Birthday Blog

I wrote this last week, but am just now getting to post it:

Yesterday was my 34th birthday, and it was a good day.

The day started off with women’s Bible study. I meet with a group of missionary women every Wednesday morning and IT IS A BLESSING. As I live in another culture, far from family, their friendships and similar life experiences make life here a lot easier. Not only do I get to enjoy them, but their entire families as well, as they have become Ellie’s adopted aunts, uncles and cousins, and we seem to celbrate every holiday and event together there is. We are starting the newest Beth Moore study on the Patriarchs, and it is great. We will take about 2x as long to get through it as we should, but the fellowship will be sweet, and many cups of coffee and slices of banana bread will be consumed!

I cut out of Bible study a bit early to head out to the rural area. The women have been working hard on their crafts and it was our first day to sell. They set up outside the church our short term team was having lunch at, and sold to the team members. It was a big success for our first go at it. The women were so exicted…they clapped and cheered after the first few sales. 🙂

We’ve decided to name our craft co-op “Timbali Crafts.” Timbali means “flower” in Siwatti, and is also the word used to translate “lillies” in Matthew 6 when Jesus is talking about his care and provision for his children. I pray that as this potentially becomes a means of some income for these women that it will be a testimony of God’s love for them. It was so great on Wednesday to see these women making a little money. Some women went home with $20, which, in a country where 2/3 of the population lives on $1 a day, is pretty good earnings. Praise God. Some of the students even made orders for more.

The big sellers were some hand bags they made out of African fabrics. The day before I’d been out to deliever last minute supplies to some of the ladies to finish their bags. I needed to drop some fabric off to my friend Ruby, so I stopped by the care point she cooks at. Once the pot of water is on the fire to boil, the women have quite a bit of waiting time. When I drove up, there sat Ruby, on a grass mat in the middle of the field, sewing her bags on her hand pumped sewing machine. It would have been a great picture. What makes it even better is to realize that Ruby, who is 74 years old, probably walked at least a mile balancing that sewing machine on her head! Ruby is my Siswatti tutor, and has become a good friend. I’ve learned that carrying heavy objects on her head isn’t all that makes her amazing..Ruby has never been married or had children of her own, but right now is caring for 3 children, and in the past has had up to 8 children in her home. Ruby said the ladies were teasing her the other day because I’m still not speaking Siswatti very well–I’m pretty sure that’s more my fault than her’s. Pray for continued language learning!

Afterwards I gave Ruby a ride home, and she told me she had a birthday present for me. I went inside her little mud brick house, and there on her table was a pumpkin and a chicken! Fortunately, she had killed and cleaned the chicken for me, unfortunately I don’t know how long it had just been sitting out on the table. I ate some that night anyway, and I’m still alive, so it must have been okay. My women’s Bible study gave me a gift certificate for a massage and some nice perfume, and the rural women gave me a pumpkin and a chicken. Quite a contrast eh? I loved them both!

Ellie was feeling a bit sick, so we stayed home for the evening and celebrated with just the two of us (and the chicken). We’re off to South Africa for the weekend, where we’ll celbrate a little more with friends there.

Thanks for checking in on what’s happening in Swaziland!