Swaziland is beautiful. The longer that we stay here the more I see: rolling hills covered in green; mountains that stretch to the sky; the lightning that illuminates the dark sky in storms; the sunsets that paints the sky in pinks and oranges; the flowers and trees of all shapes and kinds. Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. God’s very creation proclaims His power and divinity. When we look at the...

Philisiwe Mhlanga is a mother of two, her husband died in 2003. She’s been a patient at the HOPE house for exactly a year. Every Monday and Friday, Ryan and I visit her, and every single time he brings her a flower.  Because of the injections she receives, one of the side affects is difficulty hearing.  We still spend time reading the Bible and praying for her every single time anyways. This past Friday, Ryan, Behki and I went to spend the afternoon with her. She told us that she was supposed to be released to go back home back in February, but TB has destroyed her lungs...

This week I’ve done a large variety of things. Let’s see…I’ve led a womens devotion, prayed over people in the hospital (met a woman who tried to commit suicide), butchered a chicken, led a high school devotion, befriended a soccer field of teens, saw my friend from Minnesota in Swaziland, and babysat a random 2 year old. Writing one specific story this has been kind of a challenge to decide on- so I’m picking two stories. First of all (the more serious one), the womens devotion I did was with the ladies at Timbali crafts. We discussed a couple of...

“Those who do not weep, do not see.” -Les Miserables            There are some things in Swaziland I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing. A few weeks ago a few of us on our team went for a walk. Across from the general store is a saloon/salon (tell me how that works…). As we were walking up to the general store we saw a group of men who were obviously drunk and were making a scene. As we were standing there looking at the men outside of the saloon, out walks Thaban. Keep in mind that Thaban is five years old and...

3-2-10 I had been praying since the day I met Notando [my 2/16 blog “He knows her name”] that God would raise up a family (much like my good friends the Troyers) that would be obedient to God’s plan and be used by Him to be an answer to prayer. Someone to adopt this precious little girl. To change the course of her life. The first day I prayed for her I knew that God still had a plan for her life and that abandonment was only a temporary earthly thing. That her heavenly Father loved her greatly and had much much bigger plans for her life than abandonment. Her story was not...

I’ve been going to the hospital every Tuesday and Thursday still. 🙂 Every time I quickly rush to the same corner of the children’s ward to see Philile and Hawida. Philile will give me a squench (squeeze, yes) that ignites my heart for hers. Every time. I have been so blessed in getting to know Philile. Continually I find drastic differences between the life of a 20 year old in Swaziland and in America. When I try to put myself in her shoes, even my imagination comes up short. Philile tells me that I’m usually the only one who visits her, but she’s told her...