The apartment in Li'l Baghdad

Okay, for those of you who have seen the city of Maputo, in Mozambique, you know it looks rough. After the war it was kinda debated whose responsibility it was to take care of the outside of things. It's obvious that the inside of a building is the owners responsibility, but the outside...
As a result many people live in beautiful apartments with sketchy exteriors. It has also resulted in the affectionate nick-name "Little Baghdad." (but it's getting better.) Just had to explain that so you would understand where I was going with this.
So here is a summery of my trip in Moz. It's not quite the house that jack built, but...

These are the apartments in Lil' Baghdad.


This is the wonderful couple who hosted (tolerated) us in the apartment in Lil' Baghdad.




These are the friends who stayed with the couple who hosted us in the apartment in Lil' Baghdad.


This is the carepoint, visited by the friends who stayed with the couple who hosted us in the apartment in Lil' Baghdad.


And this is me. Very happy and rested at the beach, after visiting the carepoint, with the friends who stayed with the couple, who hosted us, in the apartment in Lil' Baghdad.

I'm outta here!

Okay guys. The past few weeks have been torture. I've had stress like I've never experienced before. But things are getting better everyday, and in 5 hours, I'm leaving the office and I will spend all of next week in Mocambique, here, on the beautiful beaches of Xai-Xai.
The cellphone will be off. The coffee will be brewing. The sun will be shining. The lobsters will be boiling. And my sanity will begin to return.
Please pray for safe travel, peace of mind, and don't expect to hear from me again until September!

My dirty Panties

I can't believe I forgot to tell you this story!
When we had the Christmas in July party we played the infamous White Elephant game.
I got first pick of presents. I was secretly so happy because I knew someone would inevitably steal my prize (whatever it was) and then I would get to pick another and another. My whole evening would be unwrapping presents, and really that's the fun of the game.
So I picked a big, shiny present, with a big bow. I was so happy!
I unwrapped it to find... underwear.
Yes, they were white cotton panties, folded nicely.
Ok. whatever. I guess you can't go wrong with panties. right?
But as I started to pick them up and unfold them to show the crowd I noticed a whole lotta brown.
WHAT??????!!!!!!I almost freaked out, until I realized it was actually chocolate melted into them, and not, well, you know.

Needless to say no one wanted to steal them from me. So I sat trying to promote them so I could have them stolen and then choose another, any other, gift.
I tried to model them.
No use.
I tried to promote them as "edible underwear."
No use.
Finally, the last gift of the night, a guy stole them.
I think he was just having mercy on me.
I ended up with a bottle of perfume.
Much better.

Holy Crap! That's it! I'm leaving Africa!!!!!!!

These photos have not been altered in any way! This is not a tarantula photoshoped in to a picture. This is the real deal!!!!!!!!!
EEEEEEK!
I sprayed and sprayed him until he plopped down with a thump. Then he creepy-crawled through my birthday cards, hairy legs reaching around the corners in a macabe death hug.
Now he is curled up on my floor. I'm too affraid to pick him up.
I want my mommy.

Me

Pepe update

Some of you know Pepe. She's kinda the unofficial poster child of Children's cup. A few months ago she had a bad spell and was in the hospital for quite a while.
To be honest, I didn't think she would make it.
But miraculously she did.
So Saturday, while at the orphanage I was wondering, "Where's Pepe?" as I searched the sea of faces.
I passed right over her. I didn't even recognize her!
When I saw her last at the Mbabance Clinic she was so so thin, just like a skeleton. She was weak, and frail, and feeling miserable. On saturday I saw a whole new child!!! She's getting fat! And she spent the day laughing, playing,and helping up in the garden. I couldn't beleive what a change has taken place in this child!
Praise God for his mercy.
(and I have to give proper credit to Sandra who stayed with her in the clinic the entire time she was there. That woman has compassion that I can't imagine having. I guess that's just the momma in her.)

Servelution

Healing Place Church, Swaziland participated in Servelution this past weekend. The children of the church went to a local orphanage. We cleaned the yard, gardened, and did some washing. What simple acts of love! (The children told Make Kate later, "we didn't know white people could work like us!" Too funny!) But simple acts of love go such a long way, whether it's helping with chores or carrying a little one who is too tired to walk any further. All of the things we do can show Christ's love to others. As mother Teresea said, it's not about the size of the task, but how much love you put into it.

Huh?

Does this make sense to you?
I took the team to King pie and our order included 17 pies. There was only one chicken pie.
“I have 12 more in the back.” The man at the counter said.
“Great.” said the pastor. “I’ll take those 12, and then that one makes 13….”
“No, I can’t sell you that one.”
“Why not?”
“Well, what is someone else comes in and wants a chicken pie?”
I don’t get it.
But is wasn’t just at King Pie. The pastor tried to buy several purses for his wife, sister, and mother. But he was only allowed to buy 2, because they were trying to save up their inventory for a trade show this weekend.
So, I guess the idea is to pass up a definite sale today for the possibility of a sale in the future.

In addition...

When the team wasn't busy painting, they did gardening, and also hosted a "chicken day" for the Moneni carepoint.Yep, 20 chickens were delivered via kombi to the children's delight. They each wanted to hold one and pose for pictures. You know they didn't really seem to mind that we slaughtered them.
So that's me, plucking feathers.

Before During and After!

Take a look at these pics!
You know I've always thought the classrooms at Moneni were so ugly! Sorry, but pumpkin just isn't an appealing color.
So the team came (see preivous post) and painted them as a project! What a transformation! Now the classes are so beautiful!
Look how great it is!
Thanks guys, for all of your hard work.

“As if my day wasn’t bad enough,” Sandra said. “ I pulled into the gate to find 3 big dogs in my yard and a pile of chicken feathers,- no Victoria.”
Shame. She loves that dumb chicken.
Ring ring
“Never mind. She’s in your yard. I don’t know how she got through the electric fencing, but she’s there. Take Bethany home with you and she will bring her back.”
And so that’s what I did. I took Bethany home with me to rescue a pet chicken that had flown to coop to escape 3 big dogs that had mysteriously gotten into the yard.
Only in Africa.

That said...

I'm just gonna disappear from cyber-things for a bit. As you can see I'm just under a lot of stress and emotions right now.
So I'll be out of touch for a while. No worries, I just need some quiet time.
I'll be back.

My teacher Lungile has passed away.
It’s so strange for me to think of her not being in my Thursday meetings, or at the carepoint.
I considered her a friend.
I remember once last year when I dropped her and her son off near their home. “Thank you Christy,” She said to me, “You are such a blessing to us.”
I’ve given lots of rides to people, but it was like Lungile to be thankful.
She had been so afraid to ask me for some time off of work when the doctor said she must rest. I reassured her that she had been working for us faithfully for almost a year, and we would gladly give her the time she needed to rest. I drove her to her family’s homestead that day with a love offering of soups, juices, and fruits.
“You know I see now that Children’s Cup, they care. They really care.”
That was the last time I saw her as herself. The two times I’d visited her this week in the hospital, she didn’t recognize me. Her mind had started to go. She was confused.
But I remember her as she really was.
Good-bye my friend. May you rest in Peace.

New Shoes

Children's Cup was recently given a donation to purchase several thousand pairs of new shoes. My carepoint was one of the luck reciprocates.
Now this was quite to ordeal to pull off, and it took a lot of team work. We (and by "we" I mean Children's Cup, not just me) first had to measure each child to get their correct shoe size. Then we had to buy all of the shoes in South Africa, then we had to distribute them all to the correct child are the correct carepoint.
But after months of working on this project, you can finally see the beautiful blessing given to these children. And just in time for the winter months too!
Many of these children go barefoot, and those who have "shoes" usually have flip flops (no good for winter weather)are wearing hand me downs that are either too big, or too small, or have them so worn out they are hole-y, blown out, or broken in places.
It really is pitiful.
But now each of these children have pair of brand new, perfect-for-them shoes. Look at their faces!

Do unto others...

When Jesus said it, we called it the golden rule.
Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.
Yesterday I saw it in action.
Teacher Lungile has been sick for almost a month. First they said it was pneumonia, now they know it's TB. She's been hospitalized this week.
At the teacher's meeting yesterday I told the group, "I'm going to visit and pray for Lungile today. If any of you would like to come you're welcome. Then I will just drop you where you want to go afterwards."
During our potty break Sindi came to me. "Christy, we all want to go. So we must take a kumbi. We won't all fit in your truck."
It was just that matter of fact.
So after break I went to RFM hospital with 13 teachers, 2 MOM reps, a driver, and ironically, Lungile's sister who I met along the way.
We poured into the women's ward single file while the other patients looked with wide-eyed confusion. And we chatted with her briefly, giving words of encouragement, a prayer and a song. As we filed out, (just as noticeably,) I saw a few teachers slip a few coins into her sister's hand.
It was a side of some of my teachers I haven't seen before, but hopefully it won't be the last time.
Sickness and hospitalizations is a way of life here. It would have been possible for them to ignore her, or say, "shame too bad." But they took time out of their day, when they could have been going home.
I hope she was encouraged and knows that she is loved.
She is our family.