We’ve been trying to plan for our upcoming Timbali Women’s camp for a few months now….but it hasn’t really worked. J It’s a bit of a challenge to find an affordable place to house 90 women here in Swaziland. About 2 months ago we were excited to find a place, and had them pencil us into their schedule. A couple weeks later we went to check things out and confirm prices, etc. and were told they were fully booked and we’d be unable to hold our camp there. Weird. I went back a couple weeks later just to make sure they had no space. Still none. We called all over Swaziland looking for another venue. No success. Finally last Thursday I decided I would just tell the ladies that we’d be postponing the camp until after Ellie and I returned from the U.S. in January next year. BUT that morning, the same place that had told us (TWICE) that they had no space for us, called and told us to come confirm our reservation for next weekend (Oct 15-17). Turns out we’d been booked all along! WEIRD…but GREAT!! So, YAY! we’re having a women’s camp in a week!! So much to do, in so little time, but so worth it…
God’s been reminding me lately why we do weekend camps for these very precious women. I hope as I share a couple of those reasons, that you’ll commit to PRAY earnestly for our time together next weekend…
1. THESE WOMEN NEED A BREAK! Even the women who are in the best of situations, still have plenty to deal with in life as most of them live with very few conveniences. I wish you could see how giddy these women get at the thought of a weekend away from fetching water and fire wood, cooking over a fire, hand-washing clothes, etc. I remember a couple years ago at one of our camps one of the women told me that she woke up at 2am just so she could have a turn taking a bath in a real bathtub! They’ll stay up late laughing and talking, and spontaneous singing and dancing will break out throughout the weekend. They will eat until they are full…three times a day. They’ll play all the goofy games we plan for them (I’m smiling think of the year that 78 year old Ruby won the limbo!). The joy they have during these camps is priceless.
2. THESE WOMEN NEED TO KNOW THEY ARE A PART OF SOMETHING. After four years of working together we are starting to see some beautiful community developing among these women. It’s far from perfect, and we have a long ways to go, but still, it’s there and it’s growing, and it’s what they (and all of us!) need. Even just the shared experience of a weekend away together deepens friendships. With all they face, to know they have sisters in Christ who love them and care for them is invaluable. To have the chance to share their struggles and be prayed for is life-giving. Pray that even though it is far from the norm here, that these ladies would be open and honest and supportive with one another. Pray that while many of their lives are marked by so much rejection, that they would know the acceptance of their Savior, and also from one another. Pray for deep fellowship and growth together.
3. THESE WOMEN NEED HOPE AND HEALING. Ugh. The stories I have heard lately have made my heart sink time after time. A couple weeks ago I was talking with one of the women and she started sharing with me about her abusive husband. She showed me scars on her arms and neck where he had attacked her with a machete and another time with a hammer. Despairing is the only word that comes close to describing how deeply she was hurting. Another shared with me recently that she had just tested positive for HIV and that her blood counts showed that it had already progressed into AIDS. It’s not surprising. She’s told me before that her husband has at least 7 children with other women, but still, to hear it for certain just seems so…I don’t know…painful and tragic. She’s struggling now with the idea of starting the ARV drugs and their side affects, with the rejection and blame she’s received from her husband, and with the thought of how this will affect her children. Many of the older women have lost children in the last year…others have lost husbands. I could of course go on and on. I pray that these women would see the Lord as their Deliverer and Healer, their Defender and their Father…that they will know that they are deeply loved by the One who calls them His own. That in the midst of their difficult circumstances they would know hope that is unexplainable and whose source is Jesus. I KNOW He can do that.
So, please join us in praying for our camp next weekend!! Names, photos and bios of the women are found on our Timbali website, if you’d like to pray for the women by name. www.timbalicrafts.org.
This is a pic of Ellie and I on a recent visit to one of the Timbali women’s homes.
One last thing…please also pray that Ellie and I will be able to move into our new house soon. We’ve been waiting for them to finish painting (actually we’re still waiting for them to START painting). Our original move-in date was October 1, then they moved it to next weekend (yes, the weekend of the camp) so they’d have time to do some maintenance. Things like this can drag on and on here. We’re flying to the U.S. for the holidays on Nov 22, so we’re hoping to move in soon enough so that we can be settled in before we leave. If you want to pray specifically, pray that we can move in the Wednesday after the camp (Oct 20)…that will give us 2 days in between to recover and pack (can those two things happen simultaneously?) and a month to unpack and settle before we fly.
Blessings blessings blessings over the women and this camp! We pray God would take authority over the plans for your moving and get your home ready asap! Love ya’ll!
Praying for you all. May the love and healing power of Jesus cover the Timbali Women’s weekend, and may all your plans for moving come together in His perfect timing.
God bless you!
Hey, Julie!
Good to hear from you! I’ll be praying for your retreat this weekend. I’ll also be praying for your upcoming move.
Blessings,
Audrey
Julie,
I do not know you but feel like I do because I am a good friend of Marcia Borg’s mother. Marcia and Scott also send me info from time to time. I will put you and Ellie on my prayer list; and especially pray that you can be settled in your new home before your holiday trip.
Blessings & love,
Linda Langfeldt
While studying Esther for our Beth Moore Bible study these quotes made me think of you and the Swazi women that will be at the retreat next week-end: “IT’S TOUGH BEING A WOMAN IN A MEAN WORLD” and “PRAISE GOD FOR BEING THE KIND OF KING WHO GIVES A WOMAN DIGNITY INSTEAD OF TAKING IT” I will be praying for you as you make all the preparations for the retreat and that it will be a great time of fellowship,praise,worship and renewal for everyone involved. Love, Mom