February 4, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Empowering & Self-Sustaining

One of my most favorite things about my trip to Swaziland was seeing how AIM, CHC and Timbali Crafts work.  It’s one of my most favorite things about more and more companies, especially Noonday Collection.  They are coming along side people all over the world.  They are linking arms and holding hands.  They are teaching and empowering.  People’s dignity is being restored.  They learn skills.  They have jobs.  There is pride in their work and the ability to help provide of their families.  It’s all crazy awesome to see and be part of.

*RE-POST*

Empowering & Self-Sustaining

Each day just gets better and better.  I take that back…they have all been equally amazing and incredible and humbling and it’s just a pure privilege to be here.  I wish I could stay much longer, but I’m also ready to see Josh and the kiddos.  It’s been a whirl wind of a trip and just as the other days, today floored me as well.

Today we visited other more developed care points.  And really it’s kind of crazy how God can use His people and their resources and move them in a certain direction, formulate a plan and then execute that plan.  These care points were all different and awesome in their own way.  There sat giant play grounds in the middle of Swaziland and schools and strawberry plants in a green house and solar powered water pumps and a church building and gardens because people cared and wanted to come along side their sisters and brothers in Christ…because they want to spread God’s love and build relationships.  It was incredible to see how God has plans and He’s going to fulfill those plans using His children to support one another.

We’ve been supporters of CHC and AIM, but honestly, the stakes have been raised with this trip.  I have seen these people…these families in action and I’m in awe.  All of the staff work their butts off to empower and love fearlessly the people and children of Swaziland.  I seriously cannot put into words how amazing it was to watch them in action…the care point coordinators, the drivers, the go-gos, the discipleship leaders & teachers and the ground staff coordinators.  It takes a lot of people, but they are certainly doing God’s work…and doing it well.

We were able to visit their farm today and I was totally impressed.  I had read quite a bit about it before the trip, but was personally very excited to see it in person.  Jumbo, AIM’s ground coordinator here in Swaziland, seriously blew my mind.  It was so much, much more than I ever imagined.  The farm is huge and awesome and everything Jumbo told us further reminded me what this whole thing is about.  Empowering and self-sustaining.  300,000 cabbages…now that’s a crap load of cabbages.  There is also maize and beans and rose geraniums.  This farm isn’t even three years old yet and it’s already self sustaining and providing 21 jobs to Swazis.  They feed the kids at the care point and families in the communities, they sell food and the oil from the rose geraniums plants.  I had never even heard of rose geraniums, but serious research and thought has gone into this.  So big, so awesome, so well thought out and planned…It was incredible.

Last night we got to hear from Julie who heads up Timbali Crafts.  She works with around 100 women who are go-gos or cooks from the care points.  They sew all sorts of beautiful bags and head bands and Christmas ornaments and kindle cases and zipper pouches and aprons and pillow covers and placemats and seriously, I bought a ton of gorgeous items.  And extra to share with you guys in a giveaway when I get back.

I loved hearing her talk and hearing her passion for these woman.  I love that she is working and being led by God to help give these woman opportunities to have a job…to be apart of a business and earn money and feel as if they have even more of a purpose.  She is helping empower these woman and it’s crazy beautiful.  Please check out their site and purchase…Christmas is coming…For realz.  And head over and like Timbali Crafts on Facebook and then tell your friends.  Gorgeous stuff made my gorgeous woman.

This is one of the things I love about this group…they’re trying to work themselves out of a job and spreading God’s love and His name while they’re at it.  They’re pouring into this nation of children and people.  They’re helping to provide jobs and modeling what a family should look like.  They’re helping meet needs and teaching skills and discipling and literally linking up arm and arm with the Swazi people.  I feel like I’m not even doing it justice…I feel like I’m falling so short in explaining the depth and magnitude and the beauty of it all.

I want to stay just a bit longer, but I’m also anxious to get home and unload the week…my thoughts and ideas and where God has my heart and all the what ifs and what nows.  What do I do now?  I don’t want this time to have been for nothing…I don’t want my heart to have gone unchanged or unscathed…I don’t want to not act.  I already text Josh and told him I’m ready to de-brief.  I hope he’s ready.

Happy Wednesday!

 *END RE-POST*

If you are interested in more details about the Swaziland, Africa trip this July shoot me an email at pitterpatterart at gmail dot com  Come on…you know you want go!

 PS:  All money paid to CHC for your trip is tax deductible.  This also means if you decide to fundraise that all donations made by others towards your trip will be tax deductible as well.  Score.

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January 28, 2015 By Leave a Comment

The Sweetest Feet

I can’t even tell you how excited I get each time I open up another email inquiry or response about this Swaziland trip.  Even if it’s someone responding with an “it’s not going to work out this time” I still get all excited that people are even interested.  With every email I send out there’s another possibility and all we need is a team of 8, but I’ll take 1000 of you if you want to go 🙂

So another re-post for today.  I want to give you a perspective on this trip.  It won’t be the exact same, but I want to try and let you feel what I felt.  See what I saw.  Experience what I experienced.  Feel the immense love I felt…and still do feel.  We always go on these trips thinking we’re going to do good…we’re going to bless people and tell them about Jesus, but I always come back feeling humbled and crazy blessed myself…like the good has been done to me…like they taught me about Jesus because they did.  God teaches me every time it’s not about what I’m going to do.  Instead it’s about Him.  It’s about Him inviting me to be apart of His word and love…loving my neighbor…my brothers and sisters in Christ…big and crazy and wild and fierce and letting them love on me in return and dang it all, it just blesses my socks right off.

RE-POST

The Sweetest Feet

Today will be one for my life book.  One of those moments where Jesus came right down and sat beside me and said, “Listen up Laura.  Soak up every moment because this day is for your heart.  These moments are to remind you of Me…Me and the deep love I have for you and all My children.”

The kids here amaze me.  Just absolutely floor me.  They are gorgeous, smart children with infectious loud laughs and eyes that are ocean deep.

We spent the first part of the day just hanging with the kids…just playing and sitting and smiling and laughing. Then we filled bags with things like peanut butter and crackers, beef jerky, trail mix, Skittles, dum dum suckers, matchbox cars, bubbles wands, pencils and plastic gold medal necklaces.  I felt giddy and wild with excitement as I sat on the concrete floor apart of this assembly line of people who were filling these bags.  I was in charge of the gold medals and the matchbox cars.  I so wanted pictures, but there I sat filling bag after bag after bag.

We also colored wooden Christmas ornaments.  When planning for a trip like this you think you have all these “good” ideas, but then when you’re here…you’re actually with the kids…you realize your good ideas weren’t that grand after all.  The plan was for the kids to color these wooden Christmas ornaments and then return them to their sponsor church back in Tennessee, well that just wasn’t happening after we watched them pour into these ornaments.  Most of them were extremely precise with their coloring and after watching them, well, we just couldn’t take them away.  They were theirs.

We were able to do another home visit with one of the grandmothers, or go-gos, who cooks at the care point each day for the kids.  Her homestead was beautiful.  It was meticulous and she took great pride in it…as she absolutely should.  Gathered around her were all her grandchildren.  All I could think as I watched her engage with them and listened to part of her story was, “Her children arise and call her blessed.”  It was an honor to be able to visit with her at her home.  An honor.

And for the majority of the day we fitted and sized and gave away around 150 pairs of new shoes.  I wanted to cry and sob.  I wanted to wash every foot I held in my hands today.  I found myself thinking so hard about where all these feet had been…the miles they had traveled…the wear they had endured…the lives they’ve lived thus far.  How far beyond their years they should really be.  God sat there reminding me of how precious and amazing and special and uniquely designed and created each one of these children are.  How blessed and honored I was to be holding their feet in my hands.  How humbled I should be to even remotely be apart of giving them a new pair of shoes.  It was a moment I will never forget.  Engraved deep in my heart are these children’s feet.

An overwhelming day and my heart might explode.  Feeling just so crazy blessed to be here…to meet these children and people…the spend time with them…and begin the anticipation for what all God has in store.  It’s sure to be grand and I cannot wait…absolutely cannot wait to see what He’s going to do.

Happy Tuesday!

END RE-POST

If you’re interested in more information on this possible July trip to Swaziland, Africa feel free to send me an email at pitterpatterart at gmail dot com and I’ll get you some more information.

Have an awesome Wednesday.

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January 26, 2015 By 1 Comment

Swaziland Trip

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  We spent major time at home in the sweetest craziness and preparing for the week.  I’ve already been praying over this week and gosh, I just hope it’s a good and encouraging one for you all.

Thank you so much for all the interest emails I’ve received about the Swaziland, Africa trip this July.  The world is so special.  The people God has placed all over are incredibly special.  And to go into different places and meet different people and see their homes and a glimpse into their lives is a gift…an honor and privilege.  Every time I get a chance to travel like this it’s just humbling and the gratefulness overwhelms me.

I thought it would be fun to do some re-posts this week and give you a little look into my last trip to Swaziland.  We will be going with the same group and hanging with the majority of the same amazing people and kids.  I cannot say how excited I am.  One of my goals for this trip is to not only just love on these amazing brothers and sisters in Christ, but to also be able to come home and find sponsors for all the kiddos who are unsponsored at the Ngugnwane Carepoint…to help push and ignite a further flame.  I think God can totally do this.

If you are interested in going on this trip please email me at pitterpatterart at gmail dot com for more information.

RE-POST

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

Ngungwane {Swaziland, Africa}

I’m laying in bed in Swaziland, Africa.  It was a wonderfully long day and it’s pitch black outside now…closing in on midnight.  The sun rises at like 4:30am here…It wakes me up, I take a look, sit in wonder of Jesus and then go back to sleep for a few more hours.  To say that South Africa and Swaziland are beautiful would be a complete understatement.  Maybe the most beautiful place I’ve been and the people are crazy amazing.

I lost two bags.  I kind of thought I would because when I arrived at the Nashville airport on Friday they rerouted me, so I kind of expected some lost baggage.  Two bags full to the brim of supplies, but today they showed up.  Just in time for tomorrow.

People have asked me about this trip…what’s it for?  Who are you with?  What are you doing?  So here’s the quick down low.  Jesus put a passion for Swaziland in Josh Kelley’s heart in 2009.  It was quite wonderous to see because I had never even heard of Swaziland at that point.  Josh headed off to Swaziland with Children’s HopeChest and AIM in 2009 not knowing a soul, but he knew God wanted him on that trip.  A bit of time passed and we introduced our then church we were attending to Children’s HopeChest and the “community to community” partnership they help facilitate.  A care point is essentially a plot of land where local kids meet everyday to receive food, discipleship, love, and medical care.  You can read all about the details HERE.

We launched the carepoint Ngungwane in 2011 and began trying to get sponsorship for each of the profiled kiddos at the carepoint. Since then we’ve funded the fencing of the carepoint’s land, a bathroom, provided school shoes and built a solar powered well.  The one thing we could never get off the ground was a trip.  I’ve been trying to make my way to Swaziland to visit all the kids and the care point for over two years and every time I thought it might happen God shut a door, but not this year.  And I’m so very thankful.

So what am I doing?  It’s kind of crazy in the most best way ever.  I’m hanging out with kids all day.  I’m meeting families and the ladies in their community.  I’m getting to know them and I have the honor and sheer pleasure to love on them and let them love on me back.  I’m learning ways I can help come along side them.

Today I met a sweet go-go who is making her own necklaces to sell.  They are gorgeous.  I bought a ton and all my lady friends will be receiving one.  I might even be mailing one on over to Jessica, Noonday‘s founder, as well.  (insert a wink and a nod)

Today we did a cabbage distribution.  They have gardens they work and maintain and these gardens produce some serious crops…like the biggest cabbages I’ve ever seen.  Today each of the kids at Ngungwane received two cabbages to take home. It was incredible.

We blew lots of bubbles and painted fingernails…boys too if they wanted :)  I got my serious fingernail painting skillz on.

We took polaroid pictures of every child at the carepoint for them to keep…plus all the go-go’s pictures too.  Everyone loved them.  It was hilarious to look around and see a 100+ Swazis…men, woman and children…shaking their polaroid pictures while they developed.  It was definitely a highlight from the day.

We got to see first hand how the care point runs.  It was nice to finally be here…to see in person all the hard work which goes into this “community to community” partnership.  And to meet all the people who work so hard to make sure all these incredible kids have some of their needs met daily.

And we also did a home visit today.  AIM & CHC let their swazi staff decide whose homes we will be visiting based on need.  With each home visit we take a gift to thank the family for allowing us to come to their home…a huge bag of beans, a huge bag of corn and several other food and necessity items.  Today as we visited with the family I thought the oldest granddaughter looked a tad familiar, but thought there was no way out of all the kids that we would be visiting our 3 sponsor kids who are siblings and our pictures of them at home are almost 3 years old so I couldn’t be sure.  We met with the kids and their grandmother and prayed over them.  As we loaded into the van, I asked one of the Swazi staff about the children’s names and sure enough, it was indeed our sibling set of 3.  We were able to meet one of their cousins as well.  I felt like it was one of those moments ordained by God.

I’m learning more and more everyday I’m here.  What He has planned I do not know, but I know He’s moving.  Jesus is teaching me new things.  These children and people are to be revered.  They are absolutely fierce and beautiful and hard working and joyful and yet, I have so many questions for Jesus.  So many.

I will never understand child headed households and children with no parents and diseases, but what I do understand is one day heaven will be on Earth and God will make all things new and He will set things right.  Until then, He has commanded us to love.  He has commanded us to love Him and to love others.  So I’m going to do my best and let God guide my heart in the direction He’s leading.

Happy Monday from Swaziland.

END RE-POST

Man oh man do I ever hope this trip happens.  I need to get back to see these sweet faces and families again.  Makes my heart race just thinking about it.

Happy Monday…from Tennessee 🙂

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September 12, 2014 By 2 Comments

Tables & Small Bright Red Chairs

In March of this year I asked you guys to help me raise $610 so we could help purchase some tables and chairs for the sweet kiddos at the Ngungwane carepoint in Swaziland, Africa.  What we did together was purchase a crap ton of awesome Noonday Collection and then we hosted the biggest “thank you” giveaway and you guys made donation after donation after donation.  You can read about it HERE and HERE.

You guys went crazy and ended up donating almost $2900.  I can’t tell you how much this still thrills my heart.  The world is full of kind and generous people.  Again thank you!

This week I received an update on the Ngungwane carepoint and wanted to share some of the pictures Children’s HopeChest passed along to me.  Not only did they get to purchase the tables and chairs, but with your kind donations, we also paid for an entire years worth of school fees for the kids, some learning supplies and they added a big painted chalkboard.

 I wanted you to see we can change the world.  We can make a difference.  We can come along side our brothers and sisters in Christ and help stand in the gap.  We can come together and impact lives even with the purchase of something simple like tables and small bright red chairs.

Thank you again.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Thank you for joining us and giving and being generous and kind!  Opening up that large envelope this week and reading the words and seeing these pictures was easily one of the highlights of my week.

Here’s a great weekend.

Happy Friday friends!

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April 24, 2014 By 9 Comments

Let’s Do This…Together!

Our family’s hearts have been slightly captivated by Swaziland in southern Africa.  Specifically our carepoint, Ngungwane.  We help sponsor three siblings there and I had the chance to meet two of them and visit with their family at their house last November.  And God willing Josh and I will be going again with a team this year too.

While I was there I so enjoyed meeting and hanging out with all the staff, but Amy and Steve…the staff who work directly with Ngungwane…we’re especially helpful and you could see their great love for all the people and kiddos who work and come to the carepoint each day.  It was a privilege to meet them.  We had the opportunity to discuss big and small goals for Ngungwane too.  One of the smaller goals was to purchase tables and chairs for the building on site.  Ngungwane now has a preschool teacher who comes regularly to the carepoint to teach the smaller kids, but they have no tables or chairs.

I recently contacted Children’s HopeChest and asked for more details on how we could help make this happen.  They got me the additional details we needed.  Good metal tables are going to cost $50 each.  And each sturdy metal based chair is going to cost $12 each.  The wish list Ngungwane requested was 5 tables and 30 chairs.  When you do the math that’s a total of $610.

Our first step towards the tables and chairs was a big Noonday Collection show.  Friends and family and a lot of you guys made purchases and we ended up getting a ton of free stuff.  A ton.  $704 is kind of awesome.  Can you imagine how much fun I had picking out all the items.  It was crazy fun.

So here’s the deal.  I have the biggest Noonday Collection thank you gift giveaway just for you guys.  For every $10 you donate towards the tables & chairs, I’ll add your name to this “Thank you for donating” giveaway.  Every dollar…every single donation made…will go directly to Ngungwane to help purchase the tables and chairs.  If we raise more than needed, well then, hot dog and Ngungwane will just get extra money for additional items they need at the carepoint right now.  Seriously.  We can totally do this.  Think about what $10 can do.  A lot.

We’re going to collect donations for 2 weeks and then one lucky person will be drawn on Thursday, May 8th to receive the best “thanks for donating” package ever which includes all of the following items:

Get ready…cause this is really, really good.

Clementines Laptop Case $42

Lines and Stripes Catch All $142

Patchwork Clutch $38 (in purple)

Beachcomber Scarf $56

Nahuala Rectangle Trays (Set of 3) $36

Blushed Necklace $42

Del Mar Necklace $78

Honeycomb Necklace $38

Golden Trio Necklace (no longer available for purchase)

Annie’s Feathered Earrings $32

Bone Carved Leaf Earrings $30

Modern Angles Earrings $46

Athena Cuff $34

Bloomed Trio Bracelet $28

Galaxy Wrap Bracelet $48

Safari Stack Bracelet, Salmon $14

Are you swooning like I am?  For reals.  I am completely giddy about the fact that we’re going to mail all these items to one person to say “Thanks for being generous.  Thanks for donating.  Thanks for being totally rockin’ cool.”  This is going to bless someone’s socks right off.

It’s a win/win.  The craziest, most fun fundraising giveaway…all to help supply 5 tables and 30 chairs to some sweet kiddos in Swaziland, Africa.  No longer sitting on the floor to do their work, but hanging out and learning in their own little chair at their own table.  It’s just a good good thing.

Here’s how to donate:

1)  To donate through Paypal or credit/bank card just use the snazzy little DONATE button in the right side bar all the way at the top

OR

2)  To donate by check GO HERE and let me know how much you would like to donate and I will send you the additional information you need.

Remember, for every $10 you donate, we’ll put your name in this Thank You gift giveaway that many times.  So $10 = 1 Your Name  $20 = 2 Your Name.  And so on and so on.  I kind of think you should just go straight for the $100 donation for your name 10 times 🙂  Come on, you know you want to.  #peerpressure

Maybe you can’t swing $10 right now…no worries.  You know what you can do…Share.  Share this post on Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest and Instagram and email it to all your stylish friends and family.  The more we share, the more people see how crazy cool this giveaway is and hopefully that means the more donations we will receive.

There you have it.  The world’s most awesome “Thanks for donating” giveaway ever known to man.  These are sure to be the sweetest tables and chairs ever purchased.

Thank you for reading.  Thank you for donating.  Thank you for sharing.  I cannot wait to see what God has in store.

Happy Thursday!

UPDATE:  To donate using the Donate button you do not have to have a Paypal account.

1.  Click on the Donate button in the right sidebar all the way at the top.

2.  Then find the area on the bottom left side of the donate page that says “Don’t have a paypal account?  Use your credit card or bank account (where available) Continue”  (see picture below)

3.  Click “Continue” and make your donation using your credit or bank card.

Hope this helps and clears up any confusion for anyone.

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March 24, 2014 By 3 Comments

Six Hundred Ten

Last November I went to Swaziland, Africa to meet all the incredible people and kids at our care point Ngungwane through Children’s HopeChest.  Ngungwane is something Josh and I introduced to our previous church and we have sponsor kids at the care point and are still very much connected to this country and all their amazing people.  I really want to go back this year and am working on getting a team together to make this happen.  Excited to see what God has in store.

You can read my posts from Swaziland HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

While I was there I had lots of opportunities to talk with Amy and Steve who work directly with Ngungwane about some specific needs at the care point.  There were several big projects and then they also mentioned needing tables and chairs for the on site building.  This building is used for all types of things, but they now have a preschool teacher coming to the care point 4 days a week for all the littles and they have no tables or chairs.

While in Swaziland, one of the things I felt God really impressing on my heart was just what all He could do through open vessels…flawed people…sinners…who simply say “yes” or “okay God”.  We want to be those flawed, but willing vessels.

We’re having a Noonday party this Thursday, March 27th at our house from 6-8.  Here’s the deal…I talked with CHC this week and Ngungwane’s wish list for the tables and chairs would be 5 tables and 30 chairs.  Each table is $50 and each chair is $12.   That puts us right at $610.  These are good, metal tables and chairs which will last them for a long time.  When you host a Noonday party the more items people buy, the more credit you get to purchase items for yourself.  What we’re going to do is take those items we get on credit and turn around and share those with you guys while raising funds for table and chairs for Ngungwane.  So the more you purchase the more items we will get to turn into money for these tables and chairs.  It’s a win/win.

I would absolutely love to fill our house with women from all over.  I would love to meet you and chat and purchase with purpose together.  Noonday is an absolutely incredible company and there new spring line is off the charts.  So if you want to have a fun girls night come and hang with us and bring a friend.

We’ll have food and drinks for you as well.  So mark your calendars, call your friends, send me a message if you need more information and get ready to have some fashionable fun while helping change the world.

Happy Monday!

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November 5, 2013 By 3 Comments

The Sweetest Feet

Today will be one for my life book.  One of those moments where Jesus came right down and sat beside me and said, “Listen up Laura.  Soak up every moment because this day is for your heart.  These moments are to remind you of me…me and the deep love I have for you and all My children.”

The kids here amaze me.  Just absolutely floor me.  They are gorgeous, smart children with infectious loud laughs and eyes that are ocean deep.

We spent the first part of the day just hanging with the kids…just playing and sitting and smiling and laughing. Then we filled bags with things like peanut butter and crackers, beef jerky, trail mix, Skittles, dum dum suckers, matchbox cars, bubbles wands, pencils and plastic gold medal necklaces.  I felt giddy and wild with excitement as I sat on the concrete floor apart of this assembly line of people who were filling these bags.  I was in charge of the gold medals and the matchbox cars.  I so wanted pictures, but there I sat filling bag after bag after bag.

We also colored wooden Christmas ornaments.  When planning for a trip like this you think you have all these “good” ideas, but then when you’re here…you’re actually with the kids…you realize your good ideas weren’t that grand after all.  The plan was for the kids to color these wooden Christmas ornaments and then return them to their sponsor church back in Tennessee, well that just wasn’t happening after we watched them pour into these ornaments.  Most of them were extremely precise with their coloring and after watching them, well, we just couldn’t take them away.  They were theirs.

We were able to do another home visit with one of the grandmothers, or go-gos, who cooks at the care point each day for the kids.  Her homestead was beautiful.  It was meticulous and she took great pride in it…as she absolutely should.  Gathered around her were all her grandchildren.  All I could think as I watched her engage with them and listened to part of her story was, “Her children arise and call her blessed.”  It was an honor to be able to visit with her at her home.  An honor.

And for the majority of the day we fitted and sized and gave away around 150 pairs of new shoes.  I wanted to cry and sob.  I wanted to wash every foot I held in my hands today.  I found myself thinking so hard about where all these feet had been…the miles they had traveled…the wear they had endured…the lives they’ve lived thus far.  How far beyond their years they should really be.  God sat there reminding me of how precious and amazing and special and uniquely designed and created each one of these children are.  How blessed and honored I was to be holding their feet in my hands.  How humbled I should be to even remotely be apart of giving them a new pair of shoes.  It was a moment I will never forget.  Engraved deep in my heart are these children’s feet.

An overwhelming day and my heart my explode.  Feeling just so crazy blessed to be here…to meet these children and people…the spend time with them…and begin the anticipation for what all God has in store.  It’s sure to be grand and I cannot wait…absolutely cannot wait to see what He’s going to do.

Happy Tuesday!

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November 4, 2013 By 9 Comments

Ngungwane {Swaziland, Africa}

I’m laying in bed in Swaziland, Africa.  It was a wonderfully long day and it’s pitch black outside now…closing in on midnight.  The sun rises at like 4:30am here…It wakes me up, I take a look, sit in wonder of Jesus and then go back to sleep for a few more hours.  To say that South Africa and Swaziland are beautiful would be a complete understatement.  Maybe the most beautiful place I’ve been and the people are crazy amazing.

I lost two bags.  I kind of thought I would because when I arrived at the Nashville airport on Friday they rerouted me, so I kind of expected some lost baggage.  Two bags full to the brim of supplies, but today they showed up.  Just in time for tomorrow.

People have asked me about this trip…what’s it for?  Who are you with?  What are you doing?  So here’s the quick down low.  Jesus put a passion for Swaziland in Josh Kelley’s heart in 2009.  It was quite wonderous to see because I had never even heard of Swaziland at that point.  Josh headed off to Swaziland with Children’s HopeChest and AIM in 2009 not knowing a soul, but he knew God wanted him on that trip.  A bit of time passed and we introduced our then church we were attending to Children’s HopeChest and the “community to community” partnership they help facilitate.  A care point is essentially a plot of land where local kids meet everyday to receive food, discipleship, love, and medical care.  You can read all about the details HERE.

We launched the carepoint Ngungwane in 2011 and began trying to get sponsorship for each of the profiled kiddos at the carepoint. Since then we’ve funded the fencing of the carepoint’s land, a bathroom, provided school shoes and built a solar powered well.  The one thing we could never get off the ground was a trip.  I’ve been trying to make my way to Swaziland to visit all the kids and the care point for over two years and every time I thought it might happen God shut a door, but not this year.  And I’m so very thankful.

So what am I doing?  It’s kind of crazy in the most best way ever.  I’m hanging out with kids all day.  I’m meeting families and the ladies in their community.  I’m getting to know them and I have the honor and sheer pleasure to love on them and let them love on me back.  I’m learning ways I can help come along side them.

Today I met a sweet go-go who is making her own necklaces to sell.  They are gorgeous.  I bought a ton and all my lady friends will be receiving one.  I might even be mailing one on over to Jessica, Noonday‘s founder, as well.  (insert a wink and a nod)

Today we did a cabbage distribution.  They have gardens they work and maintain and these gardens produce some serious crops…like the biggest cabbages I’ve ever seen.  Today each of the kids at Ngungwane received two cabbages to take home. It was incredible.

We blew lots of bubbles and painted fingernails…boys too if they wanted 🙂  I got my serious fingernail painting skillz on.

We took polaroid pictures of every child at the carepoint for them to keep…plus all the go-go’s pictures too.  Everyone loved them.  It was hilarious to look around and see a 100+ Swazis…men, woman and children…shaking their polaroid pictures while they developed.  It was definitely a highlight from the day.

We got to see first hand how the care point runs.  It was nice to finally be here…to see in person all the hard work which goes into this “community to community” partnership.  And to meet all the people who work so hard to make sure all these incredible kids have some of their needs met daily.

And we also did a home visit today.  AIM & CHC let their swazi staff decide whose homes we will be visiting based on need.  With each home visit we take a gift to thank the family for allowing us to come to their home…a huge bag of beans, a huge bag of corn and several other food and necessity items.  Today as we visited with the family I thought the oldest granddaughter looked a tad familiar, but thought there was no way out of all the kids that we would be visiting our 3 sponsor kids who are siblings and our pictures of them at home are almost 3 years old so I couldn’t be sure.  We met with the kids and their grandmother and prayed over them.  As we loaded into the van, I asked one of the Swazi staff about the children’s names and sure enough, it was indeed our sibling set of 3.  We were able to meet one of their cousins as well.  I felt like it was one of those moments ordained by God.

I’m learning more and more everyday I’m here.  What He has planned I do not know, but I know He’s moving.  Jesus is teaching me new things.  These children and people are to be revered.  They are absolutely fierce and beautiful and hard working and joyful and yet, I have so many questions for Jesus.  So many.

I will never understand child headed households and children with no parents and diseases, but what I do understand is one day heaven will be on Earth and God will make all things new and He will set things right.  Until then, He has commanded us to love.  He has commanded us to love Him and to love others.  So I’m going to do my best and let God guide my heart in the direction He’s leading.

Happy Monday from Swaziland.

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