Amazing Grace!

Today was a really special day…  If you read yesterday’s post, you know I was really worried that we had hurt our relationship with the community.  I don’t know for certain why eating is so important, but I can make a few guesses…  First of all, it’s Biblical…  In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says if we open the door, He will come in and dine with us…  There’s the Last Supper…  The wedding feast of the Lamb…  Clearly sharing a meal together is important…  But also, in the Swazi culture, they have so little to share…  it truly is the widow’s mite…  And it still breaks my heart that we can’t sit and share a meal with them without risking our health.

I prayed this morning that God would go before us and give them understanding, grace and mercy in their hearts…  And He answered that far beyond what I dreamed or imagined…

When we got up this morning, it was raining…  I mean REALLY raining…  It’s winter here, so it’s the dry season and it hasn’t rained since the beginning of the year…  It just doesn’t rain in the winter and I had no idea what a blessing that rain would turn out to be…

When we arrived at the church, the Pastor came right out to greet us and then the gogos (grandmothers) were not far behind him…  They were warm and welcoming…  Beyond gracious…  And then the Pastor said, “God is blessing what you are doing here…  He has sent the rain.”  It’s as if God affirmed our work there by sending the rain to water the fruit trees, and that seemed to override conflict.

After that, we worshiped and danced together…  This time I was the first one to step out and I went right to M, the one I wrote about the other day, and we started to dance…  I’m learning how sweet it is to love another by stepping into their world…  (I just wish I could figure out the meal thing better…)  And just as I predicted the other day, that Pastor M would have Zack dancing with us, before the week was out, he did!  I can’t tell you what that was like to have my two sons with me, worshipping God in Africa!

Next we went out to the garden, and just like one community, we all pitched in, the Swazis and our team and we started preparing the garden for planting…  I can’t wait till I can post the pictures…  To see the church being one was an amazing blessing!

Because it was raining so hard, we didn’t get as long with them as we would have liked, but it was such a sweet day…  I am still amazed at how far we’ve come in our relationship with them since last year…  they seem to delight in teaching us how to do things and then jumping in and working with us…  the playful banter…  the laughter…  the sweet conversations…  the hugs…  I can hardly stand to think that we only have one more day with them…

Today as I walked outside the church, one of the young men followed me out to talk to me…  He asked me questions about America…  He talked to me about his dreams for his own life…  We talked about our faith…  I was shocked at how long he stood and talked to me…  But something hit me tonight… 

It’s easy to come here and lose sight of the individuals…  to forget that they really aren’t that different…  Yes, they have tremendous struggles and grief in their life…  the know poverty…  hunger…  discomfort in a way that most will never know…  And yet, they deal with so many of the things we deal with in the USA…  and they dream and they hope…  they long for someone to just step into their lives with them for a time and share it with them…

Today Pastor M told us what a difference we had made, just by showing up…  He said that when the people of the community see a white man coming to help, they see Jesus…  That blows my mind…  We didn’t do anything to fix their situation…  When we leave on Thursday, there will still only be 4 men in the community with a job…  there will still be starving, sick children and adults, orphans and AIDS…  it will still be a broken and hurting community…  and yet, according to the Pastor, they have hope because we showed up…

I don’t know why God chooses to use us but He does and for that privilege, I am eternally grateful…  it is a joy like no other!

 
Tomorrow, we’re off to Kubuta, the village mom worked in for 5 days on her first trip to Swaziland, and we get to spend the day with Enoch, our very special friend!  I can hardly stand to think that we just have 2 more days…  I wish I could grab hold of the hands of time and make it slow dow

Difficult Divide...

Today was hard…  Not because of anything terrible that we saw, but because of the difficulties of two cultures trying to find their way to loving each other…  It’s not the post I had hoped to have for today, it’s not the story that seemed to be unfolding all day…  

Well, I’ll just start at the beginning…  We arrived at the church with the medical team, they were holding clinic there today…  The plan for our team was to plant fruit trees and seedlings, but the Pastor asked us to wait until the people from his community could help us, because he wanted us to work side by side…

So we started playing with the children…  We had bubbles, beach balls, soccer balls and even a football…  At first the little ones were so shy around us, but bubbles will break the ice in any culture!  Before long, they were laughing and playing with us.

From there, I got to spend time with one of their mothers…  I’m not sure why we connected the way we did, but before long we were sharing real stories from our lives…  Throughout the day we talked about plans for the future…  We discussed the peace of Christ…  We even talked about the difference between real miracles and the ones we have a hard time believing…  She is a VERY wise young woman…

Later in the day, we got to carry water from the river…  We took huge containers down, filled them (partway) and then headed back to the church.  The Pastor told us that the people in the community didn’t believe we could really carry them all the way back…  So we put them on our heads and set out to prove them wrong…  We dodged 3 inch thorns that look like mini swords and watched for black mambas…  That was an experience!

We laughed…  we played…  we worked…  language barriers were leaped over…  Zack and Nick were amazing with the children and such hard workers…  I couldn’t have asked for a better day…

But then it happened…  the pastor informed me that the gogo’s were preparing a dinner for us.  In the Swazi culture, it’s the most generous thing they could do…  Food is scarce and yet they would share with us to show their love…  But the problem is that it would most likely make us sick, maybe very sick.  As time came for us to leave, I really hoped I had misunderstood because nothing else was said, but as we were packing up to go, they started bringing out heaping plates of food…

To make a long story short, we ended up not eating as we had to get back by a certain time, but I’m certain that we offended them…  In a way, I can’t but feeling like we rejected the widow’s mite…  I guess in a way, we did…  But how do you love each other across cultures and still protect those you’ve been given responsibility for?

First, we are told to be back by a certain time for our safety, they don’t want us traveling after dark…  But even more, how could I expose everyone on our team, my children include, to something that could make us very sick…  One of the parts of the dinner was salad, most likely washed in river water…  

I have no doubt that we’ve offended them and that breaks my heart…  Our relationship grew so much today and then it was like the angry lion took his paw and swiped us off the mountain top…  These are such beautiful, generous people who just wanted to love us by sharing all that they had with us… 

I pray that even now, God is working understanding and forgiveness in their hearts…  that He will go before us and smooth the way…  And that tomorrow we will find our way across the great cultural divide.

A Special Day!

Today we got to worship with the church we are serving… We always go to church on our trips, but it’s usually the whole big group in a city church. I’ve always wanted to go to church in a rural area and really see how church is done.


Let me tell you, the Swazis know how to worship… I’m Presbyterian (PCA) and we’re often jokingly referred to as the ‘frozen chosen’… Well, that’s not exactly true at my church in the US, but it is for me. I’ve just never been very demonstrative in worship, so I decided that today was going to be different. I was going cave diving out of my comfort zone and if they danced before the LORD, then I was going to dance with them… And dance I did! Even Nick got in on the action… I admit, I was pretty shocked when he scooted into the line behind me (Pastor M will have Zack dancing by the end of the week I’m sure, as long as he survives his schooling in soccer by the Swazi boys that Pastor M is setting him up for!!)!

I loved watching the kids watching us… I’m sure they thought we were hilarious, but they were so sweet, I can’t wait to play with them and spend some time with them over the next few days…

After church was over, Pastor had our team form a line and we did the Swazi handshake with every person and child that was there… My sweetest moment of the day came in that line… Last year there was a gogo (grandmother) that I just fell in love with… Elina… I was afraid she wouldn’t remember me, but when she got to where I was in line, she completely skipped the traditional handshake and pulled me into the greatest GIANT bear hug… That’s what God’s love can do… What else could connect two completely different people on the opposite side of the world who have only seen each other for 3 days out of a life time… I wish I could somehow find the words to describe that connection… But they would never do that moment justice!

When we left today, I said to Pastor M… “Last year I was so shy, I wouldn’t dance, but you’ve gone and broken me out of my shell… Could we dance and worship just once more before we leave?” He made my day… He said, “I tell you what… we’ll start every day, before you work, with a time of praise and worship!” Now that’s worth coming around the world for!!

Here’s what I learned today… if you’re going to be somewhere… then be ALL there! I’m sure someone has said that before… but it’s just so rewarding… it’s so free! I’m so tired of letting my inhibitions steal amazing moments of joy, like I experienced today! I want to drink in every moment… to squeeze every drop of life out of every experience… that’s what the abundant life is all about!

Tomorrow is our first planting day… but first we will worship (and dance!)… now that’s my kind of day!

Questions...

(Pictures are taking forever here...  so I guess they'll just have to wait till I get home...)

Today was quite a day… I’ve never had a trip start quite like this one! We literally haven’t stopped running since we got here… Today was Litsemba, which means ‘hope’ in Siswati. We had 3000+ children arrive on buses, as well as from the community around Project Canaan, and we spent about 4 hours worshiping with them and just loving on them!


The children here are something else… In the USA, you would pretty much expect chaos to reign with that many children in one location, but not here. The children are so orderly, well behaved and respectful, even when they’re in line to receive a meal and a gift. I was so impressed!

I was on the photography team for the event… I know, don’t throw me in that briar patch! It was a blast!!!

But the thing I want to write about is my conversations with a couple of the people from the church we worked with last year, and will be serving at during the week…

The first was the Pastor… He was so surprised that I came back and he said, “Ever since I heard you were coming back, I’ve been thinking, ‘What did God put in your heart to make you want to come back to our community?’” The only thing I knew to answer was, “HIS love!” How else do you explain the desire to go around the world, to a culture that is vastly different than your own and far less comfortable… I can tell you, it’s nothing good in me… So it must be God’s love!

My next conversation was with M… I met her last year and just loved her, she’s so beautiful! She just has this light and peace that shines out through her eyes… I got to just sit with her in good ol’ African dirt today and I loved just being with her… For the first time she opened up to me and we started to get to know each other on a deeper level, not just two strangers thrown together… I’m not going to share the heart of our conversation out of respect for her privacy, but she asked me a question that shocked me...

She asked, “Did you have a choice to go to another church this year?” ‘Yes, M… I did…’ She thought for a minute and then she said, “So why did you come back to our church?” In some ways, I guess her question wasn’t that much different than Pastor M’s…

But why is it so hard for them to understand that they’re loved? Is it because they’ve never experienced the love of God, through the body of Christ, caring for those in need before? I would guess that’s it in part… Last year, Pastor told me that we were the first group to ever come and help their community… But it also made me think how I’m not that much different than them… Sometimes I have the hardest time just receiving God’s love…

As I kept talking to M… it’s like she kept looking for some quality that made them ‘lovable…’ But isn’t that what we all do… we measure our ‘lovability’ by what think is valuable, or worthwhile, in us… We add the possibility of love for what we think is good, but take away what’s possible in love for what we see as the bad…

But that’s just not who God is… As I sat and talked to M, I reminded her (and myself) of what God told Israel in Deuteronomy 7… That He didn’t choose them because they were more than any other people, but simply because He loved them and was keeping His promise to their forefathers…

Here’s the thing, if God needed a reason to love us… well… that would be that… He is a great, holy and mighty God… We have nothing to offer Him… Our sin is offensive to Him… But while were still His enemy, God just made a choice to love us… No reason, no justification, nothing to earn… He just loves us… And I think that’s how God wants us to learn to love also… I have a long way to go… More often than not, I get it wrong… But I can’t begin to describe what joy it is to love someone, just because God put it in your heart to love them…

"Thank You God"

(So provided nothing goes wrong in the next hour or so, there will be two posts today... I wrote this yesterday, Friday, but couldn't post it since Swaziland shut down the internet in the country for a holiday...)

So I hardly know where to begin today… The whistle definitely blew (if that doesn’t make any sense, then you’ll have to go back and read yesterday)… But I was back in the game… We left Johannesburg early in the morning and set out for Swaziland… Crossing the border into Swaziland is always an experience! Since South Africa and Swaziland are two different countries, you have to ‘check out’ of South Africa and ‘check into’ Swaziland. For some reason, I find the whole process kind of fun…


I wish I could find the words to describe my feelings when I stepped onto Swazi soil today… I walked up to the official to get my passport stamped and he asked ‘how are you?’… Grinning from ear to ear, I said, “GREAT!” (And then when Scott called tonight, he even said, “I can hear the smile in your voice!) I’ve been surprised by the strength of my feelings to be back in Swaziland… I truly love this country.

It was a mad dash to the hotel and then out to Project Canaan… the 2500 acres that Heart For Africa is developing for the orphans in this country… 3 climate regions for crops, cattle, children’s homes, medical, clinic, schools… In the land of the impossible, it is a God project in the making!

I want to tell you two stories from today…

The first was told by K, the land manager for Project Canaan (PC)… I was here in 2009, shortly after they started working PC and the quick progress has been staggering, but I had never heard him tell the story until today…

When he arrived, the land was nothing but bush… they had no tractor, an incredibly rocky soil and only 1 month to plant the first crop of corn. Most people told him it was impossible… many of the locals gave Heart For Africa 6 months until they gave up and moved on…

Well, they cleared the land in record time, planted the first crop and harvested 35 TONS of corn! The harvest they brought in this year was 100 TONS of corn!! 2 years have passed and they’re still here!! I loved what K said, “We can all stand around and talk about our accomplishments, how smart we are, or how strong we are, but in the end, it’s all about what God does!”

And let me tell you, God is doing some amazing things here in Swaziland… You don’t even have to look very hard to see Him!

But here’s the other story that rocked my heart to the very core… The very first person that K hired to work on PC was a woman named S. S walked 2 hours, every day just to get to work and then 2 hours back home. She has 4 children and they walk 90 minutes, one way to school…

This past June she was pregnant with her 5th child and still coming to work every day… One day she left work and went to the local clinic to see if they would induce her as she was overdue… They sent her to the private hospital nearby. At first they gave her a pill, but when that didn’t work, they gave her an injection. Labor came hard and fast and the nurse just didn’t know what to do, so she went to find a doctor. By the time she returned, S and her precious baby had died.

Now that broke my heart, but what rocked my soul was what they named the baby when they buried her… In English, it meant, “Thank You God.” We saw a short interview with S’s mother… she said, “She was my mother, my father, my husband, she was the sole provider for our family… I miss her.” And yet, she could still name the baby, “Thank You God.”

I think about all the times I whine to God and complain… I often struggle with how to be thankful for ALL things… And yet, He’s never asked me for a child… I’ve never even really suffered in comparison to the people in Africa… But how many times do I forget to say ‘thank you God’ for all of my blessings and I really have a hard time saying ‘thank you God’ for a broken air conditioner… The people here who know God, they REALLY know Him… And they don’t just talk about it with their words, they live it with their very lives… Even in what they name a baby in the most tragic situation we could imagine… Now that’s trust…faith…hope!

I have so much to learn from these dear, dear people…

AFRICAAAAAA!!

I can't believe it but I'm finally back on African soil...  We (Zack, Nick, mom and I) just arrived in Johannesburg and we will drive to Swaziland in the morning...  THAT'S where I'm really excited to get back too!

Hopefully I'll be able to access the internet in Swaziland also, so I'll be able to blog throughout the week...  It is a week that is packed full... 

But as I start this trip, I want to back up for a minute and tell you about getting ready for this trip...  For some reason, getting ready for this trip was hard...  It was overwhelming with all that we were trying to bring for the community...  And then making sure that 3 of us had all we needed, instead of just packing for myself...  And then the thought of leaving Scott and the girls was even harder than usual...

But a few months ago, my mom sent me to her friend's blog who is preparing to move to Kenya...  She was writing about the stress of it and something her very wise teeanage son said to her...  He compared it to the warm-up period before his soccer games...  How he didn't like the warm-up exercises...  the drills...  the nerves...  but when the whistle sounded, all of that was forgotten and it was all worthwhile because he loved the game so much!

God definitely blessed me with that thought for the last two weeks...  I have reminded myself over and over that when the whistle sounds, it will all be worth it because I love this country so much...

Mission trips are hard...  overwhelming...  expensive...  stressful... even scary...  but that's just the warm-up period...  the time when the enemy will do anything he can to discourage you and try and keep you from going... 

But I can tell you first hand...  there is no greater joy than when the whistle blows and you get to go into the 'game!'  It is life changing...  Yes, I'm sure God uses us to bless others lives, but I've found over and over that He uses the people I've come to serve to bless me and change me in ways I can't even imagine...

It's just minutes now until the whistle blows and I am so excited to get back to see the people that I have grown to love so much...  People who have become a part of me...  And even more, I can't wait to see what God does...

Is there a 'game' that God is asking you to get into?  It may not be Africa...  it might be the neighbor next door, or the local rescue mission... but I promise you, you will be blessed!  Well, off to bed!

It's Open!

I'm happy to say that my jewelry website is open again for business...  Lots of new designs and more to come (Below are some photos of a few)...  You can also follow me on Facebook for all the latest...  www.facebook.com/designing4hope

And a fun bit of news...  Zack, Nick and I leave for Africa on July 20 (my mom is going too!)...  And hopefully, if the plan works, I'll be posting updates from Africa to my Designing For Hope Facebook page...  We are getting to go back to the same church that I served at last year and we get to plant fruit trees for them!!  I'm SO excited!!

Rose Coral Dyed Freshwater Baroque Pearls and Crystal

Agate, Freshwater Pearl, Crystal & Czech Glass

South Sea Shell Pearls, Czech Glass & Crystal

 Ginkgo Leaf Asymmetrical Necklace with Crystal Bead Drops

 Antique Bronze Tree Pendant on Suede/Leather Cord & Chain

Silver Leaf with 3 Bead Crystal Drop