This is how I choose to remember my dad

These were taken in Hawaii last summer before I left for Africa.
These were the last times I spent with my dad.
This is how I will choose to remember him
Happy, carefree, living life and loving life.
My dad never liked to travel, or spend money. But for his baby girl he pulled out all the stops. As you can tell he was having the time of his life on that cruise, and I will always be grateful that such an amazing gift.
I see now the gift was not in the trip itself, but in those wonderful memories I now have with my dad.

out of town

Dad passed away early sunday morning.
I got to say my goodbye over the phone and I have peace that he is with the lord.
I arrived in the us today until...?
The blog might be limited for a while

It's working Part II

"Your new hair looks nice."
"Ah Christy, You always say that." She said smiling bashfully. "You are the only one. No one else ever tells me I look nice. But you always say, 'Oh your shoes, oh your hair.'"
"What?!!!! You're husband never tells you?"
"Oh yes, my husband, and my children do. They say 'Oh mommy, you look so beautiful.' But no one else. Only you."

It's working!

"Come Auntie. Come and dish."
"I will. But the teachers have been working so hard. I will wait until they dish first."
"...that's what you do Christy." Teacher Lindiwe said. "You always let others go first. But that's not how blacks do it. They will always put themselves first,- even in front of children. They want to be first."
In education we would call this a "teachable moment."
"It's not because I'm white that I do this Lindiwe. I do it because Jesus says we must prefer others. We consider them and not just demand for ourselves. And I need to be a servant of those I lead. And to be honest, what harm does it do if I don't go first? Look how much food we have. We'll never run out, and I won't go hungry. So what difference does it make if I go after my teachers?"
She pondered that for a while.
Leading by example take a lot more time than lecturing, but the lessons will be well learned.

Fish bite when you got good bait!

I was driving up the Malagwane Hill today. Another truck pulled along side of me, and I noticed the passenger motioning to me out the window.
Was he flagging me to allow him to get over?
Nope.
He was tapping his ring finger.
Yes, he was wanting me to marry him.
Too funny! I didn't realize I was that irresistible.

I don't even want to hear it

I'm hearing a lot of waa-waa on the online news about the US economy and the gas prices.
Nope. I'm not even listening.
Want to do a little math with me?
okay, currently in Swaziland we pay $9.60Rand for a liter of petrol. Times that by 4 to make a gallon, that...$38.4Rand for one gallon.
Well how much is that you ask?
Today the dollar is at 7.8 for exchange into Rand, so divide $38.4R by 7.8 to find the us dollar price... and viola! our gas prices.
Don't beleive me? Try your own calculator. You'll find we are paying $4.92 US dollars for one gallon of Gas.
I better not hear you whining again.

I've found Jesus!

Yes, he was at the guys house...on a Giraffe.
I resucued him.... but not before they braided his hair.
He is now resting comfortably at the girls house (where I accidently left him)

For my team!

These pics won't make sence to the rest of you, but they will for the team coming from newhope church, my church, in June!
I'm so excited to see all of you,- Joey, Molly, Jennifer, Marissa, Sarah, and Tenea

Have you seen this man?

MISSING!!!!
Name: Jesus
Appoximately 18 inches tall
Brown hair
Brown eyes
Last seen at the guys' house riding a giraffe.

Inspired

Jordan, our interning missionary, is an amazing photographer. And looking over his pictures the other day made me want to go out and shoot some of my own. Some of you remember I use to do old-school photography. You know the kind with film and darkrooms, with stinky chemicals?
Well I shot these yesterday in Maphaveni, and then relived my darkroom days with a computer. You know editing just isn't as fun (albeit cheaper)without the smell, and the revolving door. Perhaps it was the high from the fumes that produced my creativity. But anyway, here are a few that I pulled out of my hat.

Why Children's Cup does what it does

Picking up hitch-hikers

I was driving to our Makholweni carepoint when I saw two children in our school uniforms.
They recognized my truck and immediately started flagging for a ride. I stopped and they excitedly climbed in.
“Goud morning Aun-tie!”
“Good morning. Are you on your way to school?”
“Yeas”
“You are late today. You should be there by now.”
They both got a fearful look.
“Are you late often?”
“Yeas… we done haf a woll watch.” (That’s a clock for the rest of us)
“You don’t have a wall watch? Then how do you know when to come to school?”
“We jees come!”
“Oh I see. What will teacher Zandile say when you come late?”
“She jees greet us. Then, we get de puneeshment.”
“Oh shame.” I was worried by the way they looked so worried. “What is the punishment for coming late?”
“We haf to peek up all de rubbish een de carepoint.”
How funny! Yes that would be torture to a child, picking up trash instead of playing. No wonder Makholweni has been looking so clean.
Ps- we made it there right at 8am, so the children did not have ‘de puneeshment’

Do you dunk or sprinkle?

I was doing an evaluation at Ka Khoza for teacher Ntombie when her baby, Blessings, started to cry. (In Swaziland, every day is bring-your-child-to-work-day.)
“Oh I’ll take him” I said, thinking Ntombie could keep teaching, and the older children wouldn’t have to hold him and work at the same time.
So I’m holding this beautiful baby, and got him quieted down, when I felt something warm on my leg. (I’m guessing he was feeling something warm on his leg as well.)
Yes, I was blessed by Blessings… by sprinkling.

Yea!

Our latest group of graduates is doing great!
Teachers at the government schools are taking notice.
“What school did you come from? “ They ask. “I want to see this school”
But it was Bobo that made me smile. He was in second grade, and acing his tests. 95%, 100%, 95%, 100%
His mother came with him to the carepoint the other day.
His latest test was 98%. She says they are moving him up to 3rd grade.
Awesome! My teachers must be doing something right!

Ketizwe

Khetizwe hadn’t been himself lately. He’d been coming to the carepoint looking tired, and worn.
“He’s just tired” One boy would say.
“Oh he’s sick today” another would say.
But I could tell it was more than that. He looked burdened.
Then Make Sukati told me what she knew.
“His house has fallen down. His mother is mentally disturbed. She’s nowhere to be found. So now he’s staying with his gogo.”
“What do you mean his house ‘fell down?’”
“During those rains. [Cyclone Jukwe] it made his house fall down. I’ve talked to Red Cross, and Unicef, but they can’t help. Can Children’s Cup help him?”
I wanted to see it for myself.
All I found there was the type of play fort children make in their living rooms. It was a few sheets of roofing metal, leaning against one another, held together by a blanket. Even though Make said he was staying with his gogo, it appeared that he was still trying to stay there.
Yes, we will help.
Make and I told him that we would set a date and the other teenage boys can come and help as well. “Start collecting sticks, and rocks there.” Make told him
His shoulders lifted, he lowered his eyes respectfully, and a small smile came to his face,- the first I’ve seen in weeks. “Thank you” he whispered.
So please pray for us on the 21st, 22nd, 23rd of April as we conquer that task of building a house for this teenage boy.
I’ll keep you updated.

Only in Africa part 1

African headlines this morning:
Racing car smashes shack!

Bus runs over 5 cows

Zinty's response was "Oh shame. I hope it wasn't the King's cows."

That is so Africa.

Only in Africa part 2

I spent the afternoon with Natalie on Saturday. We’d come home from camp and I noticed she propped the door open to let the fresh air in, but didn’t close the burglar door.
Oh, no big deal. They have a gate, so no one could just walk in.
So there we sit drinking peach refresh and I hear this noise. I can only describe it as a mewling.
“Is that a cat?” I asked
“Oh no! The chicken got in!” she shouted.
She was right. Patrick’s pet chicken, Victoria, wondered right into the dining room.
Natalie quickly grabbed the mop and started guiding her out, mewling all the way.
That is so weird.
Only in Africa would your neighbor have a pet chicken…
A pet chicken named Victoria…
That mewls and wonders into your house.

For you grammer fanantics

I was having lunch at a restaurant the other day.
"Can I have a filtered coffee?"
The waitress hesitated.
"Umm.....I dunno. Let me check."
She came back happy. "yes. you can."
I was happy too.
"Can I have the hamburger?"
Same look. "Umm... I dunno. Let me check."
What is up with this place? Do they always run out of stuff? Why is she having to check if they have coffee and hamburgers?
Then it hit me.
I should have asked, "May I have..." not "Can I have..."

Job security

Yesterday I was walking out of the office and a little old lady was passing on the other side. She took a big wad of paper out of her pocket and threw it on the ground.
Grrrrrr.
I hate that! I almost shouted at her to pick it up, and then said,
Oh forget it! I’ve got enough to deal with today. I don’t need to lecture an adult.
I went and put petrol into my car and when I returned I saw her again.
She’s the lady that is paid to pick up trash around our office complex.
Perhaps she’s just after job security.

talking trash

At camp this weekend, the children played the trash pick up game. Each team had a bag and ran about picking up litter.
Whoever gathers the most wins.
It was so funny. It was like an African Easter egg hunt. All, the children running to and fro like a scurry of ants, looking around, all darting for the same wrapper.
One would raise up triumphantly with a cheer, and the others would disregard him and run in another direction.
The sad part was, these children are so use to living among trash and rubbish in their communities and homesteads, that many of the little ones had a hard time determining what “trash” was.
They knew sweet wrappers, and sucker sticks were trash because Lad has told them so. But chicken bones? Mealie cobs? Broken things?
I tried to help one boy when I spotted a piece of trash. “Here’s one. Quick ,get it!”
He ran to where I was pointed and stopped.
“what?”
“That. That there.”
He looked at me confused. Then I guess he decided to take my word for it. He shrugged, picked it up and ran off again.
I guess we should have told the children that anything that is not dirt, a rock, a stick, or grass is rubbish and belongs in the bag, not the ground.

My fruit basket is overflowing!

I've been in Swaziland 9 months today!
9 months! whoa!
I've been through some second-guessing phases, that I guess everyone goes through.
Am I making a difference?
I've done a lot... but is that something that no one else could have done? I mean, do I make a difference? Is there something i'm accomplishing in the lives of the swazi that has a distinct Christy flavor?
Everyone says it takes time, so I've tried to be patient...
And then it happened! These past 7 days have been an amazing experience for me to see some fruits of my labor. A whole bunch of fruit! yea.
I won't put it all here, but I've been so blessed by my teachers and lots and lots and lots of children here.
I am making a difference, by God's grace.

In case you don't get my partner letter...

This is what I've been thinking about the past few days...

Joshua 1:10 Joshua then commanded the leaders of Israel, “Go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan and take possession of the land the LORD your God has given you.”

So after all the years in the desert, it was finally happening. God had promised, and now the leader Joshua said it was finally gonna happen!
But there seemed to be an obstacle.
The Jordan River. (You realize if you were a generation born and raised in the desert, you wouldn’t be a real strong swimmer.)
The ark was sent before them because they had never traveled that way before. So they were literally following God.
When they arrive at the river, things are worse than they thought! Because of harvest season, the banks were overflowing! (3:15)
But Joshua heard from that LORD, “the priests will be carrying the Ark of the LORD…when their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will pile up there in one heap…” (3:13.)
So I can imagine the men getting excited.
“Yeah, I know what is gonna happen. This is like when Moses led our grandparents out of Egypt. My grandpa use to tell me all about it. Moses held up his staff and then the waters all parted and everyone walked across on dry land. So if Joshua says the Lord is commanding this, let’s do it! It’s gonna be an awesome sight to see!”
And so the priests start across.
Splash………splash splash…….splash splashsplash……..nothing.
Not a thing. They looked around, but the water was still flowing around their feet, then their knees, then their waste. Then they stood still waiting…nothing.
I can imagine what they were thinking now.
“What the heck? Man, where is this great miracle? Oh, I bet that Joshua was wrong! Nothing is happening!”
But they were wrong. The bible says, “But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water began piling up at a town upstream called Adam.” (3:13)
Adam was a town 7 miles away.
So it happened exactly as God said it would, but not as the men understood. “And the water below that point flowed to the Dead Sea until the river bed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the city of Jericho.” (3:16)
Sometimes God sets wheels in motion, but it takes a long time for the results to reach us.
That’s how I’ve been feeling about some things over here. God spoke some things to be in January that I believe to be true. And now I’m taking the steps of faith forward…but I see no evidence around me. Nothing seems to be happening.
But I’m encouraged that God is always true to his word.

strike while the iron's hot!

Pictures are suddenly uploading like a breeze!!!! SO now I'm just posting random photos for you to look at!

Michael, shelly and me at the Game park

me and Kay at Forester Arms

Me, cati, and Bonkhosi at the carepoint

Jesus Spotted in Swaziland

Look! There he is in Maphaveni...
He was kind enough to pose for pictures with the children (you know how much he loves them anyway.) as well as me and Jordan.(and no, we're not, so don't even ask.)