Swaziland

April 16, 2006

After a 12 hour flight, we finally arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa. Now we are on the road headed to Bulembu, Swaziland. It's about a 6 hour trip. Driving through S. Africa toward Swaziland wasn't too different from driving in Texas (Denton to Amarillo) at first. Pretty flat and dry and nothing much to look at. After a few hours, though, the scenery has changed dramatically and suddenly there are more hills and thousands of trees clulmped together. Very foresty and beautiful. And I can feel the desire to be here increasing inside of me and though we are still many miles from our destination, I know that I want to be here, and not just for a week. My excitement at the thought of serving here for several months is welling up inside. One word can describe me: EAGER!....

(A bit later during the drive...)
We just passed the first homes I've seen. I don't know how to articulate the feelings evoked inside of me as I stare at these completely simplistic, primitive, bare bones structures that serve as homes. Humbling, and yet, strangely appealing. I love the simplicity and the lack of materialism here-which I myself can get so caught up in back home. And there are African people around-near the houses, the stores, on the roadside hoping for a ride, just sort of standing around in various places...and I feel a sense of love for them. I am drawn to them. I always have been. Some cows just crossed the road in front of our vehicles and gave us a brief traffic jam :-) And the land here in Swaziland is BEAUTIFUL. There are these ginormous hills and mountains that just end and drop off suddenly...with crazy deep drop offs. I can't really describe it, but it's awesome. THIS IS AFRICA!
Looking at the African children and gazing out across the vast land, I feel a strange sense of belonging.

April 19, 2006

It's already Wednesday and in an hour we'll be leaving Bulembu. I meant to write, but I was always so tired by bedtime-so never did. It's been an awesome 3 days here. I've had loads of interesting feelings and thoughts knowing that I will be returning in a few months.
So Sunday night after we arrived-several kids/teens/adults did some African singing and dancing for our group, which I loved! I have always enjoyed African music (the bits I have heard) and their unique dancing style. It was really cool to finally see in person.
Monday we worked hard shoveling loads of cow dung and cleaning out Lee-Ann's future care center. (Lee-Ann is our missionary in Swaziland) When we had arrived at the care center that morning, it was occupied by 2 cows, which we chased out. You can imagine the beginning condition of the place. In the afternoon that day, some of us went to visit ABC ministries (Abandoned Babies for Christ) which was truly awesome. It's sort of an orphanage, but really more like a huge foster family. An older South African couple started ABC about 12ish years ago I believe, and they currently have around 25 children. They have little babies up to 14 year olds right now. We spent a lot of time holding and kissing babies! I met a nice woman in her 20's called Danelle. She is from California and she shared her incredible testimony with me. She was lovely and my heart was warmed by listening to her share about the life that God brought her out of-she is a perfect example of 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Remarkable. Anyway, hearing the stories of the children there was heart wrenching. One was buried alive straight after birth, one abandoned in a long drop latrine (outdoor toilet), one was abused by his father and grandfather and was lowered into a pot of boiling water, one could not walk and was prayed over and healed, praise the Lord, and walked into the doctor's office later, to the doctor's amazement. Every child there is a living miracle and proof of a God that is love.
Monday night we had dinner with many of the "Valley of Hope" missionaries, who shared about their ministries and how God is at work in Bulembu. I loved it. I met a teacher, Megan, and her husband Carl-from Florida. They moved over in January and will be in Bulembu for 5 years. Megan is like me in that she finished her student teaching, but did not teach in her own classroom before moving away...and now she is teaching in Bulembu. No curriculum and hardly any resources, but children that are eager to learn.
Tuesday I went to visit the school and Megan's classroom in particular. It was simple and really cool. The only materials they have are what comes in on the containers a couple times a year, and anything they decide to purchase with their own money. I love Bulembu! It's incredibly beautiful and peaceful. It's this lush valley nestled between mountains and loads of trees...and there's no telephone or internet connections, so not a lot of distractions. No streetlights either :-( I think it would be great to live here because you can focus on what's important, like relationships. Relationships with God and people...while not being caught up in any kind of superficialism. Of course there are plenty of downsides as well, like the fact that the electricity goes out randomly for 2 or 3 days at a time or that you may wake up and not have running water some days...things like this that you don't normally face in America. There's no grocery store in Bulembu either. But you deal with these things and it's no big deal. Oh, and today I saw 4 or 5 monkeys in the wild, just in the road a couple of houses down from Lee-Ann's. That was awesome! Tomorrow we are going on a safari!

April 20, 2006

Oh my goodness-today had to be one of the more amazing days of my life. An actual African safari. Amazing. What an experience. Not exactly what one might expect, but nevertheless, really cool. We rode around in these Indiana Jones vehicles that could probably tread through just about anything. If you've ever ridden the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, you know what I'm talking about. And basically we drove around on a dirt path throughout the game park. You don't just jet out into the wilderness as one might expect, you do stay to the path. This particular park was around 20,000 acres. We saw impala, sable antelope, another type of antelope, warthogs, wildebeests, hippos, zebras, rhinos, giraffes, elephants, oxpeckers...I think that's about it. We saw some so close I could hardly believe it. The only time we left the vehicle was to walk out closer to a mother and baby white rhino. We were able to get to about 20 feet from them. It was awesome. I got some amazing pictures, but they are on Lee-Ann's camera that I borrowed because mine died-so I don't have them yet. Later when we went for lunch-some rhinos came right up next to the jeep-but it was after we were out. Still, they didn't seem too bothered by the humans. The animals in general were smaller than I thought they would be-especially the elephants. I'm sure the ones I've seen at the circus are much bigger :-) The entire thing, including lunch, lasted aroune 6 hours and only costs around £30. Oh yeah, and for lunch we ate some impala! Anyway, it was pretty exhilarating being so close to such beautiful and interesting creatures in the wild. Definitely one of the neatest experiences I have ever had. I have a few pictures online of Bulembu, so click here if you want to see them.