Here's what's happening in our neck of the woods...

Sanibonani :) 

On Saturday, Simanga picked me up from Baylor, and we headed to the glass factory. There, we met up with the team and the Myers. Simanga and I had a good time catching up and then it was fun to introduce him to everyone. It was also absolutely amazing to be reunited with my sweet friend, Lora, and others on the team. We shopped a while and then checked into our hotel in Mbabane - Mountain Inn. We began sorting through medicines and supplies before going to dinner in Ezulwini. We attempted to do some more medicine packing after the hotel but ended up giggling more than counting pills and organizing medicines. This is such a fun team, and I am so glad to be with them.

Organizing our supplies 

On Sunday, the team split into two groups and led church services in different locations. Lora and I went to Nsangweni along with half of the team. We had a great service and ended up having another church that was meeting at the same school come and join us for worship. We met the team back at the Mountain Inn for lunch and worked some more on medicines before going to our first night of revivals at Hawane.

Mr Jack Cherry dressed as Peter for Sunday School

One of the children at Nsangweni

After church

So excited to serve in Swaziland with Lora! :) 

Monday was our first day of clinics. We set up at a community building in Nsangweni. We easily saw over 300 patients. Allison (our eye doctor) was potentially the most popular person in Swaziland that day. Mr. Jimmy Moore screened out all the school children for us that were just coming to see the Americans. Teresa Rehmeyer, Dr. Mike Crawford, Dr. Michele Larson, and I saw patients while Lora and Eloise (our two nurses) ran triage, Jason Berry ran the pharmacy, Jack Cherry shared the gospel, and Joan Hanson helped with registration. All things considered, the clinic ran flawlessly. The Poes and Mr. Connell Purvis delivered BGR buckets (palliative care buckets) to various people in the community that the local church members had identified. Baptist Global Response is such a cool ministry as we get to meet a physical need and then share the gospel with people in their home. Plus, the local church members are the ones who find the need and then follow-up. 

Triage

Lookin the part :) 

The community building where we held clinic

Our eye doc hard at work

Lora and Make Ngidi

Hanging out at the clinic

Waiting in line for glasses

Our clinic on Tuesday was in a community building in Ntsintsa. When we arrived, there were not that many people waiting, so Lora and I joined the BGR bucket team. We were able to divide up and have two teams visiting houses. We went with Mr. Connell Purvis and Mr. Wayne Myers along with our translators from Hawane and members of Peace Baptist Church who had identified those needing then buckets. We had a wonderful experience. I love visiting the homesteads and have so many stories to share. Most memorably was an elderly woman who lived alone after losing her husband and all of her children. She told us she could not believe "the Americans would choose to come visit someone who has nothing." Heart breaking. We were able to share with her, pray with her, and then present a bucket of much needed health and hygiene supplies. Another memorable moment would be walking uphill for 30-45 min because the truck could not make it up the mountain. We had quite the workout and clearly felt the call to the ends of the earth. :) 

Presenting the items in the BGR buckets to this gogo

A typical Swazi homestead

Our clinic on Wednesday was at Hawane. We set up in the new church building which really worked well. As a doctor, I was able to see several of my friends and the Hawane church members as patients which was fun. Looking at the picture below, you may notice Jimmy Moore at the front of a line of children with a stethoscope around his neck. He has been screening all of the school kids for us and then sending them inside if they need to see a doctor. At some point during the day, he added orange juice to a syringe with a long wooden Q-tip at the end and pretended it was an injection. That quickly cleared out those who were just coming to see the Americans. :) We were also joined by several midwives and midwifery students for clinic. I enjoyed getting to know them. After our clinic, we stayed and visited with the church members while we waited for the revival to start. During that time, several of us taught the Swazi women about business skills for the necklaces and bracelets they are now making. Our last night of revival was bitter sweet for sure. Saying good-bye is never easy so that held true. I have learned over the years to say "see you later" instead. This church has helped us in a tremendous way over the last week, and it has been such a blessing to serve alongside of them. I miss my friends already. 

Dr. Moore...

Taking care of my sweet Hawane friends

Lora and Khumbuzile

I love this lady. --Gogo Shandu--

Make Ngidi and her little granddaughter

Saying good-bye to my sweet friend, Nono

Thursday was our travel/shopping/touristy day. :) We went to two different markets and to the candle factory. After shopping, we headed to the northeastern part of the country which is where we will be staying until heading out to South Africa next week. On the way to our new hotel, we got to see Simanga to say good-bye because we passed right by where he is working and staying. 

At the market in Manzini

Friday was an early morning for us. We had the opportunity to lead the morning assembly at Lomahasha High School which is right beside the Mozambique border. The apostle, Peter, aka Jack Cherry, made an appearance and the students loved it. After morning assembly, we had clinic at the high school and others went to deliver BGR buckets. While we were setting up the clinic, something super exciting happened. I greeted several young people walking up and then realized they were my friends from the southern part of the country! I had only seen one of them this trip and didn't think I would see the others. They will be serving as our translators for the next few days. :) I cannot wait to spend more time with them! Last night was our first night of revivals in this part of the country. Instead of meeting inside a church building like we did at Hawane, we had a huge tent set up for our tent revival. We had a great night of worship, and I am looking forward to what the Lord is going to do this weekend. The excitement continued as our vans sort of kind of got stuck as we tried to leave the revival services last night. Then we had a slight detour through the sugar cane fields on the way home. Gotta love Africa. :) 

Mr Jack speaking to the students at morning assembly

Seeing patients with Ndumi 

Today was another clinic day, and we will have revival again tonight. I will update more later! Please continue to pray for us as we finish up our last 3 days of ministry before heading to Kruger on Tuesday. We have had an amazing time and are learning a lot. Nkulunkulu muhle. God is so good.

In Him,

Hunter