38 weeks and counting!

38 weeks

I am 38 weeks pregnant. And I’ve been working for Heart for Africa at Project Canaan for over 4 months now. I don’t even know how to begin to describe to you how different life is now than it was at the beginning of the year.

Pregnancy has been great so far. Really, I’ve had very little sickness, and I have felt well enough to keep up life in the way I’m used to here. Sometimes I don’t really remember that I’m pregnant, and I’m reminded how large my tummy is when I walk in town and see how many people turn their heads at me. I have also had way more people stop and talk to me at random times, either commenting on my bump or asking me some question about the baby.  And occasionally I do bump into things or people with my very large belly! There is definitely a sense of excitement as we await our baby girl, who could come any day now.

My new job at Project Canaan continues to remind me of the Lord’s faithfulness in my life. I have learned so much in the past 4 months of working there, and I believe it’s one of the many ways that the Lord is taking care of us and blessing us. There have been some pretty intense situations at work in the past few months. We had a huge influx of new children in August/September, and at one point we received 12 children within a period of 16 days. For me, new children means getting charts ready, doing assessments, and trying to keep up with any medical needs. I’ve also been working on a protocol for our kids who are HIV+. At one point I found myself sitting in an office with two HIV/TB specialist doctors at Baylor Clinic in Manzini, discussing the needs of our children’s home and how to make a thorough HIV/TB protocol for the children that come in to live at Project Canaan. For some reason I just wished that my nursing professors at IWU could see me chit chatting with these really awesome, smart, tropical disease specialist doctors to develop new protocol for the health needs at the children’s home.

The jacaranda trees are in bloom - I love the purple flowers... it reminds me of growing up in Zambia

There have also been some incredibly challenging situations at work. In August one of the children at Project Canaan got sick very quickly, and two days after we admitted her to the hospital she passed away. I can’t explain how surreal that situation was, and still is. She would have been two this September. Mapile had the privilege of coming out to Project Canaan to do the funeral for that precious girl. We are thankful that she’s in a much better place now, with Jesus.

Mapile has been keeping really busy at the college. Graduation is October 29^th (the same as my due date!), so things are starting to wrap up at the college for the school year. He just finished teaching a course about ministry to youth and adults to the 2^nd and 3^rd year students. It’s fun to see him prepare for his classes, because he is so passionate about what he does and making a difference in the lives of the students.

As you think of us, we’d appreciate your prayers! Here’s a few ways you can be praying for us:

- That Mapile would finish the school year strong

- For a healthy delivery for our baby girl

- Safe travel for my mom – she’s coming October 26^th to help with the baby

-  Transition to parenthood for Mapile and I, we are very excited, but also realise that it comes with lots of responsibility!

More baby bump pics from the past month: 

Our garden is producing lots of spinach, tomatoes, and onions!

We are amazed at how huge our onions have grown!

“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” – Psalm 118: 6-9

Stay tuned..... for pictures of BABY VILAKATI!........ coming soon... 

Looking Back on a Year of God's Provision

As I sit here trying to figure out how to write an update of life over the past 2 months, I find myself having a hard time knowing just where to begin.

Yesterday was Mapile and my one year wedding anniversary. The time has just flown by, and it’s so fun to look back and see the many ways that the Lord has provided for us during this first year of marriage.

When I moved to Swaziland in June 2015 to prepare for our wedding, I didn’t know where we would live when we were married, where I would work, or how we would make ends meet... and I certainly didn’t know that by our one year wedding anniversary I would be pregnant at 29 weeks with our baby girl! I also didn’t know that I’d already have my Swazi citizenship, or that I’d be 2 months into my 2^nd job in Swaziland… learning so much about pediatrics and being the nurse for 131 kids!

Yes, that's me swearing in and officially becoming a Swazi Citizen 

I could write a separate blog to tell you of the whole citizenship process... but for now I'll spare you the details!

God is so faithful. It’s good to stop every now and then and look back to see the many ways that He has blessed us.

Yes, I did say that I am already 29 weeks pregnant, and we did find out that we are having a girl. We are so excited. She’s been a good baby so far. She’s so fun because she loves to kick, and sometimes I think she must be doing aerobics because of how much she moves. I am suspecting she’ll be a little athlete. We have been thinking about her name, and so far we’ve decided that we’d like to give her one Siswati name, and also one English name, but that’s about as far as we’ve come in the name stage. She is due on October 29, and that day seems to be coming quicker and quicker!

29 weeks

Mapile has been busy with life at the Bible College. School opened back up in July, and he taught a New Testament Survey class for the first time. He’s also been in charge of the library and the chapel services on campus. The college is also going through a time of transition, where he is picking up some new responsibilities as well. Some of those new things include leading times of prayer and fasting, organizing music lessons, and challenging the students to memorize scripture.. Needless to say, things at the college have been keeping Mapile quite busy.

I am about 2 ½ months into my new job working for Heart for Africa at Project Canaan. I am continually learning so much, and I’m so thankful for this new work/ministry opportunity. I often feel overwhelmed and unqualified for the job, but God continues to help me. I am so humbled to be working at this children’s home and taking care of the kids. The set up is really good because I also have the support of a pediatrician who comes out every other week. It helps me not feel too stressed or overwhelmed, because the pediatrician is excellent and it’s a relief to be able to refer anything out of my scope of practice to her (which at this point is a LOT of things!).

Since I started working there we have had over 10 kids join the home. I had the privilege last week of going on one of the pick up trips to get a child. Swaziland’s Social Welfare department notifies our director when there is a need for a baby to be in a safe place, and once it is approved then we are able to pick up the child. As I heard the story of this little girl, which was somewhat complicated and confusing, I kept thinking about how God is El Roi, the God who sees, and He sees all that happens here on earth. He knows all the details and who was involved, and He sees their hearts. The name of the Baby Home at Project Canaan is El Roi, which is such a fitting name because there are so many things that we do not know about the background of our kids, but El Roi doesn’t miss a thing, and He knows every detail.

“The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race. From his throne he observes all who live on the earth. He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do.” – Psalm 33:13-15 NLT

Here's a few other pics from life the past 2 months. 

My last day of work at Mkhiwa - the nurses bought me a cake and had a small farewell for me. This is Beke and Simo, two of my good friends from Mkhiwa. 

Our garden - we have had lots of spinach and lettuce that we've been able to eat lots of and give away. 

Our cousins and our niece came to visit us again a few weeks back. This photo is taken outside Gogo's house, where they stay.

Wanna know why we are so excited?

 

We are going to have a baby! Baby Vilakati is coming October, 2016.

There are also a LOT of other things going on in our lives, so you should keep reading if you want to hear the latest.

Well, since it has been waaaay too long since I’ve updated this blog, there is lots and lots of things to tell. The first, and most exciting news, is what you already heard. Little Vilakati will be joining the family in October… which brings lots of uncertainties and unknowns for us, but we are super excited about that one.

This week has been a really eventful and exciting week for us. On Tuesday morning we heard from one of the youth in our church that he had hurt his arm, and may have broken it. We decided to take him to the government hospital in Manzini so that he could have it x-rayed. Little did we know that God had a divine appointment waiting for us at the hospital! As we were walking in the main entrance, one of the doctors whom we know was walking by, and he stopped to talk with us. He had previously (a few months ago) told me that he knew of an orphanage that I might be able to spend some time volunteering at. I told him that I’d be interested in that, but with my work schedule at the clinic it has been hard to do much volunteer work. This past Tuesday, the doctor put us in contact with one of the directors of the orphanage, who told us of the need they have for a nurse. We scheduled an interview/meeting for Wednesday, where I was able to meet some of the staff and hear about the nursing job at the orphanage. Yesterday I had another meeting with the director, and I accepted a job to work for them!

So this week I will be resigning at the clinic where I’ve worked for the past 4 months, and as soon as possible I’ll begin my training at Project Canaan (which is the name of the orphanage). They have a really neat website that tells more about the ministries that go on at Project Canaan called www.heartforafrica.org.

Project Canaan is a little over an hour drive from where we stay at Joy Mission. It looks like I’ll go there about 3 days a week. I still have a LOT to learn (obviously) about the job, but I’ll be working with the kiddos there. They have around 120 kids that are 5 years old and under. I’ll help to see to the sick kids and do well-child check-ups, along with lots of other stuff, I’m sure.

This is all really new and exciting stuff, and so much of it is answered prayer for Mapile and me. I have struggled so much with feeling like I’m not involved in ministry, and I’m excited for the opportunity to be more directly involved in ministry. If you also remember, the last time I wrote I was saying that I was hoping to work part time at the clinic. However, I was unable to get that request, as it looked like it was either a full time job or no job. When I met with the administrator, they were able to decrease my hours from 50 to 40 hours per week, which has made a huge difference these past 2 months.

Also, our church at Mphosi has made rapid progress on the new building! We are just in need of a floor, windows, doors, and electrical wiring, but the building has walls and a roof! Once we got permission from the community leaders to go ahead and build, the progress went really fast.

 

 

 

 

 

The old church building

The new church building, with the old one right behind it.

If you remember in one of the previous posts, we mentioned that we would be resigning from the church. Up until now, we have continued to pastor at Mphosi since they are still in the process of getting a new pastor. Today was officially our last day at the church. The district has found a new pastor to look after Mphosi church, but they are still in the process of working through the details of that situation. For now Mapile and I are looking forward to having a chance to visit some other churches here in Swaziland. (I’m also looking forward to the chance to GO to church, since I have been working every other weekend at the clinic, I have missed being in church as often as I usually am - and with the new job, I won't be working weekends!).

 

In other updates - back at the end of April we had a fun week hosting 5 kids from Gogo's house (Mapile's cousins & his niece). They were on school holiday, and they asked to come to our house for a visit. It made for a crowed house (Since we only have one bedroom, all the kids had a sleepover in the living room - the two girls slept in the hammock and the boys had the futon). They had a blast at our house - playing soccer, watching movies, watching their white "Mom" cook food for them in the kitchen...  

From left to right: Sithembiso, Temavulane, Bayanda, Fezo, and Lungelo

 

 

Fezo and I - on the way to our house at Joy

 

 
And just after those kids left to go back home, my parents arrived! Mom and Dad were here for the month of May, as Dad was teaching a course on expository preaching at the Bible college.
I cannot express how much of a JOY it was to have them here with us. Mom helped me cook, clean, and think about BABY PLANS... and they encouraged us a great deal while they were here. We had a blast playing games together, playing volleyball with the students, and we even got to take Mom and Dad down to our newly found beach in South Africa at St. Lucia.

Dad's birthday was May 11 - we made him coffee cake.

Mom and Dad at Mphosi Church

Dad preaching with Mapile as his interpreter.

 

 

The beach in St. Lucia

 

Mom and Mapile crab hunting on the beach

Mapile and I went for a little boat cruise & watched hippos and crocodiles in St. Lucia.

 

 
 

 

"Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago."- Isaiah 25:1

"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." - Psalm 40:5

March was an exciting month for our little church at Mphosi. If you remember in my last post I mentioned that the community leaders had not given us permission to build a new church structure. The good news is that in March, the community leaders came to the land and gave their blessing on the building! Now the church is able to continue the building process.

During the meeting, various individuals stood up to say a word of appreciation or blessing to the church. 

The building in the background is the current church structure where the church has met for years.  The ladies at our church made food over the fire for all the guests. 

This cinder block is where the community leaders marked the edge of the church property. 

The church building had already been started, but we were waiting for the official blessing from the community leaders to keep building.

I have been keeping busy with my outpatient nursing job - still working a bunch of hours there. After talking with some friends and assessing my work situation, I've decided to start working part time next month. I'm hoping to work 3 days a week instead of the current 5 days/week.

Mapile and I also had the joy of having some dear friends visit with us in March. Brandon and Joy came for one week, and we really enjoyed our time together. We went to a local game park, Mlilwane, and spent an afternoon swimming in the pool there. We had taken a volleyball with us, and we had at least 10 other people who joined us for playing volleyball in the pool! It was also refreshing to have a chance to catch up with friends, have a good excuse to go out to eat, and just do fun things together.

Hanging out with Brandon and Joy in our apartment. We made yummy food together, which was pretty exciting.

Easter services were held here at the Bible College for the whole Wesleyan church. They started the services on Thursday evening before Easter, and the services kept on happening until the main service on Sunday morning. Many people came to the college and "camped" here - sleeping in the dining hall and the chapel in order to attend all the services. Unfortunately, I had to work that whole week and weekend, so I don't have any fun pictures to show of that.

Some really exciting news for me is that I started a Bible study with some missionary ladies in Manzini this past week. The study is called "Wonder Struck," and it came at a really good time for me. I have been praying for something to help me grow spiritually, and I wanted to be able to meet with other ladies, so this was a wonderful answer to prayer for me. We met for the first time this past Tuesday, and we will continue to meet for the next 7 weeks or so.

I guess that's all of the big news. As far as small news goes, I killed my first chicken today. A lady at the Bible College gave us a chicken to help celebrate Mapile finishing his undergrad theology degree at Hebron in South Africa (which also happened this month - Mapile's paperwork got graded and he has a degree now!)... so she gave us a "home chicken" to celebrate.