Nov 24, 2012 - Adventures in Swaziland

Welcome back - I want to visit the mountain kingdom of Swaziland and public transport just won't work so I rent a car and head North from Kwazulu-Natal. It takes a few minutes to get used to driving on the left, and a few more to get used to shifting with my left hand. The first day I drive through Swaziland's vast cane fields and spend the night at a remote truck stop. The next morning I continue North through stunning scenery with cane fields around and the mist shrouded Lumbombo mountains in Mozambique to the East. There is little...

Oct 5, 2012 - On To Kruger Park

Friday, October 5th: This morning started bright and early at 5:30. We wanted to get an early start to Kruger Park. We packed the trailer with our luggage, ate small snacks for breakfast, and picked up Dr. Winnie. Then we had to say goodbye to what had been our home for the prior two weeks. It was sad to leave, but we were all very excited for what awaited us at Kruger. Traffic in Manzini on our way out of town was horrible! Kids were walking everywhere to go to school. It took about two hours to reach the border to South Africa. We had...

Oct 3, 2012 - Final work day

Today was our last day of work and we were eager to get a lot accomplished. The men were up before 6 am to set up the scaffolding and get underway. The rest of us got to sleep in a bit and the cooks prepared a feast to try to use up all our food. Bonita had to head out for a day full of teaching. She is very passionate about educating Swazis about AIDS and having only 1 wife. We did a lot of finishing to the office building- painting, sanding, varnishing, tiling, grouting, and cleaning. The upstairs kitchen has beautiful tiles depicting...

Oct 2, 2012 - AIDS orphans

Today we went to Shewula to deliver some clothes, food, and vitamins to young children who have lost both parents to the AIDS pendemic here in Swaziland. The government has built "care points" in various areas then local women are appointed to care for and feed the orphans once a day. The chiefs of the area ask that families let the children sleep in their homes, but whether that happens or how the children are treated is not known. Rev. Dana Harding, retired missionary to Africa, is pastoring a local church in Simunye. The needs of these...

Oct 2, 2012 - Monday October 1st

Today we woke to another great breakfast made by our fantastic cooks. We then made the trek to endzingini with a song in our hearts. It was not the easiest trip due to a lot of twists and turns in the road and the condition of the road.  It is about 30 kilometers of a dirt road with a lot of rocks in the road. The queen mother had been up there a couple of days prior and had commented to the media about the deplorable condition of the road. Once in Enzingeni, we visited the mission station there.   We were greeted by the current pastor...

Sep 30, 2012 - 9/30 - Worship Day

The team slept in this morning and enjoyed breakfast at 8:00am. The ladies prepared eggs, sausage gravy, cereal and bacon. We are attending the Living Waters Church of the Nazarene. It was an alabaster church. The church family welcomed us with open arms and big smiles. The worship team consisted of about 10-12 young adults who sang with amazing voices. Soon as we entered the sanuatury you could feel the grace of God’s presence. The Pastor wanted to hear our District Superintend Dr. Pate (aka: Jeep) preach and he was honored to do so. It...

Sep 29, 2012 - Sat. 29th

Hello a message from Dave Boblitt, Dr. Pate and I decided to get an early start by building the scaffolding to start our painting of the facia on the building we are staying in. We had beakfast at 7:30 with the usual and a nice large piece of Russian sausage. Thank you Cooks! Dr. Pate (JEEP) and I started painting the Facia (4'x 120'), the upper windows and the white stripe on the front of the building. Ken helped from time to time. Every one passing by would run and get things for us. We still made lots of trips up and down. We are approx....

Sep 28, 2012 - Friday--work day in Siteki

Today, we went to Siteki to the SANU School of Theology started in about 1933. It has about 80 students, some part time. Ken Walker (our group leader) was there from 1980-1998. We met Collen Magagula who is now the principal to the school. He was one of Ken's students when he was there. Siteki is much more remote than Manzini. It's about 40 miles / 60 kms away. Three groups worked on tiling shower stalls in the men's dormatories with the help of several of the local Theology students. There was one tile cutter in the middle of the two...

Sep 27, 2012 - Thursday, work day #1

The morning started with breakfast at 7:00. We had eggs, bacon, toast, oatmeal, and cereal. Our cooks are wonderful! As soon as breakfast was over, the work began! Dave put up scaffolding outside to start work painting a piece of metal trim on the top of the building. Howard, Dale, Jeep, and Ken started tiling the walls in the downstairs kitchen area. Beth and Stephanie started touching up windows and bars and scraping windows (yes, there are bars on all the windows, but everyone has them, not just the school). Steffan and Michelle worked...

Sep 26, 2012 - Day 2

We started our day with morning devotions at 7:00 AM. Dr. Ken led by explaining more fully Paul's "grace & peace" greeting to his churches. Ken explained "seeking" grace, "saving" grace, "sanctifying" grace, "sustaining" grace and "sufficient" grace. We were graced with a wonderful beginning trip thought. Breakfast at the Koinonia House was exllent (oatmeal, eggs, toast, cereal, coffee, ... etc.)! We journeyed to the Nazarene Bible College in Johannesburg and then on to Manzini, Swaziland. The noon stop for lunch was at a "Steer's"...

Sep 26, 2012 - It's my pleasure (roetheli)

Last night was spent at the Koininia Ctr in Joburg and we all got some much needed sleep, stretching, and washing. When we left this morning one sister kept saying "It's my pleasure" every time she was thanked. How cute, I thought. We visited the Nazarene Bible College and a woman there kept saying the same thing. "It's my pleasure." Well, as is natural in a foreign land, I decided that if 2 were doing it, it must be what they do here. We say "You're welcome", which is also nice, but can sometimes mean "yes, I have done this for you; isn't...

Sep 23, 2012 - Steffan and Michelle Roetheli

It is now Sunday afternoon and we are mostly packed. Michelle is out getting a few last minutes things while I am spending a few last hours with Isaac (6) and Levi (3, almost 4). We are really excited, but also very nervous right now. I really don't enjoy flying and the thought of a 16+ hours flight is really intimidating to me. I am so stuck on the thought of the flight that I cannot even think about all of the great things I am preparing to experience on the trip. It is also daunting to leave these two little boys for 2 weeks. On top of...