Merry Christmas from Africa! The phrase "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" has made its way in and out of my thoughts a lot over the last couple months, mostly because the Swazi 'qualifiers' for that statement are a little different than what you might be used to...

• 1^st of all, with no Thanksgiving holiday here (although we did manage to find about 50 other people to eat turkey with) to hold back the Christmas season, Swazi signs of Christmas start showing up in early October.

   
• The first sure-fire sign that Christmas is on it's way to Swaziland: Surfer Santa showsup in the grocery store. This is actually a picture from last year, but trust me-new year, same creepy Santa (although he did transfer stores this year). J

• And a few rows down from surfer Santa is the large pile of fruit cakes, which I'm not convinced isn't the same pile of fruit cake that has made an appearance every one of my seven years in Swaziland.
• Christmas season also means registering to win the Christmas cow at the local grocery store. 7 yrs and I'm yet to win. L
• I made my annual appearance in traditional Swazi wear at our Timbali Christmas party. I was excited to add my new hairy flip flops to my ensemble this year-a precious gift from the Timbali women to celebrate 5 years of Timbali! So I guess from now on hairy flip fops will mean things are looking a lot like Christmas in Swaziland. (We had some great Christmas parties with the women. I feared for my life during one of the most intense games of 'fruit basket upset' the world has ever seen. J)

• December marks the beginning of mango season. LOVE mangoes. Some varieties are even red and green--festive.
• Since Christmas break is also summer vacation here, for many Christmas means heading to the beach for some R&R. For those who can't afford to go to the beach it means hanging out with friends with pools. Fortunately we have a few of those, so we were poolside for a while this afternoon.

No matter where or how we celebrate, I am so grateful for the reason we celebrate. For advent this year, Ellie and I worked through the major stories of the Old Testament and looked at how everything was pointing to Jesus and God's great plan to rescue us. It has been awesome, and has helped build such anticipation for this day when we celebrate God coming to earth as a baby. And of course the manger points to the cross, and the cross points to the empty grave, and the empty grave points us to when Jesus comes again, which will be even more amazing than the first! So today we CELEBRATE, because Immanuel came to be with us and to save us, so that we could be with Him forever. May your holiday be blessed with the presence of the Savior! Merry Christmas!

 

Ellie has always had some speech issues. In the last year or so we've seen a speech therapist, had a hearing screening done at school...all saying she was fine. I was trying not to be that mom that freaks out about every little thing, but I knew something was up. So finally, while in South Africa last week, we were able to get her squeezed in for testing and consultations. I was hoping to rule out hearing problems, but we didn't. There's significant hearing loss in both ears-probably a result of being a preemie, or maybe a viral infection somewhere along the way.  

Of course there are things much worse than hearing aids, but it still kind of stinks---it's just not what you want for your child. So far Ellie has been great about it, and thinks it's kind of cool. We'll see how she does once she has them. I'm very glad that we've got the problem defined and that she'll be getting help, but I am a little nervous about my 6 year old running around with thousands of dollars' worth of tiny techno gadgets attached to her head!!!

And so, speaking of thousands of dollars---these hearing aids are going to be EXPENSIVE. Probably around $7000. So, If there's anyone out there who would like to help out with the cost of Ellie's hearing aids, we would, of course, love that. You can do so via the "support me" link on the left side of your screen. (The link also gives mailing instructions is you prefer that.)

While I'm on the topics of 'Ellie' and 'expensive', let me just also throw out there that Ellie's school fees are rising and next year (school year starts in January here) they will be about $4000 (there is no free education here), so we are trying to raise up some extra monthly support to help with those costs as well. If you'd like to become a monthly supporter we'd love that too, and the handy "support me" can also hook you up with that option.

So sorry---this is a lot of money talk in one short blog. Not my favorite topic, but this is our life, and it's turning out to be a bit more expensive than I'd planned on! (I'm sure everyone can relate to that statement -maybe everyone needs a "support me" button?)

I'd also love your prayers for Ellie-that this would be a smooth adjustment for her, and that she'd be able to get caught up in some areas at school that she's fallen a little behind in, I think as a result of her hearing problems We'd also of course love prayers that God would heal her cute little ears and make them work perfectly without hearing aids!!

Thanks friends! God is always so good to us through you!

This morning I attended the funeral of a 7 year old boy named Mamba. His life, of course, was way too short. His death was tragic: killed by his step-father who then also took his own life.

During the last week I heard someone say, "What a waste." I understand that thought. I'm pretty sure I had the same one. But as I think about it now, that is not a phrase I think anyone would want to have associated with Mamba. His death was senseless, and cruel, but I am so thankful God will not waste this!!

Maybe parents will decide to cherish time with their children more because they've seen once again how quickly they can be taken away? Maybe more people will decide to become advocates for vulnerable children because of hearing Mamba's story? Maybe those little boys standing by the grave this morning will decide to be heroes for their future families...protectors and providers...not destroyers?! I know God brought joy to many through Mamba's life, and I think he plans to do great things through his death. And while we're watching God's plans unfold down here, as many have already said, we can picture Mamba now, bringing and experiencing joy to the fullest in the presence of the Lord.

Last Friday my mission was to get 50 brand new Singer sewing machines that we had purchased from the factory in Johannesburg, SA, across the border into Swaziland. It's a project that's been dragging on for a few months for various reasons, so I'm pretty excited that my mission was accomplished, and in a relatively short and painless amount of time. Here's a little run-down of the day with some random observations thrown in:

The day before we had arranged for the delivery truck to meet me at the border at 12 noon. The driver called me at 9:45am to say he was already there. Two hours early is WAY better than 2 hours late.

At the border there were a bunch of cows in the parking lot. They looked a little confused and like they didn't know where they were going. They probably thought the same thing about me.

The South African border guard greeted me with "Hello beauty queen." They really know how to woo a girl in this part of the world. After a few more (very loud) stamps in my passport I was across the border, and found the Singer truck just on the other side.

I got the paperwork from the truck driver, then headed into "The Shack," where God did not reveal himself as a large African-American woman (that only makes sense if you know about the book), BUT by so wonderfully answering my prayers that there would NOT be a long line of people waiting to fill out paperwork!!!

"The Shack" is where the customs brokers hang out...the guys that fill out all your forms. It's a small building like the pre-fab sheds you put up in your back yard to store your lawn mower in. It's raised off the ground a bit, and there are several places where you feel like you're about to fall through the floor. There's not much talking in the shack. If they need a piece of paper they just point at it with their chin and stick out there hand. If they're ready for you to pay them, they lay a receipt down in front of you. When the guy stood up, looked at me briefly and walked out the door with all my paperwork, I assumed it meant I'm supposed to follow. I have become a master at reading body language. J

A couple relatively short lines later, the paperwork is completed on the South African side. The truck driver was MIA for about 30 min at this point, but he finally showed up, and we head back to the Swazi side of the border. All this probably took an hour and a half. Not too bad at all.

Things were a little more crowded on the Swazi side. I stood in one 'mass' (kind of like a line only not really) for a while. Then I'm told that line is only for declaring personal items and that I should go stand in the other line/mass for declaring goods for a company. This line is longer, and slower, and someone had obviously had Tuna for lunch. I'm the only woman in line. I'm the only non-Swazi in line.  I'm wishing I'd worn something on my feet besides my $7 Old Navy flip flops.

An hour or so later it's my turn in line...

"Name of your company?"

"Adventures In Missions."

She clicks through some things on her computer, "Adventure Sports?"

"No, Adventures In Missions."

"Well you're listed here as Adventure Sports."

"No that's not us. We're Adventures In Missions." (repeat these last two lines 3x)

"Well what name is your trading license under...because here it says Adventure Sports."

"We don't have a trading lisence, we're a non-profit organization."

"A what?"

"Non-profit."

"Your not perfect?" (sometimes my accent makes me hard to understand)

"Well no, I'm not, but we're a NON PROFIT. We're not a business that sells things."

"Oh, well then go stand in that line."

 I then returned to the line I was in to begin with. L

Another hour or so later it's my turn:

"Why are you here again?"

After a little more confusing conversation they told me that I needed to register our company with customs in Mbabane-the capital city, 30 minutes away. I was unsuccessful at holding back a fairly loud and exasperated sigh.

As pitifully as I could, I told them about my ignorance in all things having to do with importing. I told them these sewing machines are going to help swazi women... that we feed orphans... Without saying a word the woman helping me turned and walked away. Hmmm...

A few minutes later she returned with her supervisor, who also said I must register with customs, but at the same time signed all my paperwork so that we could cross the machines right then. HAPPY. HAPPY. HAPPY. (I was hoping he'd also reduce the amount of tax we needed to pay, but that didn't happen. )

SUCCESS! We're across the border and on our way.

A few minutes later I get pulled over for speeding. The cop greeted me with 'hello sweetie pie.' (slightly more annoying than "beauty queen.") Fortunately tickets are only about $9 here and they keep no record of how many you've gotten.

At some point the truck driver, who was following me to my house, went MIA again when he started following another care just like mine.  Another 30 minutes of waiting alongside the road.

Finally at about 5pm we make it to my house! Compared to scenarios I had imagined in my head, and stories I've heard from other African borders and customs, I think the day went pretty smoothly.

My next mission this is to get all 50 sewing machines delivered to their new owners. I'm so excited to get them in their hands!! God's going to use these machines to provide for the needs of 50 Swazi women and their families. I'm so thankful for what I get to be a part of here.  (I'll also be pretty thankful when there aren't 50 sewing machines in my garage and dining room!)

Actually, let me start with a little lead-in...

Since Easter Ellie and I have been talking a lot about Jesus; his death on the cross, his resurrection and why he had to die for our sins. She's asked a lot of good questions. Of course her little mind is always going about 100mph (or 160 kilometers per hour if you live in the southern hemisphere), so a great question about salvation would often be followed up by a question about why Rapunzel's hair is so long, or why my nose is so big, etc. J

Ellie loves to hear about things that I did when I was little, so on Sunday we were once again looking at the Easter story, and I told her about how when I was 5 years old, I prayed and asked Jesus to forgive my sins, to be my Savior, and be in charge of my life. Her eyes were wide open, and I knew I had her full attention...then she asked if she could go ride her bike. J

Then, Tuesday night we got home late from a dinner and prayer at a friend's house, and I was rushing to get Ellie in bed. I pray for Ellie every night as she goes to bed, but last night Ellie said, "Tonight I'm gonna pray, mom." Then, totally unprompted Ellie said, "Dear Jesus, Please come into my heart. Forgive my sins and wash it clean and be my savior. Amen."

Ahhhhh! SWEETEST MOMMENT EVER. For two days she'd been thinking about what we'd talked about on Sunday! I said/shouted, "Ellie, you just asked Jesus into your heart!!"

Today after I got home from work we went to KFC for some ice cream to celebrate.

Grace was widowed many years ago, and 4 of her 5 children have passed away. After her husband died, she went to live with one of her sons. After the son died, her daughter-in-law decided to sell their house and land, and Grace has been without a home for about the last 5-6 years. She sleeps at a different friend's house every few nights. Some of the Timbali women have done a great job at taking her in from time to time. It's rare in the rural areas for someone to just have nothing...not even a small piece of land...but somehow, that is what has happened to Grace.

However, recently a couple people have given Grace small plots of land on which she could build a small house. Usually in Swaziland, when you are given land, or land is changing names, you are supposed to give a cow to the chief of the community where the land located. Since the chief in this area knew Grace was a poor widow, she only had to buy him a coke. I'm pretty sure that whole scene would have made the best Coca-cola commercial EVER.

We have a couple churches sending teams over this summer and we're hoping it works out for them to help build a house for Grace. So yesterday I drove out to the rural area to find Grace and have her show me her land. When Grace walked up to my car window and I explained what we were hoping to do, she immediately had her whole upper body through the window, giving me a hug. Later when she was sitting in the back seat of the car and we were explaining a little more, she hugged me again...I thought she was going to crawl right over the seat she was so excited! She must have said "Hallelujah" about 25 times.

We drove as far as we could towards the first property. We walked down a dirt path, through a small stream, stopped and said 'hi' to a neighbor, went up a small hill, and then we were there. It was a nice piece of land, with a beautiful view of the surrounding rolling hills. It's close to a water source and neighbors, and has enough room to plant a large garden. There were more hugs hallelujahs from Grace interspersed throughout the journey. J

On the way back to the car Ellie had to use the bathroom, so we stepped off the path so she could go. Ellie doesn't mind doing this at all, but usually there is tall grass, bugs, and/or large thorny bushes nearby, so she wants me right there beside her. The whole thing can sometimes be an ordeal. J I'll spare you the details, but afterward the ladies with us were teasing me for not teaching Ellie how to go to the bathroom the right way. Peeing in the grass just isn't one of those life-skills I'd thought much about passing on to my daughter!

Again we drove as far as we could, then parked the car and walked...down a path, through a small field, under a barb-wire fence... About halfway through the second small field it hit me how much walking we'd done. Actually, it hit me how much walking Grace had done. At 73 Grace walks pretty stooped over, often times with a cane. And here she was, homeless, shuffling all over the countryside (it's actually a pretty quick shuffle), all the while "hallelujah-ing," hugging and acting as happy as could be. Actually I probably shouldn't have been too surprised at Grace's endurance. At our yearly camps for the Timbali women, Grace is quick to ditch her walking stick and be the first one up and dancing when the worship music starts. She can kick higher than any 70+ year old that I've ever seen. J

I love the moments when God gives me the chance to get a closer glimpse at the reality of these ladies' lives. We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary for someone out in the rural area, but for me it was just one of those afternoons where you want to soak up every detail.

So, in hopes of doing a little un-clogging, and hopefully get myself into a more regular blog habit (although we've heard that aspiration before), let me try to give you a brief update of what's been happening the last several months since I posted a blog....in ummmmm...OCTOBER. yikes.

(if you don't have time to read this whole thing, you should skip to the last paragraph and read about our sewing machine project happening NOW!)

In October we had our annual camp for the Timbali women. HIGHLIGHT!! More than ever before we had Swazis up front doing the teaching and training, and while I didn't understand a lot of it, the feedback we got was GREAT. I love seeing the freedom that comes over these ladies when they're away from home and being poured into. God was good. Still is. (Always will be.)

Right after the camp, Ellie and I moved into a new house. Look a couple blog posts back to see why this is news that still makes me SO HAPPY AND THANKFUL.

A month later we left (with much of our stuff still in boxes) for 2 months in the US for the holidays. Time with family is always precious when it comes in these concentrated chunks every year and a half!

While in the U.S. I fell and broke my foot. It's still not quite back to normal, but getting there.

When we returned to the African summer in January Ellie said, "Mom, you can stay here and be hot. I'm going back to America." (We're both still in Swaziland...but southern hemisphere fall just made it's official appearance last week and it is WONDERFUL and refreshing!!)

Ellie is now a SIX YEAR OLD (as of Jan 18) and a pretty cute little kindergartener (grade '0' here). I am so thankful to be Ellie's mom. God teaches me a lot through her. I need to write some blogs about that!

While we were in the U.S, Lucy, one of the Timbali women, passed away. I've missed her since being back. I always say she spoke just enough English and had just enough teeth to be one the cutest little African grannies that you've ever seen. She was always thankful, always encouraging. One of my first memories of Lucy was shortly after Timbali was started. At one of our weekly meetings she shared with me that she'd had pain in one of her feet for a long time. She asked if I could pray for her. Like a good missionary I said yes, even though I didn't necessarily "feel" like it. Even so, the next time I saw Lucy she said that her ankle was better, and for the years following that she reminded me that God healed her foot. When Lucy was to sick and weak to walk to the care point my friend Marcia and I went to visit her a few times, and even then she would go out of her way to make us feel welcome. Lucy is missed!

Since being back there have been a few projects consuming a lot of my time. One is SEWING MACHINES!! We've been trying to raise money to buy sewing machines for the Timbali women. We've negotiated a GREAT deal with the Singer factory in Johannesburg. We'll be purchasing the machines up front for the ladies and then they will pay us back little by little for the machines. We're excited that the ladies wanted to make this investment and that so many of them have ordered machines. About 75 of the 90 women ordered machines. We were finally able to place an order for the first 50 (and are working on getting them across the border). The rest will come after we've raised a bit more money. (The first 50 that we're ordering are the most basic model and are costing right around $100/ea. The next 25 we're hoping to order soon are a bit more advanced model and will cost around $200/ea.) If you'd like to give to our sewing machine fund you can donate at:

I'll stop for now. The 'blog-clog' is no more.

Sometimes I like to process what's happening in life by thinking of what I'd title a book written about my current season of life.  Past titles have been, Life Outside the Loop, and Single-parenting Your Inter-Racially Adopted Child Overseas (which I'm pretty sure would have a very small readership J). The really funny ones are just too sarcastic to make public, but have been therapeutic for me to think through! Lately I've been in the research faze of my next imaginary best-seller, which is a theological thriller entitled: Technical Difficulties of Life in Africa and Their Threat to My Personal Sanctification. 

[I thought this drawing Ellie did of "what mommy looks like when a bat comes in the house" would make a nice book cover]

I guess when I usually write a blog it's about a significant story or encounter I've had. And while there are some pretty amazing days here, this blog isn't about those--it's about the other days...the days that can take me beyond frustrated to just a little bit CRAZY.

A couple of months ago I wrote a blog about Jabulile, and her need for a new house. Some of you donated and some of you have been asking for an update. This blog started formulating in my head as I thought about why I was having so much trouble getting an update written! The plan for Jabulile's house had seemed so simple...she had half the blocks needed for the house, the church men would donate their time, and we'd help raise funds for the rest of the materials. Simple has become a bit UN-simple. Rest assured, the house is happening, and the donated money is accomplishing what it was intended for, BUT just not in the way or time-table that any of us would choose.

It's like this: first off wrong materials were purchased. It took a few weeks for anyone to tell us this, and for them to be exchanged for the correct ones. We were told volunteer labor wouldn't work and that we'd need to at least hire a foreman for the job, which also took a weeks to sort out...and it was another expense we weren't counting on. The foundation was accidentally made a meter larger than what we had budgeted for, meaning that the blocks, roofing etc. wasn't enough and more had to be purchased...another added expense. There's more, but those are the highlights. J

We did have hot water for a few days after the plumbers 3^rd visit, but then it quit working again, and the hot water heater (which for some reason is up in the crawl space above the ceiling) had some sort of valve malfunction that caused water to pour down through the light fixture and ceiling-two nights in a row. We had been heating water on the stove for bucket baths, but that became a little more difficult after the broiler incident. It seemed like one thing "fixed" would require a couple follow up visits to really fix it (usually a 3-5 day wait time once you request a visit), and something new would often be broken in the process (i.e. on one visit the plumber forgot his ladder so he hoisted himself up into the crawl space by using the bathroom door, which in turn broke the bottom hinge on the door, which subsequently led to Ellie getting herself locked in the bathroom the next morning and being late for school. J)

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. I'm surrounded by people with troubles infinitely worse than mine, yet somehow I let my life and attitude become so easily de-railed by all my comparatively small "difficulties." One night during one of our flooding incidents, as I was madly rushing around with buckets and towels trying to stop the torrent, I heard Ellie run up behind me giggling and squealing. I turned around to see her jumping up and down with the biggest smile plastered on her face, decked out in her swim suit and flip flops. She thought water gushing from the ceiling was a great idea! I'm pretty sure God has a lesson in there somewhere about how I choose to view my circumstances, eh? What I saw as a flood zone quickly approaching disaster status, Ellie saw as a water fun park and quickly got herself ready to enjoy it! Ellie is so good for me. J And God is so patient with me and all my issues!

After more than a year of looking for a different house to rent in our neighborhood, something has just opened up only a few blocks away and we're pretty excited about it. It's so nice...I'm almost embarrassed to tell you how nice it is, but I have to because it's really a miracle that it's all coming together. The house has a small room/apartment that can be rented out, plus office and storage space that Timbali will be able to rent, so the actual portion of the rent we'll be responsible for is not much more than what we're paying now...and it's sooooooooo much better: a nice big kitchen, a more safe and secure neighborhood, plenty of room for guests (hint hint), and... INTERNET!! We'll be moving at the beginning of October. You can stop by anytime after that!