Archives for July 2015

Today we wave pooled all day long.  I didn’t sleep well last night and was up quite a bit.  Couldn’t sleep this morning so I got in a good run and grocery shopped solo all before 7am.  Everything feels a bit different when I come back home.  It’s strange being home with such an excited and yet overwhelmed heart.  I look at clean water differently.  I stared weirdly at my cart full of colorful fruits and veggies at the grocery store.  Simplifying more of our life yet again and again rushes over my train of thought.  Are we living our one vapor right?  Are we bringing Him glory with our family?  Do my kids truly understand to be first they must really be last?

I keep thinking about all these crazy amazing kiddos and these people who are the light of Christ in their community half way around the world.  I keep running 1000 thoughts and ideas through my mind about how all these dreams will happen…getting 78 sweet kiddos sponsored, raising $16,500 to have a playground put in the middle of Swaziland, raising funds for sewing machines so ladies can help provide for their families, funds for cabinets that lock so the preschool teacher can keep supplies on site, how to help local woman around me see the value in purchasing with a purpose through companies like Timbali and the list rattles on.

Today the idea crossed my mind to try and explain what exactly the Ngungwane carepoint is.  I want people to understand why this place is so important.  I want others to join us in these dreams.  I want to take more people to Swaziland, Africa.  I want others to experience the extreme joy and love which is waiting in this tiny country on the continent of Africa.

The Ngungwane carepoint sits in a community in Swaziland…an actual physical location…a plot of land which has a building, a small outdoor cooking area, a bathroom and a solar well.  There is a group of 4 go-gos (grandmother/mother figures in the community) who come to the carepoint and cook for around 140 kids 6 days a week.  There is 1 preschool teacher, Constantine, who lives just across the road who comes and teaches the preschool kiddos while the school age children are in school.  She wears her sweet newborn daughter Blessing on her back while her other daughter Happiness plays along with the other littles.

Ngungwane also has a shepherd named Hlobi.  She’s the boss lady 🙂  Hlobi takes roll everyday.  She not only cares about these kids and their futures, but she mentors them and disciples them…she teaches them about Christ and the hope found in Him.  She’s been trained for a year at a leadership academy in South Africa on discipling and wants to pour into the future leaders of Swaziland.

6 days a week this small plot of land is flooded with Swazi children who come not just to be fed a meal, have access to clean water and receive medical treatment if needed, but also to be seen and loved and fed spiritually.  They play and sing songs.  They learn.  They eat together.  They all pitch in to clean up after meals.  They smile and laugh.  They care for one another.  They are a family.

On one of the last days we were at Ngungwane a man named Neil who lives in the community came by to chat.  It was quite the conversation ranging from inspirational to laughter to questions about the future of Ngungwane.  I was so intrigued by all he had to say.  Afterwards I grabbed my notebook and jotted a quick note down about something he said.

“This carepoint represents comfort, courage and hope in this community.”

And I was struck deep by those words.  They played over and over again in my mind.  Comfort, courage and hope.

Here’s what I know…I know a lot of the time we can feel like the problems and the unfairness of this world are too big we can’t possibly make a difference, but this is simply not true.  God has called us to love and to love big.  He has called us to love which acts.  He has called us to first love Him and secondly love others.  We make a difference in this world by loving…by looking at others, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and simply coming along side them and treating them as we would want to be treated.  People are not charities.  People are not good deeds.  People are people…all created in the image of Christ…all daughters and sons of the King…each one of us absolutely adored by Him…and each one of living and carrying stories which matter, count and deserve to be told.

So we choose to do.  We choose to act.  We choose to love.  We choose to truly believe sharing each other’s stories and linking up arms with one another really does matter and can change the world.

Happy Wednesday.

Our Swaziland team arrived home early this morning.  It’s been a long day.  Coming home is always interesting to me…figuring out if I’m going to fall victim to jet lag, getting re-acclimated, taking a good long hot shower, assuming my role as mom again…all of it can be a bit overwhelming.

I’ve thought about sitting down to type out some thoughts all day long, but the time never came.  My heart and mind have been overwhelmed and there have been games of Sorry and Mancala which needed to be played, movies to watch, photos to share, popcorn to snack on and lots of souvenirs to pass around and taste test with these wild 5 kiddos.

We did not have internet or phone access while we were away.  I’ve missed you guys.  I missed Josh Kelley and our little tribe madly, but boy, what a trip.  What a team God allowed me to be on.  What incredible people we were with all week.  What crazy amazing kiddos we had the privilege to love on and be loved by.  What strong and courageous ladies we got to know who lead Ngungwane, these kiddos and their community.  Every last bit of this trip was just an honor…I can barely get past this fact.

There are new dreams.  There are seeds God has planted.  There is work to be done.  Starting with these sweet kiddos and getting every last precious one of them sponsored.  You can CLICK HERE and choose “unsponsored” in the status bar.  $38 a month does the trick.  There are more trips to be taken.  Consider joining us.  God is truly building something…He’s taking something which is already beautiful and making it crazy beautiful.

So I’ll be working on all my thoughts this week.  Josh Kelley has been a sounding board already.  I like him.  Hopefully there will be some sleep gotten and thoughts will work their way out.  It was a grand trip and it’s good to be home.

Happy Tuesday.