Sanibonani! (Hello)

I pray this finds you all well. Life is good here in Swaziland. We are in the middle of winter and most mornings there is frost, its surreal to see frost in Africa of all places but by 11 am its pretty much all melted away. There is world cup fever here in Swaziland and while we are hundreds of miles away from any of the game action those horns can be heard from every direction. I have started out helping another extension of the ministry, its kind of a mobile soup kitchen. We bake bread and make soup in this small trailer that is completely equipped, we first feed all the children that attend the pre school that come from the community (most impoverished areas) then we take the bread and soup to the homes in the mountains, I am really loving this new duty. I enjoy greatly all the work i am blessed to here however I am really enjoying the opportunity to minister to the Women of Swaziland. Twice in a week I do outreach with women, on tuesday I lead a bible study as I have mentioned and have really been seeing Gods hand at work in that group, the empowerment and strength that only God can bring, these are hurting women and some are putting there safety at risk by even coming to the study but they persevere and continue to seek God and his hand of protection is on them and they are able to come week after week. Every friday I help out at a Women's Shelter and I love it, there are 8 women that range from the ages of 14 - 44, they are coming from all walks of life and all areas of abuse and hurt, its so exciting to see them becoming over comers. The kids are amazing as always, they show me what pure joy in the Lord really looks like ... continue to pray for resources and provision for this ministry. One of the best parts of my day is playing with the kids, it just ministers to my spirit. Every tuesday evening we have a cell group at the farm, we are studying the book and watching the DVD series the Bait of Satan, it is phenomenal, i read the book on my way up here. I am loving learning the language and the songs ... its tough and I am in no way an expert and I'm probably singing the wrong words but none the less God knows right! One of the girls that started this journey at the same time I did has left the farm and a guy from Wales has come for 2 months. There is many teams and missionaries that come through here from all over. My next post I will have pictures of the house i am living in and new pictures from things I have been doing here. I apologize for not being on top of posting new pictures and frequent updates, wireless access is limited and so is time, I totally took for granted to access to these things at home. The connection isn't as fast so it takes a long time to load pictures and even longer for video so it may be some time before I am able to load another video blog. God is so good, he is bringing amazing people around as well ... i am honoured that he has brought me here and while there are challenges and stretching it truly is a gift to be able to be here. Keep praying for me and all of us here. In a little over a week it will be 2 months that I have been here, can hardly believe it. I send my love and greetings to My Family & friends, The Fab Four, My Splash Family and the kids at New Hope Youth,TC Winnipeg and Dakota Community Church I miss you all so much and think of you often. Blessings.

One month later ....

I can hardly believe that it has been a month since I have been here. Time is flying by so fast. I am doing my best to take in everything and get the most from this experience. We are right now in the middle of Winter here, and by Winter I mean a Canadian summer. It does cool off here, the houses aren’t made with insulation and electric furnaces so at night time you do feel the chill. All will be proud to know that this life long city girl has learned to make a fire from limited supplies and resource, that is one of the many things you learn here is to be resourceful. There is no real such thing as garbage; there is a use for it … while they don’t recycle here … that is a Western thing for sure they do not waste.

A common question I have been getting from people back home is “have you eaten anything ridiculous yet?” and to that I have to answer no … nothing extreme however I did promise to take in all parts of this experience so if something is placed in front of me way out of left field I will try it. The most different thing I have eaten so far Is mutton … apparently its aged sheep, It tasted fine but I had a hard time finishing it once I found out what it was. The other story that comes to mind was when I was visiting the house of a pastor in the community for a women’s bible study and they were busy prepping for a meal. The other women from the study were asked to bring food a lot like a pot luck we would have at home, so in walks this women and she pulls a life chicken out of her bag. And right there snaps its neck and proceeds to pluck it etc. I thought I was seeing things but from the corner of my eye I could see feathers flying in the kitchen and the chickens last squawk before its head was in the bowl …..

The young boy Bennelli I had asked for prayer for is doing a lot better we really thought he was at deaths door but God brought him back to us … in fact he is back at school and I am teaching him English and Computers as well, he’s too sick to be in public school so we have a school here on the farm for the kids that are either In too poor of health to walk 20 miles to school or kids that are developmentally challenged and are way behind in learning we adapt a plan here and teach them. So the praise goes to God for saving our Bennelli once again, its amazing though this young boy has prepared himself for God to take him and he’s content to live as he is, he is a pure picture of Grace and trust in God. He’s so at peace at the thought of death, he truly looks at death as a chance at a new life. Keep him in your prayers. And Thank You for your prayers.

Every Thursday we go into the community and bring medical help to the people that can’t get medical attention, you just roll up your sleeves and help in anyway you can. A bulk of the illness is just from poverty and we do what we can but we pray for every person that passes through our clinic. We went on a tour of the hospital and prayed, its such a place of helplessness that all a person can do really is just pray. We visited the children’s ward and my heart broke, myself and my roommate found ourselves in an area called Ward 8 that is the place where abandoned children are, some have mental and physical disabilities and for that reason they are left abandoned and others were left abandoned for reasons un known. It’s a sad sight but once a week myself and roommate Kirsty are going to bring in life, love on the kids, and be Jesus to them the best way we can.

Other then that, life is good, God is so good. I am learning daily what it is to have a relationship with God.

Also a side note I want to wish my sister Sam a Happy Birthday!!! Gods richest blessings on you!

Thank you for your prayers and support! Keep them coming.

Much love and blessings,

Danene