Swaziland
Ministering in Swaziland:
There were several shy smiles and lots of pairs of big brown eyes watching everything we did as several large suitcases and duffles were transitioned from our dusty trailer into the storeroom at Hope House Care Center. Many families from our church and some missionary friends donated clothes, coats, and shoes for us to take up to Hope House and when all was sorted, we had LOTS to give. Not only did every child get several warm clothing items, but also shoes, blankets, coats, movies, soccer balls and a bag of sweets and treats just for them. They also have new school uniforms ordered and should receive them shortly. This was a massive blessing, with huge smiles all around! My heartfelt thanks to all of you who donated. We also made special care packages for the caregivers and Mamas who help with the cooking, and teaching for the children in the community and care center.
However, this trip wasn’t about donations…we absolutely love the Chomba family and enjoy spending time with them. We listened, we talked, we brainstormed strategy, fundraising, sustainable development of land and farming ideas. We also chatted about ancestral worship and orphan spirits, how to get traumatized children to open up and process their pain, sourcing volunteers, what it would mean to open up a camping site to earn some additional income… We covered a lot of bases! We are always inspired by the incredible love and service this family gives to their community. It was such a blessing to hear the stories of how the “children” from a decade ago are doing as they begin their own families and where they are working. Two years ago, those stories were filled with grief as many of the “boys” had slandered the ministry that provided for them and caused deep, deep hurt to the Chomba family. God turned it around for good! As the local newspaper was investigating them, they discovered the allegations were false and printed a glowing report about Hope House. This led to new partnerships and donors and an entirely new group of children to love and nurture. Most of the 16 current children are boys between the ages of 9 and 14 with 2 girls, one who is 7 and the other 14.
This time, Pastor Lewis told us about a redemptive plot twist – several of the young men had phoned him recently asking him for forgiveness and would like to stand in front of the whole community in an upcoming Sunday service to apologize in person for how they hurt everyone! Wow, Lord!! This is such amazing news and we hope and pray for continued restoration and redemption in their stories. One of the young men was at church on Sunday. He sat next to me and chatted with Dan for a few minutes after the service. God is definitely still working in their hearts, even though they have graduated from the Hope House program.
Every day 25 children come to Hope House preschool for a free education. They have a small space to work in, but hope to expand to add more children someday. After school, around 100-150 children all hike up the steep hill to the Hope House kitchen for a meal. Pastor Lewis says they are always hungry and exhausted when they arrive, but that doesn’t stop them from playing on the playground, singing together or playing soccer for the millionth time. On the Friday we arrived, the ladies had cooked a massive pot of rice and there was chicken for every child. A warm meal is a massive blessing to the families in the area.
We enjoyed spending time with the children and our kids had a personal best when it comes to interacting with the Swazi kids. They were so happy blowing bubbles, giving out stickers and sweets, playing on the see-saw and holding baby chickens.
We were exceedingly blessed to have the Kraft family and friends with us on this trip. They are all from Canada and we were on the same missionary team together when we originally moved to Africa 14 years ago. (Wow. Time flew fast!). Craig returned to Canada to direct the OC team there and he has come on a few trips to SA since, but it had been 11 years since his wife Heather and son Andrew had been back. It was SO GOOD for our hearts to have time together and to do ministry together again.
On Friday, I taught the children’s ministry (check my facebook pictures!) and Andrew Kraft and his friends Caleb and Melissa taught the Youth that afternoon. Lewis thought there would be approximately 25 youth, but 70+ came!
Craig taught at the Swaziland Theological College and then again for the Hope House Ministry School on Saturday – we heard that one of the students said that he applied what he learned on Saturday in his Sunday message the next day. It was confirming that the information passed along was relevant and helpful.
Busi (a friend from our Johannesburg church), Heather Kraft, Maggie Chomba and I each took a 15 minute slot at a ladies meeting to encourage and challenge the lovely ladies in the area who are a part of a specific discipleship group called Ladies of Honor. (We were South African, American, Canadian, and Zambians teaching Swazi ladies – so fun!!)
The Men of Honor Meeting was cancelled because of a community leader’s funeral and we learned a great deal about Swazi culture as relating to burials and the afterlife. Pastor/Dr Lewis just finished his Doctoral dissertation and wrote a book about this exact topic so we had a phenomenal teacher!
On Monday, we visited the Lundi Farm. There is tremendous potential for the farm to generate sustainable income for the Hope House projects, but a corrupt manager was recently let go and they are in need of another faithful, reliable, brilliant farmer to assist them in keeping things going. Currently, much of their irrigation pipe line and timber have been stolen which is SO difficult. Having additional funding would absolutely transform their ability to provide for the orphans in their care and expand their programs with extra staff. Through the generous donations from some of you and also some Canadian donors, we were able to help Pastor Lewis and Maggie begin a new sustainable income generating project with chickens. We were able to purchase twice as many as we originally wanted because of your generosity. Thank you!! |
Following ministry at Hope House and the Lundzi farm, we did some touristy things in Mbabane and then had a special restaurant dinner with the Chomba family. Early Wednesday morning we drove into Kruger Park and had a day and a half to search for animals together on safari. We were able to see SO much! A special treat was seeing an exceptional male rhino up close. With poaching rhino still a massive issue, I am so pleased that my children will be able to say they saw rhino in “the wild”.
I promise you will hear more about Hope House in the upcoming months. I posted more stories and pictures on FaceBook and Instagram for you to see also.
Today though, will you please add your prayers to ours for the Lord to give His peace to these precious children who have incredibly difficult pasts, for abundant and more-than-enough provision for Hope House Ministries, and for radical impact into their community. Many Swazis are still living in fear and mix ancestral worship with Christianity. They need the saving love of Jesus to break off fear and bring abundant life.
Whats next?
A few more countries!
In the next three weeks, we will be driving through Botswana into Zambia and then Dan is continuing further into Malawi.
This coming Wednesday morning…EARLY…we are heading north to Zambia. We will ministering with our friend Daniel Lilema to his local leaders in Livingstone for a few days and we will spend quite a bit of time in a hot metal box with mold and spiders as we sort through our container and prepare it to return to SA with us. We love Zambia and are thrilled to have some time with our friends there and it will also be so good to finally sort through ALL of our things to purge, sell, give, and keep our belongings. After 8 years in storage, I have low expectations for what is still in good shape, but I am hoping that our wedding photo album and the kid’s baby books will still be okay. Your prayers for both the ministry time and the sorting time would be appreciated.
The children and I will fly back to SA and then Dan will drive northeast with Daniel L to teach at a conference in Malawi. This is a new country for Dan and we are thrilled he has the opportunity to go. Prayer for their long travel days and ministry together would be such a blessing.
With much love from our family to you all,
Janell for us
Thank you for supporting us!
