On Saturday we had a carnival in a rural area where about 150 kids showed up.  The kids were broken up into teams where they went to the different stations.  I helped with the bobbing for apples station.  There was also face painting, ring toss, sweet walk, balloon animals, necklace making, and a big blown up castle for the kids to jump in.  They had a lot of fun.  Then Katie and Erin shared the story of Jesus with all the kids and prayed with them.  They told the children that God loved them very much and wants them to enjoy this carnival and wants them to have food to satisfy their bellies.  There were hot dogs and popsicles for the kids to eat.  We weren't planning on that many kids and weren't sure if there would be enough food but God provided and everyone got a hotdog to munch on.  Praise him!  Afterwards we had a slip and slide for the kids and they went crazy and had a blast. We were able to love on the kids and share God's love with them all day.  It really went over great.

This was the line for the jumping castle, the kids couldn't get enough of it.

Here was my station, bobbing for apples. The older kids loved this one. 

Below is the slip and slide that we made them.  This was new to them but they caught on quick.

A lady at the hospital told us about an orphanage that she worked at.  She said that they needed help and wanted us to come.  The next day Abby and Melissa went with me to look for this orphanage that was somewhere in Mbabane.  We didn't get very good directions so we stopped at the post office and the post office worker knew directions for us to get there.  What a blessing.  When we got there and talked to the gogo in charge we realized this was a different orphanage.  This is kind of crazy because we didn't know of any orphanages in Swaziland. The gogo recognized us from the hospital.  She had been there with one of the children from the orphanage.  We talked for a little while and then got directions to the other orphanage which was surprisingly up the road.  By this time we had made a couple of phone calls to Phumzile asking about directions when a car pulled over on the side of the road towards us.  It was the director of the orphanage who came to pick us up.  She picked us up and took us to her house which was up the road.  Then she took us to the orphanage which was quite a ways away. It still amazes me that she lived down the road from the other orphanage.  We would have never found it if she hadn't picked us up.  God was definitely with us and guiding us that day. 

            Since then we have continued to visit the Emmanuel Orphanage.  We try to go at least once a week.  They have thirty some kids from the age of two months to sixteen years.  This orphanage only takes children who have been a victim of some form of abuse.  The orphanage is in a rural area on a mountain with a magnificent view.  It is a big house and has a big yard for the kids to play.  There are four caregivers at the home who care for the children.  They also tend to the cooking, laundry, and cleaning.  From the time we have spent there it seems as though they do not have much time to spend with the children.  All the kids just run wild outside without supervision even the toddlers.  The babies are always soaked through their clothes and need to be changed.  So they need some extra hands.  We have talked to the director a couple times and her compassionate heart is evident.  She truly cares for these kids but is only one person and cannot do it all herself.  She has been having problems with the caregivers that she has hired.  Things have gone missing and it is just a job to some of them.  There is no one to spend time with each of the kids and just show them love and attention.  Melissa and I go about once a week but it is so hard with just the two of us because there are still so many of them.  The kids fight for attention and hang all over us.  These kids just want some love and affection.

 About two weeks ago we went to South Africa for a prayer weekend.  It was nice to get away and spend time in prayer for the people we are ministering to.  We also got the opportunity to go back to Atteridgeville and visit the people we ministered to last semester.  We met up with a young lady named Precious, who one of our teammates Chelsea would visit in the hospital.  Precious had a premature baby and was in the hospital for awhile waiting for her baby to gain weight.  Chelsea led Precious to know Christ a couple months ago and we introduced her to Magdalene, a friend who worked at a daycare in Atteridgeville.  Precious's husband stopped coming to see her and at the beginning of the year Precious's baby died.  She was left with nowhere to go so Magdalene let her live with her and her family and paid for the burial of Precious's baby.  A couple weeks ago Precious's husband wanted to take her back home.  Magdalene didn't trust him to take Precious alone so his brother went with.  On their way home he took her to stay with this lady and said he had to pick up something and would be back the following day to take her home.  A week later he told her the same thing and didn't come back again.  The lady that was with Precious was told to make sure she didn't go anywhere.  Precious was locked in and was scared of what they might do to her.  After awhile the lady found compassion for her and told her where the keys are kept when the men are gone.  Precious escaped after being kidnapped for three weeks.  She had only a few things with her and no money because they had taken all of it.  She didn't know where to go so she went back to Magdalene.  They contacted the police and told them what had happened and got a hold of Precious's Uncle who is coming to take her home.  Precious was tested for HIV and it was positive.  She is having a hard time going through this and is very scared.  Please pray for her she is a new Christian and has already been through horrific trials and is going home for the first time as a Christian back to her family and friends.  A simple prayer for her could change so much.      

Precious is on the far left and that is Magdalene on the right.  Magdalene invited us over to her house to visit.

These are some of my friends at the hospital from the abandon baby's room that I spend quite a bit of time with.  The three older children are all handicapped in some way.  I was talking to a lady named Phamuzile who is physically handicapped and is in a wheel chair.  She is thirty four years old and has been living at the hospital her whole life.  Children who are handicapped have a hard time getting adopted.

There is Sphiwe who has been at the hospital nearly her whole life.  She was abandon as a baby and is about eleven years old now.  She doesn't talk but she can understand when someone is speaking to her in SiSwati.  Sphiwe loves to walk around and visit people in the hospital.  She has to have someone walk with her when leaving the abandon baby room so that she won't wander off.  Once she leaves that room it is hard to get her to go back.

Then there is Mxcolisi who is about eight.  He is severely autistic and has a deformed foot that doesn't allow him to walk.  He was found on a bus by himself so they brought him to the hospital.  He doesn't talk and seems to understand little when trying to communicate with him.  One thing that he does respond to is touch and affection. 

Sikhanyisiwe is about six years old and is absolutely precious.  She always has a smile on her face and loves getting attention.  Her mother abandon her because she found new love in a man that didn't want Sikhanyisiwe. 

This is Mgazi.  Mgazi is nine months and had been at the hospital her whole life.  She was found naked in a squatty or a toilet that is low to the ground.  She was recently taken to a home similar to an orphanage with two other little ones from the hospital.  They would have a better chance at being adopted and it is a better place to live rather than the hospital. 

We usually spend the mornings in the abandon baby room helping out in any way that they will let us and loving on the kids.  We always help feed them when we are there.  We also spend time in the cubicles visiting with the kids and there mothers.  We have been making a coloring page for the kids with a verse in SiSwati at the bottom.  Right now we are going through the seven days of creation.  It has opened up a lot of conversations to share the gospel with the mothers.  The children and the mothers enjoy coloring them.  Sometimes the mothers will take them from their child and color it themselves.

This is Sandiso. He was bitten by a dangerous snake and it got infected.  He usually has it wrapped in dressing that is supposed to get changed daily but the nurses only change it about once a week.  He was bitten on the arm but it had also affected his leg to the point that he couldn't walk.   About a week ago he was able to walk using a stick as a cane.  Now he is doing better and is able to walk on his own.  His grandma stays at the hospital to care for him.

These two boys had broken legs from falling out of a tree and couldn't leave there bed for a month.   We would play cards with them and bring crafts for them to work on.  Every time we would come their faces would light up. They would hang there art work proudly above their beds.  Sikhanyiso is the one on the right and he was able to go home yesterday.  The other boy's name is Sicelo and he and his mother thought they were going to be able to go home a week ago but the doctor took an x-ray and that showed his leg was not healing properly. 

Please pray for my buddies!

    I checked out some more ministry sights last week.  I went to a care point that is run by 17 gogos (grandmas) who volunteer.  They provide breakfast and lunch for the children who are not able to bring anything.  They have about 25-30 kids who are there all day and about another 100 kids who receive breakfast and come from school to receive lunch.  While we were there visiting, the kids would flock to us just desperate for love and attention.  This care point is for children who have lost at least one parent or if the child is in a vulnerable situation such as their parents are neglecting them. They have some elderly people who come for lunch and those who physically can't make it to the care point will send someone to pick them up some food.  This care point is partially funded by the government as far as the food and school fees for each of the children.  The sad thing is that they only give them pop (it is similar to plain grits) and beans for food.  The gogos have planted  garden so that they can offer more than just pop and beans.  As far as school fees goes they provide less than 30% of how much it costs for each child to go to school.  Again the gogos pick up the slack and go around do fund raising and trying  to get supporters to help a child go to school.  For the kids who don't get supported the gogos teach them some of the basics.  I was amazed at how much they do for these kids to give them a chance at school and life. 

    We also checked out SACRO Drop Off Center which is affiliated with Salvation Army.  There goal is to get the kids off the streets and in school.  When a child comes they go to the child's  home to assess their need and if the child needs their help they provide two meals for them and have them stay at the center during the day to keep them off the street.  They work on getting each child there supported so that they can go to school.  The children that get supported to go to school come to the center after school to get help with their homework.  The workers there keep up with the kids and meet with their teachers if it is needed.   For the children who do not get supported they have some informal teaching, which is  again just the basics.

    Both ministry sights are similar but the need for places like these is great. We went to the hospital to do some team ministry and I met a lady named Pamela who is dying of AIDS.  She told me that she had three children who were living by themselves.  The oldest one was twenty-one and was taking care of the other two but didn't have the money for them to go to school and barely had enough money for food.   I told her about SACRO and how they might be able to help her children.  Next time that her kids come to visit she was going to tell them about it.  I sat with her for awhile and prayed with her and read some Psalms.  She knows she is dying  and is scared that her kids will be left without any help.  This is what so many Swazi people are facing.  I just pray that God will provide for their needs and for the little ones who are without parents who are sent to live with relatives who can't afford to care for another child.  So many children are in this position.