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.!