The Tale of Thokazani

Earlier on in the week I informed a couple of the team members (Mark and Allison) who live here in Swaziland that I had no intention of bringing my guitar back with me to the U.S., and asked if there was a need for this guitar here or if they knew someone that could use it.  They immediately looked at each other and simultaneously exclaimed, “Thokozani!”  As it was instantly apparent by their reaction that this was a no-brainer, I inquired further about the man who they passionately agreed upon.

Thokozani is a member of the Development Team here in Swaziland looking over many of the carepoints in this area.  Over the past 18 months, several different teams have taught him to play guitar (and have done a pretty darn good job if I say so myself).  Ever since his first lesson, he has told Mark and Allison that one day, he will buy a guitar.  He had started saving up his money, but with family expenses coupled with the huge costs of getting a purchase-worthy guitar, it seemed like it was a distant dream of his to one day have one of his own.

On Thursday afternoon, Thokozani showed up to the carepoint under the ruse that he was only there to help with distribution of backpacks to the kids (as he normally doesn’t serve at the Mkhombokati Carepoint).  Completely unsuspecting, he walked into the new building where I had just finished up leading the kids in VBS songs.  Mark and Allison called Thokozani over to us and introduced me to him.  I can honestly say that I rarely meet anyone who likes to smile as much as I do, but this man had teeth from ear to ear the moment he walked in the room.  After only a few minutes of talking to him, you were instilled with his passion and joy.  It was obvious that Thokozani loves developing relationships and it was no mystery why everyone was such a fan of his.

Now it was time for me to have a little fun with him.  I told him that I had heard through the grapevine that he actually knows how to play the guitar.  Half abashed and half ecstatic, he told me this was true and that he loves playing.  When I asked if ‘I were to hand him the guitar right now, would he be able to play us something?’, he immediately took up the challenge….. 

And he did not disappoint!

After a minute or two of his song, I was ready to get to the fun part.  I asked him where he had learned to play, which he corroborated everything I had heard before.  Then I asked him:

“Do you practice often?”

“No, I don’t get to that much.”

“I see, do you have a guitar of your own?”

“No, no I don’t”, he replied.

“Well, that guitar is yours.”

With the guitar still strung over his shoulder, he stopped.  I think every ounce of blood and energy instantly went to his brain, as he tried to think of every other possibility of what I could have said, assuming maybe he misunderstood me.  Finally, he replied “Really?”

After several assurances that the guitar was really his, he went began spinning in circles (guitar still on) and screaming.  

The most remarkable part of it all, though, was what he said next.  He told me he was so excited to be able to help out at the carepoints now.  To be able to come lead worship for them, as well as doing the same at his church.  It was powerful to see someone who has been given a long wanted gift immediately turn around to exclaim how he is going to give it right back to God.  

I later showed him everything that was included in the case: the tuner, the extra strings, the chord charts, extra picks, and the capo.  And with each item, that never ending smile grew bigger and bigger.  I’m incredibly excited to see what the future holds in store for this young man.  

Tyler O.

A Very Swazi Post

Where do I even begin? There has been too many favorite moments of this trip to have just one favorite. So I will cover a few highlights that probably have not yet been mentioned  by my fellow team members.

The first one… soccer! Or as everyone else in the world calls it futbol! J  One of the major projects that the 2012 Swaziland team helped accomplish was clearing a field at the care point, turning it into a soccer field and putting in two goalposts. And yes, the goalposts are still standing! However, over the past year a lot of rocks and bumps were made on the field so the kids were not using it when we first arrived. But after the tractor came to help with the garden, it was used to flatten out the soccer field as well. The next couple days as soon as I pulled out the penneys, the boys came over and we got a game going. (“We” being me amongst the older and younger Swazi boys.) Oh what fun did we have! I may have happened to score a goal and assist a few, but the best part was being viewed as a valuable teammate. One of the older boys even came up to me and said, “You have perfect soccer skills.” I just laughed along and enjoyed the moment of playing soccer with very talented children at our Care point.

A second highlight was having the opportunity to go to the private hospital and visit Thanduxolo. The hospital was very nice and clean. The staff had been taking great care of Thanduxolo, we could tell. Thanduxolo was in his own private room where his grandmother had a bed to stay with him. When we entered his room, Thanduxolo was sitting up in a stool at the bedside, and his grandmother, grandfather, and another family member were visiting him. He was feeling his strength returning, told us he had been up walking around the unit earlier that afternoon, and had been tolerating clear liquids and yogurt without any difficulties. His abdominal incision was healing well but his face and hands were still a little puffy from all the fluids they gave him prior to surgery. With time, this would decrease and has already begun to do so reported the grandmother. We told Thanduxolo how much you (Capital Chuch) loves him and has been praying for him, and he thanks you so much! While we were there we were able to give him a backpack, school supplies, new clothes, hygiene kit, (things we gave to the kids at the care point) and prayed with Thanduxolo and his family. Thanduxolo loves the Lord and thanks you all for helping to save his life! Before we left, Thanduxolo got back into bed to get some rest, so he will continue to need some prayers, but is definitely getting stronger every day. What a blessing it was to see him!

Praises during the week: 2,200 seedlings were planted on an overcast day and a downpour came that the evening to water the ground. The older kids were on break so we were able to do different developmental skills with them. I was able to teach the older girls and the mages basic hygiene and basic first aid. These included things like, if you catch on fire, you need to stop, drop and roll, and teaching about how to use aloe vera (which grows wildly everywhere here) to help with healing burns (which is common since a lot of Swazi’s cook over an open fire) and how hand washing is the number one thing we can do to prevent the spread of infections! (This is emphasized in hospitals and is important for us to put into practice as well!)

A few other special moments were seeing the kids continue to wear different crafts (like the crown, stick on jewels, stickers, glitter) throughout the week. Having little boys and girls run up to you to hold your hand, have you hold them, or play netball, soccer, frisbee, keep away, or dancing games with them. And hearing them sing! Mbuso led the kids in a song that went like this “Making melodies in my heart, making melodies in my heart, making melodies in my heart, to the King of Kings.” Then this would repeat. But with each round you would have to sing it with your thumbs up, then shoulders up, next elbows in, after that knees bent, bum out, turn around, and lastly tongue out! One little girl sang it throughout the whole day on our last day here at the care point, which was today. It was the most precious thing! I could have cried, (Oh wait, I did!). Oh how God loves all the little children in the world! 

Danielle R

Beyond Expectations

One of the things I love about the God we serve is that is not limited by our own expectations. No matter what expectations we may have, he meets them, exceeds them, and completely blows us away with what he’s doing and how he’s always working to build up and encourage his Church, even in ways that we don’t expect. This has been evident in so many ways this week, but for me it has been particularly so in VBS.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term, “VBS” stands for “Vacation Bible School.” In the United States, many churches organize some kind of summer day camp program for kids which usually includes lots of songs, games, crafts, and, of course, learning about the Bible. One of the fun things about a trip like this is that we have the opportunity to bring an experience similar to the ones that American kids are used to having to the kids here in Swaziland. All week we’ve been conducting a VBS program at the Care Point. We’ve been acting out stories about David to show how God loves us no matter what, even when we’re weak, scared, successful, and make mistakes.

Erica W.

All of us who helped put the VBS program together are Sunday school and VBS veterans. However, in any church program or mission trip, you encounter circumstances that you can’t anticipate. Something I’ve discovered this week that I didn’t expect is how big of a blessing VBS has been, not only to the kids, but also to me.

What I often forget is how much I depend on language to connect with people, including kids. While the common language in Swaziland is SiSwati, the kids learn English in school, and by the time they’re teenagers, many of them speak very good English. The younger kids, on the other hand, don’t know how to say (or understand) very much beyond their own names and ages. Though you can communicate your love for the kids simply by playing with them and serving them, in the presence of a language barrier I can’t help but feel a little disconnected, and it’s easy to get discouraged.

It’s just in that moment when God shows up through VBS. When we perform skits, one of the members of the Swazi staff at the care point, Mbuso, translates for us, making it possible for us to encourage them with God’s love in a context that they understand. When we sing, the songs are in English, but by singing the same ones every day eventually the kids are able to learn them. Sometimes I see the kids walking around the care point humming the songs and doing the hand motions as they go. One girl even approached me individually and asked me to teach her the songs, as she genuinely wanted to learn them. VBS, then, becomes a vehicle by which we can connect with the kids and feel like we have something in common with them, despite language differences.

Something else that I didn’t expect is that the adolescent kids have also come and participated in VBS. When we prepared it, we expected the older kids to be occupied doing other projects around the Care Point while we were doing VBS. For this reason, many of the songs that we brought are ones that, in the States, are intended for small children. Do the adolescents still appreciate these songs? Again, it’s often hard to tell. But God shows up yet again, this time through the words of one of the adolescents at the Care Point who wrote these words referring to one of the songs in a letter to her sponsor: “I know that my God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do.”

Surely God is a God who knows exactly what we need and blesses us with even more than we can even imagine. In all of those moments when I have not known what to say or do, God has used his truth to bridge the gap and show me how much I can learn from these kids’ enthusiasm to seek God and hold on to every part of who he is. Every day God continues to show in so many ways how he truly does love us—love me—no matter what.

Sawubona! It's Kristine :)

Wow- where do I begin? Swaziland has been absolutely amazing and I cannot believe that we only have two more days at this wonderful care point with these kids who have captured my heart, so I'm not going to write about it. What I am going to write about though are a few of the amazing kiddos who I've met in this experience so far.

I think back to the very first day when we arrived at the guest house and had our cultural orientation- we were told about how the kids want loving touch more than anything, craving even the brush of a finger when applying a band-aid. Pouring out love into these children's lives is our main purpose for being here, as they may only receive this love and loving touch once a year in May. What is even more amazing than the love that we are able to pour into their lives is the love that they are pouring into ours. My heart is so full for these wonderful, joyful children who God has called us to serve. 

About the kiddos that we've met here- they are absolutely beautiful, smiling children of God!!! I've had the pleasure of holding, sitting, playing, and laughing with many of them. They are so loving, walking up to you and holding your hand, raising their arms to let your know they want to be held, or pretzeling your hands around their front into a warm embrace. 

I found one girl crying in the corner this morning, her name Vusikelo, and went over to hold her. She continued crying, however, and after asking some of the older girls what was wrong we could not figure it out. One boy brought her pink, plastic bowl over filled with water for her to drink which she took and drank (today was VERY hot). She perked up immediately! She smiled, played with orange play dough, and responded with a vocal "cheeese" when I told her to smile for Dawn's camera. After that she did not want to leave my side for much of the day, even waiting outside for me when I went in for lunch. Gosh she's so sweet and I wish you could see her beautiful face/smile. Another two beautiful girlies I want to mention are Zama and Nkosephayo, who stayed at the care point a little later today and made their mark in my heart, making silly faces for my camera. They are so silly and giggly, and my kind of girls (as many friends back home would tell you I have some pretty goofy camera faces)!!! I absolutely love being with these children, and am so thankful to God for calling me here. 

Oh, and just a little side story that everyone on the team has gotten some giggles out of... 

So there I was helping some kids decorate their "King David" crowns after a long day of playing,work, and VBS (vacation bible school), and I was starting to feel a little faint realizing that I hadn't really been drinking water regularly. I went inside to find a water bottle, but instead found that we'd run out. I rushed to one of our team leaders, Tara, seeing if she had anything. Looking around she found a half-full water bottle that had the cover of one of our nurses. Giving it to me, she said that she wouldn't mind me drinking it so I chugged it.... Basically I ended up getting really sick, and we realized later why this happened- I had drank half of a water bottle of HYDROGEN PEROXIDE! Let's just say that it was not the yummiest beverage that I have consumed in my life, but it did make for a good story.

Tara has now been fired (just kidding!), but she does continue to remind me not to drink the water.

Hi Mom!

Droppin’ some Beets

It’s been a busy week at the farm, aka the Mkhombokati garden.  It took two tractors to till the soil and many man-hours to clear the huge rocks, roots, and clumps of grass from the soil.  On Thursday morning our whole team did a rock ‘search party’ and walked the field in a line clearing the big chunks.  We helped Lucky (aka Nhlanhla, the garden guy) lay out all of the irrigation lines for the drip system on Thursday afternoon, and by Friday we were ready to plant!

When we woke up on Friday, I walked outside and discovered that it was a cloudy, cool day.  My first thought was that God provided the perfect day for us to plant (of course to the Swazis it was a cold day and they weren’t so happy about it).  By the time we got to the carepoint, Lucky had all of the seedlings ready for us to plant – 2000 of them!  A huge thanks to everyone on the team for their hard work and willingness to jump in and help throughout the day– it was truly a big team effort.

So on Friday we planted our farm.  And in God’s perfect timing, on Friday night it rained.  We were worried that the downpour would wash away the seedlings, but it turns out the rocky soil is good for holding the plants and soil when it rains.  This garden has reminded me again and again that God is way ahead of us in His perfect plans.  Mkhombokati now has cabbage, onion, lettuce, beets, and spinach in the ground – and it is all being watered by water from our well!  

Throughout the process many of the kids not only watched with fascination but also got in on the action, which was probably my favorite part of the whole garden project.  Since Jumbo first mentioned the garden at Mkhombokati months ago, I was very excited at the potential for the garden to not only provide healthy food but also give the kids an opportunity to learn how to garden themselves.  Kids of all ages help clear rocks and grass and many of them loved helping to plant the seedlings.  Even one of the bomakes (women who cook for the kids) got in on the action and worked with Tyler to plant seedlings for a while.  Seeing the Swazis take ownership of the garden was so encouraging – that is key to making the garden productive in so many ways.  Lucky and Mbuso will be teaching the kids to help maintain the garden and we can’t wait to see updates on the progress as everything grows!

 

-Karen Mohr

We Sit, We Sew, We Hang

A little update on the Development team and our work here in Swaziland.   

The Development team was charged with making sure our older teen girls received some well needed attention and encouragement as they make their way from childhood to adulthood in challenging circumstances.  We decided to model our time with these girls based on the “Be With” factor rather than focus too much on structured activities and agendas.  In order to facilitate relationship building, we designed a craft project where we could all hang around and work on “needle work” bracelets and hang out and chat.  Eighteen girls and various Capital team members have been “hanging out” over the past three days.  We sit, we sew, we hang.  I have also had the opportunity to learn many new dance moves in a circle game where you have to dance and then choose someone to “dance for you”.   Those of you who know my dancing abilities will see the humor in this! Amidst all this hanging out, I have been able to interview most of the girls one-on-one.  This has been a time to ask them some questions about their lives, their hopes for the future, and their faith.   

At the end of our personal “talk” I have also asked if I can pray for them.  The look on their faces as we pray together and I ask God to let them know how precious in His eyes they are, is both humbling and life altering.  These girls rarely get kind words of encouragement.  Developing a relationship with them this trip has been a privilege and an honor.  Tomorrow will be a hard day for me as I have to say goodbye to eighteen new friends (and all the adorable small children I have carried around this week)!   

Before I end, Tara told me I need to mention that I reunited a baby goat and its mama today after listening to the poor baby goat cry for hours.  After the baby goat tried to tear through a wire fence to get to his mama, I had had enough.  We cornered the baby goat and carried him to his crying mama.  If you think I used the term “baby goat” a lot it is because when I first used the word “kid” in this post, I realized people who skim this post might think I was talking about one of our carepoint kids.  New experiences...

Danielle L.