The past few months of waiting have been really good ones. I
think that the Lord knew it was good for me to have a few months for cultural
adjustment and rest after the big move and the wedding. Every day looks
different here, with different visitors who show up at the door or tasks that need to be
accomplished. Many days are filled with the monotonous tasks of doing laundry,
sweeping the floor, cooking, doing dishes, etc. Almost every day that I am
home, our sweet neighbor girl named Precious stops by the house. I started giving
her sweets awhile back when she came to the house because I wanted to be the
cool Auntie that lives upstairs… though now we have established a routine, so I
know that when I see Precious at my front door, or in my kitchen, then I’ve got
to find some kind of snack to give her. She is a great, and very cute neighbor.
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| Precious |
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| Another neighbor - Siphesithle, watching a movie with me while I made taco shells in the living room |
At the end of October we had graduation at the Bible
College. Mapile was the MC for the day, and 9 students graduated. Ever since
then it’s been pretty quiet around here.
November flew by without many big events, though we did have
several opportunities to host visitors. Mapile’s brother, Menzi, came to visit
for one weekend. Another weekend we had the privilege of hosting Mapile’s Gogo
for the whole weekend. While she was with us, some of Maphile’s aunts, and his
uncle came to have a meal with us. In Swazi culture, the new bride in the
family is called the Makoti, and she usually does most of the cooking and
caring for her new family. Feeding everyone that one meal felt like a big task
to me, and I’m thankful that I don’t have to cook like that all the time.
We also went to visit Gogo and the kids who stay with her at her house several times.
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| At Gogo's house |
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| Four of the boys that stay with Gogo - Lungelo, Sethu, Bayanda, and Sithembiso |
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| Little Fezo - the youngest of the kids who stay with Gogo |
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| Some of our visitors - these are some of the youth from our church at Mphosi. They came to play soccer and watch a movie at our house. |
At the end of November we celebrated Thanksgiving with the missionaries on campus - the Cheney family, the Crofts, and one of the Zimbabwean students on campus.
December has already been an eventful month. One of the
biggest events was that we got a car! I could have written an entire blog on
buying a car in Swaziland… but I wouldn’t want to bore you all to death with
the long, confusing details of it all. It was a four day process to get all the
paperwork we needed, and we spent many hours waiting in lines. Now we are so
thankful to have a registered car that we can get around with! The past four
months of taking public transport have taught me a lot about the huge blessing
a car can be. We get to leave at the time we want to, put heavy bags in the
back, and we don’t have to wait indefinitely at the bus stop to try to find a bus
with empty seats going the direction we are hoping to go. Our car has also been
a blessing to others even though we have had it less than a week! We’ve been
able to give people lifts to where they are going, and even help out one of our
friends who was stuck on the side of the road with no gas.
We are getting excited now because we are headed to Uganda
on Monday to visit my parents for Christmas. We will stay there until the
beginning of January and then head back here. Neither of us have ever been to
Uganda, so we are looking forward to experiencing new things together.
Mapile is working on his last assignment for his degree in
theology. He should be done with that assignment by the time we leave for
Uganda. We are looking forward to next year, when Mapile will work for the
Bible College and help fill in wherever there is a need on campus. I am also
looking forward to working as a nurse in Swaziland and seeing what
opportunities arise in that area for me.
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| Our African nativity |
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| Mapile wearing his traditional Swazi attire for one of the Bible School Activities |
Thank you for your prayers and for your encouragement! We
really appreciate the way so many people faithfully pray for us. We look
forward to seeing what God has in store for us as we follow hard after Him.
“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I
will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never
forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my
diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The
Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly… The Lord
is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing
love.” – Psalm 103:1-6, 8 NLT
