Amber Kottwitz, Africa - First Year Missionary

Lethiwe Will Be Missed

Tue, 6 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Mbabane Government hospital has been a little difficult the past couple of weeks. Melissa and I found out that Lethiwe passed away about two weeks ago from respiration complications. One of the caregivers from the orphanage was watching Lethiwe when she died. It was the same care giver who was watching the baby that got burned and also watching a baby at the orphanage when he died. This caregiver has had quite a few tragedies happen in the last couple of weeks. It was a relief to hear that she no longer works at the orphanage anymore. Phumzile who usually watches Lethiwe told us that she thought Lethiwe died because of the caregiver's carelessness. You never know what really happens because you here different stories from everyone. It is just so frustrating because she was doing better and gaining weight and out of nowhere she dies. Lethiwe's twin Ndomiso was discharged and is now staying at the orphanage with his older sister who is about four years old. Her name is Nobuhle and she is very ornery. Anytime another child is near her she hits them, but she warms up to Melissa and me quite well. She likes to be held and loved on. I think she is scared and not sure what to think of the orphanage. I pray for God's protection and safety over them and that God will send his comfort and love to Ndomiso and Nobuhle.

Market Ministry

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I visited Denise (one of my teammates) at her ministry last week. She started a bible study with some ladies who work at a culture market in Ezulwini. She prepares a bible study for them during the week then afterwards spends time with them at the market. Some of the ladies have taught her how to bead and make necklaces that they sell. She has come very close to them and cares deeply about them. We hear her talk about them all the time so it was nice to meet them all. They meet under a tree right in front of the market at noon to have worship and bible study. I stayed for the bible study and was amazed at how they listened so intently and the questions they had at the end. They are so hungry for God's word. Denise wanted to bless them with a special meal and a service so on Saturday our team cooked them tacos and Mexican rice. I think they thought it was a little weird but they enjoyed it. During the service some tourists came to the market and were looking at the shops. I could see that many of the ladies were contemplating on going back to there shop. Some ended up staying and others left. For those that stayed this is a big sacrifice for them. This is the only income for many of them and they have children at home to feed so it makes it very difficult for them to provide for there children when they do not get any customers. There are about 75 shops right next to each other where they all pretty much sell the same thing so once those tourist pass there shop they won't be coming back to buy anything.

Prayer Request: Winter is quickly approaching Swaziland which means there won't be as many tourists coming by. Please pray that God will provide for all the needs of the ladies and keep them warm.

The Twins

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A couple weeks back a pair of twins was admitted to the hospital. Their father was there to care for them which is very unusual to have a father taking on that role. While the babies were getting treated in the children's ward their mother was dying of AIDS in the women's ward. We went to visit and pray with her a few times but unfortunately she did not make it. Then the father was clueless on how to care for the babies so he opted out. Phumzile, a lady who works at the Emmanuel Orphanage was at the hospital taking care of one of the sick babies from the orphanage. She saw the situation in which the twins were in and contacted the director of the orphanage to see if they could take in two more babies. Phumzile has been looking after the twins now for about a month. We go and visit her and the twins quite often sometimes giving her a break to go into town while we care for the twins. The twins' names are Ndomiso and Lethiwe a little boy and girl. They are about three months old and are malnourished. There have been many times when I have been worried about them. One time in particular was about two weeks ago Lethiwe was extremely sick. She was so pale that many people thought she was my baby. Her nostrils were flaring just grasping for breath and her heart was beating out of her chest. She would try to scream but could only let out a whimper. Looking at her in misery reminded me of Mlamuli. I honestly didn't think she was going to make it. Before we left we prayed for Lethiwe and that God would heal her little lifeless body. When we came back a couple days later she was recovering and regaining her strength. Praise the Lord.

Prayer Request:

Phumzile has now been at the hospital for over two months looking after sick babies. From talking to many of the moms at the hospital it is a hard place to stay for a lengthy amount of time. Babies crying all throughout the night and cockroaches crawling all over you as you sleep on the hard floor. Let's just say she can't wait to return to the orphanage and also most of all to go and see her own children. Also yesterday another one of the children from the orphanage was admitted into the hospital. One of the caregivers was giving him a bath and accidentally put him in boiling hot water. I'm not sure how that happened. We went to see him yesterday while he was getting the dressings put on his burn. He is bandaged from his waist to his toes. The poor little guy was screaming from the excruciating pain. Melissa and I have been having our concerns about the orphanage lately. We have talked to the Director several times and know that she truly cares for these kids. It is just hard to find caregivers that have that same compassionate heart towards the children.

Carnival!

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

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.

The Emmanuel Orphanage

Mon, 7 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

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.

Precious's Story

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

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.

My Hospital Buddies

Mon, 3 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

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!

Mbane Hospital

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Melissa and I went back to the hospital to continue our ministry there. It was hard at first because the last time we went was the day Mlamuli died. At first we didn't really know what to do since we had spent so much time with Mlamuli before. We started bringing crafts for the children to do and played some card games with them. Which has helped us to build relationships with the children's moms in the different cubicles. There are four cubicles filled with about 6 to 10 kids in each with at least one mom/caregiver for each child. The moms will sleep on the floor by their child's bed at night and during the day depending if they got any sleep that night. Most of the children have been there for about a month already. For some reason they keep them at the hospital for a long time. I am not sure why. It has been a little difficult to talk to the mothers since we only speak a little SiSwati but luckily there is usually at least one person in each room that speaks English. They are also eager to teach us SiSwati. Maybe I will be fluent by the time I get back. :)

I also wanted to say thank you for all of your comments especially from last week. It was a tough week and I needed to hear those words of comfort. Thank you.

In Memory of Mlamuli

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I have been spending quite a bit of my time at the hospital this last week. There is this little abandon baby boy who is severely malnourished (I have wrote about him before). His name is Mlamuli Shongwe and he has been at the hospital since January 2, 2008. Some good samaritans found him locked in a house by himself and brought him to the abandon baby room at the hospital. The hired caregivers didn't know how old he was for sure but they think he was about two or three years old. He looked like he was about 6 months because he was so small. He weighed about 11.5 lbs. and was 68.5 cm long. The first time we saw him was about three weeks ago and he had a big bloated belly but he would smile when I played with him. He would let you hold him but he didn't like to be touched other than that. I would rub his head and he would get mad at me and hit or scratch me. The poor little guy wasn't used to it. When we went to see him on Tuesday morning he had not been feeling well and had an IV hooked up to him. He had been vomiting and had diarrhea. When we went back on Thursday morning Mlamuli was crying and holding his arms out for me to pick him up. His bed was soaked and there was diarrhea all over so I wrapped him in a blanket and held him. He continued to cry for an hour and would reach for any drink or food. I asked the nurse if there was any food for him and she said he had been vomiting and had diarrhea so they weren't giving him anything. I told her he was thirsty and asked if he could have something to drink. She brought back some type of milk substance for him to drink and told me she was supposed to get off at 6:00am and that it was the other caregivers were supposed to feed them. Mlamuli drank all of it he was so thirsty and dehydrated. The doctor came to see him and asked me about him and was not happy about Mlamuli's condition. He asked the day time caregiver if he was getting his feedings in the night and she said yes even though she had no clue. The doctor and nurses were forgetting about him since he was in the abandon baby room where the children don't need medical attention. The doctor gave orders for them to move him to a room with the other sick children so the nurses and doctors won't forget about him. Let me give you a picture of the hospital it is rundown and dingy and they have a serious cockroach problem. The nurses and caregivers don't like white people hanging around because they think we are making sure they are doing there job right and were nagging. Having been a CNA I know all about the families who think there family member is the only one in your care. Well I was on the other side last week. After seeing the condition that Mlamuli was in Melissa and I went everyday to make sure he was getting cared for. We would leave for the hospital at 6:30 am and get back at 5:00 pm. We even talked to the doctor and the head nurse about staying the night to make sure he was getting his feedings. But they told us that would not be a good idea as far as our health and safety and the doctor assured us that he would specifically tell the nurses to feed Mlamuli throughout the night. After making a fuss about him to the doctor they started to do more for him. He got oxygen because he was having trouble breathing on his own. He also got a feeding tube because he was not eating or drinking anything. The head nurse would come and check on him and brought a chair for us to sit by his bed. Mlamuli would only sleep for a couple minutes then he would wake up and cry so we were shocked to come in Saturday morning to find him asleep. I thought maybe the nurses had given him some medicine that would make him sleep. His breathing looked very difficult for him even with the oxygen and he had a high fever of 41 degrees Celsius but his little feet were cold and clammy. We mentioned all of this to the doctor but he didn't seem to be too worried about it. Me and Melissa took turns sitting by him, putting a cool wash cloth on his head, and flicking the cockroaches off his bed. I was sitting next to Mlamuli's bed as he slept and was praying for him that God would heal his little body. I took out my bible and read some Psalms when I turned to look at him I noticed he wasn't breathing so I told Melissa and checked again then ran to get the nurse tears falling down my face I told the nurse and she followed me to his bed and shook her head and wrapped him in his blanket and brought him to a different room. We just broke down crying right in the room in front of six other sick children and there moms who were starring at us. Melissa and I really had hope that he would get better. I knew he was in bad shape but I honestly didn't think he was going to die. It also makes me mad because this little boy was in the hospital for over a month and he should have been helped along time ago. They just forgot about him. He had no one to fight for him to get cared for until it was too late. I wish I would have seen this before. It has been hard because I know God brought Melissa and I in his life for a reason but I don't understand why he didn't heal him. I had prayed so many times that he would bring healing to him but he didn't. I know God is faithful and even though I don't know what his plan is I still need to trust him, but it still hurts so much. God had broken my heart for Mlamuli and I loved him very much caring for him like he was my own. It has been hard the last couple of days I can't stop thinking about him. Please remember to pray for the orphans and that God will bring someone into their lives that can provide and care for them.

The Neglected

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

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.

Ministry Opportunities

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

This past week I have been visiting some different ministry sights. A couple of us went to check out a care point in a rural area. At the care point they taught the kids who didn't go to school and feed them. We took public (a big van stuffed with a bunch of people) and it took about thirty minutes to get there. Once we were dropped off we walked about a mile on a dirt road to get to the care point not sure of where it was. After asking around we found out that the care point is closed and has been for about two years. We found out that someone had bought the land and didn't allow them to use it even though it is just deserted. While we were asking around kids flocked to us out of nowhere by the end there were about twenty some kids following us and we gathered and taught them some songs and they sang "Jesus Loves the little children of the World" for us. These kids were precious. Most of them didn't have shoes and had holes all over their clothing. We had asked them about there parents and they would look down and say that they didn't have a mom or dad. Most of them live with their gogo (grandma). I would like to go back and try to get the care point started up again.

I also went to the hospital and visited the abandon baby room where babies are just left. It is kind of like an orphanage because the children just live there. They have some older kids there as well but we did not see them because they just wonder around the hospital all day. While we were there I picked up this little boy and was shocked by how skinny he was. He was just skin and bones with a big bloated belly. I don't understand he looked malnourished but all the other babies were huge you could tell they got plenty to eat. He looked so tired and weak and had quite a potent smell to him. The poor little thing just fell asleep in my arms. I fell in love with that little boy and plan to see him as often as I can. Thank you for all of your prayers.

I made it to Swaziland

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I arrived in South Africa last Tuesaday and stayed at Alabanza ( that is where I stayed last time while I was in SA). We stayed their a couple of days waiting for the rest of our team to get in. I was able to go and visit some friends in Atteridgeville which was amazing. I had missed them so much and it was so good to see them. They were also very excited to see us. I was also able to see the little children from the cresh that I used to see everyday. We left for Swaziland on Saturday and got there that afternoon. They had rented our team a house to stay in. It is has an electric fence and a guard for our safety. Being a white person we are targeted for theft. We have settled in and are waiting for our water and electricity to be turned on. We will be visiting the different ministeries this week so I am excited for that. Please continue to keep Kenya in your prayers the death toll is still rising. Thank you.

Update

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hello, I just wanted to update you on what is going on. My leaders prayed about the situation in Kenya and decided that it was not safe so we are going to go Swaziland instead. I have visited Swaziland for about a week during the awakening. It is a little disappointing but I understand with all that is going on. I am excited to go to Swaziland and do ministry there. As far as ministry goes I can do hospital visits, street ministry, care points, and there are some teaching possibilities.

Kenya Needs Prayer

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I have been back in the United States for about two weeks now and I go back on January 14, 2008. It has been such a blessing to be back with my family for Christmas. When I first got back I was in shock I couldn't believe I was really back and with my family. I had the best Christmas gift this year. My sister and her family surprised me by coming home Christmas Eve. My sister and her family had just moved to Arizona while I was gone so I was excited to see them. It has been nice being back and being able to get together and talk to everyone.

I am excited to go to Kenya but also a little nervous. Recently in Kenya there has been a political uproar. Mwai Kibaki was reelected for President and the opposing party says that the voting was a sham and wants a rerun of the election. There has been riots and protesting going on where three hundred have died and 100,000 people have been displaced. Adventures In Missions actually has some staff in Kenya right now. Our leaders are assessing the situation and are making plans accordingly. Please pray for the safety of the AIM staff that is in Kenya, for the people of Kenya, for God to show our leaders where he wants us to go, and for peace to come over Kenya. Thank you for all your prayers I will be keeping you up-to-date on what is going on.

Jeffrey's Bay

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

We took a fourteen hour drive to Jeffrey's bay for a dicipliship/leadership conference. We joined the First Year Missionaries stationed at Jeffrey's Bay for the conference. Jim Bailey and Ben Messner were our speakers along with them were Greg Beel and Nathan Haas. All the participants were split into either the dicipleship or leadership tract. I was put in the dicipleship tract which was taught by Jim Bailey. He is the Lead Pastor at Metro Christian Fellowship and he brought Greg (an elder at the church) and Nathan (Jim's diciple). These men taught me so much in just a week. I learned how to listen for God's voice and they showed me by example of how to be a good dicipler. Not only did they spiritually pour into me but they also gave me hope in my future and believed that God has great things instore for me. God really met me during that time.

We also did ministry in the late afternoon and around town. Some girls and I met this lady at a common fast food place called King Pie. Her name was Lisa (that was her english name) she is a security guard at a bank. Lisa always goes to talk to her friends after work at King Pie. We met her there and talked to her for awhile and continued to come back and visit her. We invited her to have supper with us and to stay for worship. Lisa enjoyed worship so much that she recorded some of the songs on her cell phone. She also gave us names in Xhosa (the language spoken there other than Africans). The name she gave me was thando which means love. It was neat to see how fast we were able to build a relationship but also sad because we weren't able to stay very long. We left her some contact information so hopefully we will be able to keep in touch.

Thanksgiving

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I celebrated with about 100 other people and went out to dinner for Thanksgiving. One of the girls from a Real Life mission team got a surprise visit from her family. They came down and treated us all to dinner at a five star restaurant. It was amazing and we were all so thankful.
It was a bitter/sweet last week in Atteridgeville. It was sad to say goodbye to our friends that we had made. One of the ladies, Lorraine got saved on Sunday! We had been praying for her for such a long time. She knew about God but was so hurt in the past. Her mom had tried to kill her three times when she was just a child. She had broken down many times when we were with her. She finally just gave it to God. Praise God. It has been a good week.

Back to the Basics

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

We have been having these teachings in the morning taught by Claude, a very godly man. He is only 27yrs. old and gave up a successful family business to go out and preach the gospel all over the world. Anyways he has been teaching in Hebrews.

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so." Hebrews 5:11-6:2

We have realized that we need to go back to the basics. So we are going back and laying a firm foundation so that we can build on it. It is very humbling being on a mission trip and having to go back to the elementary teachings, but extremely helpful.

It has been hard to keep focused on ministry when our last day with them is this coming Wedsnday. Claude sent us out with some motivation on Thursday. He told us to go to ministry expecting God to come and meet us there and to go and pray for healing on all who are sick and to believe that it will happen. Luke and I went to visit a man named Joseph. We met him when we were prayer walking through Atteridgeville. He had stopped us and wanted to know why we were in Aville. We have been going to Atteridgeville for a month and a half now and I have not seen one white person other than my teammates. Some of the children are even afraid of white people they start crying when we go near them because they have never seen a white person before. So people are very interested to know what we are doing in Aville. After we told him that we were here to tell people about the gospel he told us that he wanted to stop drinking (drinking is a huge problem in Atterideville). He said that he didn't even like to do it and how he wastes his money on it. He wanted us to come back and visit him. So we did on Thursday and he had a lot of questions. Amazingly enough we had been discussing in our bible study the same things he was asking about so we had lots of verses to show him to help him understand. He has such a hunger and desire for the truth it is so exciting. Please pray that God will open his heart to the truth. We are going back on Tuesday to see him again. Thank you for all your prayers.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

God is Good

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

It has been a long week. I am sorry this is so long but so much happened and I have never been through anything like this. Last Saturday the Kenya and Swazi teams were woken up at 4:30 in the morning and were told we had fifteen minutes to pack a small bag and our sleeping bags for the next couple days. We were also told that there would be a consequence if we were not on time. Then we were given two chickens that were now our new teammates that we had to carry around everywhere. I don't know if you have ever carried a chicken before but it is not easy. We then walked over to an eco reserve where we were blind folded and had our two leaders lead us up a mountain. It only took a half an hour. At this time I was excited and was looking forward to camping and having some team bonding time. Little did I know what was in store for us. We had some different leaders that we had not met until then. There was a man named Sir Colin who had military background and was pretty much like a boot camp sergeant. Sir Flaps made us do a lot of the physical exercise but he wasn't as vocal and loud as Sir Colin. Then there was Sir Ruben who was like a loving father. He prayed for us and showed us compassion which meant so much when the others treated us so harshly. Looking back I understand the reason for the different personalities but at the time it was hard to have a positive outlook. Our first task was to build a tent with some tarp and rope. They put me and Luke in charge of that. Yeah I definitely do not know anything about building a tent so that went well. Anyways after that we had a team builder called the spider web. It was an obstacle course but you couldn't touch these strings and if you did it was a touch which you only got 75 of those for the whole team and we had an hour and a half to finish. Let me tell you the obstacle was near impossible to get fifteen people through it. We used up our touches up early on which caused us to do push ups for more touches. Then we ran out of time so we had to run a lot. We continued to use up our time and touches so we ended up having to do 105 push ups each and eleven of us gave up lunch for more touches. After a few of us got through it we had to run until the rest of our team got through. I am not sure how long it took them but I felt like I was running forever. For those who know how active I am realize how difficult this must have been for me. So after everyone finally finished we stopped running and had to do our 105 boy push ups. We were all exhausted from all the running my legs hurt and I couldn't breathe we all just broke down and cried. I know how pathetic but it was really horrible at the time. So we were doing our push ups and just balling, no lie. We did our push ups uphill on gravel and my feet were sliding down and my hands were burning from the hot rocks. Our leader was yelling at us to do them the right way. Any push ups that we didn't finish our team leaders had to pick up the slack. I was mad. Not many have seen me mad but I was ticked. I did not like the way that they treated us and I wanted to leave. We had a couple more team builders that day but nothing as bad. We built a fire and made supper then had worship and at about 9:00p.m. they told us that we had another activity. We were all so tired and were not looking forward to this. Our next team builder was to dismantle a fake bomb. That took us a couple of hours to figure out but we did it. Some of our teammates that like figuring that stuff out did it and then explained it to the rest of us. We all had a specific task to do like plugging something in. A few of us had to do an army crawl to get to the bomb. It was a lot of fun after we figured out how to disable the bomb and we were so excited because we thought we were going to go to bed afterwards. It was 1:00 a.m. by the time we finished and we were then told to go see Sir Colin and that we had another activity planned. We were waiting for him to finish up with the Swazi team. He took them out in the bush and had them sit by themselves with no flashlight until he yelled for them to come back. They were all in earshot of each other but far enough away that you could not see anyone. Three of them went back to the tent which was a big mistake. When not everyone was there he was very angry and got the ladies who went to the tent and yelled at them and told them that their whole team had to stay up all night now and he made the guys on the team carry a huge tree stump around everywhere. The girls were in tears. So after we saw him chew them out we were all very fearful. He took us out to the bush and did the same with us putting us by ourselves except another teammate and I had to bring the chickens with us. I was glad because I did not want to be alone. As I was sitting in tall grass fearful that a snake was going to eat the chicken right off my lap. I was also fearful of falling asleep and getting my team in trouble. So I talked to God out loud to keep me up, sang worship songs, prayed, and tried to make sense of everything. It was very cold and the dark clouds were covering the stars it felt like I had been sitting there for hours and I was starting to wonder if he was going to come get us. I was miserable toward the end I was tired and freezing cold. Three hours later he came to get us. It was about 4 a.m.and he allowed us to sleep for about two hours. He made the Swazi team do a lot of physical exercise and they had to make us breakfast. I really felt bad for them because I knew how tired I was and they didn't get any sleep. In the morning Sir Colin and Sir Flaps talked to us about the different team builders. Sir Colin said that he noticed from watching us that spiritually we focus on ourselves and instead of listening to God and coming to him for others needs we come to him with our own needs. Which I have thought about a lot lately I believe that he is right. So I am working on putting others needs before my own and listening to God and praying for things in a way that will further God's kingdom instead of help me. We have been studying in Acts 2:42-47 where it talks about believers living in community and how it is so important to not living for yourself but rather living to further God's kingdom. I am not going to lie the weekend was extremely tough physically and emotionally but I do realize that it was good for us in the end. I learned to persevere in tough times, that I need to focus on God and others over myself, and that I am extremely out of shape. So I will be working to improve on those qualities.

Please pray for a man named Jacob he works at Alabaza. He has been having some pains in his back. He is such a hard worker he gets there super early in the morning and doesn't leave until late. God had healed him of AIDS in the past so if he can do that we know that he can heal his back pains. Thank you.

Kenya

Fri, 2 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Today we were split into Kenya and Swaziland teams. I am going to Kenya! The people who are going to Swazi are leaving this Wednesday and will be there for two weeks they will come back to Alabanza afterwards and then we will all leave for Jeffery's Bay and will be there for two weeks. Then we come back to Alabanza for debrief. So that is a rough schedule of what will be going on. It is starting to warm up and get really hot. For awhile it was rainy and chilly not anymore. It is summer time here. I am missing the beautiful fall weather.

This week at ministry was a tough week for the Swazi team because they had to say goodbye to the people at there ministry site. Luckily Since I am going to Kenya we are staying here in South Africa so I still have another two weeks with them. We took our ladies to the hospital on Monday to visit a friend who recently came out of a coma. Lawraine had asked each patient if it was ok for us to pray for them and they allowed us to. On Tuesday we went on a house visit to pray for a four year old girl who was very sick and in pain. She had been to the hospital before but was now living with her aunt who quit her job to care for the little girl. The little girl needed to be on a special diet but they couldn't afford to buy the special foods so she wasn't eating very much. We prayed for her and her aunt and the next day they said she slept well and the pain went away. On Thursday we had a little celebration with the ladies. We brought soda and cookies and chips. We also wrote them cards and they loved them. Honestly I have never seen someone so excited about receiving a card. They read them over and over and displayed them on their shelf. We have been talking to them about how after we leave they can still do house visits and pray for people. Ida told me the other day that we showed them how to love others and she said that she wanted to love others like we do. So when we were saying goodbye to one of the ladies that we visit and gave her a hug she did the same because she wanted to show God's love. It was so sweet.

On Wednesday I stayed back and helped bake cupcakes and cookies and decorate for the party. We were having a party to celebrate life. Halloween is a very dark holiday where many of the cults get together and do human sacrifices and other evil things. So we had games and did praise and worship. We also dressed up as bible characters. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed being a part of the party planning committee.

Thank you all so much for praying for me. I haven't got sick yet, I hope that continues. Please pray for our teams as we break up. Also please pray for the people in Atteridgeville. A lot of them are drunk nearly all the time and the children just need to be loved. There are few christians there most who say they believe in God also believe in ancestors and Sigomas (witch doctors). Pray that God will open their hearts to the truth and give them a hunger to know him. Thank you so much

Aville

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I went back to Atteridgville again this week. We visited our friends we had been praying for Lydia, Sara, and Salommie. Lydia and Sara both had a stroke and are paralyzed on the right side and we are not sure what is wrong with Salommie. These ladies are always home and love to have us come and visit them. We were unable to see them on Monday because we had some car troubles and they all asked where we were and that they had been waiting for us. We went to see them on Tuesday and prayed and had fellowship with them. When we went to see Sara she was not feeling well so we sang worship songs and prayed for her. She was lying down on a bench and we read Psalm 3:2-6 and she sat right up and said that she felt better. She said she was planning on having her sister take her to the hospital but she didn't need to anymore she felt better. So that was amazing. So while we were in Atteridgeville this week we tried a local favorite Russian sausage sandwich with French fries, lettuce, polony, and some different sauces. It was interesting. But anyways while we were there waiting for our sandwiches a lady came up and picked up a French fry that had been left on the table. So I started to watch her and she started to cry so we tried to figure out what was wrong. Some of the ladies that were with us tried to talk to her in there language but she did not respond so they thought she had some mental problems. We got her some pap (which is very popular in Africa and tastes like grits) and some Russian sausage. She took it and walked with us as we went back to our meeting spot. She had no shoes on so one of the girls took off her nice shoes to give them to her but the ladies that we were with said that someone would steal them so I gave her my flip flops. And then she just went off and walked away. We later found out that some of our teammates had met her earlier that day. They were meeting some people that are in charge of an orphanage. When a lady came in to the yard and started pulling plants out and she took a vase from the house. No one knew who she was and so they had asked her to leave. She did not want to leave and they were afraid that she might get violent so one of our guys asked her to leave and she did. They thought something was wrong with her spiritually so some of our teammates prayed for her and cast out demons. It was a weird experience and we later found out that she was a prostitute. So we are continuing to pray for her.

I can't believe I have already been here for a month and a half it does not seem like it has been that long. This Friday our team is going to be split up into two teams Swaziland and Kenya. Staying in South Africa is no longer an option because they do not have enough staff right now. So that means our teams will be bigger. There are about 35 of us all together now. It will be hard to leave some of the people I have become close to. We already told the leaders where we would like to go. So now they are praying and trying to form the teams. I still feel like Kenya is where I need to go so I hope that I end up there. I trust them to decide where I need to go. Thank you so much for your prayers and support I appreciate it greatly.

Atteridgeville

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I went to Atteridgeville all this week during ministry time. We have been leaving earlier so we are there for about five hours four days a week. We started the bible study this week with some ladies we met there. One of the ladies is taking a bible class through her church. So we helped her with her homework which was going through the New Testament. Then next day we were on our way to Loraine's house for bible study and we were stopped about five times on our way because people wanted us to pray for them. We prayed for people that were blind, sick, people who needed a job, just about everything. There was this one lady named Lydia who loves the Lord so much. We went to pray for her and read her some verses. She was very sad and looked very sick she had a stroke four years ago and was stuck in bed all day. Her husband is sick as well but he just goes out everyday and drinks. We visited her again the next day and she was very happy to see us and she had such a big smile she looked so much better and she said she felt better as well. She had so much joy in her it was beautiful. We sang praises with her and prayed that God would give her more strength everyday physically and spiritually. We went to another lady's house because she was sick she said it was TB but we are not sure if that is true. She looked sick and she was shaking a lot. We talked to her and read some verses and she was in tears and accepted Jesus into her heart. We have been going back to the houses that we visit everyday so that we can build relationships with them and encourage them as well. It is funny when we are going on house visits it reminds me of the twelve disciples and how they follow Jesus around and how people want them to pray for them. The ladies that we have done ministry with have such a passion for God it is amazing I love being with them. They all have such a servants heart. They buy us cold drinks and make us coffee and snacks even though they don't have much money. None of them have jobs because there are so many people and not very many jobs everyone is looking for a job and are willing to do anything they are not picky. That is one of the big problems. Our friends there have invited us over to there church so we are hoping to go in a couple weeks. I wanted to say thank you all for your prayers for my friend Martha she is very well now. Thank you!

Safrica

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I am back in Johannesburg. I was able to go to some different ministries. I was able to do some physical labor for this place called Refilwe which is a community that is self relient. They plant there own crops, make bricks for this huge building they are working on. They make all of their resources. So we helped shovel a mixture of dirt and rocks for a couple of hours. I have blisters to prove it. The next day I went to an orphanage where I played with toddlers and took care of them. The worst part was leaving those kids. They have volunteers that care for them but there are only a few of them that actually care. The next day I went to a place called Atteridgeville. It is a squatter camp which is basically a bunch of shacks with dirt roads that are filled with trash and broken glass bottles. And you see kids running around with no shoes. The shacks are about the size of a bathroom and are tin roofs with cardboard for windows. My group spent some time building relationships with some christian ladies that live there. Our goal is to disciple some christian woman so that they will be able to continue sharing the gospel after we leave. My group will be going back on Monday to do a bible study with the woman that we met. They are so excited for us to come to there home and study the bible. They are hungry to learn about God it is awesome. I am really looking forward to going back. I am sorry that I do not have any photos posted. We are told to build relationships with the people before we start taking pictures of them. So I am working on it. I hope to have some next week. I love you all and thank you so much for your prayers.

Swaziland

Fri, 5 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Swaziland is beautiful. There are lots of mountains. We will be going back to South Africa on monday. I was able to experience my first real African church service. It is a little different then in America but I like it. Over the week my team was split up into smaller groups and we went to some different locations. On monday I went to the hospital. They have it split up into different wards. O went to the womens ward. They have some individual rooms in the front and then a big room where they put the very sick in the back of the room. SO me and a teamate went straight to the back of the room and tried talking to this lady named Jabu but she didn't speak any english so we drew pictures with her and at first I think she thought we were a little crazy but then she laughing and smiling. We drew a picture of her with Jesu and a heart showing that Jesus loved her and her child Zanele. We also gave her a colorful pen to keep so she could draw. We with her and also went to a church afterward to just pray for the people we had met at the hospital. I was able to go back and see her on Thursday and she had the pictures hidden under her pillow and she had a roll of tiolet paper that had colorful flowers drawn on it. I was happy to see that she enjoyed the pen and pictures. It is sad because the people at the hospital rarely get visitors. I don't know what she was sick with they can't tell you and a lot of times they won't say someone has aids because it is very shameful. Even though the aids statistics are around 40% of the people here in Swaziland have aids but that is just the people who have been tested but they say it is really about 60%. Swaziland is the worst place for aids and some of the missionaires say that the population will wipe itself out if something isn't done. A huge thing is ignorance about aids. You can tell some of the people who have aids in the hospital they are REALLY skinny I mean you can't tell someone is even in the bed. It is sad. After going to the hospital I am considering soming to Swaziland in January and going to the hospital for my internship. Swaziland would be the only location that I would be able to do my internship at a hospital. So please pray for God;s guidance for me and where he wants me to go. Also PLEASE pray for my teamate Martha she is sick. She is currently at a clinic here. The symptoms don't make since and she is supposed to get some test done today. She stayed overnight at the clinic last night. So please pray for her spiritually and physically. Thank you. I am sorry for the spelling and grammar I don't have much time. God Bless,

Amber

I am in Africa

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Hello everyone!
I want to start off by saying thank you VERY much for your support. I arrived at training camp in Georgia on September 12. During that time we camped out and had some guest speakers come and prepare us spiritually as well as culturally. We have also done some team building. I am part of a team of about 40 people so there are a lot of us in Africa. I made it to Africa last Friday so I have been here for a week. We are going through some training right now. We were also able to do a children's ministry in a poor township. The children were amazing they had beautiful smiles and were so excited to see us. We were talking to them about having faith and what that meant. They have been through some horrible situations and still are able to trust God and have faith like a child. It is beautiful. We are leaving for Swaziland tomorrow which is about five hours away. We will be there for about a week. We will be able to do home visits, go to the hospital and talk to the sick and help out at a care point which is like a soup kitchen. Since there are so many of us we only have a limited amount of opportunities to blog so I am not sure the next time I will be blogging. I just want to say thank all of you so much for all your prayers and support. Also we have been learning about spiritual warfare and have been experiencing some so please pray for us and that God will show us to the people he wants us to witness to. Thank you
Love,
Amber

Africa!!

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

God has given me a passion for missions and is something I have always thought I would do in the future. I remember writing a paper in Jr. High about how I was going to be a missionary when I grew up, but for some reason I never thought that I would be going to Africa . When I started doing research about this trip I was excited and wanted to go but didn't think it would ever happen. And now here I am raising support and leaving in two months. WOW, that is a little scary. God has been putting this on my heart so I am taking the leap of faith. This has been hard to just let go and trust God but he has given me peace about it.

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7