Soni Bonani! (Hello!)   The move to Nsoko went really well. It is just over an hour drive from Manzini. We now live in a team house which I am liking a lot better than where we had been living. We have upgraded to having toilets and showers! Oh the things we take for granted haha.   I am really loving Nsoko and I could tell you some stories that have taken place at our new home but I want to tell you about a man we met on one of our last days in Manzini. We were sitting outside of the Pick N Pay grocery store waiting for the rest of out team to finish up when an older man walked...

    Looking into the eyes of Gods beloved child; clothes shredded and torn, malnourished enlarged belly, frowning face. I coudn’t take my eyes off of this little girl. She was God’s precious creation.     I have no idea the story behind this little 3 years old girl, but I do know as I held her for nearly 2 hours. Our eyes locked. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen or experienced. She looked deep into my eyes as if she knew me, as if she was my child.     At that moment, in that feeling was when I knew why God had placed me...

As I was emailing my mom and telling her about something awesome the Lord has been doing in my life, I realized that I should blog about it too! Good idea, yeah? At the beginning of this trip, I prayed this lyric for my life and journey in Africa: “Heal my heart and make it clean.Open up my eyes to the things unseen.Show me how to LOVE like You have loved me.Break my heart for what breaks Yours.Everything I am for Your Kingdom‘s cause.” -“Hosanna”, Hillsong United Every day, I’m realizing how the Lord is answering this prayer! He’s healing my heart...

    Simplicity.  A common theme for this trip.  On our short debrief in South Africa we had the privilege to stay at the Betor house which was absolutely beautiful and relaxing!  While we were there we had great internet connection and lots of movies, and I realized how often I was getting online to email, facebook, and and was continually doing some activity with the media.  It hit me that I had not spent any quiet time with God for awhile. On the homestead it was so much easier for me to focus on God because I was not distracted by the world.    I...

Today is our last day in Manzini which means that our trip is half done. My thoughts on that are mixed but overall it has been a really good month. We have learned new things about God, each other, and ourselves through our experiences up to this point. Looking back on these things makes me really excited for what God has planned for us in this next month although sometimes I do wish I could be in my comfortable bed, have a real shower, and not have to use a long drop everyday. Africa is definately beautiful but not very comfortable which is something to get used to! Keep praying that God...

I love children and little hands and little feet and babies and drooling babble, but most recently I’ve been learning more from the women who hold those little bundles than the jovial crawlers themselves. This weekend we worked at a retreat for the gogos (grandmothers) and magis (mothers) who cook for the children at the carepoints we visit daily. I have never seen such a clear picture of the Lord’s goodness and His ability to turn sorrow in to joy. Bright patterns, tattered dresses, tightly gathered head wraps, tired lids and down-turned lips blanket the multiple-child-bearing...