If you don’t know where Swaziland is, it is a landlocked country that borders Mozambique and South Africa. It is also the last true monarchy in the world. Swaziland also has a few staggering estimates about it’s population. It is estimated that 1 out of 3 people in the country have AIDS/HIV, and that the average life expectance is 32 years, also it is expected that at the current rate everyone in Swaziland will have died by the year 2050. A huge problem that Swaziland is facing is that the people of Swaziland refuse to believe that they have a epidemic, or at least no one is acting on it. The people are offered free HIV tests but rarely take them for fear of rejection if someone finds out that they do indeed have HIV. Because of this no one is being treated for the virus because most of the time people don’t know they have it.
While in Swaziland I heard many stories of kids who have been tested positive being left on the side of the road, beaten severally and left outside to die, and thrown into a fire, as well as many others like this. All of these things are lead on by the fear that the devil has installed into the people of the country. People have such a fear of being judged that they will not get tested and if they are tested the will not go to a hospital to receive free treatment. So instead of this country making it a priority to stop this epidemic from spreading they are instead pushing it out of their head.
Not all in this country is lost though. Some of our team members have been working at a location called HOPE House, it is housing complex that is for those with HIV, TB, and other terminal illnesses to go and either try to attempt to recover or to be comfortable until their time on this earth pass away. While there we would try to bring joy to the people that are living there. Either the ones who are sick or the ones taking care of them, which is usually a family member.
So if there was ever a country in constant need of prayer it is Swaziland. The country is in very dire straights and is so riddled with fear and rejection that it is unwilling to deal with the problems that face it. But not all hope is lost. This country can turn things around and all it takes is your prayers. Pray that God will do mighty and amazing things in this country. That he will redeem this country and all it to rise from the ashes that it is in.
For my month in Swaziland I worked at a care point called Thulwane a majority of the time. For the first few days that I worked there about20 kids showed up between the ages of 3 and 14, there was also 4 racers who would go and play with the kids. For the most part we would play a somewhat organized game with the kids, but we would never fully know the rules because the games were always Swazi and no one at the care point spoke good enough English to tell us the rules. So for the most part we would just play along with the game.
A week after arriving to Swaziland and after spending a few times at the care point school started for the older kids. Al of the kids from the ages of 6 and above were no longer coming to the care point in the morning, the time that we would be there. As well as having most of the kids no longer attending less racer were going, we started with 4 racers going and then dropped to 3 and finally in the end it was only Bea and I who went. It was alright that less racers went though because now we were playing with kids the ages of 3 to 5 and there was between 3 and 8 kids that would show up.
Since all of the older kids had left and only the young ones remained we stopped playing any sort of organized game. For instance, one of the days I climbed one of the trees and sat in the tree for around an hour while two little boys threw bark at me and tried to hit me. Another day we played music and danced with the kids for a while. I enjoyed my time the most with the younger kids, it was only after the older kids had left that the younger kids really approached us, and once they did approach us the clung to us. We don’t know anything about their lives at home but it seemed like the let all of their worries away when they were at the care point with us. They would run up and grab us and just hold on, if we were sitting they would crawl into our laps and just sit or lay there.
It was the young kids that I will miss the most. Not the ones who were the most fun to play with, not the ones the you could talk with in any sort of manner. No, it was the ones that were innocent, that ran to you like you were their last hope. Even though we couldn’t talk with each other, it didn’t meant that there wasn’t any communication. Their actions communicated that the felt protected by us, that they felt cared for, and that they felt loved, for what may be the first time in their lives.
This month in Swaziland I will be working at a number of different locations. Two of the locations are local Care Points where kids are fed and we can play with the kids and teach them about God. Also we will be doing hospital visits, especially to the children’s ward, as well as visiting patients in a housing complex built for people with HIV, TB, or any number of other ailments.
We are spending the month on what is called a homestead, it is a rural property where a whole family will live and build their houses. The way a homestead typically works is that when someone is old enough to move out of their parent’s house they will start to build their own house on the same property. The home stead that we are staying at has 4 houses, one house under construction, as well as a large round building that is lined with beds. The guys and the married couple are sleeping in the one house that was is used to host missionaries, there is three rooms in this house, one room the married couple is using, the other is where the guys are sleeping as well as where the fridge and freezer are located and the last room is the kitchen. The girls are all sleeping in the large round building, which is a single room building that has 7 bunks in it.
For our main ministry we are working at 2 care points, one is about a 15 minute walk away from our home. The care point is called Timbutini and is located at a local church. The point has a soccer field, and church building, a care takers house, a jungle gym, as well as a few other random buildings. The other care point is called Thulwane and is a 45 minute walk. This care point consist of two small building used for storage, and a couple of trees. At the care points they would serve the local kids one meal a day and while we were there we would play with the kids. I really enjoyed spending time with the kids at Thulwane, which is where I spent a majority of my time for the month.
In my coming blogs I will share a more in depth account of my ministry for the month and also another blog about the country of Swaziland and it’s struggles.
For the past several years I have always selected a word over my life. Last year I felt that the Lord was telling me that my year was going to be one of blessings, both me blessing others and me being blessed by others. This year I felt the Lord calling me for this year to be one of surrender.
The first thing I got was surrender was some of the things that I can give up to become closer to God. I was praying about it and really felt that I can give up a little bit of the time that I usually sleep in the morning and in that time spend it diving into the word. Also I feel that I can give up some of the time that I spend on the computer or some of the time that I am playing card games and pray over what is happening in my life, as well as other’s lives.
I was also called to surrender to the Lord and his will. I need to surrender my ability to make choices and to take the path that I think is best and give that choice up to the Lord. He will ultimately make much better choices than I ever will and he knows the outcome of all things. So if I can get it into my head that I am not the best one to be in control then I can start to give over that control to the Lord. And only once the Lord is in control can I truly allow the Holy Spirit to work in my life.
So as I progress through this year I am going to be surrendering things that are pulling my farther from God as well as the control that he gave me. This is my word for my year, but it will also continue through the rest of my life, because this isn’t something that I can live a godly life with our doing. So I would also like to challenge you to surrender those things to the Lord that are drawing you away from him. Consider such things as partying, pornography, bad relationships, tv, the internet, and other things on the computer. Also ask the Lord to take control in those things in your life that would better be in God’s control and not your own. Put your future in the Lord’s control and you can really slow down and worry about the now. If you know the Lord will provide for you then you have no need to fret about those things to come.
Bafana Bafana means “the boys, the boys” in Zulu, it is also the nickname of the South African soccer team . For the most part that is what my ministry of South Africa consisted of, teaching boys from the local township near where we were staying to play soccer. My team as well as three other teams all were living in the same hostel for the month and in total there was 23 of us living together. We were all divided into several different ministries, and my being a huge fan of soccer, was placed in the soccer ministry. My time doing soccer ministry consisted of going to the township and picking up a group of kids that ranged from the ages of 6 to 12 years old. We normal had around 40 kids.
Once we had picked them up we would then walk them to The Links, their soccer field, which consisted of a sand y area that was littered with broken glass and rocks. It also only consisted of one goal post. Upon first arriving at the links we would lead the kids in stretches and then would send through a couple of drills. After we were done with the drills we would then start the game. We would first start by splitting all the kids into 2 teams and then hand out their jerseys. The game consisted of a very rudimentary style of soccer. There was no offsides and for the most part very few fouls called, also there was no kick off, just a toss up.
After about 40 minutes of play we would call the game and gather all of the kids together in a circle. We would then proceed to give them a bible lesson. Once we finished the bible lesson we would pass out orange slices to the kids for a snack. I really enjoyed playing with the kids and being able to pour out to them. I was able to bon with a few of them and was quite sad when I had to leave them. All in all though I had a great time and in a sense it is a happy instance when you get sad for leaving someone, it means that you had something special with tem in the first place.
While we waited for the currier to arrive with the papers we made our selves busy with a few other task. We were then taken to the immigration office where the papers to ask for my release awaited me. While at the office I was interrogated again and had to also fill out a bunch of paper work and get copies of my different documents that I had. The immigration office then explained to me that technically I would not be able to leave the airport because I did not have a passport, but they were going to allow Dragon Air to take responsibility of me as long as they made sure that I was back in the terminal by the end of the day.
After getting out of the airport terminal we headed to the train station at the airport so that we could catch a couple hour train ride to the US Consulate where I would spend 3 to 4 hours to get my emergency passport. After getting my emergency passport we would then need to return to the train station and take the couple hour train ride back. But just as we were purchasing our train tickets Wayne received a call saying that they had found my passport on the airplane and it would be flown back to HK and arrive around 4:30 pm.
It was now 1:30 and we were getting hungry because we hadn’t eaten yet today. So Wane took me and Joshua to lunch and gave us each a meal voucher. After lunch Wayne took us to the ticket counter for Cathay Pacific to see if they could switch our flights over to today rather than tomorrow as they had originally planned to do. The ticket office said that they would need to get into contact with the LA office and see if it would be alright if they allowed us to switch the days. We were then told that it would be a few hours until l they would get a response so we were told to go and wait somewhere. Since the next few hours were free Wayne parted ways with us for the time being and we went and took a small break.
After Waiting an hour and a half we went back to the ticket counter and received some great news, they were going to allow us to change the tickets to today and that they would also wave the transfer fee. After receiving the news we then proceeded to the check in counter and started the process of getting or tickets. Since I had yet to receive my passport back I would not be able to check in, but Joshua on the other hand would be able to check in. So we started to get Joshua checked in when the guy working behind the counter asked Joshua if he had a plane ticket to leave South Africa. Since the plane tickets hadn’t been booked yet, the man working the ticket counter said that we would not be able to enter South Africa since we had no proof of intent of leaving.
So after being stopped form buying a ticket to Africa we then proceeded to look for a plane ticket out of Africa so we would be able to get into South Africa in the first place. So we spent the next few hours working with AIM to try and book a ticket out of Africa so we could then book one into Africa. After we worked for a few hours we were finally able to book a flight for Joshua and I had also had my passport returned to me. So we went and booked our flights that would be leaving later that night.
After a long and tiresome day we were finally confident that we would make our trip. Our only obstacle left was to make it through airport security, which luckily for us went very smoothly. So at long last we said goodbye to our new friend Wayne and parted ways, him heading home after working with us his entire day, and us to dinner and then later our terminal. And at long last we finally boarded our plane took off to Africa.
Have you seen the movie The Terminal starring Tom Hanks, well if you haven’t let me explain it to you a little bit. In the movie Tom Hanks character is traveling on a plane and during his flight his native country ceases to exist as a country. Because of this when he lands his passport is no longer a valid passport and the country won’t let him pass through immigration. Also he is unable to return to his home country because it is no longer a country. So he ends up living in the terminal of the airport, unable to go into the country he has landed in and also unable to travel anywhere else.
Well this happened to me on this last travel day. I was traveling between Beijing, China and Johannesburg, South Africa and had a layover in Hong Kong. I boarded the plane in Beijing and landed in Hong Kong. After the couple hour layover in Hong Kong I got in line to board the plane to South Africa. While waiting in line the airlines had their personnel going through and checking everyone’s tickets and passports. I pulled out my ticket and then went to pull out my passport only to find that it wasn’t in the pocket that I usually keep it in. I then proceeded to check all of my other pockets and backpack only to find that it is not in any of those as well.
When I realized that I didn’t have my passport I told the airline personnel, who told me to head to the counter in front of the gate. On my way up to the counter I passed Joshua, my squad leader, whom I told I was missing my passport. After telling him the both of us went to the man behind the counter and told him about the situation. He asked me to check all of my belongings again to see if I could find my passport as he called airport security to see if a missing passport had been turned in. After checking with security and finding out that one had not been turned in, he cancelled mine and Joshua’s ticket and had the airline remove our baggage from the plane. He then said that he would be turning me over to the airline personnel of the airlines that I flew from Beijing to Hong Kong.
Once I was handed over to the other airline’s staff I was taken to the immigration check point to see if they would allow me to leave the airport. When we arrived they said that they didn’t have the authority to release me but they would call the Hong Kong police to see if they could have an officer come and release me. When the officer arrived he had me fill out a theft report and then said that since I didn’t have a passport I would not be able to leave the terminal. After finding this out the airline staff took me and Joshua to a waiting area in the terminal that we were to spend the night at. They gave us their one remaining blanket and a handful of water bottles. We spent the next several hours trying to get into contact with the US consulate in Hong Kong as well as talking with staff at AIM trying to figure out what to do.
We spent the night there, getting very little rest due to the fact that we were in a mad scramble trying to figure out how I was going to get to South Africa and also because the airport was having construction being done and there was a jack hammer being used the entire night. After a night of next to no sleep, we awoke to get down to business again. Shortly after we had gotten up another member of Dragon Air’s staff came up to us and introduced himself as Wayne. The first thing that he did was to call the US Consulate and began to talk to them. After talking with them for a while he hand the phone to me because the consulate needed to ask me some questions. After answering the questions I hand the phone back to Wayne who proceeded to talk to the lady on the other end of the line. A couple of minutes later e hung up and said that the US Consulate would be sending some over with papers that would ask the HK Immigration Office if they would allow me to enter the city so that I could go and get an emergency passport.
While in China we met a wonderful family that ran the hotel that we stayed in. Our first night in the town we went to their hotel and rented a room. After renting the room some of us went and explored the city some. The four of us that were exploring the city had met a woman who was an English teacher at one of the local schools. We talked to her for a time until we were approached by the police. The police asked for our passports. We didn’t all have our passports on us so the police escorted us to our hotel where the preceded to talk to the hotel owners.
The next morning the hotel told us that we would no longer be able to stay at their hotel and that we would need to find a new hotel. So we left in search of a new hotel. Once we had found one we returned to our first hotel so we can get our bas and move it to our new hotel. While we were leaving the son of the owner ran out and asked if we wanted to stay the night at their hotel. We told him that we had already booked a place for the night but would return the night after for a room.
After spending the night in the second hotel we went back to our first hotel and booked rooms for the remaining time we were going to stay in the town. A few of our girls started to befriend the ladies that were working at the hotel. They helped them do some of the daily work such as cleaning and mopping. After the girls had finished helping the ladies we went with the owner’s son and a few of his friends. They took us to the yellow river. We played in the water for a while and then played catch with a ball on the shore.
Later that night the family of the hotel invited us to join them for dinner. We went and bought some noodles for us and the family and then went into their house. That night we ate the noodles that we brought and also an immense amount of dumplings that were cooked for us. We were then taken to a karaoke bar and enjoyed many Tibetan songs as well as being able to sing worship songs.
We spent the next couple of days in the same town spending some of our time with our new Tibetan family and also eating with them every night. We eventually had to move on to our next town we had planned to stop at, so we ended up having to leave our new family. It was a sad moment but also a happy one knowing that we were able to meet them and pour out to them. I just pray that God will continue to move in their lives and that they will be able to say that they are receiving his grace.
The forth town was unlike the previous town, there was no tourism in the area. We were the first white people that some of the locals had ever seen. There was nothing in the town that was written in English and hardly anyone spoke any English and if they did it was usually only a few words. The first day there we were approached by a few police officers and asked for our passports. Also after our first night in our hotel we were told that we would no longer be able to stay there. So we packed up to change to another hotel that we had rented for the night, but as we were leaving the first hotel they told us that they wanted us to stay. Since we had already paid for the other hotel we spent a night there before returning to the first hotel for the rest of our stay. This city we were able to really connect with some of the locals which I will tell you more about later.
Since we had stayed in all of the cities we were suppose to except for the one that we had trouble finding a hotel for we decided to try and find a hotel there again. This time when we got off of the bus we were instantly greeted by a Tibetan man that spoke perfect English. He led us to the hotel that he was staying at and as we were trying to rent a room a police cruiser pulled up in front of the hotel. The officers stepped out and asked us for our passports and then proceeded to question us through our English speaking friend. We were told that we couldn’t stay at that hotel but there was one hotel that would allow foreigners to stay. So we were able to find a hotel that would be able to take us for the four days we had planned to stay. While there we had dinner with a college student who was in town to take a test. We also befriended a group of 15 and 16 year old kids that invited us to a party.
After this last town we returned to Lanzhou for a night and then I left for Beijing. I spent 4 nights in Beijing, working for most of the first two days and then having a more relaxed time for our last two days. Touring the city on one day and then touring the Great Wall on the other. After our time in Beijing we took a plane to Hong Kong and then eventually to South Africa.
For the month that I was in China I was in the northern part in the mountains, in what is former Tibet. Our ministry for the month was to travel to several different cities in the region spending a few days in each, covering them in prayer and trying to find locals that were helpful towards us and that we could get their contact information. We were then to pass of the information to our contact who is a full time missionary in the region.
We first landed in Hong Kong and took a 3 hour bus ride to Guangzhou, a city in southern part of the country which is also the largest city in China. From Guangzhou we took a 32 hour train ride to Lanzhou. Lanzhou is a larger city of about 4 million people and is a known for it’s industrialism. The city is on the edge of the Tibetan Highlands, and is around 6000 feet elevation. We were able to spend one day in Lanzhou before heading out to our first place of ministry.
Our first ministry location was a town that is famous for it’s larger Tibetan Monastery. We were to spend a couple days in this town getting use to the culture and to the elevation, which is about 10,000 feet above sea level. We would be spending the rest of our time at towns at even higher elevations, all the way up to about 12,500 feet above sea level. After getting acquainted to the area we set out to our second city.
We took a bus to our second town. When we arrived we got off of the bus and were greeted by a couple of Tibetan men that wanted to help us. It was a little difficult because they spoke no English, but we got across to them that we need to get a hotel. They lead us to one hotel that ended up no able to take foreigners so the then led us to another hotel that we ran into the same problem with. After trying the two hotels they then offered to drive us to another city that was touristier and would be easier to find a hotel. And it just happened that it was the next city that we had planned to visit. So we ended up taking a ride to the next town.
We loaded up in one of the guys car and took a couple hour ride to the next town. The town is known for it’s two Tibetan monasteries and for it’s mountain view. We were able to find a hotel pretty easily. In the town we toured both of the monasteries as well as the town. The town had a spectaclur view and also was much easier to find English speakers due to the fact that there was a high number of tourists that visit the town. We found a restaurant that served good food that was fairly cheap. After spending a few days in this town we then moved on to our forth town we were to visit.
