Swaziland

I don't blog here anymore since I'm no longer in Swaziland...please click here for my updates:

http://jothegirl.blogspot.com

This is Sibo and Vussy playing Snuckers (African "mini" version of Pool) in the upper room at EWBC.

LtoR: Nhlanhla, Selby, Sigwili, Vussy, Bongani, and Sam.

This here is the Toga family at their welcome party where we presented gifts to each of them. LtoR: Enoch, Mrs., Toga, Mr. Toga

Today is the day when I got back to America. I nearly cried when I left Swaziland, when I left RSA, and when I was landing in Atlanta. I held it back though. Man, I was tired. When I got on the plane for Grand Rapids I was very close to being done. Anxious to see my family. At take off I was feeling nauseated. This is a bad sign because I took motion sickness meds, but sometimes they don't work. I get sick when landing, but takeoff usually isn't bad. So since I was feeling sick at take off, I knew I would get sick when we landed. Immediately, and during the whole flight from Atlanta to Grand Rapids, I was praying. I prayed and prayed. I praised God for His goodness and for being a powerful God. I thanked Him for his protection over my travels and I prayed for everything and everyone I could think of. When It came to where we were landing, I continued praying. I didn't feel a thing. I was so full of joy and the Holy Spirit that there was no room for motion sickness. God is SO GOOD! Something so little and God can show his mighty power. So I give Him the honor and praise for everything He has done. He is so good. He is so good. He is so good he's so good to [even] me. I don't deserve it, but He still shows His faithfulness to me.

This is a song that the men's choir at Joy Mission sang that is my heart's prayer:

Lord I just want to let you know,
that if you need someone to spread your word,
I will be there with all my heart,
cuz I am what I am what I am b/c of you.

Send me lord.
Where you want
I know you need someone
who will spread your word
all over the world
so I'm here, Father, send me.

Behold, I give you power.
Behold, I give authority.
Behold, I give my command.
And I will be with you til the end of time.
I will be with you til the end of time.


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Thank you so much for all the support you have been to me in this ministry. I pray that I have done all that God wanted me to do and that I have made a difference in the lives of the people of Swaziland.

I was up at 8am getting ready for leaving. Actually that is a lie. I was up at 6am...and pretty much just rolled around in bed until 8am, wishing I could sleep. One of those nights...I think that even if I had the bed to myself, I probably still wouldn't have slept well. Perhaps it was partially because of my leaving this morning.

I went to check at the Cox's to see if my clothes were dry. They weren't. This dryer they have is small, a little older and doesn't heat the clothes...it can run for two hours and still the clothes be wet. So I told them to just run it for the next 45 minutes until I had to leave and hope that the clothes are a little more dry. Thought I'd have to pack damp clothes in plastic bags and then rewash them when I get to the states. I was willing to do this, but you know it was just another little stress in the back of my mind. Something small, but it was there. I prayed that God would work on that machine and make it dry those clothes with hot, powerful air so that they would be dry when I return to get them. So I give God all the glory for his power! When I returned in 45 minutes, I opened the dryer and the clothes were HOT and Dry! I was like, "THANK YOU GOD!" I told Eunice that the clothes were dry and she looked at me shocked. I guess loads take a day to dry in that dryer or something. Kinda like it takes a day for them to dry hanging outside too, accept yesterday it was raining and so the clothes would have only gotten more wet. So anyway, little prayer can equal a big praise! It was a relief to not have to pack those clothes in plastic bags. God is just so good. He is SO good.

People came to our door at 9:15-9:30am between after chapel and when we left for the airport. Hugs, promises to write, and frowning faces. Sibo got to come to the airport with us. She was on the verge of tears. I told her not to cry because if she cried then I would cry. But there was no point in crying when we will see each other again soon! We have grown so close though that I feel (and know) that she is my sister and I will miss her tremendously. In the last two months I have been helping her get together her visa application and telling her how to deal with customs and all that stuff. She is nervous. She's never rode on a plane and even moreso, she's never travelled overseas and had to deal with customs. So I have been giving her helpful tips and trying to calm her nerves.

Flew out of Swaziland at 11:00am and landed in Joburg shortly after. Lev and I were in the Joburg airport until 7:50pm. At about 3pm is when Bill (Lev's roommate at Joy Mission) arrived in Joburg to leave on a plane which was to leave at 8:20pm. So he left a little after we left. While we were in the airport we did a lot of reading and browsing through stores.

Got on the plane and introduced myself to my neighbor, Mark. He was nice and helpful when I needed to get my things down cuz I was against the window and he had the aisle seat. The first half of the trip was kind of miserable. I was tired, but I couldn't sleep and so for two hours I kind of drifted in and out of consciousness and pretty much didn't get much rest and because I was tired, I was frustrated. The closterphobia was kicking in and i was restless/irritated because I was so tired and sick of being on the plane. I forgot to put my sleeping pills on my carry-on and so I was just dozy the whole time. So at the halfway point (Sal Island) I prayed to God that either he would make me sleep or keep me wide awake and calm. He kept me wide awake and calm. I watched a lot of movies. So the 16 hour flight was bearable. The first half wasn't as enjoyable, but the second half was. I highly recommend that if you travel to someplace on the other side of the world, you should take a direct flight...layovers make the travelling too long.

Praise:
-Answered prayers.
-Safe trip.
-God is awesome!

Today I decided to stay on campus for church at Joy instead of going to the conference because I wanted to be around to do my packing and last minute stuff. Welile, one of the teens in Joy youth, translated for me what the speaker spoke about in church. She didn't have to, but she saw that I didn't have Sibo or Fikile with me and so she filled in the gap. She's sweet.

So this afternoon I was thinking about what all I need to do. Should I pack my dirty clothes and stink my bags? It might be handy in customs (won't poke through my stuff), but then it might not be handy if they think the smell is serious (which equals poking through my stuff). I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to handwash my clothes. The problem: It rained all day today. So I had to wash my clothes in the bathroom. Something I haven't done before. It was an experience. Some of the clothes (okay, only my jean skirt which bled through everything) were leaking color. Bleeding. Sibo came in while I was washing my clothes and I said, "Man, this skirt is bleeding all over." She was like, "Huh!?" I'm not crazy. Yes I am. Nevermind.

So I finally got the clothes done after a little surprise: Sunday School Farewell Party! The Sunday School group (youth) that I spoke to for a couple of sundays, threw a farewell party for me. Bongani found me on my way up to E&D's and he asked if I was available "now." I was like, "um, yeah, can I go get some soap first?" He said I could, thankfully. Something else that triggered my brain activity this morning was when Welile asked me after church if I was going to be around in the afternoon. Actually I think she used the word "available." Anyway, that's besides the point: I was a wanted person today. I've been threatened by Umfundisi Bheksisa Maziya that the Swazi police were looking for me. I also got a call through Sibo's cell (which was actually one of her kids from kid's club who calls everyday and acts like a different authority) from a kid named...I forget...It starts with a D I think. Deliso. I mentioned him in a previous blog. He called and said that he was hunting me down and going to "take me in and put me in prison." Talk about being threatened. But to a voice that sounds like a kid, I guess it isn't all that threatening. I played with his mind a bit for trying to be big and tough and authoritative with me. I don't let that fly. Example: he said, I'm taking you in and I said, "Well is there candy in prison?" he said yeah and then I said, "OH good! I want to go to prison then. I'm in town, driving a gray Corolla...come get me!" He lost his credibility and tried to cover it up, but didn't really work.

How did I get off on that tangent? I dunno. So at the SS party...it was a surprise. I kind of wondered if there might be some sort of farewell party but I wasn't sure who or what or when or where or why or how. It was a blessing to spend a few hours with them and just hang out. They told me what they had learned while I was there and expressed their appreciating for my coming. Then they all asked me a billion questions that they had about America and my family. They asked me what I thought of the Swazi men and the Swazi women. I was thinking, um, what am I supposed to say? My response was that I saw them as welcoming and loving people who accepted me. Then, as everyone else has asked me at least once if not twice, I was asked when I would return to Swaziland. I have had demands that I must come back for at least 3 years. Several people have told me this. I replied, "Of course I would love to come back to Swaziland; if God wants me to, I will one day return."

After the party Sibo, Heidi and I ran to borrow a movie from E&D to watch and pretty much have a slumber/pajama party. After picking a movie, I asked the Cox's if I could put my still-very-wet clothes in their mini dryer. They said yeah. So I sent that along and then we were off to Thomas and Patricia's to take some pics and say goodbye. It is sad. I am going to miss these people. They have been my mentors this summer. I will especially miss little Favored who is my little sweetie. She's my favorite Swazi baby by far. If you all could meet her you would certainly agree that she is the sweetest. I told them several times that all they need to do is get her a passport and I would hold her on my lap. When they didn't get a passport on time before today, I said that they would just have to send her with Sibo. Sibo exclaimed, "And who will be changing those diapers!?" I was like, "Josh." Josh is Sibo's fiance. he resides in Indiana. Did I say before that Sibo is coming to the states in December. I think I did. She is coming.

After visiting with T&P, we headed back to the flat and I braided Sibo's hair. It took me a movie and a half to finish it. Not bad. After we watched the movie that we borrowed which was a "suspense" film (not), we watched Little women. It was dramatic. So we didn't really get to bed until 1am. I rolled around in bed (as much as I could) while there was Sibo sharing the other half of the bed. Why we did this, I don't know. It was crazy since we do have a couch that one of us could sleep on. I got in bed first because I couldn't keep my eyes open and she crawled in a few minutes later. Woke up quite a bit and didn't really sleep at all when I was asleep. It was more like drifting in and out of the between stage of consciousness.

Aug27

Day 85
This afternoon E&D brought us to the District Conference meeting at Ebenezar...wherever that is...all I know is it's east and in the highveld. It was cold and windy.

We were told that we must attend the Malihambe. It is a ceremony of giving to the church district to plant new churches. Lots of money was given and I’m sure in the next year there will be quite a few new churches or at least evangelism going on. It was awesome though. Each church in the district went up one at a time after being called, and the members gave. Not just walking up, but there was singing and dancing. DANCING. I danced too. Ha ha, you can't stop me. Dancing is part of this culture and so I danced, and guess what IWUians, I didn't attend one wedding this summer, but I danced....in church. :-O

Don't be surprised.

The surprise/thrill of this year's Malihambe was that one of the churches carried in a goat above their heads. The poor goat was "bleating" the whole time and looked quite uncomfortable being so far off the ground. Poor thing. So anyway, I guess there is something every year that happens at the Malihambe that is unusual or whatever, just for fun.

Praise:
-Fun day of dancing and praising God.

Prayer Requests:
-One more full day left in Swaziland. It makes me sad.

This morning we got to sleep in and then take our time getting ready because everyone is at the district conference and so classes, chapel and everything was cancelled. Today we went to Ezulwini. The Ezulwini strip market is huge and different from the other markets in Swaziland. Since E&D asked me, I told them of a few places that I wanted to go to before I left. One: Jewelry store, Two: Swazi Candle Factory, Three: Ezulwini strip market. I got to do all three today. It was a blast!

There wasn't any spectacular moment that stood out today. At one point we went in a circle...like "around the block" per se...and these two cows were in the exact same stance they were in when we passed them first. Kinda funny. Either the cows here stand in one spot and hardly move, or they move too much, too fast, into the road in front of your moving car.