Learning Stuff

My wife and her four skirted traveling sisters are on their way home... or soon will be. 6 AM in Manzini, and so they're about ready to start their last day and their long weary flight westward.

I've learned a lot this last week-and-a-half. I've learned that....

• Laundry does not fold itself. In fact, folding seems to be a full time job.
• It's best to be compassionate when your daughter is crying about missing her mother. "Buck up pilgrim" doesn't go over well. 
• It's hard when one of us is gone. I'm usually the one gone, so I don't usually notice.
• I really miss Mhlosheni.

This caused me to think about "learning" in other contexts, too.

Lot's of people  have asked me "What is she doing there?" I find it hard to explain, because it's not what people seem to expect. I usually start with what we're NOT doing. We're not building houses... we're not building roads.... we're not teaching children... or making converts...

What I come back to again and again is that we're learning.

We're learning how to be hands and feet from friends who are really good at it. We're learning how to be love without putting conditions on love... and how to be receive love with grace and thanks. We're learning how to let a small neglected group of far-away people know that what happens to them --  whether they live or die, eat or starve, thrive or fade away -- matters to us.

I'm convinced that the best gift we receive from Side By Side and from our friends, children and family in Mhlosheni is what they teach us. The ADP staff, the community development workers, the children and their parents are our teachers in what seem to be lifelong classes in faith and grace. 

I can't wait for Joie to get home so we can compare notes.

38 hours or so away.

PS: Georgia says: I love you like a love song mommy;)- Baby Buttercup

Day Five in Mhlosheni

We started our day with ladies and gentlemen of the Jerusalem ASCA project.
They shared about their works and their plans to improve upon their variety
of products.

Next we drove to a community managed environmental project. There we
learned how they are planting and harvesting crops and preventing soil
erosion.

We then met with 8 Homebased Care givers and they shared their gratitude
for World Vision's involvement and training to help them take care of
patients with HIV/Aids.

It was also a day of 'goodbyes'. Goodbyes to grilled tomato and cheese
sandwiches, apple/grapetizers, off-roading in not-exactly all terrain
vehicles and most importantly, goodbyes to good friends. For a few, they
were old friends, for the others they were new friends. We are even more
securely anchored to the people of Mhlosheni and the amazing ADP staff - it
is truly an extension of home and we remain standing 'Side by Side'.

(Posted by Joie)

Finally, a photo!

Here we are in the ADP...the sisterhood of the traveling skirts. Just
wanted to send proof that we are doing very well!

5000 more miles to go

Landed in Amsterdam!! Sent from Joie's iPhone

Lunch at the ADP

Enjoying photo books from previous groups as we have our last lunch at
the ADP. Bonginkosi & Melusi...

Day Four in Mhlosheni

Sunday = The Lord's day
This morning started out a little different then what we previously
planned. It was cloudy and cool all day with a temperture around the high
50s...sure felt like home. Because of the number of visits and the limited
hours of daylight in the Swaziland winter season, both Erin and Shannon had
to make their last child visits this morning before church.

We all arrived at the evangelical mission church and were greeted by many
friendly faces and heard beautiful soulful singing as we walked up the
steps toward the sanctuary... after singing Erin shared with the
congregation how much we as Columbia Ridge loved and prayed for their
community. Each of us was asked to stand up and introduce ourselves as a
child of God. That was one of my highlights. After a great message from Dr.
Mamba, the team met with the pastors and elders of the church and we prayed
over the struggles in the community and that the church would like to help
with. We all specifically prayed for you too church!

We then went back to our car to find that we had our another flat tire.
(Second one this trip) I am not going to say it was no inconvienience
because we had plans to go see a chronically ill paitient. However, God had
a different plan that we may not totally understand. We ended up cancelling
our visit, and Bongi had to drive all the way to Mbabane after lunch with a
flat tire.

My theory is this....our days have been so jam packed with visits, playing
with kids, learning about new projects, etc. I think God allowed for us
today to have a true Sabbath day, a day to rest and reflect. How many days
can you honestly say that you have time to sit, meditate, read share
without any distractions or tasks that need to be done? When do you have
time to stop and listen to what God has to tell you? I fully believe this
Sabbath was a gift from God and I know each of us benefited by journaling,
reading and even catching some zzz's.

And now we are eagerly waiting for what is to come tomorrow for what looks
like a very full day.

(Posted by Esther)

Day Three in Mhlosheni

We all were blessed today by the experience of meeting our sponsored
child/children. They have all been blessed by sponsorship and world vision
in some aspect of their living quality. They all showed gratitude and
thankfulness for Columbia Ridge CC,thank you for all your giving. The bags
with the bibles, hats and frisbees were dispersed with our visits. Their
smiles were priceless and so appreciated. Totally worth hauling an extra
piece of luggage all the way through customs to Mhlosheni and over the
rough rocky terrains to their homesteads. We look forward to sharing with
you more in detail when we return. Continue praying for your sponsored
child and their families. We miss you all! God bless you.

(Posted by Tracy)

Day Two in Mhlosheni

Day two we went to a water project. To my surprise, the recipient was
Pastor Sheba's community. The last team will remember him. We got our
excercise pumping the new borehole pump. Then we took a walk to where they
gathered water before the well, balancing on a tree branch to dip their
buckets. They are overjoyed to have clean water so easily available.

Next we drove to another water project in progress. This community has a
natural spring where the water will be piped to reservoirs and then piped
to water points along the road. Before that can happen, people of the
coomunity are clearing land and fenching the spring site to protect it from
animals.

In the afternoon we visited a household of vulnerable children. The mother
has been recently widowed and has 9 children. We sat and visited with them.
We had enough time to engage in conversation, learning more about the
children's dreams. It was a full day!

(Posted by Shannon)

Day One in Mhlosheni

We were warmly greeted by the World Vision staff at the Mhlosheni Area
Development Program (ADP) office. We shared a time of devotions,
orientation, and talking with our sponsored children's Community
Development Workers (CDWs, formerly called Sponsorship Promoters or SPs).

Then we traveled to a Hope Center, which is like a preschool. However, as
today was a holiday (Ascension Day), there were LOTS of extra kids there!
They greeted us with beautiful songs and recitations of the Lord's Prayer,
their ABCs, and counting to 100! Then we played with them outside (soccer,
jump rope, and some other traditional Swazi games including a
tag/duck-duck-goose combo). This was a highlight for us all.

In the afternoon, we went to a dairy project which also ended up being
quite a farm with chickens, geese, turkeys, goats, pigs, and even rabbits
(as well as lots of produce)! The man described it as a "miracle" how World
Vision helped them fulfill their dream of having a dairy. Some of his milk
goes to the orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). His wife served us a
full meal of meat and vegetables from their farm. It was amazing!

Tonight we assembled and labeled our gift bags for the sponsored children.
We are excited to present them tomorrow. Thank you for your part in them,
as well as for your prayers!
(Posted by Erin)

An African Canticle

All you big things, bless the Lord.
Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria,
The Rift Valley and the Serengeti Plain,
Fat baobabs and shady mango trees,
All eucalyptus and tamarind trees,
Bless the Lord.
Praise and extol Him for ever and ever.

All you tiny things, bless the Lord.
Busy black ants and hopping fleas,
Wriggling tadpoles and mosquito larvae,
Flying locusts and water drops,
Pollen dust and tsetse flies,
Millet seeds and dried dagaa,
Bless the Lord.
Praise and extol Him for ever and ever. 
                   - Traditional African Canticle 

As we fall asleep tonight, five women from Columbia Ridge rise to an African sun and together will walk the red and dusty roads of Mhlosheni for the first time. Pray that they would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to enter into today's song to the Lord.

Though this chorus of praise has been rising to the Lord for millennia, they as a group become part of it for the first time. In so doing, they join not only the big and tiny things of the continent, but also the young, the old, the poor, the healthy, the sick, the abandoned, the troubled, and the joyful of Mhlosheni, Swaziland in today's expression of that ancient hymn.

Today... as Tracy, Esther, Joie, Shannon, and Erin meet the faithful staff at the Mhlosheni development project, they become part of an African Canticle, "sung" with the smiles and embraces of once far apart, but now very near, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Today... as these women meet the hungry children being fed at a Hope Center (which the people of Columbia Ridge helped support), they become part of an African Canticle of thanksgiving for a simple meal.

Today... as they visit a farmer tending to dairy cows in order to give away life-sustaining milk to those most in need, they become witness to an African Canticle of praise, offered in action and motivated by faith, hope, and love.

Today as they walk the red and dusty roads of Mhlosheni for the first time together, they are part of an African Canticle of praise.

Pray that they might play their part well!  

(praise in a church service
our '07 team participated in) 

We are in Swaziland!

Just a quick post to let everyone know we made it safely into Swaziland
today! We are striving to be in the moment and soak in everything God has
in store for us. Thank you for your prayers, both for the Go Team, as well
as the people of Mhlosheni. Siyabonga!

We've arrived in South Africa!

After many, many hours of flight we have finally arrived on African soil and are settling in for our first night's stay. Our base tonight is in Johannesburg and from there we head onward, early tomorrow morning. As we draw nearer to Mhlosheni, please pray that the words of Paul might become the reality we all enter into: When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. Romans 1:12 (NLT)

Thank you all for your prayers, both to get us here and to get us where we are going. 

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Skirts,

Shannon, Tracy, Esther, Joie, and Erin

(CR Mhlosheni Go Team, 2012)

Almost There

> I bet they're tired.
>

> >

We've Arrived in South Africa!

After many, many hours of flight we have finally arrived on African soil and are settling in for our first night's stay. Our base tonight is in Johannesburg and from there we head onward, early tomorrow morning. As we draw nearer to Mhlosheni, please pray that the words of Paul might become the reality we all enter into: 

When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. Romans 1:12 (NLT)

Thank you all for your prayers, both to get us here and to get us where we are going. 

Shannon, Tracy, Esther, Joie, and Erin

CR Mhlosheni Go Team, 2012

(The Sisterhood of the Traveling Skirts)

While We Were Sleeping....

Our Mhlosheni team is almost to Johannesberg. 21 hours in the air, 10.585 miles, and 4 sumptuous airplane meals after leaving PDX they’ll walk outside the terminal and smell the African night. 9:52 PM there, 12:52 in the afternoon here.

They’ve crossed the Sahara and are now over Chad, about to enter into the Congo.

The first long step in an incredible journey.

Amsterdam!

We made it to Amsterdam and are sitting at our gate for the flight to
Johannesburg. So far, so good!

Thank you for your prayers...
Erin

Mhlosheni-bound

Journey mercies to our Africa team! They're Headed out to Swaziland to see our mhlosheni friends and families.

By this time tomorrow they'll be in Jo'berg!

To the Go Team from World Vision

Hi, Go Team.

I'm looking forward to being with you and hope that your last day before departure is filled with
just the usual last minute details and no more!

Journey mercies,

Ruth
World Vision, US 

Raining inMhlosheni

Only Together

Wrote this song last year for CRCC and the Mhlosheni team. Hope you like it.

World AIDS Day

Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day. This year's theme is "Universal Access and Human Rights." Please remember those struggling with this disease, especially our dear ones in Mhlosheni, Swaziland!

Last flight!

Despite our weather mess, the team's last flight is underway and on
time at this point (Delta #2565 from Atlanta arriving at 11:15).
Here's evidence, just sent in from Reed...

Be safe as you travel about today. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving...and
enjoy your loved ones' return! -Erin

Homeward Bound

Today the team begins their long journey home (they actually began while we were sleeping). Pray for "journey mercies," as the Swazis would say. If you are able, come out to the airport tomorrow morning to greet them: Tuesday, 11/23, Delta #2565 arriving from Atlanta at 11:11 a.m. (Check for possible delays with this crazy weather: www.flypdx.com.) The team no doubt has amazing stories to share...stories of need, hope, and the power of the Holy Spirit - and the human spirit. Be sure to seek out these stories and let them impact you! Thanks for sharing in the team's journey. -Erin

The Proverbs Women

Friday, November 19

In the morning, we met with an ASCA (Accumulated Savings and Credit Association) group.  They allowed us to participate in making skin balm and floor polish, which they sell. With the proceeds, these entrepreneurs purchase additional supplies, earn money for household goods, assist orphans and vulnerable children and invest for the future.

After listening to the group of 17 women share about what they do and how it has impacted their families and community, I was reminded of Chapter 31 in Proverbs.

-Shana

13 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. 14 She is like the ships of the merchants; she brings food from afar. 15 She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. 16 She considers a field and buys it: with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. 17 She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. 18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. 19 She puts her hands to the distaff and her hands hold the spindle. 20 She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. ESV

Troubled Days

Imagine that in your neighborhood, one of every 20 families is composed of children-just children, no parents, no guardians. Sounds outrageous, right?  Now extrapolate this to the entire US-1 in every 20 families in the United States is a child headed household-this translates to tens of millions of families! This however is the reality in Mhlosheni, Swaziland, where 5 percent of households have no parents.  The AIDS pandemic has reconfigured an entire generation in Mhlosheni and left children vulnerable and often at a loss on many levels. Today was the hardest day the team encountered, as we visited one such family.  

There were four children that were living alone.  But this family in particular was very alone. The children had no one to speak for them from extended family or from the community as they relayed to us how desperate their situation was.  They were disconnected from their community, marginalized, and forced to pay for the actions of their parents-actions that apparently transcended the passing of their mother and father.  Their deep humiliation at their isolation and was apparent and painful, and we felt it without the padding of the usual buffers we often encounter in our daily lives here in the US.  But it wasn’t just the pain that was difficult to encounter, it was the blatant challenge to our sense of justice, to our sense of what God can or will do in this world.   

In this world, we will encounter pain and injustice. This is a certainty; we only need to look just outside the inner or outer doors of our lives to confirm this.  We cannot fix all of it, or wipe it away completely from our experience here on earth.  What we can do is continue to advocate, giving voice to justice and helping out where God leads us. 

Christ tells us we will encounter hard moments in life-John 16:33 states “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world.” 

Our team cannot fix the problem of child headed household here, but because we all felt that this family, in this place, needed us to advocate for them, we are doing what we can.  We can all advocate in our homes, communities, our world, and when the opportunity is available, if we act on behalf of those who do not have a voice, we can help bring about a transformation.  Transformation is what Christ intended for all of us. 

-Angela