Swaziland Part 1

excerpt from my journal..

tuesday. may 10 2011

...I'm sitting in front of a warm wood stove, looking out into the bitter chill of the morning, a small boy sitting next to me peering over my shoulder curious at the strange looking words i am writing. The sun is rising, starting to warm up the dew and defrost the morning. Its so hard to even begin to explain how extremely thankful I am to be here with this family. Everything about yesterday was so beautiful.. it was something you had to feel, taste, smell and see. It will be a struggle to try and confine it to the simple words I write on this page...

And yet here I am trying to again confine it to these words I type. I've been putting of blogging about our time is Swaziland because I don't even know where to being. How to explain the beauty that we experienced in those five days. Some of my most favorite times thus far in Africa took place this week :)

 Monday morning we loaded up and drove 2 hours to the border than another hour to Petros and Elizabeths house, our hosts. They run an amazing ministry called Road to Hope ( click here to view pdf) They have taken in 7 of their orphaned nieces and nephews along with the 6 children they already have. The drive there was absolutely BEAUTIFUL.. the rolling hills and then the flat plains of tall grass and cows grazing, the scattered housed and shacks marked the landscape. When we arrived the sun was starting to set. We were on the top of a hill and could see soo far all over the land below. The sun brought an orange glow to everything as we walked along a makeshift fence, through the tall grass to their house. It was such a beautiful moment. The African evening light is some of the most beautiful light ever. We had the blessing of staying in tents next to their house in the frame of a home they are building. We had originally planned on staying up the hill in a church but they ended up not having enough space. We realized later that was Gods doing :) We would never have had the opportunity to build the bond we did with this family if we hadn't stayed to close.. sharing in meal times, playing with the children late into the night, waking up at 6 and then praying over the kids before they walked to school. 

Petros and Elizabeth explained their vision to us, their hearts for the orphan crisis and their desire to take in more children and expand into a functioning ministry. Swaziland has the highest HIV rates in all of Africa which is the main cause of  so many orphans. We spent the week just living life with them and building relationship with them. Ten Thousand Homes, the organization I was with in South Africa, is hoping to parter with Petros and Elizabeth more in the future. While we were there we help Petros with the garden weeding and digging up and creating new garden beds. We helped to hike and get fire wood and then saw it into smaller pieces, we hung out with the kids and helped to cook some meals. The one morning me and Sarah help Petros and Elizabeth wash all the children's clothes. There were piles and piles of clothes that all need hand washed. It was such a sweet time and a memory I will never forget. I was so humbled and blessed to be able to sit down with them and scrub each of these precious children's clothes, and be able to talk more one on one with Petros and hear his testimony and things God has brought him through in his life. He says looking back he can see now why God had him go through those hard times and why certain things happened to him to have him now end up on this side on the country with a new found love and faith in Jesus Christ and a vision for hope in the lives of orphans. 

One of my favorite memories was our first night there, it was one of my favorite nights. They have no electricity so once the sun goes down only a single candle lights the rooms. We were all outside and had the kids sitting on our laps, the sun lowered and it started getting pretty cold. Some of the children had gone inside and came out with blankets to wrap us all in. We sat their cuddled in blanket with the kids, gazing at the vastness of sky above us, the stars shinning so bright and the village lights sparkling in the towns below. The girl I was holding is name Setsabile. She is 7 but has such passion and spunk. I love her so much and we became buddies over the week :) As we were sitting there we asked them to sing us a song. She starting singing out in her language and her brothers and sisters joined in in perfect harmony and rhythm and time and everything. It was the most beautiful sound ever and they wouldn't stop, they went from song to song. You could tell they were worship songs and to sit there surrounded by these little kids worshipping out to God in song in a totally different language but with such love and passion was a moment I could never fully describe, a moment I will never forget, a moment that showed Gods amazing beauty and love for us. We had so much fun marveling in the amazing wonder of our Lord, so blessed in the places he has placed me. I am so grateful for moments and times such as these.

  

Another sweet memory was walking to school with the children. They wake up around 6 every morning to get ready and head to school around 7:00. The walk.. or maybe I should say HIKE.. is an hour long, through the woods, across the fields, over the mountains. It was so neat to experience that with them. A walk that they do every morning, some with holes in their shoes or carrying heavy backpacks of books. Petros and Elizabeth pray for safety over their children after they leave for school every morning and it was powerful to participate in that and then powerful to do the walk and see the chances of danger that could come to them. 

I  will forever remember the many wonderful memories and times spent with this beautiful family in the rural outskirts of Swaziland. I hope to continue to support and pray for Petros and Elizabeth and their vision and ministry Road to Hope.

shes my friend.. we're pretty cool ;)