June 22: Hello!! I can’t believe it’s been over a week since I last
updated my blog. So much has happened since then. I can already tell you this
will be a lengthy post. Lots to say! :)
Last Friday, Mr. Wayne and I went to Mafucula for both an
adult and youth Bible Study. Mr. Wayne was going to teach the adults, but we
found out as we were leaving town that there was a funeral going on and no
adults would be able to make it. When we arrived at Mafucula, we began
searching for the youth and discovered that they had been given the wrong date,
so there was no Bible Study. It was a major bummer, but we were able to get
back to town and run errands (like get water and buy electricity…you know, the
usual).
Saturday was an early morning and long day. We left Tshaneni
at 6:30am and headed to Manzini. We quickly went shopping for the team and then
drove another hour or so to Nhlangano. We had to unload the trailer we had been
carrying at the IMB mission house and dropped of my luggage at Phumula Guest
House. We eventually headed on to Piet Retief in South Africa to meet the team.
I had to cross the border on Friday so I wouldn’t be in the country for more
than 30 days consecutively (according to my passport). When we crossed the
border and got to Piet Retief, we found Simanga, one of my best friends in the
whole world. He was staying with his mom in South Africa so we picked him up
and went to lunch while waiting for the team. We had an excellent visit with
him and the team arrived shortly after. The team consists of: Jimmy, Donna, and
Archer Johnson (my parents and brother), Blaine Prescott (my first cousin),
Eric Creech (a PE teacher and youth minister from Wilson), another family from First Baptist-Washington, and Matthew Warren (a
youth who used to live in Swaziland). It was very exciting to see my family,
and they were glad to be there. I was finally able to introduce my mom and
brother to Simanga and enjoyed visiting with the team. They were exhausted, but
we had to continue our drive back to Nhlangano. The team stayed at the Guest
House, but Mr. Wayne dropped Simanga and me off at the mission house in town.
Simanga and I ran into one of our good friends- Mavayi- while we were in town.
We did some grocery shopping for Simanga’s grandparents and then got on a kombi
and went to Thunzini. It was so good to see his family and to spend a few hours
catching up. The team had dinner and
then we split into two teams for
revivals– 1 group went to a church called Matsenjeni or “New Hope” and the
other went to Thunzini Baptist Church. I was at Thunzini and had an excellent
night of worship. Saturday night was a late night, just catching up with my
family and the team.
Friends for 10 years!!! Mavayi, me and Simanga
(We're triplets for those of you missing the obvious resemblance.)
Sunday, we split into 3 groups and went to 3 different
churches. I went to a church called Mgamudze with Mr. Wayne, Eric, and Blaine.
Eric preached; I led youth and adult Sunday School; and Blaine led the
children’s Sunday School class. Sunday afternoon, we invited our 3 translators
over for a braai (South African cookout). Sunday night we split into 2 groups
and led revivals at Matsenjeni and Thunzini.
Make Sibandze and Blaine with the children's Sunday School class
Kids from Mgamudze Baptist Church with their new soccer ball thanks to Jabula
Monday, we split into 2 groups and went to Maloma and
Matsenjeni. In these two rural areas (1.5-2 hrs from town), we visited
homesteads were there were very sick people. The church members joined us so
they could take us to the homesteads. At each homestead, we shared the Gospel
and then gave the person who was sick a bucket filled with supplies. These
buckets are called BGR buckets, or Baptist Global Response. They are intended
for AIDS patients but are also used for the elderly, bed ridden, and crippled.
The buckets contain sheets, towels, plastic cover for mattress, lotion,
Vaseline, chapstick, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, laytex gloves, a towl
and washcloths, vitamins, fingernail clippers and several other things. The
three people we visited were so happy. They were asking how much the buckets
cost or would just yell in excitement. The last lady we visited had a lot of
questions about the Gospel and the Bible so we were able to share a lot with
her.
The group who went to Maloma got suck in the sand, so we
headed back to Thunzini ahead of them. Mom and Mrs. J led a
teacher’s training class at the Thunzini Baptist Church. Others went to a local
soccer field and did sports ministry with kids after school. Monday night, we
returned to our two locations and led revivals. After the revival at Thunzini,
we were able to spend time visiting with some of the youth. I have included
several pictures from our time together.
Gogo Mkhonta (Simanga's grandmother) and me
Some of the ladies with Mom and Mrs. J after the first day of teachers' training
After the revivals on Monday night
The L family with Mpumelelo, Cebe and Umfundisi Nkosingiphile Dlamini
Umfundisi Dlamini and Archer
Teaching the guys how to arm wrestle while waiting for the rest of the team :)
Dad and Manqoba
Tuesday was a lot like Monday. We began by doing homestead
visits in Velebantfu. I went with my parents, brother and Blaine for these
visits. This was an extremely memorable day. Our first bucket delivery was at
the chief’s homestead. His first wife was missing a leg and had to be
carried/drug whenever she left her bed. We sat in an extremely nice room and
had furniture to sit on. The lady we were speaking to was a Christian and was
so excited to receive the bucket. During the Gospel presentation the chief of
the area came into the room and heard the Message. He left before we finished
the bucket presentation but it was a huge deal for him to be there. The homestead was extremely nice, and I think
two of his four wives live there. The second homestead we visited was in order
to see an older man. When we walked into the small hut, not everyone could go
inside. At first, it was just Dad, me, the translators, and several women from
the Velebantfu Baptist Church. The man would not respond to us at all. He laid
on his mattress with his eyes closed and head turned away. His wife sat on the
edge of the mattress with a small child in her arms. Dad clearly shared the
Gospel with them, and she decided to accept Christ! We were so excited! The man
was still acting as if he was asleep, so we continued on, and I started with a
brief introduction for the BGR bucket. When the man heard me attempting to
speak siSwati, he turned his head and began listening. One of our translators
began addressing him, shared with him once again, and he made a decision to
accept Christ! Dad shared a few Bible stories with him, and then I presented
the bucket. By the time we left, he was propped up on his elbow, smiling and
talking! It was amazing. I have included a few pictures from that homestead.
Please be praying for our new brother and sister in Christ! He is an alcoholic,
and as new Christians, they will definitely have some challenges ahead.
New believers! :)
Tuesday night was our last night of revivals. I was at
Thunzini all four nights after several schedule changes the last two nights.
Mom and Archer were able to see and be a part of a church that means so much to
Dad and me. By the end of the night, there was not a dry eye in the place.
Saying goodbye to friends...
Wednesday morning, 7 of us headed to Franson School and led
the morning assembly for 2-300 high schoolers. Dad preached, and Blaine shared
her testimony. I had never been to
Franson and was really excited to finally have the opportunity. We picked up
several of our translators and friends on the way home and had a big breakfast
at the Guest House. I was able to spend time with two of my friends- Mavayi and
Mpumelelo. We also had the chance to spend a little more time with the
translators and tell them good-bye. After breakfast, we quickly packed and
headed to Mbabane. It was about 1.5 hr drive from Nhlangano to Mbabane. When we
got here, we unloaded our luggage at the Mountain Inn and headed to “The
Village” (local orphanage) to lead Bible Study with Gogo Shandu. We had so much
fun with the kids and finished by playing soccer with them. After Bible Study,
we had dinner at the Allens followed by a team meeting/debrief.
Thursday morning, we headed to a place called Ngowane. We
divided into four groups and did homestead visits in the morning. I visited two
different homesteads with Eric, Blaine, and Make Ngidi. Our first visit was
with a Zionist pastor who actually attends the Bible Study each week. We met
inside the Zionist church which was quite an interesting dynamic. After sharing
with him, we went to several other homesteads but no one seemed to be home due
to a community meeting. Finally, we found a homestead with a husband and wife.
The wife said she was a Christian and only stayed for a short while to hear us.
The husband was an alcoholic and absolutely refused to have anything to do with
what we were saying. He listened, but would respond with things like: “I will
never go to church. I’ll die here. I will never believe in Jesus unless he
walks right onto my homestead and shakes my hand.” We spent almost an hour with
him, and he openly shared things like how he beat his children and wanted them
to be Christians but not him. It was an extremely difficult visit. Please be
praying for this man’s heart to be softened to God’s Word and His love. He is
in desperate need of our Father but is turning to things like alcohol instead.
Also pray for his children. 4 of the 12 were potentially at the children’s
Bible Study later that afternoon. Pray they hear the Truth and their father
listens to them. After a picnic lunch, we led three Bible Studies- children,
youth and adults. I think we had around 200+ kids, 15 youth, and 40 adults. It
was a great ending to the day.
Kids after the Ngowane Bible Study
Last night, we had dinner at the Allens along with the 4
summer missionary girls- Joy, Jenna, Mary and Miriam. They seem to be doing
very well and love living with Make Ngidi. Continue to pray for them as they
speak at schools and teach the message of
abstinence through the program True Love Waits.
Today, we began our morning with a quick trip to the
Swaziland Glass Factory. Here, the Swazi make their own glass and there are
other shops also. Afterwards, our team split into 2 groups. The first group
went to the new work area, Nsangwini. They delivered buckets and did Bible
Studies for youth, children and adults. My group went to Hawane where we
delivered the BGR buckets to a homestead with two very sick men. They were part
of a church called ZCC. This church has a lot of the same basic beliefs as we
do, but they add things like praying to a special tea and believing water has
power. We shared with two men there with one showing obvious signs of
AIDS. There were probably 9 children
under the age of 4 at the homestead, and I’m guessing more were at school. It was
an extremely sad and poor situation. These men had a ZCC church right on their
homestead. I looked in and saw the pole in the middle of the hut where the
church members run around, hyperventilate, and pray to the spirits to come and
possess them. It’s quite an eerie thing to be perfectly honest. I ask you to
join me in prayer for the family of this homestead. Pray that they will see
that Jesus is the only way to the Father, and He is all they need.
After the homestead visits, Mom and Mrs. J led the
adult Bible Study at Hawane. After the study, we had about an hour of downtime
and then met the other group at the Allens for dinner. My friend, Sandile,
joined us. I was excited for him to meet Mom and Archer.
Tomorrow, we will do a little more shopping and then head to
do homestead visits and Bible Studies at Lesibovu. I’m looking forward to
teaching the adults in the afternoon.
Please continue to pray for us as our days of ministry come
to an end. Including tomorrow, we only have two more days of ministry in
Swaziland. Personally, I am choosing not to acknowledge that so I’m sure it’ll
hit me pretty soon. On Monday, we will leave for South Africa and spend two
days there at Kruger National Park. We will be arriving in the USA a week from
today. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone…I’m going to miss my other
home and am definitely not ready to leave the people and the place that mean so
much to me.
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