Amazing People

It has only been roughly 51 hours since I left Salt Lake.  Essentially two season of Jack Bauer into this trip, and, through mostly sleep deprivation, it feels like a fortnight (“fortnight” is a great word for scrabble by the way).  And even though we have yet to make it to the carepoint, I have been reminded of some of most incredible, unbelievable, amazing people I have ever met in my life.  Let me run down the “Awesomeness Inventory” for you.  First we have:

Kelly – The man who kept us entertained for hours on a bus ride with games that encouraged the team to accuse and be suspicious of everyone.  But his awesomeness didn’t end there.  He struck again during the power outage out dinner, where he turned his (and consequently other people’s as well) iPhone light and plastic water bottle into table top lamps.

Elliot – He is one of the awesome drivers for Adventures in Missions who will be with us for most of the trip.  This is the ultimate person you want to know at the border.  This swazi native grandfather who could pass for 40 used his bashful charm (yeah, it’s a thing) and got us all from South Africa to Swaziland without any one of us getting questioned or filling out forms.  My hat is off for you Elliot.

Mark & Allison – These Alabama native Auburn fans have been in Swaziland for over three years.  They moved both theirs daughters (ages 10 and 15 now) to this country and have provided me with a whole different view of this culture that I may have not noticed on my own.  While Swaziland may be lacking in infrastructure, government programs, and education, their values are strongly intact.  These people live out the meaning of having a community, they are not wasteful, and they love strongly.  Mark and Allison find the great qualities in this place, as well help guide them through areas of growth.  I am so thankful you are here.

And lastly, Karen Mohr – I can’t say enough amazing things about our fantastic trip leader.  And while I have reason to be biased, those of you that know her will know I am simply speaking truth (with a little bias).  She has been an amazing leader who has prepared and coordinated this team into what I must say is the most successful entry into Swaziland in Capital Church history. (That, and she’s really pretty…)  So thank you, thank you, thank you!

You just can’t help but love those amazing people…

- Tyler O.

10 Sleepovers

It seems like just moments ago we arose bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and scurried our way to the airport ready to set-off for this beautiful country. Now just hours away from actually crossing the border to Swaziland, albeit a little less bright-eyed and not-so-bushy tailed, but soaking up some comfortable sprawled-out rest in our lovely accommodations (no sarcasm folks, it’s flat-out beautiful), I’m left to reflect on how we arrived here.

For Shelli and I, it began six years ago. Tom Davis first spoke at Capital Church and we eagerly raced back to sponsor our special friend over the last few years: little 8 year old Menzi. That’s where this journey began. Menzi is 14 now. Fourteen. That little boy is almost a young man. Given the circumstances of many teenagers out our carepoint, he is almost certainly more a man than I ever had to be at that age. Six years of growing, changing, writing, praying, and dreaming.

My son has been going on non-stop these last few weeks telling anyone and everyone about his pending “10 sleepovers” with Nana and Boppy (his grandparents that he will be spending time with while we are away). He impetuously refuses to wait for the appropriate moment to interject the conversation with this information and chooses to blurt out mid sentence of anyone who is currently speaking, with hands his tiny hands pressed straight out in front of him all five fingers on each tiny hand sprawled out in emphatic fashion: “Guess what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna have 10 sleepovers at Nana and Boppy’s.” His excitement is so pure and innocent and fun, if not even a little annoying. I imagine I’m a little like that 5 year old boy. Lacing every conversation over the last 6-8 months with my own version of “Guess what I’m gonna do?” Eagerly building up to this adventure at every twist and turn. Purely excited and hopeful and, yes, probably a little annoying. It's finally here. We are finally here!

And now today, after hours upon days of travel, not only do we begin our “10 sleepovers” in Swaziland, but for some of us it’s the culmination of so much more. It’s sponsorship and prayers and hopes and dreams... from all of us at Capital, not just these 14 team members and one little red T-Rex named Sharpy (FYI: you follow Sharpy’s adventures on social media: #SharpyInSwazi), but each of you who have poured into this ministry and these children, physically, financially, personally and spiritually. For years we’ve seen this carepoint grow. For years we’ve corresponded with these children. We’ve prayed for their futures and we’ve cr ied for their trials. We have loved one another. And in just a little over a day we will drive up to that carepoint, grinning from ear-to-ear, on the edge of our seats and we will pour out of that van like a herd of circus clowns and we will laugh, cry, sing, dance, play, hug and love those beautiful children relentlessly for the next 5 days. Your sponsored children. We will pour our hearts into them and we will love them and we will be loved by them. And God will smile on Mkhombokati.

Thank you to all of you who are part of this journey, both new and old, from the beginning all the way up to just days ago. If you are not already part of this amazing journey I encourage you to jump on the bandwagon. I know there are a few children yet to be sponsored, please consider being part of this amazing ministry (you can do so here). Thank you for your prayers, your support, your resources, you energy, for all of it... thank you. Thank you for sending us here, for letting us be part of what God is doing here. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am beyond ready to start my “10 sleepovers” here in Swaziland. Of course, that means that I actually have to sleep. So for now, I say “goodnight.”

- Kelly J

We Arrived in South Africa!

Team Update May 11, 2014

We arrived…and so did all our bags!  We are all grateful that our journey here went very smoothly.  In Chicago we opted to spend a few minutes of our lunchtime viewing the “Magic Bean” art installation (a feat of perspective painted on a concave surface to look as if it were painted on a flat surface).  As our flight to Amsterdam neared its end, we were treated to a curved horizon sunrise, and just before landing we rode between two glorious, sundrenched layers of clouds.  Amsterdam held tiny Dutch pancakes and stroopwafels for many of us. A little dehydrated and sleep deprived, but no worse for wear, we are all happy to have met Mark and snuggled into our rooms here in Johannesburg for the night. More tomorrow.  Good night and happy Mother’s Day to all our moms!

Free.

Here we are! And we leave next Saturday morning at 7am – bound for Swaziland, Africa.

This group is the seventh mission team in just about that many years to be traveling to our friends at Mkhombokati. We are honored to represent Capital. All two thousand or so pounds are packed and ready to go and after many months, we are too.

It is a privilege to love and play and teach the children so many of you sponsor. And so know that your arms and hearts extend through ours next week. We would appreciate your prayers throughout this process we’ll regularly post our status and stories and prayer requests here.

Thank you to everyone that has given time, resources and prayer to this mission and to this ministry.

We have planned this trip to provide both the word through teaching and discipleship activities we have planned as well as the deed through some physical projects.



We are especially excited to work on the homes of the women who serve and care and cook for our 200 sponsored kids. Last year, we were shocked to see one of their homes and learn that Make Sibongile and seven children lived here. Sibongile would stay up all night, holding up a blanket when it rained to try and keep the children dry. We asked the Capital community for $8,000 last fall to build her a home and your generosity allowed this to happen.



When the house was finished, Sibongile told the missionary team in Swaziland, “I’ve lost words to express my thankfulness for the help that I have received from the Capital Church and may God bless each one of them and their families. I never thought I would own a modern house like this one. I now feel free because storm and rains are not going to bother me anymore.”

Free. She feels free.

Will you help us allow the other 4 women to feel this freedom? We ask for your financial support for this “Open Doors Movement.”

Fund A Future

Almost one year ago to the day, I was in a hotel in Swaziland, Africa when I heard a young woman crying in a restroom. Heaving, sobbing, can’t-catch-your-breath kind of grief. The next ten minutes wrote a story on my heart … and it’s one I’m ready to tell. In a couple of weeks and after many thousands of miles of travel, I hope to find her again when I return to the hotel where she worked when I first met her. I don’t know her name but she is someone I will never forget – someone who simply wants a future and whose future, with your help, I want to fund. She represents 200,000 children and teenagers in a country with a 40% unemployment rate and the highest AIDS rate in the world. These young men and women are looking for something simple: hope!

Watch this video to hear this story and consider how you can help Fund A Future.



If you choose to give, please indicate "Fund A Future" in your online transaction. Thank you!

Note to those who attend Capital Church: this effort is a personal one, separate from the wonderful, ongoing Capital programs that are committed to supporting the Swaziland ministry.

Shop Your Closet for Swazi!

We are in need of gently-used children's clothing - sizes 3T to XL (14 or 16). No socks, shoes or underwear please. Deliver to Capital Church (1010 East 700 South, SLC) by March 22nd.

Yesterday I went shopping. I had a precious hour to find a few things. I survived the typical, horribly-lit dressing room which prevents, by my estimation, at least another thirty percent in store sales annually. I eventually found more than I planned to purchase. More, of course, than I needed. Got home, brought my new threads up to my closet and found myself with a problem. Hangers. See, I have a rule. In order to hang up something new, I need an empty hanger - and no new hangers are allowed. With my hangers taken, something has to be donated. What ever is a girl to do. For the second time that day, it was time to start shopping.

This May, the 2014 Swaziland Mission Team will be bringing thousands of pounds of carefully chosen supplies to our Mkhombokati friends. Part of that poundage is a "new" outfit for each of the 200 kids it's our privilege to serve. Swazi-style shopping doesn't involve tags that need to be ripped off. Instead, new = gently used. And gladly, sadly, madly ... I have plenty of that. So, I shopped my closet for Nokwanda and Anita and Dora and Sihle and Zama, among others. I could just picture them, showing up at the Carepoint the day after they receive these outfits, strolling through the gates and up the Swazi-style catwalk with lowered eyes and sly smiles, clothed in their version of "new" -- and in the strength and dignity we are promised.

My old becoming their new.

Doesn't that somehow sound like what I hope for my heart? That my old becomes His new? "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Sitting among empty hangers, I know I can't buy what I really want to wear. Money is of no use. I just want to get dressed in a way that pleases God.

Hello, my name is...

Friends, we are just months away. In some ways that's an eternity. Forever to step foot on the ground at the carepoint and see the trampled dirt against the vibrant African sky. Forever to look curiously at a child as he quizzically investigates just who and/or what you are. Forever to run with, laugh with, play with, and embrace those kiddos. And on the other hand, just months away seems more like moments than months. Just moments to gather donations, purchase supplies, and pack them all into massive duffle bags on the verge of bursting, but still within the 'recommended' weight allowance. Just mere moments to plan activities, develop crafts, and master playful and occasionally humiliating hand motions. Just moments, and yet so distant.

It is a joy, to live in the anticipation of what is to come while embracing the chaos of what is. It's fun. It's exciting. To interact with fourteen other people, moving in and out of committees, working together as one, and growing individually.

Our team is in full swing now. No more learning names. We know each other now. Now, amongst the tasks and checklists we are learning how to laugh with each other. We are learning how to help each other, to interact with each other and how to love one another, so we can love Mkhombokati more... together.

This team will leave Capital, travel half-way across the globe to interact and build relationship with a community that is very much a part of our own right here in Salt Lake City. And you, Capital, Mkhombokati, world, should know who we are and why we are doing all this. Who the ambassadors of this community are.

Check out the team and our biographies here. As you read about us, who we are, why we are going, what we hope to see and do, please, if you feel led, pray for us and continue to pray for us over the next few months as we prepare, go, and return. Pray for our health and safety. Pray for our energy and strength. Pray for the logistics and preparations. Pray for our unity. Pray for our special friends in Mkhombokati. Pray for the missionaries and D-Team. Pray that God would be alive and thriving in and amongst all of us and that love, God's love, would prevail in and through us.

Thanks friends. Grace and Peace.