Julie & Ellie Anderson: Life and Ministry in Swaziland -

Christmas in Swaziland

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

(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.

Swaziland...USA...Mexico...

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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.!

IMPHILO LENSHA

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

(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!

For more great pics of the weekend (that I can't seem to get to insert into my blog!!!) check out marcia's blog: http://marciaborg.myadventures.org/?filename=imphilo-lensha

Now Ellie and I are in countdown mode until July 8^th, 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

Women's Camp This Weekend!

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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.

The cost for each woman will be around $25.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO DONATE TOWARD THE COST OF THE CAMP
you can do so through the AIM website:
https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=swazi
(Choose Swazi Craft Co-op in the drop down menu.)

NEW LIFE--WOMEN'S CAMP 09

Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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 2^nd 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.

The cost for each woman will be around $25.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO DONATE TOWARD THE COST OF THE CAMP
you can do so through the AIM website:
https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=swazi
(Choose Swazi Craft Co-op in the drop down menu.)

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!

Nomsa's New House

Thu, 7 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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!

(Nomsa and me)

(Nomsa)

(the grandma that lives on the same homestead)

(Ellie playing cards!)

Back in Business

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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!

I'll end with new pic of Ellie. She's crazy.

First Blog of '09

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

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!.

Video of the First Nsoko Payday

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

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." :)

Back from Nsoko

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

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. :)

That's all for now!

Off to Nsoko!

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hey Friends...

Ellie and I leave tomrrow for to be in Nsoko for the week. Getting the 40 women there started sewing for Timbali Crafts has gone kind of slow, but we're planning on doing a four day "kick off" this week, in hopes that they'll be able to have some products ready to sell before Christmas. We'll be meeting Mon-Thurs to continue teaching the women to sew and to make the patch work table runners that were pictured in my last blog. I'm also praying (and hope you'll start praying too!) for some good times of ministry and relationship building with these precious women, who work so hard to serve their community by cooking at the 8 care points/feeding centers in the Nsoko area.

Nsoko is about 2.5 hrs away, so Ellie and I will be camping at a near by game park for the week, along with AIM's "Real Life" mission team that will also be in Nsoko this week. I LOVE camping, but haven't done it with Ellie before, so who knows what kind of adventures we'll have. :) Please pray Ellie sleeps well and enjoys the week! Nsoko is in the hottest area of Swaziland, and I heard the temp was 40C/104F there last week--yikes. Pray for strength and energy--and maybe for a pleasant cool front to come through? :)

That's all for now...just wanted to send out a request for some prayer!

THANKS for lifting us up!

Julie & Ellie

Lots o' Pictures

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Internet seems to be fast today, so I'm just going to try to upload a bunch of photos.

Here's Nelta cutting fabric for bags. The ladies are working hard right now, trying to meet our goal of selling 3000 bags before Christmas!

We've started making these patch-work coin purses (or make-up bags, or pencil case...) to make use of fabric scraps. Everyone needs a few of these! :)

A new product hopefully coming soon are quilted table runners, mats, etc. The women in Nsoko will be producing these, among other things. Getting things up and running there has been slower than we'd hoped due to a delay in our sewing machine order. But, sewing machines have arrive and the women are learning to sew!

Teams over the last few months bought lots of bags and also have helped to spread the word about Timbali Crafts when they return home. These guys bought a lot! Thanks!

I blogged before about the camp for high-school girls that took place in August. Here's a pic of one of the small groups. When asked what they loved most about the camp, almost all the girls said, "small groups!"

I was the grocery shopper for the 200 people at the camp. Here are a couple people from team with our big pile of produce from the market. Swazi high school girls eat a lot!

AIM helps to supply food to about 14 care points in Swaziland, feeding hundreds of kids. My garage is the storage space for boxes of fortified rice that gets distributed as needed. Here are some of the AIM guys unloading a shipment. The food comes from "Feed My Starving Children" based in Minneapolis. When I lived there my youth group kids used to volunteer to pack boxes w/ food. It's cool that 15 yrs later I get to see who receives them!

Ellie continues to be really cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's Ellie w/ some bananas from our neighbors tree. She was so excited to wake up each day and see that more had turned yellow and were ready to eat!

Can't believe I was able to get that many photos posted in less than 1 hour! It's an Africa internet miracle!

I'm out of time for today, but hopefully a blog w/ some more text will follow soon!

Cleansed, Cherished, Child of God

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In Swaziland they refer to the "Three C's" of how a guy can get a girl to sleep with him: clothes, cash, cell phone. It's sick but true...not just true that they talk about it, but true that many girls actually have sex w/ a guy because he gives her one of the above. The camp for 200+ highschool girls that took place here this past weekend focused on a new set "life giving" C's: Cleansed, Cherished, and Child of God. It was GREAT.

My favorite part of retreats like this is getting people out of their normal setting, and being able to witness the sense of freedom there is when they get a small escape from the hard circumstances they may face in their every day lives. I've seen it at the women's retreats I've helped coordinate, and it was definitely evident this past weekend as well. I especially loved hearing the girls sing during worship. Here are the words to the song they loved the most and sang the loudest.

I have a Maker, he formed my heart, before even time began, my life was in his hand.

I have a Father, He calls me his own, He'll never leave me, no matter where I go.

He knows my name, he knows my every thought,

He sees each tear that falls and he hears me when I call.

It was BEAUTIFUL!

Another highlight was see the young Swazi women (that have been discipled by my co-worker Becca over the last 2 yrs) up front leading the whole thing. They are HUGE proof that God is doing some wonderful things here.

Last week God gave me a glimpse of why events like this weekend are so so so important. Thoko is one of the women I work with. She asked if I could help take her 25 yr old daughter Lindiwe to the clinic Tuesday morning. Thoko homestead is across a small valley and you can't drive directly up to the house. Lindiwe was so weak that her brother had to push her in a whell barrow across the vally to the road where they could get transport.

When Thoko called me they were waiting alongside the road in town. Lindiwe was just sitting in the grass and had to be lifted into my car. Thoko has had multiple children pass away, and when I went to pick them up, it was obvious that Lindiwe could very well be the next one.As Thoko and I were helping her up the ramp to the clinic I started thinking more about Lindiwe's situation... I've heard the the HIV virus usually lays dormat in the body for 8+ years before a person will start to see it's effects. Lindiwe is 25, which means 8 years ago she was 17...probably close to the average age of the girls that attended the camp this weekend. Now, 8 years later Lindiwe is so thin, too weak to walk or speak. Please join me in praying that the girls who attended the camp will be strong healthy women of God in 8 years, who continue to be confident in the truth that they are cleansed, cherished, children of God!

I was the official grocery shopper for the camp...so on top of getting to observe the really great stuff happening, I also got to hang out in butcher shops, and fight off the salesmen at the produce market. The 200+ could not only sing well, they could also eat really well!

Pray for my car...I was driving Philar (I've written about her in previous blogs) home from the clinic yesterday and it started making a funny noise. I thought, "I should probably get that checked out tomorrow." About a min later the small noised turned real big and it sounded like large pieces of metal were hitting each other really fast and hard...which I'm pretty sure can never be good. :) Fortunately AIM friends were near by and towed us home. The diagnosis isn't in yet. Pray it gets fixed fast and inexpensively! It's hard to get things done around here w/out a vehicle.

That's all for now. Thanks for checking in.

Let's Talk about Becca!

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Today I want to talk about my good friend and co-worker, Becca!

Over the last year I've heard Becca say, "I don't know what I'm doing!" quite a few times. The amazing thing is that you look at her life and ministry over the last 2 yrs and it's obvious that she knows exactly what she's doing--she's trusting the Lord for big things and following his lead in everything, even when she feels inadequate.

Becca helps coordinate "Cherish" Bible studies for highschool girls in Swaziland. The 8 wk studies focus on Identity in Christ and Sexual Purity, and are done in small groups that allow for lots of sharing and processing. They have been very effective.

Last year Becca did the study with around ten girls in one school. This year she was able to hire 2 of the girls from original group (who experienced HUGE transformation as a result of what God did through the study), and another Swazi girl who heard about the project, to help get the studies into more schools. The four of then have trained leaders, organized groups, etc, and since the new school year started in January 250 girls, from schools in every region of Swaziland, have gone through the study!

Next week Becca and her staff are hosting a camp for all 250 girls that have gone through the study. A team from Becca's home church is coming to help, and quite a few of us here are also going to be pitching in. With transportation and communication issues here, the camp is a huge undertaking, and so I'm hearing Becca saying more frequently, "I don't know what I'm doing!" But she really does! and the camp is going to be amazing! I'm excited to get to be a part of it, and I think this could be a huge deal in the lives of the girls attending.

If you'd like to read more about Becca, her ministry here, and the girls she works with, check out her blog. http://beccachristian.myadventures.org There are some amazing and heart-breaking stories on there.

There are about 40 of the girls coming to the camp who still need sponsors, so if you've got $35 that you've been wondering how to spend, this is your answer! You can send checks, made out to AIM, 6000 Wellspring Trail, Gainesville, GA 30506, with "Swazi Education Fund" in the memo. Please also include a note saying it's for the highschool girls camp. Also, please remeber to pray next Friday to Monday, when the camp will be taking place!!

A couple follow up notes to previous blogs:

I hired a business manager this week for Timbali Crafts in Swaziland! My friend Zwakele is going to start handling a lot of the things that can drive me crazy! She'll be helping w/ sales, shipping, recordkeeping, etc. Praise the Lord. This is a huge answer to prayer for me.

My friend Philar, who had been so sick and in a assisted living facility for AIDs patients returned home last month. She was doing some better, but mostly just wanted to be at home w/ her family. I just got a message today saying she is doing worse again and probably needs to go to the hospital. Pray for wisdom to know how to best help in this situation.

Bevulile, the little boy with AIDS who was so malnourished and sick, is doing much better. His aunt, Jabulile, who is one of the Timbali women, is trying to make improvements on her house so that it is good enough for Bevulile to come and live w/ her, where hopefully he'll receive better care. Jabulile is also having some health issues, so pray those are cleared up soon.

I promise I won't talk about a husband in every blog, but after mentioning it in the last one, I thought this headline (in the pic below), posted around Manzini yesterday was pretty funny. (The newspapers post the day's headlines around town in hopes you'll buy the paper--sometimes they are bizarre!).

(SD is the abbreviation for Swaziland)

That's all the big news from way down south today!

We're Growing!!

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hi Friends...it's been a while since I posted an update. Sorry about that. :)

The summer (winter here) months are always busy ones with lots of teams coming through. I'm not as involved w/ the short term teams as I used to be, but I've enjoyed hanging out w/ the teams we've had here during the last 2 months. They've really been an encouragement and blessing to our ministry to the women here and also personally as well! One group gave my house a new paint job, another helped host the retreat for the women in June, another brought me cans of green chilis from the States!...things that may seem little but are huge to me. :)

Here's a picture of medical check-ups happening at our retreat in June.

When I titled this blog entry, "We're Growing," I was wondering if some of your first thoughts were, "Does she mean her family is growing? Has Julie found another baby she can't live with out?!" Don't worry--people ask me quite often if I'm planning on adopting more children. My standard answer (although I am open to WHATEVER the Lord has for me!) is, "Not until I adopt a husband!" (Does anyone know where I can do that? :)

So, although my family isn't getting any bigger, Timbali Crafts is! On Monday I met w/ a group of 35-40 women from Nsoko, Swaziland, a rural community about 1.5 hrs south of where I live in Manzini. G42, a partner organization of AIM, helps to support 8 feeding centers in Nsoko, and soon their cooks will be sewing for Timbali Crafts, and hopefully generating an income! The southern part of Swaziland is the area with the most need, hit hardest by HIV/AIDS, drought, and poverty. So the needs are great. Many of the women walked around 3 hours to attend the meeting. (below are a few of the women leaving the meeting)

It's a bit overwhelming to think that in the next month we will nearly be doubling in size, which means our sales will need to double in size, and so will the work it takes to make it all happen! But at the same time I have a real excitment about the possibilities and the provision that will come to 35 more families here. We've already had someone donate money to buy a sewing machine for each care point, and to help with the first month's pay day. So even though I'm wondering how all this is going to happen, I see God already providing, and I look back at the last two years, and see how God has grown and prospered us inspite of my cluelessness, so why not jump head first into this new area!? :) I hope ethnic looking hand bags don't go out of style anytime soon. :) (the women in Nsoko will also be sewing some table runners and wall hangings, so keep watching our website for new items...www.timbalicrafts.org)

So as always, there are really great things happening, along with the really hard things that come with the state of things here. Pray for more help with the business side of Timbali Crafts--I'm at my limit! and keep praying for this nation, and for us as we live and work here. We want more and more people to know the hope of Jesus, and we want to do everything we do in the Lord's strength and His timing!

Thanks for reading our blog!!!!

Women's Retreat Update

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It's Monday morning, and I'm pretty impressed that I made it into the office after a packed weekend. Although, I'm thinking a short nap on the office floor may be happening soon. :)

The women's retreat was a success! There were a few glitches along the way...we were without water for about 20 of the 48 hours we were together, and the pastor who was supposed to speak Saturday morning arrived about 7 hours late...but I think overall the women really had a refreshing time.

My favorite part of the weekend was Saturday night when the church group here from Colorado threw a birthday party for all of the women. There were balloons, streamers, KFC and cake, but the best part was the presents...each woman received her own Bible! I hope I can post a video clip of them receiving their Bibles sometime soon, because everyone needs to see how excited they were! I had tears in my eyes as all 50 women, packed into one room, sang and danced while holding the Word of God high in the air. It was really beautiful.

Later that night we had a "spa" area where the women got facials and foot scrubs (the water came back on just in time!). Sphiwe, one of the cute little grandmas in the group, left her time at the "spa" doing a little dance and singing in her broken English, "I am a beautiful lady!" over and over again. :)

Our theme for the weekend was "Faith That Endures." A couple months ago God really got me thinking about what I would want to teach these women if I knew I only I had a short amount of time left with them. There is unrest in countries around us. The muslim influence here seems to be increasing. I'm realizing more and more that even though Swaziland is currently a peaceful place, you just never know when the "climate" here could make a quick change. Last week on the phone my mom was telling me about the flooding in parts of Iowa, and about how people were sand bagging to help structures withstand the floods that were probably coming their way. I thought, "what can we do now to fortify our faith so that it stands firm against whatever might come in the future?"

As I started studying for the teaching I'd be doing on Friday night, I spent some time looking at scriptures that include words such as endure, enduring, steadfast, everlasting, firm, etc. Of course there were many vss talking about believers enduring hardships, remaining steadfast etc. but more often, the vss containing those words were not referring to believers at all...they were describing God! His love endures forever, his kingdom endures forever, his righteousness, his glory, his kindness...they all ENDURE FOREVER. God calls us to endure, and we are able to do so, because we serve a God who "endures." He is unchanging. His mercy never ends. He is our firm foundation. PRAISE HIM. Whatever part of the world you live in, I think that is good truth to dwell on.

I think that's all for today. Hopefully I'll get some pics or video from the weekend posted soon!

Women's Retreat

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hi...I only have about 5 min. to write this, but just wanted to get a quick note out asking people to pray for the women's retreat we have this weekend for our Timbali Craft ladies! Please pray that it would be a refreshing time for the women, and that they would be challenged in their faith and know the deep love the Father has for them! Praise the Lord there is a group here from a church in Colorado that is helping me with the wknd!

I'm off to the meat market to buy dinner...

Julie

Pray for Philar

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Please check out our Timbali Crafts website that is finally up and running!

www.timbalicrafts.org

You can help us out by sending this address on to your friends and recommending that they check us out!

THANKS!

-------------------------------------------------

Pray for Philar...

Philar is one of the women that I work with here. She's 62 years old, is HIV positive and suffers from asthma and TB. Besides cooking at the feeding center, she also takes care of (with the help of one daughter) nine of her grandchildren who have either been orphaned or abandoned.

About 2 yrs ago, one of Philar's toddler age grandchildren become severely malnourished while in the care of her (the child's) father. One of our AIM teams helped get the child into a hospital about 1.5 hours away where they are able to treat malnourished children. Philar lived at the hospital for an entire month to be the care giver for the child. Just yesterday I saw a picture of the child, and she is now looking chubby and healthy...so much different than when I first met her 2 yrs ago.

A couple months ago a man broke into Philar's house in the middle of the night and beat her up, dislocating her shoulder and inflicting many bruises. We're not exactly sure what motivated the attack. Philar has had a hard time recovering. Last week, Thulie, one of the other women I work with who is also HIV positive herself, called to let me know that Philar needed to be taken to the "Hope House," a facility that helps care for HIV positive people who are unable to take care of themselves at home. Thulie made sure they had a room available, and Musa, one of our Swazi staff, arranged for transport there. The hope house provides a small one room apartment for each patient to live in. Thulie (and her 2 yr old son) stayed w/ Philar to help cook her meals, etc.

Last thursday Philar needed to go get her records from her previous doctor, so her and Thulie tried to walk the 6 blocks to catch a bus to get there. Philar was only able to make it one block down the street, and couldn't go any further. Thulie left here sitting in the grass along the curb, while she walked to our office to get one of us to see if we could drive them. I drove them to the clinic, and then back to the Hope House later that day.

I called Thulie yesterday to see how things were going. She said Philar is now refusing to take her ARVs (AIDS medication) and only wants to take the traditional Swazi medicines (which are worthless against AIDS). It seems like Philar is just giving up. Thulie is encouraging Philar to keep fighting, b/c so many children need her.

I'm hoping I can go visit Philar tomorrow and also try to pray w/ her and encourage her. Please join me in praying that the Lord would strengthen Philar's body and encourage her heart!!

What's up w/ Ellie and Julie...

Ellie started preschool this week and so far so good! We are thankful that the school is just a block from our house (although we still struggle to get there on time!) and is a great little Christian Academy where lots of missionaries and foreigners send their children. Her classmates are from all over the world.

A funny story from her first day: When I went to pick Ellie up after her first day of school the teacher said, "How do we ask her if she needs to use the toilet!?" The teachers would ask Ellie if she needed to use the "toilet," or the "lou" or go "wee" and ellie would pull on their pantlegs and yell "potty!!" (like she's used to at home, but not a word they use here). Neither could understand each other and Ellie ended up having a little accident her first day of school. :( It didn't seem to phase her. Even in preschool there are cross-cultural things to figure out! :)

That's the update from Swaziland! Thanks for reading!

FLOWERS

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Okay, so not everyone is going to like this blog, but I'm pretty sure that my mom, alice, marcia and a few others will appreciate it. :)

Last week I got to go on a little overnight prayer(/nap!) retreat all by myself. My friend Kate watched Ellie and I had a full 30 hrs of time with the Lord. It was GREAT. I stayed at a little "country lodge" up in the mountains w/ tons of gorgeous flowers all over the grounds. Before I left the next morning I just spent about an hour snapping pics of them all. While I was at it I was just reminded of the beauty of God's creation, of His amazing creativity, his attention to details, and that if he cares so beautifully for the flowers, he'll do so even more for me! Hope you enjoy a quick look at some of God's beutiful creations in this part of the world!

A Week in Ellie's Life

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I'm in South Africa today. It's amazing the difference a 3 hour drive can make in your surroundings...as I type this I'm sitting in a nice coffee shop, enjoying some high speed wireless internet. I may even go see a movie this afternoon. I know this probably sounds really materialistic of me, but sometimes it just feels so good to be in a mall. :)

Thought I'd take advantage of the fast internet to send out some photos of what Ellie's been up to. She's one of the busiest little people I've ever seen! Here's a few glimpses of what it's like for Ellie, growing up in Africa...

Once of twice a week Ellie is out in the rural area with me while I'm meeting with the women. Here she is enjoying a plate of corn meal mush (porridge) with some of the other kids at the feeding center. I think more than the enjoying the food itself, she likes that she gets to eat it all with her fingers. :) Can you pick her out with her new short hair cut? She's 3rd from the right.

She also comes along on MANY trips to the fabric store to "help" me buy supplies for bags. This day I found her hanging out in a bin of fabric while waiting on me.

Seems like every other blog shows a pic of Ellie on this pink motorcycle. That should give you an idea of just how much she loves it. Here she insited on me helping her put it in the swimming pool with her. This little plastic pool has been a life saver on hot days!

Here she is checking out the zebras at a near by game reserve. Not your typical day at the park for a 3 yr old.

Ellie's not so favorite thing is when she has to come with me to the office. Here she is getting creative with some craft supplies she found while waiting on me! We try to keep her office visits to a minimum. :)

Ellie will be starting preschool at the end of April...so we're gearing up for that and thankful that there is a great little christian school just a block and a half from our house!

That's the scoop from the bottom of Africa today!

I wish I was a nurse

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I wish this story had a nice and neat ending, but it doesn't. I'm sharing it just to give you an idea of what a "typical" day can look like here, the situations people here are facing, and some of the frustrations of trying to get things done!!

Last week I met a little boy named Bevulile (or something similar that starts with a "B"). He's 10 yrs old, an orphan, and HIV positive. He's the nephew of one of the women I work with (Jabulile), and lives with his granny. When we went to his house last Tuesday he was sitting on a grass mat under a tree in their front yard (large dirt area). His arms and legs are about size of Ellie's (3 yrs). His cheeks are swollen, his hair is thinning. He missed most of last school year because of being sick. They said he was too weak to walk any more than the 15 feet to the outhouse. I'm not sure if it is all just from the HIV/AIDS or malnourishment...probably a combo of the two.

Language and cultural barriers can make communication SO HARD & FRUSTRATING. Jabulile had said the granny was refusing to let the boy go to the hospital. The granny said she had already taken him and that he was supposed to go back this week for a check up. To me, it looked like he needed to be in a hospital bed somewhere right away. Finally it was decided we'd wait til this week to take him to the doctor. In the mean time, we were able to get him some rehydration salts that I was hoping would help in some way.

So Tuesday morning we drove the 30 min out to Bevulile's house to pick him up and take him to the doctor. We walked into the "yard" and one of the nasty scrawny dogs laying under the tree jumped up and started coming at me growling and barking like crazy. I was sure I was about to be bitten. I'm glad no one was there with a video camera to catch the reaction on my face, or the weird dance I started doing. He finally ran away when I threw my keys at him. :) I'm sure the Swazi granny fell asleep laughing that night thinking about the tall American woman flailing around in her yard. :)

Anyway, I was suprised to find out Beluvile was at school. They said the dehydration salts had made him feel better, although I think it probably had more to do w/ all the prayers being thrown up on his behalf. We went to school and picked him up. He was walking, but from what I could see, not much else had changed. After heading back to his house to pick up his health card, which we'd forgotten to get the first time, we were off.

We drove 60 minutes to a special Pediatric HIV/AIDS clinic in Mbabane. It's the best care in the country, and absolutely free. We got there just over an hour before the clinic closed, and the waiting room was full of parents and children. They wouldn't even give us a number to try standing in line though, because Bevulile's health card said he had gotten his ARV drugs from another doctor in Manzini...30 minutes back towards where we had just come from...and needed to be check by him. SO, we all got back in the car and headed to Manzini. When I say "all of us," I mean myself, Bevulile, Jabulile his aunt, Ntombi a neighbor who could help translate for us, and her 10 month old baby, who was nursing in the front seat of my car for most of the journey. :)

We got to the hospital in Manzini and I dropped off my passengers to wait in line while I ran a couple errands. I came back 1.5 hours later and they were waiting for me outside. The doctor in Manzini had also refused to see Bevulile because he was supposed to come back for a check up 2 weeks from his last one. WE WERE ONE DAY EARLY. They said even if he was very very sick, they would not see him until after 2 weeks had passed. UGH! I was so frustrated at this point, wondering what we were supposed to do for this little boy that is still so sick, and feeling like there was nothing I could do. I gave them bus fare to head back home, and some extra money to buy some vegetables. I saw Jabulile today and she said she had been able to take him to the clinic for his check up on THE RIGHT day. The doctor said he was doing fine. BLAH!

So that's what my Tuesday looked like this week, and that's what life looks like for Bevulile and thousands of other children here every day. Please lift Bevulile up in prayer. Pray his body would become strong and that He would know the love and care of his his amazing Heavenly Father.

The Big Wedding!!

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This wknd my friends Dennis and Zwakele were married here in Swaziland. Dennis has been on staff with AIM for the last 3 and a half years. Zwakele is from one of the main churches we work with in the rural area where our ministry is focused, and is also on staff with AIM. THE WEDDING WAS A BIG PARTY with lots of dancing and shouting. It was the most fun I'd ever had at a wedding!

Some things that made it different than the typical wedding you and I might be used to:

--Things got started aout an hour and a half late

--The flower girl threw candy into the crowd rather than dropping flower petals

-- The wedding party did an coreagraphed dance down the aisle to techno music, and took about 10 min to get from the back of the church to the front.

--The wedding cake was a fruit cake! (we finally figured this out after a confusing conversation with the baker, saying the normal wedding cake took 3 months to make and would last up to 5 yrs!)

--They take an offering during the ceremony and everyone in attendance dance down the aisle to give their offering and congratulate the couple!

Friends and I were in charge of all the decorating and flowers, so we've had a crazy weekend, but it was so fun to help our friends celebrate their marriage!

That's all for now!

Julie & Ellie

Back in Swazi

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Ellie and I are settled back into life in Swaziland. Besides making the long journey by plane, there are a few other indicators that assure us we have arrived back in Africa...the temperature is about 80 degrees warmer than Iowa, there are lizards crawling our walls, and people tell me I am looking fat, and mean it as a sincere compliment :) (i.e. it means that my parents took good care of me while I was away, which is of course a very true statement!), just to name a few.

I've especially enjoyed reconnecting with the Swazi women I work with. We had our biggest pay day ever last week, with some women getting as much as 800 Emalangeni ($115). One of the cute grandmas got her pay envelope and started fanning herself like she was about to pass out, the whole time saying, "Oh, oh, ooooo, oh, eeeee," etc, etc. One of the other women ran up and put her ear to her chest to "make sure" her heart was still beating. It was hilarious. I also got to meet some of the new babies that were born while I was away...my friend Lindiwe introduced me to her newest addition...child number TEN!

The new school year has just started here, which means many are in a panic as to how to pay their children's school fees. Since August, we've been giving the ladies the option of putting some of each month's paycheck into "savings" for school fees. Thanks to donors, any money they saved was matched, so their money was doubled. It's been so great to see the women trying to plan ahead and use their money wisely and of course to see God's provision in this way.

I had a conversation with my friend Lindiwe (another Lindiwe) last week. We've been praying for her husband for a long time. Lindiwe has a strong faith, but her husband does not know the Lord, is not kind to their children, and is unfaithful to their marriage. Lindiwe said he has children by many other women...at least 7 that she knows of for sure, but she says there are many more. Lindiwe says she is scared of getting HIV. The reality is that she more than likely already has it. At one point, Lindiwe said to me, "Julie, the other day I did something that only the Lord was able to help me to do." She then told me that one of the 'other women' came to her house with her sick child, looking for Lindiwe's husband to help with money to see a doctor. Her husband wasn't there at the time, so Lindiwe prepared a meal for the woman while she waited. Amazing. How many of us could be so radically obedient to God's command to "love our enemies?"

We had Ellie's 3rd birthday party over the weekend (this was acutally her 2nd 3rd bday party, with an early one w/ family in the States before we left). She turned 3 on Jan 18 while we were still traveling back from the US, so the party was belated, but still lots of chaotic fun!! It's become our tradition to we invite the children from the local abandoned babies home over for the celebration. Between the 13 toddlers from the baby home, 7 or 8 other missionary children plus mom's and friends, our little home was filled to capacity. Just like last year, it was so precious to see all these sweet little swazi faces smiling and having a blast, knowing the situations many of them have come from and the special plan God must have for their lives. I'll try to post some pics tmrw.

That's the news from Swaziland. We are missing friends and family in the US (Ellie is always talking about "Gemma and Gempa," and all of her crazy cousins that she loves so much!), but we are also so happy to be back in Swaziland, and are excited for what this year holds for us here.

Thanks for checking in with us!

WELCOME TO 2008!

Tue, 1 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It's THREE DEGREES in Iowa today. I think the wind chill is in the negative double digits. Ellie and I celebrated the New Year by not leaving the house all day long! :)

We leave for Africa on January 16th. We're looking forward to getting back to life and ministry in Swaziland (where the temps were in the high 80's today!). 2007 was good...probably the least stressful year since moving to Africa. I love ministry with the women I work with in Timbali Crafts. We saw lots of growth last year, and I'm praying for more in 2008 so that even more women and their families can be provided for financially and spiritually. Ellie will soon be three (Jan 18) and her two favorite things are singing and making messes...the other day she sang me an action-filled medley of 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider,' 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas' and 'Happy Birthday.' There's a video clip below that will give you just a glimpse of what a great personality she has. I was trying to get it posted by Christmas, but had some technical difficulties (even when not in Africa!), so the message is outdated, but still cute. :)

For Christmas my brother gave me the book "Life as a Vapor," by John Piper. It talks about viewing life in light of eternity. The time we spend here on this earth is short, eternity is long, and doing things that have eternal value is what's important. As I've spent the majority of the last 11 years in countries and cultures that are not my own, and can often fill a bit out of place, living in light of my eternal home has become vital to keeping the perspecitve I need to be where I'm at...where ever it might be. Here's a quote from Piper to make us think and challenge us in the New Year:

"Just think of it. You have one life. One very short life. Then an eternity to remember. Does not the suffering in this world seem inexplicable to you? Is not this great, global suffering a call to magnify the mercy of Christ by how we respond? Is not suffering a seamless fabric, streching into eternity for unbelievers? And, therefore, are not Christians the only people who can respond with helpful relief to the totality of misery? Unbelievers may relieve some suffering in this vapor's breath of life on earth. But beyond that they are no help at all. Shall we not then live our lives--and prepare for heaven--by strategizing in all our vocations, and with all our talents and all our money, to relieve suffering (now and forever) for the glory of Jesus? The twentieth century was the bloodiest and cruelest of all centuries. Man is not getting better. But God will hold us accountable in the age to come not for what others have done. He will call us to account for what the blood-bought hope freed us to do for others in the name of Christ. We will give joyful and tearful thanks in that day for the grace that covered our sin and the grace that caused our love."

What will the "blood bought hope" that is ours in Christ compel us to do in 2008? It's something good to think about...and then to do something about.

Thanks for reading our blog...we'd love your continued prayers and support in 2008!

World AIDS Day 2007

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

WORLD AIDS DAY: December 1, 2007

Today is World AIDS day. Here are some of the latest statistics on HIV/AIDS and it's affect on the world:

25 million people have died of AIDS so far
currently there are 38 million people infected with the HIV virus (90% in Africa)
there are 15.2 million children that have orphaned by AIDS
8000 people die everyday of AIDS
6000 children are orphaned every day because of AIDS

In SWAZILAND:

42% of it's 1 million people are HIV positive
there are over 120,000 orphans
the life expectancy for women is only 33 years

[More stats are available at: http://www.nat.org.uk/page/426 ; Stats and some great videos at www.worldvision.org]

The statistics have gotten worse in the 3 years since I moved to Swaziland. Right before I came to the States, there were a few headlines in the paper that were very telling of the situation there...things like: "Population of Swaziland Drops Below 1 Million," and "No Adult Population in Swaziland by 2025." My friend Thulie, who is part of Timbali crafts, found out that her HIV has progressed into AIDS, and her farewell to me was, "I hope I am alive when you return." Thulie has 3 young children whose fathers have already passed away.

I want to encourage you to take some time today and do something in observance of World Aids Day and the millions of people affected by this horrible disease. Here are a couple ideas:

Pray about the statistics in this blog entry. Pray that adults would choose to be faithful to their spouse. Pray that young people would choose sexual purity. Pray that the many widows and orphans would be cared for and protected. Pray that those who are hurting would find hope in Christ.
Create some sort of a prayer reminder for yourself. Go buy or download a map of Africa, write some of these stats on it, and put it in a place where you'll see it often and be reminded to pray!
Get on the websites listed above and learn more about the HIV/AIDS crisis. View some of the personal stories via video. Share what you learn with your family or friends.
Give to something or get involved in something! Of course there are opportunitites to give/get involved in things AIM is doing related to the AIDS crisis but there are also tons of other causes out there as well. Look at some of the options and ask God where he wants you to put your time and money.

People say that this is the "greatest humanitarian crisis of our time." That means its also a great opportunity for the church to step up and be light and hope in the midst of it all!!

Life in the USA

Fri, 9 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

We have a new and improved "add video" function on our blog now, so I'm going to give it a whirl while I'm in the land of fast internet. This clip was taken during a visit to a "Care Point" (feeding center for orphans) by a friend who visited back in August. It's pretty cute, and worth whatever you have to go through to make it play!

Ellie and I have been in the States for nearly a month now, and have been enjoying time with friends and family and many little things unique to the US that we've been missing in Swaziland.

Here are a couple cute pics of Ellie enjoying life in the USA:

(LEFT: Ellie in her cave woman costume. RIGHT: First night home with the cousins at the Mexican restaurant!!! PTL for Mexican food!)

People ask us if we're experiencing culture shock being back in the U.S. I wouldn't really call it "shock"...more just "realizations"...

>>There are lots of times when I see a new product in the store I've never heard of (can someone tell me what an HD TV is?) , or I hear people talking about movies and TV shows I didn't know existed.

>>What happens often, is that I realize there are lots of things that I'm just not used to any more, or have gotten used to doing a different way...like driving on the left side of the road, or the self swiping debit/credit card machines when you check out at a store (there's actually lots of stores in Swaziland that have those, but I've yet to see one that actually functions).

>>Instead of saying "bathroom" or "restroom" in Swaziland, they just say "the toilet," so yesterday I asked store manager if they had a "toilet I could use," which I think sounds kind of funny here.

>>When you shake hands in Swaziland, it's polite to hold your right elbow with your left hand while shaking, so I've been absent mindedly doing lots of that as well.

>>All the gas stations are full service in Swaziland, so the first time I had to pump my own gas, i just kind of stood and stared at things for a few minutes. The first time I tried to "pay at the pump" took me a couple of tries. :)

>>This one comes from walking around a lot with a 2 1/2 yr old, but do you realize that Dora the Explorer is everywhere in this country?! Ellie's become a big Dora fan through DVD's that have been sent to us in Swaziland, and she's been thrilled to see Dora on everything from pillows, to shoes, to lamps, and even cans of Campbell's soup. Seriously, next time you're out and about, count how many different items you see Dora's face on! That activity is extra fun when you're with Ellie and she shouts out, "NOok! it's Dorwaaaaaaaaa!!!!" eveytime there's a citing.

We've been doing lots of traveling, which is tiring, but we're thankful for the chance to share at several new churches. Today we make our third trip up to Minneapolis (about a 5 hr drive from my parent's home in IA). Last wknd we were in Kansas City. After this weekend, most of our sharing/speaking will just be local here in Northwest, IA. Please pray for us as we continue to share in churches, and even at some schools. Pray that we'd give God-glorifying reports of what's going on in Swaziland and that some new financial supporters would join our team!

I've been able to sell over 300 of the Swazi purses during our travels in the last month, and the ladies keep pumping them out while I'm here, so let me know if you'd like to help us sell some before Christmas!

That's all for now!

We're Coming to America!

Tue, 9 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

COMING TO AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow morning Ellie and I catch a ride to Johannesburg to catch our 6pm flight to Minneapolis via Washington DC. Please pray for safe and peaceful travels.

I just wanted to hop on line quick and post our itinerary for while in the U.S. This is what we have so far, with a couple other things still in the works:

Oct 11: Arrive in Minneaplis

Oct 12: Drive to Iowa

Oct 13-14: Missions Conference at Oakdale E Free Church, Meriden, IA. I'll be sharing during the Adult Sunday School hour on the 14th.

Oct 15-18: Mission Conference at Northwestern College, St Paul, MN. I'll be sharing during chapel on the 18th.

October 28: Sharing at "Africa Sunday" at my friend Khanh's church in Minneapolis. (I don't know the name of it!)

November 4: Share during Sunday morning service at Grace United Methodist Church, Lee Summit MO, and women's Bible study that evening.

November 11: Missions Sunday at Brooklyn Park, EFC, MN.

We'll be pretty busy up until Thanksgiving. After that we'll have more time to just relax and enjoy the holiday season with our family. We're looking forward to a cooler Christmas than last year! :) Please pray for our time in the states: that we would give God-glorifying reports of what's happening in Swaziland, that Ellie would do well with all the traveling, for good times with family and friends, and also that our financial support would increase.

MISSIONARY WOMEN'S RETREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

31 missionary women from Swaziland traveled to Nelspruit, South Africa (the closest town with a mall and movie theatre!) for a weekend away. IT WAS GREAT. Many women had never met before, and it was so good to connect with others who understand missionary life and have a heart for the people of Swaziland. There were women there that had just arrived in Swaziland weeks ago and others who have been here more than 25 years. Beth Moore was our speaker, via DVD, and God used her to challenge us in our love for Him and others. We stayed up late and laughed hard. We shopped and found some great bargains! We ate sushi! We had a great prayer time on Sunday, just crying out for the nation of Swaziland that God has called all of us to love with His love. Doesn't everyone look great in the picture?! Those are not just smiles for the picture...there was really such a sense of genuine joy throughout the weekend. Praise God for the refreshment He brings through His word, by his Spirit, and through sweet fellowship with other sisters in Christ!

Can Chickens Fly from Swazi to the US?

Tue, 2 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Ellie and I leave for the U.S. in just 10 days and we're running in a million different directions, as you will see reflected in the eclectic content of this blog post!

CAN A CHICKEN FLY FROM SWAZILAND TO THE USA?

Last Thursday, during my meeting out with the women who are part of the craft co-op, I sat down on the floor beside my friend Ruby, to chat with her as she sewed the buttons on her bags. I told her that we were leaving for the States soon, and that I was excited to see my family. Ruby is the woman who calls herself my "Swazi Mother" and she met my parents when they were here in April. She asked how long the journey was to my parent's house. I told her that by the time you included that driving on both ends of the trip it would be about 3 days. The Ruby looked up from her sewing with a smile on her face and said, "Do you think I could send a chicken with you for your parents?" AH!!!! Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard?! I've been wondering how Ellie is going to do on the over 24 hrs of flight timemaybe a chicken would help keep her entertained for a while? J

After our Bible Study time we were sharing prayer requests. I asked the women to pray for the shipment of bags that was going to be arriving in the US very soon. After lots of research and frustration, I was finally able to get about 500 bags on a plane to the US, but I was wondering about their arrival in the US, going through customs, etc. I asked the ladies to specifically pray that US customs wouldn't charge a lot of duty on the bags. Right after we finished praying, my cell phone rang and it was the shipping agent calling to tell me that the bags had arrived safely and that customs didn't charge ANY duty. The ladies clapped and cheered when they heard how God had answered the prayers they had just prayed minutes before!

MISSIONARY WOMEN'S RETREAT

Please pray for myself and 30 other missionary ladies from Swaziland as we go on a retreat together this coming weekend (Oct 5-7). I've been heading up the planning of it, but many of the women in the Wed morning Bible study I attend are involved in making it happen, so it's been a very enjoyable group effort. I'm so blessed by the friendships God has provided for me here! It's a pretty diverse group attending, with women from about 6 different countries and 8 different organizations. We'll be using a retreat kit put out by Beth Moore called "Loving Well." Please pray that it would be a great weekend of relaxation, and renewal, and that we would be challenged to love God and others more!

Here's our Bibles Study group out to dinner last week.

OUR NEW RED COUCH

At the start of 2007 I shared with a few friends that it was one of my hopes for the new year to own a comfortable piece of furniture. Not the most spiritual or noble goal, I know, but I was growing really weary of our cheap pink floral foam furniture! I'd been trying to save up some money, and had a picture in my head of the exact couch I wanteda red one just like my missionary friend's, the Young's, had (I confess, I had couch jealousy). However, as the months passed by, there were always other expenses and needs that seemed way more important than a comfy piece of furniture, and I resigned myself to sitting on those pink flowers forever! Then in August my friends the Young's announced that they were having to return to live in the U.S. and told me I could buy their couch for a price that was less than half of what I would have had to pay for it new from South Africa. Our "new" red couch arrived a couple weeks ago and Ellie and I love it. While it may seem like a goofy thing to waste blog space on, for me it's a really great example of God's personal care and provision for us and that sometimes He just wants to bless us with exactly what we want, in his own special way. I'd happily give our new red couch back if our friends Charles and Kristen Young could stay in Swaziland!!!

That's all the news for now. Ellie and I arrive in Minneapolis Oct 10. Our schedule is fairly busy with support raising, sharing at churches, etc until Thanksgiving, and then after that we'll get to rest and enjoy time with our family during the holiday season. We're really hoping to increase our support while in the US, so please let us know of any churches or individuals that may want to learn more about what we're doing in Swaziland.

The Purse Stories

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

It seems that at least a couple times a week I get an e-mail from someone requesting to buy some of our swazi handbags. Usually there is some sort of crazy communication chain that has put them in contact with the purse project i.e. someone's friend's brother's mother-in-law received a bag from a neighbor that visited Swaziland this year, and now they want to order 25 bags to sell at their office...or something like that. :)

There are also some pretty funny and encouraging stories that have come through via e-mail. I thought I'd share a few of them in this blog. These are excerpts from emails I've received from people who are helping to sell the bags in the US:

This is from a friend who visited Swaziland this summer and took back bags to sell:

>>>>The purses have literally flown off the shelves. I sold 12 in one visit to my dentist alone. The next day, a real estate agent, who is a friend of the dentist asked that I come over and do a "sales presentation" at her office! Everyone who bought one has a friend that wants one. We haven't even begun to market them or put them on e-bay.

From my friend Marcia who helps distribute bags from AIM's GA office:

>>>>I can't keep them in my hands. [My daughter] is a teaching assistant in an elementary school and wanted to take a few bags to school with her and it's turned into a huge ministry. The teachers are watching the powerpoint [a presentation about the purse project] with tears in their eyes and they are fighting over the bags and wanting to buy more than one and so I have already sent her more bags twice. The teachers are showing the power point in their classes and are having units on Africa, etc. It's amazing and the bags are selling like hotcakes! It has been a fun opportunity for [her] to witness and testify of what her life is about. I am so thankful! I honestly think we could sell as many bags as you could get over here.

From a teacher in Iowa whose students sold the bags for a special project during Lent. They've sold over 500 and orders keep coming in:

>>>>They have orders now for about 200 bags I think, but an article just came out in the LeMars paper last week...it will probably generate some more orders. I am still absolutely overwhelmed by the response. [We have] orders from all over northwest Iowa and southeast Nebraska.

From a friend who ordered 50 bags to sell at the college she works at:

>>>>Within 5 minutes all your bags sold!!!

My parents always have a few in their car. They were out to eat the other night and ran into a friend who had heard about the bags. She ended up buying a couple, along with the waitress!

I hope this hasn't sounded too much like an "info-mercial," but we are surrounded by so much bad news here, that when something good comes along, it's really a must to share it with others!

The women continue to cut fabric and sew bags, and I think we've FIANLLY gotten a good/economical way to ship the bags to the US figured out. This is great news as well, because it will allow us to fill more orders and eventually expand to include more women in the craft co-op, which means more families will be provided for in Swaziland!

NOTE: If you're thinking of hosting a "bag sale" before Christmas, now is a good time to get your order in so we can project how much we need to produce in the next few months!

I'll end this up with a few pics. The first 2 are ones I took while out visiting the ladies at the feeding centers orphans where they volunteer:

This is Ellie and Katy on their motorcycles. I know our last blog entry showed Ellie on her pink motorcycle, but really, it's where she spends most of her time these days! Katy is Ellie's favorite auntie here in Swaziland...she was on the team I was leading when we found Ellie in the hospital and is now on staff with AIM here, so she's been in on Ellie's life since the beginning. The pink cycle was a Christmas gift from Katy and Ellie loves it!

That's all for now!

Women's Camp July 07

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

"We Love Because He First Loved Us"

"We Love Because He First Loved Us." 1 John 4:19. The topic of God's love is, of course, pretty broad and HUGE, but at our women's retreat here in Swaziland last weekend, we saw it demonstrated in some very specific ways, as we looked at the important truths found in that little piece of scripture.

The retreat was held at a huge house AIM has rented in the city of Manzini to house teams and also events like our retreat. It's only about 20 minutes away from the rural area where the 30 women attending come from, but with a nice bed all to themselves, indoor plumbing, electricity, and no piles of clothes waiting to be hand washed, I think it seemed like a weekend away at a 5 star hotel to them. The women were especially excited about the big bath tubs, and after the first night one of the women told me she had woken up at 3am, and was so excited that she got up and took a bath right then. :)

My friend Marcia taught on Saturday morning about the difference between our love and the pure love of God. She shared how we can't really love until we've been filled to over flowing with God's pure love. The women's response was great, and we ended up skipping the rest of the morning's activities just so we could talk and pray with more of the women individually. Many women wanted to talk and pray through unforgiveness in their lives. In a country where women are commonly mistreated, abused, cheated on and abandoned, you can imagine that this would be the case. I was encouraged to see women recognizing the further hurt unforgiveness was causing in their lives, and their desire to get rid of it!

Sunday Sphiwe Ngwenya, the Director of the Bible Society in Swaziland came and spoke to the women. I didn't understand hardly a word she said, but I was just so happy to have a Swazi woman there, speaking to the women in their own language, and I could see the women were too! Many of these women are hungry to hear God's word, but most don't have a Siswatti Bible. We had scriptures written out in SiSwatti and hung all over the house for the weekend, and several times I saw women walking around with a notebook and pen, writing down every word.

(ABOVE LEFT: the women got a chance to go "shopping" courtesy of clothing donations from South african churches. ABOVE RIGHT: We did face masks w/ the ladies (which was very funny) and learned that Ellie is petrified of black women w/ bright green face masks on!)

(ABOVE LEFT: team building exercises w/ the ladies. It was hilarious watching them trying to work together to walk on the giant "skiis" ABOVE RIGHT: They learned to do a little baking Sat afternoon. My mom's banana bread recipe was a huge hit. :)

The weekend was good. We laughed a lot. The ladies were blessed w/ a restful weekend, new clothes, KFC chicken (they LOVE IT!), and even a big paycheck from bag sales (about $70/ea!) We heard great truth about loving God and loving others. The women left with huge smiles on their faces.

In spite of a wonderful weekend, my heart has been heavy for the ladies. Our attendance at the retreat ended up being only 30, when we'd expected about 50, because so many women had to stay home to attend funerals. One of the women that is HIV positive, seems to be showing signs that her body is giving way to AIDS. She has 3 young children. I found out that another woman's husband is sick and weak. I cringe when I hear this (which is often), knowing that the husband more than likely has AIDS, that the wife is also probably headed in the same direction, and that there are sure to be more children left as orphans. Some days it feels like this country is in a tail-spin that can't be reversed. BUT, in the midst of seeming hopelessness, I'm so thankful that God allows me to be a part of even small things like this weekend...to see him bringing joy and hope and love to these women, and to be reminded of just what a powerful thing the love of God really is.

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NOTE: Ellie and I will in the U.S. late Oct through the holidays this year. I'm working on getting our schedule put together. If you know of any churches or groups that might be interested in us coming and sharing about our work in Swaziland, please let me know. We are hoping to get connected with other churches or individuals that might be interested in supporting us and our ministry in Swaziland. THANKS for getting the word out!

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We'll end this extra long blog with a couple cute pictures of Ellie:

ABOVE: Ellie insisted on wearing her pink rain boots while riding her pink motorcycle! (cool boots and bike courtesy of Katy. Cool sweatshirt courtesy of Heidi) BELOW: Ellie and I often go to a little cafe' about 30 min from where we live that also has a cool little playground. She loves it.