(I begin pretty much every one of my blog's bysaying something about how an update is way overdue, we've been very busy and internet has been slow or non-existent...so this one will be no different, because, as always, it's true! I've actually tried posting this blog about 4 times over the last couple weeks...maybe today will be the day I'm successful! )
Please check out the new and improved Timbali Crafts website and buy lots of Chrsitmas gifts for your family and friends!!! www.timbalicrafts.org
Hard to believe we've been back in Swaziland for more than a month already. Ellie frequently asks when we can get on a big plane and go back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and see all her cousins. Things are of course back in full swing with life and ministry here. Since the Thanksgiving holiday isn't celebrated here, the Christmas season starts extra early, and we've already planned, prepped and pulled off two Christmas parties for the Timbali women, which included lots of fun, dancing, presents, and the key ingredient for any Swazi party: lots of meat! Last week I sent off 1200 Timbali purses to the US for Christmas sales. Ellie had her Christmas program at school 2 weeks ago, and now is on summer break until the end of January. We did take time to celebrate Thanksgiving by having 24 people from AIM teams over to our house! Pretty soon we'll be able to slow down and really enjoy a relaxed Christmas season, which I'm looking forward to!
Let me say a little more about our Christmas parties...
Our first one was for the 55 women who sew for Timbali in the Engculwini area of Swaziland. Not only was it a Christmas party, but it was also an 80th birthday celebration for one of the women, Ruby Nkambule. In a country where the average life expectancy hangs right around 30 yrs, 80 is something to be celebrated. Regardless of her age, Ruby's life is worthy of recognition...
Ruby grew up as a pastor's daughter in the same area where she still lives. She worked as a school teacher for many years, and I hear her students loved her. She's never been married, or had any children of her own, but has had up to 8 children in need of a loving home, living with her at different times. Currently she cares for 5 orphaned great neices and nephews. At 80 years old she still volunteers her time and energy at her neighborhood care point, helping to feed many children every day.
Ruby likes to stir things up and cause a little trouble and a lot of laughs wherever she is. Ruby is my "swazi mother" and when my parents visited a couple years ago, the first thing Ruby said to my mother was, "I am number ONE! You are number two!" Sometimes when Ruby sees me coming to return some of her bags she has sewn that need fixing, she runs away and hides. When we play games at our retreats, she's the most competitive of them all...and usually has to be reminded to play by the rules. Last year she won the limbo at one of our events!
Ruby really is a gem, and a great picture of someone who gives of themselves to help so many others. When the car I was driving was stolen last May, along with many of our possessions, Ruby gave me 50 rand because she felt so bad (that's about $7 USD, and she makes about $70/mo). Last year Ruby was blessed by several American women who raised money to help build her a new 2 room home (her old one was literally falling apart) and I can't think of anyone who deserved it more.
I'll end with a few pictures...
Everyone wanted their picture taken with the Christmas tree we brought to the parties!
Many of the ladies came dressed in their traditional outfits, including me. I still just don't quite fit it, do I? :)
Ellie at her school Christmas program. Cute.
This picture has nothing to do with my blog, but makes me laugh hard! Ellie drew this picture a couple weeks ago, and says "it's what mom looks like when a bat gets in the house" (a frequent occurrence in our home!). I think she captured it pretty well...I hate bats! That's Ellie smiling in the corner.
Greetings from the USA. Ellie and I have been here for about 3 weeks now, and are sort of starting to feel like we're getting into the swing of things...just in time to leave for Mexico tomorrow morning! We'll be traveling with a group from my home church in Iowa to Matamoros, where I lived for 6 yrs. I'm so excited to get back and see friends and places that have meant so much to me. I'm not as excited about the long bus ride to get there (abt 24 hrs!). J
It was a crazy couple weeks leading up to our departure from Swaziland. It seemed like God was allowing me to see in several different ways the great needs of that nation and also that He is truly at work there.
A couple days before we left I got a call at 6:30am. It was Phyllis, one of the the Timbali women, calling to tell me that Phila had died during the night. I've blogged several times about Phila and the many trips we've made to the doctor. She had been sick for a long time. Her death was expected, but still so sad for those of us who were her friends.
Phila was one of the first people in Africa to give me a live chicken as a gift. She spoke quite a bit of English, but not quite enough to always communicate clearly, and when she'd get frustrated that I couldn't understand her, she'd just start talking louder. Last year when we were driving home from one of her doctor visits, my car started making a horrible noise. Phila had needed assistance just walking from the car to the clinic earlier that day, but as soon as I pulled my car off the road, she jumped out and ran to the ditch-I think she thought it was going to explode. J
Phila was a care-giver. One of my first memories of her is three years ago when I was asked to pick her up at a hospital about an hour from her home. She'd been staying there (in the hospital) for a month with one of her grandchildren who had been severely malnourished and needed intensive treatment. For a while last year someone had arranged for Phila to stay at a nice health care facility in town. We couldn't get her to stay for long because she was so concerned about her five grand-children who she cared for in her home. She didn't want to eat the food we'd bring her, because she was worried about what the children were eating. She finally won the battle, and left the nice bed, running water, and electricity of the health care facility to go back to her homestead where she had none of that, but could be with her grandchildren.
Phila had a hard life. Phila was only in her 60s, but as long as I've know her she's been sick and walked at a slow shuffle. Last year someone broke into her home and beat her up, fracturing her arm. She was a widow, and ?? of her ?? children beat her to the grave. The good news is that for those of us who's hearts belong to Jesus, death brings relief of all pain, and delivers us to our heavenly home-straight into the arms of Jesus.
Not only is Jesus our comfort in death, he is the giver of LIFE...
At our women's camp in June one of the women, Xolile, asked my friend Marcia to pray for her. Xolile is five months pregnant, and had been told that she should abort the baby because it was "in a bad position." (With language barriers it's hard to understand everything, but Marcia, who is a nurse, gathered that possibly it was a tubal pregnancy.) Xolile didn't want to abort her baby, but shared with Marcia that she has never once felt the baby move, and was very worried. A couple hours after Marcia prayed that the Lord would protect and save the baby, Xolile came to Marcia again, this time with tears in her eyes...the baby had started moving!
The next week we were supposed to meet Xolile at the hospital to get an ultrasound done and find out what the situation really was. The night before I couldn't sleep. After much tossing, turning, and frustrated sighing, I said, "Lord, why can't I sleep!" Immediately I knew that God wanted me to pray for Xolile's baby. Marcia was also awake praying a lot Monday night, because she had heard from Xolile that she was in a lot of pain and that the baby hadn't been moving much that day.
The next day the ultrasound revealed that the baby is totally fine and everything is as it should be!! During my last Bible study time with the women Xolile shared with the other women how thankful she was that her baby is okay. I'm not exactly sure what happened inside Xolile, but I know God answered our prayers and protected that little baby. AMAZING. He is the giver of life.
Please continue to pray for the health of Xolile and her baby.
A couple other prayer requests...
--Lindiwe, mother of ten children, lost her husband in June. He'd been sick for several weeks, and now Lindiwe is left alone to care and provide for her family. Pray for God's provision and that he would be a very real comfort to her and her children. Lindiwe's grief was so deep when I last saw her.
--Baby Andile was brought to Pastor Gift's house in Nsoko while we were there visiting the week before we left. (Gift overseas AIM's work in Nsoko.) Andile's mother and twin sister had already died, and now at four months old, Andile weighed maybe 6 pounds. My friends Marcia and Scott (who were leading and AIM team in Nsoko that week) took the baby in and cared for her until they were able to bring her to Manzini and have her admitted to the hospital for treatment of malnutrition. Please pray for Andile's health.
That's all for now. Please keep praying for the needs in Swaziland. We'd also appreciate your prayers for our week in Mexico!
Hope this all made sense. It 1:30a.m and our bus leaves at 5a.m.!
(I've been trying to post this blog all week...this could be the day it finally happens!!!)
I've finally come out of my "post-retreat exhaustion induced coma," and have made it to the office to post a blog about our weekend camp with the Timbali women. IT WAS GREAT and I know this blog isn't going to do justice in reporting all the great things God did.
87 women attended the camp, which started on Friday afternoon and went through Sunday. Our theme for the weekend was NEW LIFE (Imphilo Lensha), and our hope was that the women would be challenged to truly live the abundant life God has for us, and leave behind the "old life" stuff that can keep us in bondage.
Friday night my friend Jacci spoke to the women, and highlighted the truly amazing exchange it is when God allows us to trade in the old life for the new. That night we were able to show the movie, "Yesterday," which tells the story of a Zulu woman named Yesterday, who finds out she has HIV and has to make the choice to care for her abusive husband who is dying of AIDS. The movie did a great job of showing the struggles typical to women in southern Africa and stressed themes like hope in the face of HIV, and forgiveness. Saturday morning Nelly shared her story with the women. Nelly is a Swazi woman who is truly living the new life and has an amazing faith in the face of many of the same struggles so many of the women face daily.
Hearing the stories of Yesterday and Nelly really helped set the stage for the women to tell their own stories to each other. My friend Marcia showed the women a way to map their lives out on paper, and later in the day the women were able to use that as a tool to share with their small groups. It was really beautiful to see the women telling their stories, praying, and sharing scripture with each. Talking openly and honestly about your life, especially the traumatic experiences that are so common to women here, just isn't something that's done much. But as the women shared I think God was able to use others to minister his love and healing to their hearts and help each other release their hurts and burdens to Him.
Marcia shared Saturday night about "Choosing Life" and Sunday morning I talked about the parable of the Sower and the Seed, and making our hearts "good soil" where growth and life can happen and God's word can accomplish it's purposes. I LOVE seeing the power of God's word at work in the lives of these women.
My favorite part of the weekend was worshipping with the women. As the weekend progressed the singing got louder and more joyful, and by Saturday morning the women were dancing all over the chapel. Sunday morning some even started picking up the chairs and raising them over their heads as they followed the dance lines up and down the aisles. Lots of singing, shouting and stomping. It was GREAT.
We also had a sharing time with the women on Sunday morning. One of the older women got up to share and by the time she was done, had all the women chanting, "I want this new life!" Others shared that they felt revived after the weekend, and that they were encouraged to know that others are facing the same problems as them. One of the women, who's husband is very sick and daughter died last month shared that she didn't want to come and just wanted to stay home alone, but that throughout the weekend she felt her spirits being lifted.
So, I'm very thankful for a good weekend and for the fruit we were able to see. Please pray that the Lord would protect these women and that new life would continue to grow in them!
Now Ellie and I are in countdown mode until July 8th, when we leave for the States! We're working on lining up places where we can share about what God is doing in Swaziland and specifically about Timbali Crafts. Let us know if you know of anyone that would be interested in having us come to their church, school, group etc. I keep telling people that if you'd like to hang out with us while we're in the USA, you can find us at the Monterrey Mexican restaurant in Cherokee Iowa!!! J
Our "New Life" women's camp starts this weekend, and in the midst of many preparations, I wanted to make a quick post and ask for your prayers!
We have 90 women planning to attend, and I'm excited to see what the Lord is going to do in their lives during the weekend. All the details are coming together and I'm so thankful for the many people God is sending our way to help make this happen.
Here are some specific things you can be praying about:
--Pray for preparations to be done yet today and tomorrow.
--Pray that there will be nothing that gets in the way of the ladies attending the camp (sometimes a sudden funeral etc can keep the women from coming)
--Pray for the all logistics (transporting, feeding and housing 90 women)
--Pray for those who will be teaching and leading worship: Zwakele, Jacci, Nele, Marcia and myself.
--Pray for the women to feel free to open up and share. I'm excited that Nele (a dynamic Swazi woman who loves the Lord!) will be sharing her powerful testimony on Sat morning. We're praying it really sets the stage for the women to share their stories and experience healing in their hearts.
--Pray that we would stay warm. It's been in the 40s at night and only in the 60s during the day. That's cold w/ no heat!!
--Pray for the reality of the new life we have in Christ to be proclaimed in everything we do this weekend. Pray that those who don't know the Lord would experience new life in him for the first time. Pray for all of us to lay aside any things that are keeping us from experiencing the new life we have in Christ!
--Pray for joy, rest, and refreshment for all who attend!
THANKS FOR LIFTING THIS UP!!
We could still use more donations to help cover the cost of the camp.
There's important info at the end of this blog about our upcoming women's camp. If you're in a hurry, you can skip everything else and go straight to that!
A JOBURG STYLE HOLIDAY
A couple weeks ago Ellie and I, and our friend Jacci decided to have a little "get away" in Johannesburg before Ellie started back to her 2nd term at school. Since then, I've re-thought the wisdom of taking a holiday in one of the major crime capitals of the world. J We did have a few really good days...shopping, seeing "monsters vs. aliens," and camel rides. On Sunday we packed up all of our things to drive back to Swaziland. Since it was Mother's Day, we stopped at the mall with another friend for a nice lunch before hitting the road. Our little holiday started to go south when we came out of the mall to find that we couldn't find our car-it had gone off to join the ranks of the 10,000+ plus cars that are stolen in Johannesburg each year. (Thirteen years ago when Jacci and I were both living in Mexico I also had a car stolen...how many friends get to endure 2 auto thefts together? We may not be able to be friends anymore if we want to keep our car insurance costs down!)
We flagged down the nearby parking lot "security guard" (a term we've now used to use a little more loosely than we once did) who felt really bad for us, but couldn't even tell us how to call the police. Jacci went back inside to get help calling the police, while Ellie sat by me on the curb and announced to everyone passing by, "the car is gone." The police finally came, assured us that our car and all it's contents were probably already half way to Mozambique, and then led us to the police station to file a report. GOD BLESS our Baptist missionary friends in Johannesburg who helped us out in a million ways for the next 2 days as we tried to replace some things that had been stolen, got me a new passport, and made many sarcastic comments about the whole situation.
We were of course frustrated about the things we had lost...2 laptops, my video camera, about a week's worth of clothes for each of us, a bunch of Ellie's toys, and the purchases we'd made (including enough tortilla chips, parmesan cheese and mandarin oranges to last us til we leave for the States in July! J). The car we were driving was an AIM car that I was borrowing (since my car has been in the shop for more than 8 months now!). Now I'm driving an AIM van that resembles one my family owned in the 80's...it's got curtains and everything (which I think might actually serve as an anti-theft device).
ANYWAY, it's frustrating to lose all the stuff, but it's just stuff and it's to my benefit to hold on to it loosely. And the truth is, even after losing a significant amount of ‘stuff,' I still returned home to a house full of more. I live surrounded by poverty, which adds a whole other humbling perspective to the situation. The value of my computer alone is about four times the yearly salary of many Swazis, and people have already sent in money to replace it. There is really no room for complaining, and days like yesterday emphasize that fact...
THOKO AND NOMSA
I met as usual yesterday with the Timbali women to cut fabric. At the end we had our Bible study and prayer time together, and Nomsa, who I wrote about in my last blog, shared with the group. Her mother, who lived in a community about an hour away, had been missing for a couple of weeks. They finally found her last week in the woods, where it evident that she had been murdered. I've rarely seen Nomsa without a smile on her face, but yesterday you could see the sadness there. (Can you believe even before Nomas shared her tragic news with me, she came and said how sorry she was for the car being stolen?)
Afterwards about 17 of us piled into the van to go and visit Thoko. I heard on Sunday that Thoko's daughter, had passed away over the weekend. About 9 months ago I blogged about a couple of trips I'd made to a local HIV/AIDS clinic with Thoko's daughter Lindiwe. At only 24 she had been too weak to walk, barely able to speak, and had to be pushed in a wheel barrowdown a small path to the road where I could pick them up. Lindiwe had been doing pretty well for a while, but in the last couple weeks grew weak again, and finally passed away on Friday. This is the third child Thoko has lost in the last few years, and her husband is also very sick.
We drove as far as we could in the van, then walked across a small valley to Thoko's homestead. As we got close one of the women started singing a song and the others joined in. Everyone took their shoes off at the door and crowded into the small 7'x7' stick and mud hut. We sat on the floor and sang, prayed and shared scripture with Thoko. It's hard to imagine the heaviness of Thoko's grief.
During the afternoon Psalm 62:8 kept coming to mind, and I shared it with the women while we were sitting in Thoko's house: "Trust in the Lord at all times, O people. Pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." It's strange how common-place death seems to be here, and how little people sometimes react to it. I pray that Thoko and Nomsa will know that they can pour out their hearts to the Lord, that they can trust Him and that they can find refuge in Him.
NEW LIFE: WOMEN'S CAMP 09
"NEW LIFE" is the theme for our women's camp coming up June 12-14. After getting a new glimpse yesterday of the death that so often surrounds these women, I'm getting really excited about God is going to do during our weekend focused on LIFE...true life found in Jesus. The camp will hopefully have close to 80 women in attendance, including the 40+ women from Nsoko who just started sewing for Timbali last fall. This will be the first time all of the women have been together and they are excited for the opportunity.
Normally costs like this would be covered by our Timbali profits, but because of the shipping fiasco earlier this year, we don't have a lot of extra funds to work with. So we're asking you to please consider giving to help make this special weekend possible for the women!
I'm thankful for the days when God allows me to clearly see some of the work he's doing around me here in Swaziland. In the midst of all the logistical frustrations of life here, days like yesterday are refreshing!
A while ago my friend Nomsa told me I needed to come to visit her home so she could show me what she has done with money she's earned through Timbali Crafts. Nomsa is a precious woman, who works hard, never complains and has a beautiful smile. Yesterday afternoon Ellie and I, and a few other friends, were able to visit the home of Nomsa and her family.
Nomsa and her husband, their 6 children, 3 other children they care for, and her husband's mother all live on the same homestead. Nomsa's house is small, only one room made from stick and mud, with a very leaky roof that was threatening to cave in during heavy rains. There were several other similar stick and mud homes/rooms shared by the family members and also a concrete block home (one room) for the grandmother. What Nomsa was so excited to show us was the nearly finished concrete block house/room that they have been able to build using money she had earned through the purses she sews. We captured some great pictures during our visit, but I wish you all could have seen Nomsa in person yesterday-she was BEAMING with the excitement of visitors to her home and showing off what the Lord has provided.
It was such a good time of rejoicing with my friend. There was one less chicken running around their yard yesterday afternoon, as Nomsa had also prepared a meal for us! At one point during our visit I walked around to the other side of the house to see what Ellie was up to and found her with all the other children sitting in a circle on a grass mat. The children had been playing cards and were trying to include Ellie. Just as I came around the corner I saw one of the girls help Ellie adjust her hand of cards and then say, with her british/swazi accent, "Now shut up, and play the game." It was hilarious. Ellie had a blast playing with all the kids.
I hope it encourages you as it did me to see the good things the Lord is providing for these precious women!
Here are some more pics...enjoy looking at them and rejoice with Nomsa!
I just got back from visiting some of the Timbali women out in the rural area. Winter has finally hit Swaziland, and today there is a pretty cold wind. The ladies were all bundled up. I smell like smoke from standing around the cooking fire. We stopped by one of the care points before heading out to see one of the older women, Philar. Philar has been sick for some time and unable to attend our weekly meetings because she is too weak to walk to the bus. She has HIV and asthma on top of that, and takes care of several of her grand children. We just went to pray, encourage her, hug kids and deliver some food.
It's been a really long time since I've written a blog. These first few months of 2009 have held a few "obstacles", and so rather than writing blogs I've been doing a lot of really loud sighing, growling in frustration, and praying. I should have been doing more praying and less sighing and growling.
I mentioned in my last email the big shipping bill fiasco (we were overcharged $15,000). FINALLY this weekend we got the email saying that it's resolved, and we'll only be charged the price we were originally quoted. B/c of the outstanding bill, since December we've been without hardly any money to function, and it's held us back in production and sales. After feeling like I've been on a slowly sinking ship for the last few months, praise the Lord, now we're back in business!! (Thanks to all the people who worked so hard on our behalf to get the issue resolved!)
My car is still in the shop. It's been there for 7 months. Ellie saw a picture of our car in a photo the other day and she said, "Look! There's broken!" I guess that's how she has most often heard our referred to, and she just thinks that it's name. J There are rumors that I should be getting my car back any day now. That would be nice!
After a few months of computer crashes and problems I'm happy to report that I have a big, nice, new laptop!!! YIPPEEE!!
All that to say, "no car, no computer, no money" has kept us in a holding pattern for most of the last few months. I'm so thankful that it looks like things are starting to get back in order. This has all been a great reminder that this whole project is the God's and not ours, and that we are so very dependent on Him.
A couple last notes:
·Please check out the Timbali Crafts website. We've added some new products and have a couple specials for mother's day. www.timbalicrafts.org
·We're hoping have a weekend retreat for all of the 80+ Timbali women in June. If anyone is interested in giving towards the cost of the camp, please let me know. More details to come.
·Ellie and I will be coming to the USA in July! We're planning to arrive mid-July and stay through mid-October. It's still a few months away, but we are already really looking forward to it. We hope to connect with many of you and are already working on our itinerary while home. If you know of any churches, groups or events where we might be able to share about our ministry in Swaziland, please let us know!
We're working on getting back into the swing of things after a few much-needed weeks off around the holidays. Ellie had her first day back at pre-school today (she's been on summer break since Thanksgiving). I managed to get ellie to school early, visit the gym, and AND make it to 9am staff mtg on time...a series of small miracles all before lunch! :) Tonight I'm hoping I can find some place where I can see a little bit of the innauguration.
Ellie and I had a good Christmas and New Years here, celebrating with our missionary friends and Swazi staff. We missed being with family, but we are looking forward to a trip to the US, Lord willing, this July-Sept!
January 7-12 we had a little vacation in White River, South Africa. We got to stay at a great missionary guest house there, and see the sights near by-- Blyde's River Canyon and pot holes, some beautiful scenery, cool shopping areas and cafes, a morning at an elephant sancutary, and internet so fast it almost makes me cry just thinking about it! :) I have a great video of me getting kissed by an elephant, but I've been waiting for it to upload for about 30 min now w/out success, so I think I'm giving up for now! Here are a couple pics:
We also got to ride one of these big guys. Ellie was a little apprehensive at first, but was loving it by the end. She keeps telling people about it and her hand motions are hilarious.
Ellie on Christmas morning...we stuck candles in our pancakes and sang happy b-day to Jesus. The flowers are from our yard...there are some advantages to a tropical Christmas (but I still prefer snow!)
It's been hard jumping back into work...
There has been a big mix-up with a shipping bill for bags we sent to the US before Christmas. We were quoted a price w/in our budget by the company here, but when the US branch of the company sent the bill to AIM in GA, it was more than 3x the amount previously quoted. It's really put us in a bind financially, and right now we're kind of "on pause" waiting for the bill to be adjusted. Pray that this issue would resolve quickly. It's already held us up a few weeks.
Towards the end of last year I became aware of some issues w/ the Timbali women: situations where people weren't being totally honest, ways that people were manipulating our "systems" to work in their favor and take away opportunity from others, etc. I know that I don't have a clue what it's like to live in poverty, and there are probably many things that seem justified to someone who is struggling to meet the needs of their family, but at the same time I know it is not an excuse to be deceptive or cheat others. I'm going to have to start enforcing some consequences with the women, which I really HATE, but I know God isn't a God who wants us just to remain where were at...he pushes on to greater refinement and to look more like Him.
I'm starting to see some of God's purpose in the "holding pattern" we are in due to the whole shipping mix-up might be to bring to light things we need to work on, issues that need to be dealt with, etc. So, please pray that the shipping bill issue would be taken care of quickly and completely, and also that we would learn whatever it is God has for us in the waiting. I'm confident God is going to work it all out.
That's all for our first blog in '09! Thanks for checking in and for joining us in prayer!.
Thursday Ellie and I went back down to Nsoko to see how the ladies there are doing. We traveled on lots of little dirt roads to 6 of the 8 feeding centers to see the ladies. The women have made over 60 of the table runners they learned how to make during our time down there in Sept, and Thursday was their first pay day. It wasn't a big payday, but it was exciting to see them receive their pay envelope and talk about the possibility for growth in the coming months. Now there are about 90 families receiving an income from Timbali Crafts. WOW.
Here is a little video clip of Nelisiwe dancing after receiving her pay. It was a fun day! Praise the Lord for His provision and blessings. After you're done watching the video you should get up and do your own "Praise the Lord" dance. :) I'm sure Nelisiwe wouldn't mind a bit if you copy her "moves." :)
Ellie and I are back from our week in Nsoko. Lots of people have asked me how it went, and I just keep saying, "Everything went so smoothly, I can't believe it." It seems like everything you try to accomplish here is guaranteed to come with quite a few "hitches" along the way, but last week there were none. God even answered our prayers for a nice cool front to come through! As my friend Marissa would say, "Praise Him!" :)
I'm hoping I can upload lots of pictures to help report on our week:
We trained about 40 women during the week. 20 came to the community center on Mon-Tues and the others came on Wed-Thurs. I wasn't actually sure what all was going to be accomplished during our time, since I wasn't totally clear on the skill level of the women or exactly how many we'd have attending, but we were actually able to complete each 2 day segment with several finished products. The women were so eager to learn, and caught on quickly to the patchwork table runners.
Philile (seated on the far left)is the wife of the Pastor AIM works with in Nsoko, and also just happens to be a seamstress by trade, which works out great for us! She was a huge asset during the week as she translated for me, taught the women how to sew, helped to correct their mistakes, etc etc. She is really what is making the addition of the Nsoko women to Timbali possible, and will be facilitating most of what happens there with Timbali.
The group of college students that were also in Nsoko for the week helped me to get pictures and bios of all the women. This is Celiwe Makoma, and her story really hit us hard. She's only 19 years old, was married at 14, widowed at 18, and has had 2 children that have both died. Her only prayer request was that the 12 yr old orphan boy she is caring for will grow in his faith. When Celiwe was asked her birth date, she said October 15, 1989, which just happened to be the day she was being interviewed. Nikki, who was interviewing her, said, "That's today!" Celiwe smiled shyly and said, "Oh! I didn't know!" Ellie was happy to sing happy birthday (her favorite song!) to Celiwe. We talked a lot about God's care for the women during the week, and the value that He places on their lives...I pray Celiwe knows that her life is precious to the Lord.
Ellie was an AWESOME camper. She slept well every night and seemed to really enjoy the adventure. The team that we were with was also a HUGE help with watching Ellie while I worked with the women and keeping her entertained. Our tents were really close to the area where the lions at the game park are kept, so Ellie was excited to get up every morning and say hi to Lucky the Lion, and also to the ostriches that roamed around our camp. I thought these pics below were pretty funny. Can you spot the animals in the back ground?
So I hope you're getting a picture of what a good week it was. We put in long days, and Ellie was absolutely filthy most of the time (Nsoko is pretty much dirt, dirt and more dirt), but it was so amazing to see things coming together and to think about the possibilities for providing an income for these beautiful women. Thanks so much for your prayers...they were answered!
And this is what my office looked like when I got back:
Zwakele, who is helping me out with Timbali things, kept things going here last week, and my office was filled with bags the women had turned in while I was gone. There are about 700 purses in my office right now, ready to be shipped to the US. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow. Please pray! Shipping issues have been a source of frustration lately!
Let me just end with a random cute pic of Ellie:
Ellie LOVES to help in the kitchen. Here she is helping me make Tortillas (have I ever mentioned our "Mexican Food Ministry" here in Swaziland? :) Ellie adds her own African flare to her tortillas...most of them turn out shaped like Swaziland. :)
Ruby grew up as a pastor's daughter in the same area where she still lives. She worked as a school teacher for many years, and I hear her students loved her. She's never been married, or had any children of her own, but has had up to 8 children in need of a loving home, living with her at different times. Currently she cares for 5 orphaned great neices and nephews. At 80 years old she still volunteers her time and energy at her neighborhood care point, helping to feed many children every day. 
A couple weeks ago Ellie and I, and our friend Jacci decided to have a little "get away" in Johannesburg before Ellie started back to her 2nd term at school. Since then, I've re-thought the wisdom of taking a holiday in one of the major crime capitals of the world. 
Afterwards about 17 of us piled into the van to go and visit Thoko. I heard on Sunday that Thoko's daughter, had passed away over the weekend. About 9 months ago I blogged about a couple of trips I'd made to a local HIV/AIDS clinic with Thoko's daughter Lindiwe. At only 24 she had been too weak to walk, barely able to speak, and had to be pushed in a wheel barrowdown a small path to the road where I could pick them up. Lindiwe had been doing pretty well for a while, but in the last couple weeks grew weak again, and finally passed away on Friday. This is the third child Thoko has lost in the last few years, and her husband is also very sick. 
Nomsa and her husband, their 6 children, 3 other children they care for, and her husband's mother all live on the same homestead. Nomsa's house is small, only one room made from stick and mud, with a very leaky roof that was threatening to cave in during heavy rains. There were several other similar stick and mud homes/rooms shared by the family members and also a concrete block home (one room) for the grandmother. What Nomsa was so excited to show us was the nearly finished concrete block house/room that they have been able to build using money she had earned through the purses she sews. We captured some great pictures during our visit, but I wish you all could have seen Nomsa in person yesterday-she was BEAMING with the excitement of visitors to her home and showing off what the Lord has provided. 
