Wed 060326
This morning I got up after a good nights sleep (9 hours - that's a crazy amount of sleep!), and saw the dawn out the window. Welcome to a new day that the Lord has made!
The local pigeons seemed to like the view from my balcony too!
Not seeing a need to hang out in the hotel room, I got ready and caught the shuttle to the airport.
I retraced my steps from last night and came back to the main lobby, with its prominent statue of Oliver Tambo, a prominent figure in South Africa's struggle for freedom. The statue depicts him descending from an airplane with a suitcase, symbolizing his journey back to South Africa after 30 years in exile, and honors his contribution to the liberation movement.
Anyway, upon checking my bag, I walked over towards terminal A (from terminal B), a short walk on a higher level, and got another look at the lobby with the statue, below.
and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
Revelation 13:8
and
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
1 John 4:1-3
The "it" in the first verse refers to the Antichrist (the Beast) who received his authority from Satan (the Dragon). And the second verse also refers to the same theme - that there are many spirits in this world and not all of them are from God. In other words, Satan is real, and we need to be alert and not deceived into following a a spirit that is not from God , as clearly stated in the second passage : every spirit that does not confess Jesus (as true God and true man) is not from God. Walk away from it.
A great reminder, coming to me directly from the OR Tambo International Airport bathroom stall of all places....
Expecting a small plane, I was pleasantly surprised at how large the plane was - Here is a photo of it from the jetbridge
Looking ou my window at the gate next door was a slightly larger plane, proudly bearing a chopped up version of the South African flag on her tail.
Upon taking off, I got a slightly better look at Johannesburg than the night before when it was sunset as I was flying in.
The sign on the front did say King Mswati III International Airport, so I guess we were in the right place!
We entered through the left most door, marked "international arrivals".
where a sign welcomed us to Eswatini.
The first stop was the "health screening" (below) which consisted of being asked if you felt at all sick, followed by a thermometer swiped across my wrist. I was deemed healthy enough to enter (not sure what happened to those who said they felt sick....) and proceeded on to Immigration for another check of my passport (and questions of Where are you going ? "Manzini" satisfied that question for them fortunately- as I would not have been able to list all the places I will actually be going....And also how long will you stay? I simply said two weeks. It seemed like a nice round number. Ok it is not quite two weeks, but no proof of anything was required.
No one was happier than me to be hooked up with the group at last!
Here is a picture from the drive into Siteki with its billboards, some schoolchildren on the left (both a Catholic Primary School and a Catholic High School are here) and various other people (on the right) out along the streets/sidewalks.
This is the guest house we are staying in - 5 of us in this house and Anita and Jeff next door. Everyone else had claimed bedroom space on the main floor, so I chose to utilize the cozy loft which has 5 twin beds (and a kind of steep staircase)
There is a walkway connecting the two halves of the loft - really a neat little space!
Laura and I went out for a walk over to "the rocks" (Jeff started later but caught up to us shortly before we got there.
It was a very pleasant walk in the cool of the day, toward sunset (the high today was around 77 with an expected low of 52 overnight).
The walk was on the property of the owners of the guest house/farm and also adjacent bird sanctuary.
There were signs along the way, but sometimes you had to kind of look for them...
An item of farm equipment for shelling corn.
some birds - not sure what kind - maybe sunbirds like on the symbol for Airlink Airlines?
Possible coffee plant?
Laura and Jeff on "the rocks", which jutted out of the ground in this particular location, but not elsewhere
and had several small pools of water accumulated in the low spots.
Pretty soon, we were up in the clouds, actually in a completely clear space between two sets of clouds!
They brought by snacks, your choice of chips (I understand from members of our group who tried them that they were actually some sort of jalapeno chicken chips and a bit on the spicy side, although that was not mentioned by the stewardess....), nuts or dried fruit. I opted for the dried fruit, which was shaped into little logs of various colors, with each color log having a slightly different flavor, although the ingredient list on the bag said there were only two types of fruits actually used - pear and peach. I thought it was a decent sized bag (50 g) for an airplane snack. There wasn't much time for snacking on this flight, though, as basically we started out descent very soon after reaching maximum altitude (something like a 45 min flight).
The descent into Manzini showed a rural area with simple houses.
The airport terminal was pretty simple too. We stopped where I took this picture, and those stairs were rolled over for deplaning.
Everyone wandered over across the tarmac toward the terminal.
We entered through the left most door, marked "international arrivals".
Then I got my checked bag and was out the door, where these three lovely individuals were waiting for me (Ndumiso Dube - one of our drivers, Anita and Jeff).
It is an A frame, with thatched roof look from the inside and these decorative items hanging over several of the beds (I didn't feel the need to encase my bed in mosquito netting, so opted for a bed without that
We liked this sign -"your common sense is greatly appreciated"...Unfortunately "common sense" is sometimes defined differently by different people!
We met for a devotion, led by Denise on Matthew 6:25-34, and talked about God's provision. We don't know what will happen to us tonight or tomorrow or the next day, but God does, and even as he cares for the natural world (the lillies of the field, the birds of the air, etc), how much more he cares for us and can be trusted to take care of all our needs.
We then talked about our day. Everyone toured Good Shepherd Hospital in the morning. Then they broke into two groups. Pastor, Jeff, Anita, and Laura spent the day at Possible Dreams International (PDI). It was a fairly long drive to get there, then a fairly long drive back to pick me up at the airport in the afternoon, but they were able to spend about 2 hours there. PDI received land from the local chief to start a farm where they grow corn. Today, our group got to participate in the processing of that corn. First they let it dry on the plant, then the cobs are hand picked and shucked and allowed to dry some more. Then using a machine, they remove the kernels (similar to the machine in the picture above) Someone holds a bag up to the machine for the kernels to go into, and the cobs are ejected all over the place. It apparently produces a lot of dust. Our group helped pick up kernels from the ground that didn't make it into the bag. Then they sewed the bags shut while sitting on other bags (like bean bags, only filled with corn). Then the bags were carried to a central area. Since they weighed around 125 lbs each, Jeff and Ndumiso carried the bags as a team effort (Apparently there was a local kid who just carried a 125 lb bag on his head!)
Through their experience driving through rural Eswatini, they saw what food insecurity/poverty looks like. Jesus tells us that the poor will always be with us. (Matthew 26:11: For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.) But they also saw hope. Swazis coming together to help Swazis. Seeing a need and meeting that need in whatever way possible.
Denise and Barb each went with different Home Based Palliative Care (HBPC) teans, also to rural areas. Barb told us about two individuals she met - one a woman who needed to get to the hospital to have a biopsy done, and all the logistics that the HBPC group discussed to try to arrange that (how to get there, who will watch her children when she's there, etc). Also another woman, around 40 years old with multiple brain tumors. HBPC cannot help this woman medically, but they provide support for her, and for her family, they let the whole family know they are there for them. They listen as she pours out her frustrations (Why doesn't God heal me? If He is not going to heal me, why doesn't He just take me home to Himself? Why does he leave me here like this?) Not easy questions. We don't know the mind of God, but we do know He hears her when she calls to Him and He has not abandoned her. As the body of Christ, neither do we/the HBPC team abandon her.
Dinner tonight was prepared by these amazing men - Mncedisi Msibi (on the left) and this group whom he helped organize into a catering team.
The meal was delicious
Below are Anita, Ndumiso, and Mncedisi (whom Anita refers to as her son, since the people of Eswatini see each other as family and he is about the age of her older son). Mncedisi shared with us some about himself at dinner. He grew up in the city (same neighborhood of Mbabane as Ndumiso) but upon seeing the rural areas has devoted his life to helping in whatever way he can. He will graduate from business school (with focus on finance/supply chain) this August. He has started an NGO (non governmental organization) to help bring discarded food and clothing from the cities into the rural areas. He also has worked with many youth who have few options in life after age 14 when state-mandated school is over. Many turn to video games/tv/alcohol/drugs/women, but he engaged them by coaching a soccer club (and teaching some of them how to coach and go out and do the same). But more importantly, he was there for them, listened to them, tried to hear what their issues were and offer suggestions /interventions if possible. He went on to play soccer professionally himself for a time, as have some of "his soccer kids".
He also shared a story about how he was able to intervene in a suicide. He just happened to be there when the Grandma of this young woman started screaming. He looked in the window and saw the young woman about to hang herself. He was able to break the window and intervene, talk with her, hear what was going on. He has no formal counseling training, but he has two ears and a compassionate heart. He was able ultimately to refer her for counseling. Now she is back in school and doing well...Oh yeah, he also serves as a driver, many times for the groups of nursing students that Anita brings down to Eswatini, and would have served as driver for us, but he was already booked driving for another group coming next week. Certainly a man of many talents with a heart for the Lord and for his people.
I am reminded of this verse that Anita shared with us during her pre-trip devotion. How we saw it at work today!
The Lord is good to all;
He has compassion on all he has made
Psalm 145:9
The Lord had compassion on many people facing food insecurity (and sent PDI to provide corn for them. He also sent Mncedisi to collect food from grocery stores in the city to bring to rural areas). The Lord had compassion on the woman who needs a biopsy (and sent the HBPC team to be with her). The Lord had compassion on the woman with multiple brain tumors and her family (and sent the HBPC team to be with them, listen to them, cry with them, support them as a family). The Lord had compassion on the woman in the act of suicide and sent Mncedisi and counselors to intervene. The Lord sees our struggles, hears our prayers, and has compassion. Yes He can and sometimes does work miracles, but usually He works through His people.
Lord, open my eyes to the needs of the people around me, and use me as your instrument of compassion.
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