Sawubona from Swaziland!

Sawubona, or hello from Swaziland!  After 30 hours of air travel and a few more hours on a bus, we have arrived at our hotel in Manzini, Swaziland.  Thankfully we made all of our connections and most of our luggage arrived...but three of our teammates' personal bags got stuck in Amsterdam so they have been troupers getting by without some of their things (their bags are supposed to arrive on Tuesday!).  Highlights of the trip so far have included a noisy welcome at the Johannesburg airport from soccer fans who were waiting for one of the local pro teams to arrive and seeing two of the 'Big Five' African animals while at a gas station/convenience store on the drive from Johannesburg (when was the last time you saw rhino and water buffalo while enjoying lunch?).

This is my second trip to Swaziland; it's definitely more comfortable knowing at little more of what to expect this time, and little things like enjoying the outside balcony at our hotel make me feel like I was just here weeks ago.  Tomorrow will be our first day at the carepoint.  The first time I came I remember having so much excitement and anticipation of seeing Mkhombokati Carepoint for the first time.  I still have much of that anticipation this time and even more excitement.  So much has changed since our last team was here in February 2012.  Thanks to the generosity and continued commitment of our Capital Church community, a well and solar pump has been installed and is providing water to the carepoint, a large shade structure has been transformed into a fully enclosed building, and a greenhouse and garden are nearing completion to provide fresh food for the Carepoint.  Those are huge things that so many of you have made possible - thank you!  Two of our main projects this week are to paint the new building and help install an irrigation system and plant the garden and greenhouse. 

I'm also so excited to see the kids tomorrow - kids whose faces and names are now familiar to me, (even if I can't pronounce all of them), kids who we have been thinking of and praying for since we left last February.  As many of you know, just before we left we got word that one of the boys at our carepoint, Thanduxolo, has some health issues was in dire need of surgery to save his life and the logistics of that were not in his favor.  It was definitely heavy on all of our hearts in the midst of the travel excitement, but we have gotten a few updates and last we heard he not only made it out of surgery but is off a ventilator and in the ICU.  Thank to all of you who have been praying for him, and please keep praying!  We'll keep you all posted with updates on him as we learn more this week.

It's time for me to get some sleep before a busy and exciting day tomorrow!  We'll have lots of great photos to share soon...for now here is one of our amazing team at work organizing our 2000+ lbs of supplies tonight.

Grace and peace,
Karen Mohr

Hello Jo-Burg!!!

Hey Team,
I will begin this post by letting you know I have another 10 minutes of internet usage left before we'd have to pay for more, so I apologize for any typos and the brevity due to the time constraints.  We made it into Johannesburg last night and got into our hotel rooms shortly after 11 PM local time.  So far, we have completed quite a few items on our to-do list.
-Survive the flight (Check)
-Adapt to a new sleep schedule (Kinda-Check)
-Successfully see all of our luggage come out at baggage claim (96% check - unfortunately, Laurel, Gina, and Matt are without one of their personal bags each, but we are assured they will be to us in Manzini tomorrow).
We arrived late last night to an amazingly large crowd cheering and chanting us on, it was the craziest thing I have ever seen (ok, the crowd was actually there waiting for the professional soccer team to come through, but we felt like rockstars none the less).
As soon as we get into Manzini tonight, we hope to give you a more complete update.
Thanks again to all of you for all your prayers and support and check back for more.

(P.s. Mom, does this count as checking in?)

Tyler O.

Up up and away!!

Mkhombokati, here we come!

 

At 6am, the Swazi 2013 team of 20 shuffled in to the very bright Delta terminal. The Logistics Committee (thank you Karen, Matt and Anand!) set about their weighing, bagging, tagging, herding, documenting and distributing in their extremely prepared and incredibly organized fashion.

 

We thank God for His provision in answering our prayer to waive baggage fees and watched 41 bags, each painstakingly packed to exactly 50 pounds, roll down the conveyor belt free of charge. (Now we pray that we will see all 41 of those bags again!)

 

We deeply appreciate those from our Capital community that came to the airport to support us and cover us in prayer so early this morning. Thank you. We know we fly on the wings of the power of prayer on this mission. (If anyone reading would like a copy of our specific Prayer Request document, please email compassion@capitalchurch.com.)

 

As I write, we’re all buddied-up on the plane for leg one of our journey, the “quick” flight to Chicago. Energy is high amidst the babble and banter. I'm thankful listening to the drum of cards shuffling, magazines pages flipping, books being cracked open and team members laughing and chatting.

 

And yet we are all aware that our minds and hearts are with Thanduxolo. We learned late yesterday that Thanduxolo, one of our CarePoint children, is in a fight for his life. He has been ill for some time and is in emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction this very moment. He is eight years old. This sweet child is a favorite of our 2012 team. They vividly remember him carrying and caring for his younger sibling (he cannot attend school). Join us in asking God for a miracle. A fund has been set up to raise the money needed to cover his surgery. If you would like to donate, click here: https://secure3.convio.net/chc/site/Donation2?3040.donation=form1&df_id=3040

And please, please pray.

 

And now, although my grand plan is to not sleep on this flight, I am being inevitably lulled to sleep by the hum of the engine. I’m a sleeper. It’s just how I roll. And fly.

Tara

And we are off!!!

Well team,
We all made it to the airport (I think) and were met by a multitude of capital members ready to help unload and weigh all our gear. Thank you so much to all of you guys for coming to see us off and pray for us. For those that don't know, we are heading off to Chicago at the moment before our big jump to Amsterdam before Swaziland. We'll keep all of you posted as we get closer (cause I know you'll be worrying mom :)
Check back soon!

Tyler O

Jehovah Jireh – My Provider

Last summer, I agreed to be the Supply Coordinator for the Swaziland Ministry at Capital. Admittedly, at that time, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Today I watched as two thousand pounds of supplies were packed in preparation of our upcoming trip to Swaziland. Yes, you read that right. Two THOUSAND pounds of supplies. Over the course of the past few months, there have been times when I have been overwhelmed with everything that I needed to do. But even more so, I have been overwhelmed with the provisions of God.

When you are planning supplies for 200 kids, the task can seem daunting. Time and time again, I have wondered how in the world we were going to collect all of the supplies that we wanted to take to Mkhombokati. I have prioritized what we would need, figured the least amount we could get away with of an item, and then wondered again how it was going to happen. Somewhere in the midst of my scheming and planning, God decided to show me how awesome He really is and how He provides for our needs – whether it be our daily bread or 200 school kits. Time and time again, God has used seeming random encounters to provide exactly what I needed when I needed it.

-Chatting with an acquaintance at a friend’s birthday party, I mentioned we were taking handmade crocheted hats to every kid at the Care Point…if we could get enough. I was met with the response that this acquaintance had hundreds of handmade hats in storage and would be happy to provide however many we needed. Umm, really? Who keeps hundreds of handmade hats in storage? So a brief conversation over birthday cake, added to the many hats made by the Capital community, provided the makings of a cold weather kit for each child at the Care Point.

-On a day in December, I received a text from a teammate that she & her mom could get some toys for the trip donated. I was told the toys were in the office of the church and I could pick them up the next Sunday. Walking into the church office, I was anticipating finding a grocery bag or two of toys. Instead, I was met with four boxes and two garbage bags full of brand new toys still in their packages. So many toys, if fact, that we are not able to take all of them with us to Swaziland.  This blessing not only blessed us but also allowed us to bless a low income school in the community with all of the left over toys.

-After seeing a coupon in the newspaper for the soap I was intending to purchase for the hygiene kits, I sent out a Facebook request in order to get more coupons. Some dear friends saw my request for coupons and indicated that they would like to donate some of the soap. Awesome! However, when I stopped by their house to pick up the soap, I found that they did not buy some of the soap. Nope, they went ahead and purchased all 200 bars of soap for the kids’ hygiene kits.

I could tell you of every phone call, text message and Facebook post from friends and family members indicating that they would like to help or donate in some way. But then this post would be really, really long. All of these donations, combined with the overwhelming support of the Capital community and hours of hard work and support by my amazing teammates, made something seemingly impossible, possible. So today as I watched 40 suitcases being packed full of supplies, I just had to step back and praise God for His provisions and His timing as He led me on this journey to show me that He is Jehovah Jireh, my Provider. And while my heart is overjoyed reflecting on the 40 full suitcases today, I’m pretty sure that in a few short weeks, 40 empty suitcases will make my heart explode with happiness. For that means that the 2,000 pounds of supplies have made their way to Mkhombokati to help provide for the needs of the kids at the Care Point. For not only is He my Provider, He’s also the Provider for the children at Mkhombokati. And how awesome is it that the infinite God of the universe allows us to partner with Him?

I may not enjoy carrying 2,000 pounds of luggage through the airports on the way to Swaziland but every single suitcase is a reminder that Jehovah Jireh does care for me and my needs. I’m just hoping His next provision happens to be luggage carts.   

Grace and Peace,

Amber

Post Yard Sale Update!!!

Hello Again Everyone!

First off, I can't thank enough all the great member of this team for the gaggle of hours each member put in to make today's yard sale a success (I know "gaggle" only get's used with "geese", but we're gonna roll with it).  Seriously though, some of our many volunteers spent more than 12 hours between Friday night and Saturday morning unloading donated items, sorting everything that was deposited, pricing, selling, lugging around stuff, etc....  We couldn't have done it without everyone's hard work.

Secondly, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED!!!  You showed up by the truck loads (literally), and you gave us some fantastic used (and some new) clothes, appliances, kitchenware, furniture, and even a wood chipper.  Our cafe and sanctuary were littered with an inventory to rival Target.  Thank you again.

With that said, I can now proudly say that because of all the hard work of everyone involved, we raised.........$1,600 (ish) Dollars!!!  This is truly amazing and all I can think to type is "Thank You" again and again.  All of the remaining items were donated to one of local charities, so everything donated still went to a great cause.

But enough talk from me, how about some pictures!

Until next time......
- Tyler O.

A Yard and A Sale

Hey Team,

We are less than a month away from heading out, and we have done a lot of work over the last couple of months to get ready.  Part of this effort is getting all of our supplies ready to take with us.  This includes raising some extra funds to purchase everything that we are hauling over seas with us.

Cue the opportunity for you to help:

This Saturday morning we will be holding a Yard Sale at Capital Church (7th south and 10th east for those of you who don't know).  Who knows what tools, toys, and tangibles you'll find that you never knew you needed.  All the proceeds from this yard sale will go towards purchasing supplies that we will be taking with us.  And anything that doesn't get sold will be donated to the Salvation Army.

So there are two ways that you can help!
 1 - Come buy stuff!  There are bound to be some killer deals to be made and we would love see you there.
 2 - Donate!  In order to have a yard sale, we will be selling items that people in our community have donated after some good ole fashioned spring cleaning.  So bring around that old clunky TV that you want to get rid of.  Drop off those toys your teenagers don't play with anymore.  And if they are only "lightly used", bring in that old wardrobe (so you can justify buying a new one perhaps?).
3 - (I know I said there were two, but this is a good one)  Tell your friends!  The more people that stop by, the more successful this will be.

Feel free to drop off any items tomorrow evening, Friday the 12th, between 2 and 8pm (Apologies for the short notice). It's for a great cause and like I said, we'd love to see you there.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

Thanks again to all of your for your continued support, we couldn't do it without you.

- Tyler O.