has shown me through others in the past few weeks as I prepare to go!
I know that this is only the beginning of what the Lord is going to do in my life, my teammates lives, and the lives of those in Swaziland! He is soo good! Yesterday as I was praying, I was lifting all of my anxieties about this trip and about leading, and God gave me this great picture of me standing facing the horizon and Christ walking up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. I felt so safe, that I just melted into him as I gave my fears up. It reminded me of the way a husband lovingly wraps himself around his wife as they both stare in the same direction looking forward to what lies ahead. How beautiful our Lord is!
One final thought: as I was reading yesterday in the devotional, it talked about Psalm 121. It's such a beautiful word of provision and protection that I would like to share it with you in closing for you to meditate on for your own lives and how God cares for you in the everyday!
Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Tomorrow...I will talk about abiding in the Lord. Have a fantastic day as you abide in HIM!
Yesterday I started going through the devotional that AIM provides for the teams. It's actually really good. It starts three weeks prior to the trip and ends three weeks after we come home and has some great daily devotionals as well as thoughts about cross cultural ministry and such. As part of yesterday's devotional, we were challenged to write about all the ways that the Lord has provided for this trip up to this point. In order to give him all the glory he deserves, I thought I would share with you the incomplete list that I came up with in no particular order:
God's leading to AIM with my trip to Kenya...I knew nothing about them then
My leaders from my Kenya trip who were so impactful in my own life that I wanted to do the same for others
Those same leaders having enough faith in my ability to encourage me to do this and to recommend me to AIM
Letting my application process finally work out (after months of uncertainty)
Giving me clear direction to Swaziland over Kenya
Letting this work so that the trip was a time that I could go!
My parents being willing to let me go (even though they aren't quiet about their misgivings...they still support me no matter what)
Keeping me healthy enough to be able to go
Putting our team and leaders together...I can already see his purpose in this group!
The job that literally fell into my lap that is giving me exactly the money that I need to pay for the balance of my trip
All of my supporters who have allowed God to use them to make this trip possible!...Their support is more of a blessing that they can know!
All of the people who have wanted to pray for me and my team...some that don't even know me! God has overwhelmed me with the love that he has shown me through others in the past few weeks as I prepare to go!
I know that this is only the beginning of what the Lord is going to do in my life, my teammates lives, and the lives of those in Swaziland! He is soo good! Yesterday as I was praying, I was lifting all of my anxieties about this trip and about leading, and God gave me this great picture of me standing facing the horizon and Christ walking up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. I felt so safe, that I just melted into him as I gave my fears up. It reminded me of the way a husband lovingly wraps himself around his wife as they both stare in the same direction looking forward to what lies ahead. How beautiful our Lord is!
One final thought: as I was reading yesterday in the devotional, it talked about Psalm 121. It's such a beautiful word of provision and protection that I would like to share it with you in closing for you to meditate on for your own lives and how God cares for you in the everyday!
Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Tomorrow...I will talk about abiding in the Lord. Have a fantastic day as you abide in HIM!
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