Views & Candlelight

Sanibonani from Swaziland! Today we made the final leg of our long journey here.  We spent last night at the Aviator Hotel in Johannesburg, which was a nice hotel near the airport with a definite aviator theme - think WWII bomber-inspired decor.  After good night's sleep and a good breakfast, we hit the road for the 4-5 hour drive to Manzini.  We stopped at Azlu for lunch, which I think of as the best travel rest stop I've ever seen.  It's a restaurant and convenience store that overlooks a wildlife area...and since it's in South Africa, that wildlife includes water buffalo, zebras, rhinos, ostriches, and a few animals you probably wouldn't even find in most American zoos.  People from past teams might recall how the men's restroom there was said to have a great view that overlooks the wildlife area; I'm happy to report that they have expanded the ladies' restroom to include windows overlooking the wildlife as well (sometimes it's the little things in life, like the view from the bathroom sink!).

After Azlu, we had a very quick and smooth border crossing into Swaziland and then arrived at the Asante Guest House, which is our home base for the next 6 days.  After a cultural orientation with Mark and Allison, the missionaries here who are leading us this week, we sat down for dinner at Asante.  But as Mark and Allison had just reminded us, This Is Africa, or TIA - meaning that things often don't go according to plan.  Just as we were about to sit down, the power went out.  Fortunately the meal was cooked and the resourceful staff brought out candles, so we had a romantic candle-lit meal for our first dinner in Africa.  However, I was starting to get stressed about how we'd go through all of our 33 bags of supplies and get ready for the next day with just head-lamps and candles.  Just as we finished dinner, they had a generator running, which gave us good light to unpack all of our supplies and get ready for our first day at the carepoint tomorrow.  Sometimes it's through the little details like the timing of the generator starting that remind me of God's caring hand over everything that we do.

Tomorrow is a big day as we will to the carepoint for the first time to see the kids.  We will also be starting our home repair projects for the bomake homes.  We've got a lot planned for this week!  Please pray for that'd we have the energy and good health to both accomplish the building tasks and most importantly to have great times to play and build relationships with the kids.  Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Grace and Peace,
Karen Mohr