Filed under: the6ofus
Crystal and some kids at the Cup Graduations
Filed under: Africa
Makhosanzana and Teacher Sindi
Even at 12 years of age, Makhosanzana is a beautiful young girl who stands almost as tall as her Cup teacher Sindi Mduduli. She has a beaming smile and is one of Cup’s SwaziStars at Ngwane Park CarePoint, and she is growing in the Lord week by week!
Makhosanzana got saved at the CarePoint through Kids’ Club 2 years ago. She had been coming to eat occasionally before, but has been at the CarePoint every day since she met Jesus! She will tell you that her favorite part about the CarePoint is the KidsClub and the SwaziStars Bible study … because “God changed my life through them!”
At KidsClub in Swaziland, 40+ teachers at Cup’s 19 CarePoints have the chance to use fun and stories to share the gospel of Jesus and the truths about issues of life/health/hygiene/relationships with thousands of kids twice each week! And many children are being transformed by the power of Jesus and the forgiveness of sin in His blood!
Recently, Makhosanzana’s mother met Teacher Sindi along the road and thanked her for all the changes in her daughter’s life – “she’s a different girl at home and she is doing very well in her schooling!” Many kids don’t study and pray for God’s help. But not Makhosanzana – “…she studies hard, and prays to God for help, and she is doing very well,” says Sindi.
Makhosanzana wants to grow up and marry a godly man and have children of her own. She dreams of becoming a teacher, so that she can give to others what God has given to her through her Children’s Cup teacher, Sindi.
Would you pray with us for Makhosanzana, that God would grow her up as a godly woman here in Swaziland, and that He might use her as part of a transformed generation? And also for her teacher, Sindi that God would provide all that she needs and that she might continue to be used by God to have an impact on more kids in her area?
walking with people in the pain of the problems of life:
…simply devastating.
realizing that solutions are farther off than expected:
…tragedy indescribable.
coming to grips with the aspect of my ego in the desire to provide solutions:
…utterly paralyzing.
being reminded of Grace for egomaniacs and blind men:
…re:boot the thinking, one more time…
Filed under: Africa
…that is, my last 7 hours today … not my last 7 ever…
I woke up feeling like a train ran over me, and it seems the family flu has caught up to me. So Dayquil and Advil it is for breakfast, with a skip the gym morning, and a few extra cups of coffee.
So now you know that anything I write about needs to be taken with an understanding of my physical and emotional condition. I’m a wreck.
8.15am – Mancoba calls me from our CarePoint to tell me that one of our cooks has died in the night. Of the 8 of them, I am not sure who he is describing. I told Him I would see him after lunch.
9.00am – my team shows up for Discipleship team meeting. Good stuff, looking back at this year, and ahead to next. Talking about the transition into Danny’s [new guy] leadership as I transition out for our end of time with Childrens Cup in January.
By 10am we are reviewing our camp from the last weekend with a group of 200 youth, and the conversation turns to the guys/girls discussion time re:sex/love/relationships. The girls were especially interactive and frank, and here was the headline question:
“I hear what you’re saying that we shouldn’t give away our bodies so easily to any guy, but you also say we should obey our parents. It’s spring – the fields need plowing- and my mom tells me to go find an older man who will sleep with me and pay for our fields to be plowed…what should I do?
[long pause - let that sink in]
It’s now 4pm, and I’m still nauseous. If it were one girl, easy, let me pay for the field to be plowed. But according to the 5 Swazi’s I’ve talked with this about since 10am, this is the norm. My teachers said any man can buy a girl for sex from almost any family for an $8- bag of rice, or a $15- fee to plow the fields.
1pm – another meeting, I have no idea what it was about.
2pm – at Madonsa, the cook who died, left her husband and 2 kids, who both come to the CarePoint. She was young – mid-30s, and very healthy looking. I never expected it to be her.
She had the most beautiful smile, always with a hint of mischief as she served. I miss her already.
She had not tested for HIV, even though some teachers had urged her. She was fine, and then went to hospital sick, and died two weeks later.
3pm – As I left the CarePoint, beautiful children chased my car down the ‘road’ calling out my name in Siswati, which means “our hope.” And the tears welled up as I bounced thru the potholes… Oh Jesus, whom have I but You?
I have buried 2 staff members and 1 student in 6 weeks. [this is just at our 2 CarePoints -Cup has 19 total in Swaziland alone]
After 5 years here in Swaziland it hurts more than ever.
I want to be angry. I want to sleep. I want to run. I want to fight. I want to yell. I want escape. I want to curse. I want to weep. And the weeping comes…
And I’m not even the one effected by all of this. I don’t have a mom selling my body for 4 days of rice. I don’t need to sell my kids for food. I am not going to get HIV from a sexual partner outside of marriage. I did not lose my mom or wife today.
Truth is, my last 7 hours would be like a dream for most of those kids ….
Filed under: the6ofus
Don’t miss the 40days of prayer video today!!
I love my man Dixon!!! i want to move to Zim just to get more of that action! if you’re tuning in today, thanks for praying for us … but you should know that being a missionary is not a hardship – it’s an honor and blessing! God is great and provides everything you need if you obey when He calls you. as for us, God has been TOO kind and good!
i had a great day today – some stuff like your life, and some stuff not:
6.30a wake [up too late last night]
7.00a- battery dead in my land rover – i’m not sure if it;s the alternator or not … grr.
7.30a boys to school
8.00a- gym [there's only one in our city]
9.00a – government meeting to discuss $150,000 grant Childrens Cup was just awarded – Praise God!!!
11.00a – watched my boy Wyatt performing Swazi cultural dancing at school
noon – in my office – 10 emails and a bit of coffee and Word time
2.00p – out to Carepoint for playing and Bible club
4.20p – drove Carepoint staff home, stopped 2help a friend buy some pain meds as he is in late stage HIV
5.30p- office @home for a few more mails
6.00p – family movie night with old school Treasure Island
2 hours of holding kids at Madonsa today made my week- thanks for the honor of being a missionary here with Cup in Swazi.
Godspeed, Lad
Filed under: the6ofus
Thanks for Praying with us again this Auguest 1-Sept 9th 2009. See African missionaries and kids praying online daily, and pray along with us!
Filed under: the6ofus
One of the really cool things about serving as missionaries in Swaziland is the unity in the Body of Christ amongst the foreign missionaries. It’s not always perfect, but pretty close to it!
Our friends at AIM, Jumbo and Kirek Gerber, along with Pete & Gill Johnston, got a container of Nike Air Jordans to give away to anybody in need [adult sizes]! The only requirement is that we wash the feet of those we give to, and share the Love of Christ with them as we do it! [www.samaritansfeet.org]
So in the last couple months , we have had the privilege of washing the feet of all our teachers/staff and Bomake, as well as seeing families at our church in Manzini give their dads a foot washing and a new pair of Jordans! Thanks God for feet that are walking around in style and comfort, all good provisions for those in need in the Name of Jesus!
the funny thing is that the picture is both wrong and right on a number of different levels. BUT the way in which it is MOST wrong is the statement, “i want to be formal.”
nothing could be further from the truth.
so i found this pic while thinking through the Word this morning… Matthew 5 where Jesus is talking about religious people’s tendency to “lay down smoke screens of pious talk” in order to cover up their own sinful hypocricy. Jesus, the guy pictured up above with the 40 oz barley pop and sneakers, said in His early sermon on the mount, “in making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true.“[E.Pete's Message Mt. 5.35-40]
if Jesus, THE revelation from the God of the universe, wanted to be anything, it was not formal.
Jesus was intentionally, by the design of God, not formal: born to an unwed mom, a supposed bastard. born in a cattle stable, in a feed trough. raised by a blue collar dad, and learned the trade. chose blue collar and sinful dudes to become His disciples. hung out with the poor and sinners, to the point that the religious people called Him a drunk and a glutton. was homeless and rejected regularly as He preached the Word of God. he dressed and spoke and preached in the style and language of the street, when all the religious people dressed in religious robes and spoke in ‘higher’ languages…
Jesus does not want to be formal- He wants to be known by you, real-ly.
that’s right – God is the God of the REAL. He wants you to have a REAL life in Him – not a facade of religious words and acts used to impress others and hopefully God. so don’t feel the need to wear your tuxedo tshirt to impress God, or your tuxedo language to talk to Him either. He’s interested in you, and me – just as you are.
and that’s the other part of the picture above that’s a bit off key – he’s not here for a cheap beer-buzz, per se … He’s here for YOU. and once you get sorted out in Him, the real party of grace can begin…
so the boys and i met a guy named Vusi last August in Manzini.
a good guy, Vusi is a widower and the dad of 3 boys. not a perfect guy, he’s really happy to have met Jesus and have his sin forgiven as he trusts in Him as his Savior. when we met Vusi that first time, he had asked us if there was any way that we could help provide some food for his boys. the 4 of us talked, [lad, squire, wyatt, and crusoe] and we decided we could help Vusi feed his kids.
it was a good decision for us, and especially the boys, being their first time in actively choosing to give some of their money to help someone. we’ve been in touch with Vusi every couple weeks or so, usually by random enounter in Manzini, helpingh out as we can. and i hope our relationship has been good for Vusi too.
like so many of us here in Swaziland, Vusi is HIV+. what makes Vusi different is that he speaks clearly about his HIV status, and just as clearly about his sexual behavior that got him infected. he deeply grieves the death of his wife, as he articulated to me a couple times through tears; specifically that he was the one who ‘killed her with his sinful lifestyle.’
when men sob, it hurts just to hear it.
in early April ‘09 i spent some time with Vusi, and to be honest, i did not think i would see him again in my life on earth. barring a miracle healing, his time was clearly brief. we prayed together, and i gave him every cent i had, and we said goodbye.
so when Vusi arrived at my door last night i was quite surprised. we sat together in the driveway, talking and praying, asking God to heal and comfort Vusi according to His will. We had 25 people over for dinner, and Vusi did not want to join us, primarily because he felt so sick, but also becuase he feels so ashamed of his appearance – a dying HIV+ beggar. [he told me this]
my friend Ben and I, as we prayed with Vusi before I left to take him home, with some food and $ to take care of him for a while. Vusi told us that he NEVER dreamed that he would have to beg – to look like this – to be so sick he could not take care of himself – that he could not work. people move to the other side of the street when they see him – they avoid him – they know he is sick – they assume he needs help, and want to get away.
I was excited to take Vusi home, because he has never let me come to his house before. as i dropped him off at his rented flat [$10/month] in the slum, i hugged him as i briefly prayed again and said goodbye. He began crying again, and said, “nobody hugs me Themba [that's my Swazi name] – nobody even touches me. Do you know the last person who hugged me?” “No” i said. “it was you, Themba, last month on the street…” and with that we basically said good night…
so tomorrow the boys and i will go visit Vusi at his home and see what we can do, even if it simply to say hi and encourage him. thanks for praying with us for Vusi, and i’d encourage you to ask God to bring a Vusi into your life as well. i’m sure that you can be a help to them, and it’ll do wonders to your heart as you seek God and ask Him to teach you to love.
Filed under: the6ofus
So today i decided that 4 years is the perfect age.
Crusoe on 4th Bday
i love all my boys – they are my favorites. [crystal is my Favorite favorite, but they are all my favorites] But having had 3 different 4 year old boys at this point, i’ve decided that 4 is the perfect age. Still innocent, run and play and get hurt and shake it off, pretty much go to the toilet on their own, and still need to snuggle with you and love every word you say, take God at his word and talk to Him with childlike faith … 4 is perfect.
So today i was running some errands with Crusoe, our 4 year old, in the afternoon, and we had the greatest conversation – it went like this:
Crusoe: “Dad, I know anything.” [meaning 'everything']
Lad: ” Really – are you sure?”
C: “Yep – “I know anything!” [...except the obvious use of the word 'anything':) ]
L: ” Are you sure, Crus? Do you know what it is like to be 5?”
C: In straight faced reply, “Yep.”
L: “Do you even know what it is like to be 10?”
C: Without a blink, “Yep.”
L: “Do you know what it is like to be a girl?”
C: “Yep.”
L: “Do you know what it is like to be a daddy?”
C: “Yep.”
L: “Do you know what it is like to be an animal – like a fish?”
C: “Yep.”
[and this was really quite humorous for me and went on for a long while... until i tried to trick him with one final question...]
L: “Do you know what it is like to not know everything ?”
C: And without hesitation he said, “Nope. You got me Dad – you figured out the one thing i don’t know.”
and i’m still laughing about it! Truth is, that little cat is pretty smart, and in his little 4 year old crusoe-centric world, he does know everything – and i love him for it.
