Thursday March 9, 2006 Jeffrey’s Bay Update…

          We are down in J-Bay now with our team for a week long conference. The weather here has been gorgeous and you would not believe even if I told you how amazing the beach is here. Tonight is our final night here at the conference and then we are off tomorrow to begin the long journey back to Swaziland. It has been such a rich time of rest and growth for us. We are especially enjoying teaching from our dear friend, Ben Messner, and also teaching from Floyd McClung. Floyd was previously YWAM’s international Director for many years and served with his family in both Afghanistan and in the Red Light district of Amsterdam. Floyd is now the founder of a ministry called “All Nations”, which is in the process of relocating to Cape Town, South Africa. We have quickly become wonderful friends with Floyd and his wife, and hope to begin making some regular trips to see them once they move to Cape Town later this year.

          On another note, Busisiwe arrived back in Swaziland just last week and is healing wonderfully from her surgery. She is still receiving daily dressing changes for another couple of weeks, but all her wounds are closing very well, and she is already standing more erect that ever. Just last week I was able to contact a friend who we stayed with during our initial time here in Swaziland, and he is going to be able to help us get Busi in for this school year to a great, English-medium school in Manzini. This is a huge praise, as the school year started already back in January and it is rare to be able to get kids started this late. My greatest request now for Busi is that she is able to make up the work that she missed in the beginning of the year and that she finds her place among a class that has already been together for some time. Another praise is due for we have found a school-van driver who can pick Busi up from the rural area and take her to and from school in the city for just under 50$ a month.

          As for long term plans, for now Busi will continue to live with our dear friend Gcebile (English name: Cynthia) and her family while she attends school, and as we are building our home. Mary and I will remain her legal parents and be able to get great time with her every week at their home. It is a funny scenario because by America’s common standards of “family” is normal to be together under the same roof, and yet we are doing something totally different. However, according to Swazi culture it is perfectly common for a child to live with aunties and uncles in a different area for the purpose of schooling, better care, or a host of other reasons. So in a way, Cynthia and her family have become like aunties and cousins to Busisiwe, which she loves deeply. I sat down with Busi to talk and she still knows we are her parents and that we are committing to taking care of her regardless of where she stays. She also knows that if at any point she decides she wants to come live with us, that there will always be room for her in the new house, and she is beyond welcomed! This is going to be another sweet way of allowing time for us to continue to learn Siswati and for Busi to learn English. (Humorously, I think Busi is learning English far faster than I am learning Siswati, as she said “bye bye daddy, see you next week”, with a huge smile on her face as I left for South Africa.)

Another thing I shared with Gcebile was that in so doing things this way with Busi, we really see Gcebile and her family as becoming part of our extended family as well. So, something we will be seeking to do is to begin to help them develop their home more and complete some of the unfinished rooms they have started. This will allow more room for Busi and the other 3 children living there. I am also hoping to play some sort of fathering/mentoring role with the other three kids as I visit frequently, in the absence of a father figure in their lives. It is such a sweet family and we are so excited about becoming one big family.

Lastly, due to intense rain, the process was slowed down in laying the foundation for our home. Therefore, we have been postponed until the upcoming Tuesday to begin digging the foundation and assembling the steel frame and roofing. I hope to get pictures on the site soon from that as we break ground this coming week!

P.S…

If you want to check out Floyd’s ministry, All Nations, you can go to:
www.allnations.us

Another huge praise I want to make mention of is the nearly 10,000$ raised through AIM for orphan schools fees for this year! What a joy it will be next week for all of those kids to get started on their schooling!

Also posted some pictures of our family on the site, so if you haven’t seen them go and check them out. (You just might find out what I would look like with a shaved head)