Shoes for Lesibovu

When our team went to Swaziland in August to work with the Lesibovu CarePoint, we were made very aware of the physical needs of these sweet children.  Yet, they never complained about anything.  

On our third day there, it was cold and rainy. One of the girls hesitantly asked in broken English, “Can you get me shoes?”   

She wasn’t asking for much; just shoes so that her feet could be protected and warm.  It would have been so easy to just give her the shoes I was wearing, but we were told that we couldn’t give one child something without giving something to all of them. As we looked around, there were so many children at the CarePoint who were barefoot.  They walk over very rough terrain to get to Lesibovu for a meal and this is very difficult if they don’t have shoes. Plus, they can’t attend school without proper uniforms, including shoes.  I told her that we would pray that God would provide shoes very soon.  As a team, we prayed and decided that one of the first things we would do when we returned to the US would be making sure that each of them receives a pair of shoes.

This is where you can help.  We learned from Children’s HopeChest that we need 160 pair of shoes for the children at Lesibovu.  The preschoolers and the younger children will receive sturdy casual shoes.  The older children will receive the required school shoes.  These shoes will run anywhere from $12.50 - $24 each depending on the size and style.  It is too expensive to ship shoes to them, so we are asking for help financially to send to Children’s Hope Chest so that the team on the ground in Swaziland can buy shoes there (which benefits their economy and provides the exact shoes needed), and they will distribute them to the kids.

 

If you feel led to contribute and be part of this great blessing to the children of Lesibovu, we want to be sure that all donations are designated to the Lesibovu Carepoint specifically for shoes for the kids. 

Checks can be made out to “Children’s HopeChest” and mailed to:

 Ronda Chandler

5005 Bridlewood Parc Lane

Helena, AL 35080

You can also go to hopechest.org, select 'Designated/Sponsorship: One Time Gift', and in the 'Notes Field' MAKE SURE to put Lesibovu CarePoint-Shoes to ensure it goes for the shoes donation!

OR 

If you know a team member from the Swaziland trip in August feel free to give them your donation and they will ensure it gets to Children's HopeChest.

If you wish to donate shoes in honor of a friend or family member, please let us know and we would be happy to provide a nice card so that you can let them know.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email Rondac3@gmail.com.  Thank you!!

After the trip: Marilyn's perspective

It’s been a while since we returned from Swaziland but it feels like yesterday.  I miss going to the CarePoint every day to see the kids.  I miss the smiles and holding hands and watching them sing praises to our Lord and Savior.  As with any short term trip I always wish I would have had more time to spend with the people, get to know them better, giggle with them, cry with them, and just do life with them.  I love the simplicity of their lives and yet hate the disparity in our lives and theirs.  What we feel are our needs here in our “comfortable” world would be extreme luxury in theirs.  My heart cries for the children who are raising children.  Why because their Daddy died and their Mommy remarried and the new husband doesn’t want them and so they leave them.  My heart cries for the grandmother who is lame and has to wait for a neighbor to come and carry her to a mat outside her hut where she spends the day.  She’s a widow who is raising her children and grandchildren from the mat where she sits.  My heart cries for the 2 young teenage girls whose parents died leaving them to raise each other.  My heart cries for the lack of jobs, of job skills, of food and clean water in most areas.

I’m proud of our dear friends Jennifer and Alli who came over last year.  They were soon connected with a sweet Pastor who wanted a CarePoint at Lesibovu.  I love how God allowed Pastor Welcome to connect with Steve McAdams about Lesibovu.  I love how Steve then approached Jennifer and Alli about sponsoring this CarePoint.  I love that Jennifer & Alli were obedient and with the help of LaShea were able to find sponsors for nearly 50 of the 82 children who needed sponsors.  Lesibovu soon became a part of these women’s families. 

When we arrived we found that there were now 180 kids on the roll with about 160 attending each day we were there.  By the end of the week there were closer to 200 kids.  The cooks make sure everyone is fed even if it means stretching the food.  Jennifer once again made sure that each child was photographed so that more kids could get sponsored.  Believe me, Jennifer knows each child’s name and prays for them and looks at their sweet faces night after night.

We hear a lot from people asking “Why would you spend all that money to go for a short trip?  Would it not be better to just send the money?"  Well, God tells us to Go in the great commission.  God tells us to look after orphans and widows in their distress.  God tells us that we are to be ambassadors for those who cannot speak for themselves.  If Jennifer & Alli had not been obedient, kids would not be getting the food they needed, uniforms for school etc.  If we had not gone, children who never get hugs would not have been covered with hugs every day we were there.  They got the gospel, they got love, and they got hope.  There were widows who were lonely who got a hug, food and a Bible.  The Pastor was encouraged and prayed over by James.  Kids played and giggled and were so affirmed as they presented us with their traditional dances and songs.  And they know we will return…maybe not the same team but a team of supporters giving them hope.

And the money….everything belongs to God.  It is not our money…we are to be good stewards of it.  We Americans don’t think twice about upgrading our homes, our cars, our clothes, computers, TV’s or taking the family to Disney world for a week but spending it to encourage the extremely poor across the ocean seems foolish to some.  My heart was completely wrecked several years ago when we went across the ocean to share the gospel.  I truly believe it was the most significant thing that ever happened to me.  You see I was so comfortable being comfortable that I forgot the true meaning of the great commission… in my life it had become the great omission and I’m ashamed to admit it.  After my first trip I was able to see life like God wanted me to see it.  So these trips, are they worth the money? 

My hope if you read this is that you don’t say “good for them…they answered the call”.  My hope is that you join us as we help the beautiful people of Lesibovu.  Sponsor a child, pray, donate toward a capital project like a fence, building to store food, a well and a church. Or how about going next year?  Pray for God to reveal to you what He would have you do.

Blessings & Love,
Marilyn

"Jesus Come" - August 2013

Oh my goodness, how much do I love these kiddos! Sweet memories with Londiwe and Marilyn leading them as they sing:

LaShea - My first day at Lesibovu

LaShea's entry is powerful. Our first day at the CarePoint, from her perspective:

A lot of this is straight out of my journal, so I apologize in advance if some parts aren't so pretty. The reality is a lot of it wasn't. Most days were hard and emotionally draining. There were lots of tears and lots of laughter. So here we go...

Wednesday, August 7th.
Today has shaken my world. We have seen so much today and it hit me in the face what we take for granted. On the way to Lesibovu we saw kids (small kids - some younger than my own) walking alone. There wasn't an adult or a home in sight. Just a dusty road. As we neared the carepoint, we drove through the river. It was nearly dried up. Mud remained. There were women washing clothes and kids playing in it. There was cow manure all around. This is where a lot of the people get their water.

We arrived at the carepoint and were immediately told it had been under spiritual attack. Three children had died recently at other carepoints. We prayed and went to meet the two bomake (pronounced bo-MAH-gay) that work all day to prepare food for the children.

There were a few kids around and slowly more came. They seemed a bit scared and timid. We tried to talk to them, but we talk too fast and are hard to understand. If you add our Southern drawl then it's no where near the English they've learned in school! Some of us got our cameras out and started taking pictures, and they loved it! We'd take their picture and show it to them and they would laugh at themselves, which made us laugh! We started making silly faces and some sang for us. We played dancing games with the girls, and the boys played soccer with Isaac. He was a big hit! He always had a group of kids following him everywhere!

I noticed a young girl carrying a toddler on her back. She was probably eight. The same age as my son. I was later told that was her responsibility. She leaves her at the carepoint so she can go to school. That broke my heart. I imagined my child caring for his sister. It turns out that's fairly common in Swaziland. Siblings caring for siblings.

As the day ended the kids entered the building and sang and prayed before eating, and you could feel the Lord. At that moment, I knew I was exactly were He wanted me, and it was amazing!

Several of us got to see our special friends that day, and tears were shed and memories were made.

Marilyn and I with our special friends
(they're brothers) and their precious sister!

Jennifer and Abi meeting theirs!

At the end of the day we were off to our home visits. Marlena , Amy, Nhlanhla (pronounced "Shlan-sla"), and I went up for a fun walk up a hill carrying bags of food. Nhlanhla picked on us and said we had to carry food like the Swazi woman...I tried. Huge fail.

On our first home visit we met a precious family. They were grandparents taking care of 4 grandchildren. Some of the children's parents died, or the father left. The mother of some left and married another man. This is common. The grandfather was from South Africa and had learned English in school, but when he was little he fell out of a tree. He lost his hearing and became mute. Later his hearing came back but he still couldn't speak. He could understand us very well and would sign to his wife so she could translate for us. They were amazing and had so much faith. The grandfather kept putting his hands together and pointing to the sky saying this is a gift from God. The grandfather wanted to take a picture with the food, and that sweet little girl was so scared of us white folks.

I left that day overwhelmed by what I had seen (and still am). The dried up river and children caring for children. Why do we have so much and they have so little? Why are they struggling and starving and we have so much? We have homes with air conditioning, an overflowing refrigerator, and multiple cars. And we have the nerve to complain about what we don't have. I was disgusted with myself and what I take for granted. I realized the only difference between me and them was where we were born. That one little difference can change everything. I prayed, "Lord, you know why we are here. This problem is so much bigger than I ever imagined. Let us be your hands and feet. Help us show your everlasting love. Use me wherever you need me."

That day was full of so much hard stuff and it had just begun. It was an amazing day and I can still hear children singing beautifully praising the same Father we do.  

Swazi Team Trip 2013: Day 2 - London!

I won't spend much time on this day, though it was very amazing. We had an 8 hour layover in London, so enjoyed several hours seeing the Westminster area of the city.

Though we had such a great time, and I am thankful that the bonus layover was included, there were definitely mixed emotions when I pondered this part of the trip. We witnessed firsthand a country that is much older than our own, with architecture that is breathtaking, and a bustling city that is governed by a royal family and Parliament. A new prince had just recently been born, the royal family is enjoying great popularity, and being there, seeing Buckingham Palace, Richard the Lionheart's statue, and the Tower of London all added to make it seem like we were in a fairy tale world.

9 hours away we arrived in a land that has been populated for much longer than our own, with thousands of folks living in primitive huts, ruled by a king who governs the last remaining absolute monarchy in the world. The number of people living with positive HIV is staggering. The king is rarely seen but greatly loved by his people, though he lives in luxury while the Swazi people are starving and dying.

Talk about contrast. I found myself just shaking my head, wondering how we live in a world of such great opposites. Why some have so much and great opportunity while others are lacking even basic necessities is a question that is painful to ask, but constantly on my mind.

Swazi Team Trip 2013: Day 1

We left for our team trip after church on August 4. We were prayed for at the end of our worship service and received lots of hugs and words of encouragement from our faith family. Everyone grabbed quick lunches, and then we said goodbye to our family we were leaving behind. Having done this last year, I didn't envy those who had to hug children and spouses. We had dropped our little boys off already with my parents, which made things much less emotional. We were so grateful for the borrowed van that held us all and our many suitcases and bins as we drove to the Atlanta airport. We made it through security simply (well, Marilyn and Ronda were checked a bit more extensively) and had a short wait until we boarded that evening around 9:00. Though we all planned to try to rest on the flight and make the most of the dark atmosphere, sleep was elusive for most except in short segments. It's so hard to get comfortable sitting up, and ten hours was a long time to sit awkwardly. Thankfully the flight was smooth, food was decent, and we woke to breakfast and the sight of Great Britain below us. Super exciting!

The beginning

In November we launched our commitment to the Lesibovu CarePoint. That meant that as a community (not just local, but anyone, anywhere can be part of our connection to this CarePoint) we were committing to a 5-7 year relationship with the people of Lesibovu. That agreement means we will visit annually, invest relationally and financially into the area, to enable them to be more self-sufficient at the end of that time, while also sharing that God's love for us all was the factor that bound us together.

For months prior to our trip, most of the team was able to participate in a great book study ("Follow Me: A Call to Die" by David Platt). This book was such a challenging study and many evenings we were left a bit speechless after watching the videos that went along with it. To hear that evangelizing by praying "the sinner's prayer" with people to accept Christ and "invite him into (your) heart" wasn't necessarily right was hard to take. We realized that really, we should be witnessing through our lives and sharing that accepting Christ means asking Him to change us and enable us to be willing to give everything up for Him, even (especially) our lives. We also have to be willing to apply that to our current, pretty comfortable, Christian lives and it has been eye-opening and life-changing. Denying ourselves and our pursuit of temporary pleasure/wealth/comfort to find fulfillment only in Jesus - That isn't the definition of being a Christian that most of us grew up with. It rocked many of us to the core, I think. Our study of the Word and discussion time shaped our view of the upcoming trip and enabled us to see it as not just a cool short-term ministry opportunity, but a time to really give, to share without regret or hesitation, and to apply it to our lives here in middle-class, comfy America. We also are grateful to take advantage of more local opportunities to serve and witness and share our lives. This was not just about Africa. It was about changing our thinking and way of life in every area.
 I think that I speak for everyone when I say I don't think we are the same people as we were before the study. I think of what we learned and the teaching we heard, and know that many conversations in our home have stemmed from that  book. How we live now that we truly see the Truth that this life is not our own is something we are still working on.

We also met regularly to pray, plan, and grow closer as a team. That time was so valuable as we learned more about each other, our gifts and struggles, and the way God was working in each life to prepare us for traveling to serve others. I am so thankful for the dedication of each person who committed not to just go out of the country for 10 days, but to daily seek God's will for his/her life, and how Swaziland factored into that.

Having never led a team on a trip, and since most of us hadn't even been on any missions trip, the experience was very much a learning process. I am so grateful that we had patient team members, experienced missionaries in Ken and Marilyn, and that God blessed us with cooperative spirits through it all.