T.I.A.

A very popular saying here is T.I.A.  which is short for... (you have kind of yell this one...) "THIS IS AFRICA!"  You learn this very quickly in Swaziland whether it has to do with time or weather or schedules or electricity or internet or food or toilet facilities... haha. It's awesome here!  It was actually a pretty consistent week.  Cell groups were amazing and the TC UK team left.  They were awesome though.  A cool thing I got to do was go to the local primary school where a lot of our children attend.  They had an award ceremony and whole production to put on.  So we sat outside for like 6 hours in the misty freezing weather. but it was good cultural emersion and to support the kids.  It's just so amazing how God is working in everything. Ahhh! I wish everyone reading this could experience it.  Life here is so cool. 

beautiful day

So it’s Sunday. I left off on Thursday night. So Friday I worked at school mostly doing Math (they call it Maths here which sounds like Mats with the African accent.) after school I baked a chocolate cake completely from scratch (even the icing!) I hope you all are very proud of me! :D haha. It was for my friend’s birthday (he just turned 6.) It started storming very badly with tons of thunder, lightning, and a downpour of rain. The power went out so the little birthday celebration was in the dark and so was youth group. Haha. We had oil lanterns and candles and we did songs and games and the TC UK team shared more testimonies. Saturday is technically my day off, but we went into the community to a homestead that has 16 children to deliver food. The poverty is horrendous but God is so much bigger than it. Before we left they sang us a song about Jesus. Awesome. We ran some errands in town and then had a braai (bbq) for dinner with the team. Saturday night was awesome because the team did a “Pretty Pink Princess Party” for the older girls on the farm. We did pedicures and had chocolate fondu with fruit. And then we had a devotional time. It was really good. Sunday… church, errands, church, lunch and that’s where I am now. Everything is going really well. The weather was nasty Friday and Saturday evening and night but today is absolutely beautiful. I feel very happy. I realized some things lately. Like the reason people seem to have more faith here is because they have to. When you don’t know where your next meal will come from or how you can purchase Bibles for the community or when you or a loved one are obviously dying… you must have faith. It’s so encouraging. There is honestly no where better to be than in the center of God’s will. I have always struggled when I feel that people are overspiritualizing things, but I know that in Swaziland… that is not the case. I have grown so much and learned so much. Being addicted to the Word, madly in love with Jesus, and so secure in who the Father has made us to be is such a beautiful place. Lately, my focus has been decisions, plans, calling, will, etc… consequently I was reading through some Proverbs and WAAAHHHBAMMMM! 16:3 jumped off of the page and into my heart. It says’ “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.” Yeah…. Nuff’ said.

lately.

What a week! Whew. So I think I left off on Friday and now it is Thursday again. So Saturday we ran some errands and grocery shopped. I brought KFC back for Banele because he was too sick to go the day before. Julie, Stephanie, Kylie and myself went on a crazy awesome horrible happy adventure. We walked to Hawane Resort (a cool hotel type place with thatched roof chalets) for lunch. When I say walk I mean we trampled through thick brush and scraping bushes and barbed wire and electric fences and mud and a river. It was great fun until I decided to take off running and face-planted in the middle of a gum tree forest. Haha. Only in Africa. We took some trampoline jumping pictures at the resort after lunch. (my favorite!) Saturday night was health promotion for the teenage guys. The nurses did presentations and showed a video on HIV/AIDS and then the boys asked questions. It was very enlightening. Sunday- dos churches. The Teen Challenge UK ladies shared testimonies and sang and it was amazing! I got sick Sunday evening but they prayed for me at a meeting that night and it was gone. Monday- mother’s meeting was once again very informative. I set up the jewelry in the curio shop and made a lovely display. The 6 of us volunteers got to go out for dinner to celebrate and it was delicious. Afterwards we had our weekly meeting which was nice as usual. Tuesday- Jane, Kylie, Nomcebo and I took Banele to his Gogo’s house. She isn’t his real grandmother but she took care of him before he came to the farm. She fosters 18 children. It was one crazy adventure on rocky dirt mountain roads. I thought the Hallelujah Chorus would break out when we hit the tarmac again. God was really protecting us because there was a Mozambiquan Spitting Cobra we stumbled upon we’ll eating our packed lunch outside. Ewww. No harm done though. The trip was good though and meant a lot to all of us. We were able to bless the Gogo and pray over her. Tuesday night was Hawane Cell so we all packed into our living room with the TC UK ladies. I always love that cell group. It is so challenging and encouraging. Wednesday was full of school, errands, and then a braai/ bbq for cell group. Today I went to the women’s center at Eluzitweni with the TC UK team. It was a powerful time of praise and worship, testimonies, and prayer. We also went to the Mbabane Government Hospital which may be the worst and most sad place on the planet. It was awesome to be able to pray for people and children in particular. I blew bubbles and passed out presents and balloons. Tonight I made dinner for the 6 of us volunteer girls because Julie and Steph leave tomorrow. Sad day. I’ll miss them tons. Ok well thanks for reading. Blessings and Love.

bunkbeds and other nonsense

I’ve just had some random thoughts floating around that I wanted to share with everyone. Brace yourself…. This may be a little intense! Haha. Ok so I’m kind of in charge of the team house (4 bedrooms with 2 sets of bunkbeds each and a kitchen, dining, bathroom, sitting area.) so we have a team coming this weekend from the UK, consequently, I had to do the laundry and make the bunkbeds. So I’m up on one of the bunkbeds tucking sheets in and nonsense and I think to myself, “Tiffany, what is the best possible way to jump off of a bunkbed?” unfortunately, it wasn’t until after I jumped that the thought then occurred, “There is no safe way!” don’t worry… no injuries were sustained in this process. Just thought it may make someone laugh and lighten their day. Ok next story… this one… not comical but really cool. So there’s this family from the US that attend Potter’s Wheel church. They have 4 little boys and are medical missionaries. However, they just left to go back to the states and don’t return until February. But you should check out their website www.thelukecommission.org (or something like that) It’s really cool and their video was awesome. Next…On the farm here (where I live) we have horses who like to leave their fenced in area and graze around my house and the farm in general. They leave nice presents everywhere too. Now if you know much about me you know I’m very very very allergic to horses. And here in Swaziland I finally met someone else who is deathly allergic to them as well! I’m not alone anymore! We are going to start a club. :D haha And next… KFC is very good in Mbabane, Swaziland. So if you are every at the Mbabane shopping plaza… eat KFC but whatever you do… do not order sweppes dry lemon soda… blehhhh! OK so the last thing I’ve been wanting to do for awhile… there are a bunch of terms that are different in Swaziland, England, and Ireland. Rubbish bin-trashcan Queue-line Black currant-some kind of fruit in the UK that is the flavor of the purple skittle instead of grape Gutted- devastated (now I know this is used in the US but they use it all the time in N. Ireland) Swimming Costume-bathing suit (they laughed at me when I said bathing suit! They said it was old-fashion) Braai- barbque Trousers-pants Jumper-jacket or sweatshirt Gogo-grandmother Holiday-vacation or break from school Convy- public transportation Chips-french fries Crisps- potato chips Biscuits-cookies Homestead- house where the Swazis live. These words are all growing on me. I use them often. Also, I’m learning Siswati. I know basic greetings. Yebo! (means yes or in reply to hello.)

Ps. Everyone here is starting to call me TT... that's what Bethany called me when i was a baby! aww. and a lot of my family still does. it's nice.

Ok so life… I’m a bit stressed about things at home (i.e. bills, banks, schools, etc…) but overall okay. I have a lot going on here… I feel like I haven’t stopped since Sunday afternoon. Haha. It has been the longest week by far. There’s been a lot of stuff going on around the farm. Like issues with teenagers, and health problems with kids, and all sorts of things but God is definitely still in control. We had 1.5 huge containers (like shipping containers) of donations from the UK come in so I was put in charge of the workers to organize and make sure everything was safe and secure. The containers are a blessing of course but also quite a hassle with all the sorting and lack of storage space. We will overcome though. I’ve been helping kids with homework and school things outside of school. And I’m still cooking like a pro! Asian beef stirfry last night and melted cheddar ranch chicken with mashed potatoes (homemade of course!) tonight. Man I love dinner. I’m becoming quite known for my baking here as well. Haha. It’s amazing how God uses little talents and passions that I’ve always had. Tonight was youth group, but the girls had a health promotion event so it was just me and 9 guys. It was a great night of fun and fellowship. I taught them crab soccer (where you have to use your hands to move around… and we played inside the house!) I scored 3 goals for my team… holla! :D It was nice just to hang out with them in a smaller group because they talk more. Good fun. Ok so Banele. He was doing better until midday today. His airways closed up and he couldn’t breathe. Luckily they got to him before anything happened. Basically him and at least 3 others of the HIV positive kids (ages 5,7, and 13) have extremely damaged lungs due to multiple chest infections that weren’t taken care of in the past. I saw chest x-rays from the 3 others and they had white spots all over (indicating lung damage.) The good news is that they are all 3 in decent and healthier conditions. They are precious. So this Tuesday I’m supposed to go with Banele and his foster mom and a few others to Banele’s gogo’s homestead (grandmother’s house). Please keep us in your prayers that day because we are anticipating it will be extremely emotional. He wants to say goodbye to her basically. Just pray for strength for all of us and to be able to be supportive to his foster mom and him.

You guys rock. Thanks for reading. Much love.

better.

the weather is better... it changes so fast. I've spent a good amount of time with Banele (pronounced Ba-nel-ee) and his mom. I went over to their house and made animal balloons and played with Banele and my 2 best friends (ages 3 and 5) Pihwa (pee-wa) and Sihlangu (see-lang-oo) I wish I could upload the pictures of them! They are precious! so Monday night I got to see and lay out some of the jewels4God jewelry (uncle Tim and aunt Michelle's ministry www.jewels4god.org.) It was cool to actually see first hand how their ministry is working and being used! Tuesday I worked at the school again and then Banele and his mom came over for lunch and to hang out. It was so fun because I pulled out my macbook and took silly pictures with Banele. He's so sweet, but really can't breathe. We made cards for nurse Jane. Last night (Tuesday still) we had a party for Hawane Cell. I made italian potatoes (family recipe woot woot) and I baked one awesome chocolate cake! Today is Wednesday and I painted cool designs on the window of the school. I also got to hang out/play with Banele, Sihlangu, and Pihwa. Ok well gotta run to Potter's Wheel Cell with Liz (who is now engaged!!!) yay! alright email me or something!

prayer.

The weather has taken a turn for the worst and so has the boy I mentioned in the previous blog. His name is Banele. This morning at the parents meeting we prayed for his mom (keep in mind this is his foster mom not biological) twice and just wept. To put it simply… we either need a miracle or for God to just take him peacefully. It is so heartbreaking. He is in so much pain and on massive amounts of medication. His lungs are severely damaged and his chest is barreled. He doesn’t sleep much at night because he cant breathe. Just pray for him and for the whole farm… for peace. I will keep you updated. Gotta run now. I’m going to spend time with Banele and entertain him and also teach his younger brother shapes, colors, and numbers.

"time goes by so slowly" (yet oh so fast!)

Every week feels like a month. There is so much going on and so much to do. Let’s see I left off on Tuesday. Tuesday night was Hawane Cell of course and man it was so awesome. That’s probably my favorite one because it is so diverse. We have staff/volunteers from Swaziland, England, Zambia, South Africa, Ireland, and the US. It is just a really great and powerful time of prayer, worship, and fellowship. Wednesday… what a day!?! I taught both of the Lighthouse School classes all by myself. The other 2 teachers had to go shopping for the farm for the next month so that took all day. The kids were extremely well behaved which was a total blessing. However… one of the boys is very very sick. It is so heartbreaking. When he came to the farm he only had 3 months to live… so far he has been here 6 months to a year. During our break time him and another boy were walking to their houses (not very far at all) and he had a coughing fit. He was coughing so hard that he was kneeling down bent over and nearly threw up because he couldn’t breathe. I ran over to him and talked to him softly trying to calm him down. Meanwhile the other boy ran to get his auntie that takes care of him when his house mom has an off day. There was nothing I could do so I just started praying for this young boy out loud. Finally he got enough strength to walk back to his house. His auntie hooked him up to a machine that helps him breathe and I brought him some coloring pages and crayons. This boy is only 13 but he looks like and weighs like a 7 year old should. He is one of the most precious kids ever and loves God so much. We don’t know how much longer we have with him. It could be matter of days, or weeks, or hopefully months. Just keep him in your prayers. I don’t like using the names of the kids in my blog because I don’t want to exploit them and I want to protect them, but please keep all of them in your prayers. I’ll keep you posted on him. Ok so that was a bit overwhelming to say the least!

Wednesday night was Potter’s Wheel cell. We talked about Isaiah and “Here am I. Send me.” Very cool. Thursday I went to school in the morning and then went into the community with Jane (the nurse) and 6 others. They do walk-up health clinics and the others preach and inform the people about HIV/AIDS. I made animal balloons and played with a handful of preschoolers. They were very cute but afraid of Kylee and I. By the end of the day they had warmed up a lot. Thursday night was girls cell and Friday was school and youth group! Woo! We played Fruit Basket Turnover but with Bible Characters instead of fruit names and then another game called “I like people who…” I taught them some motions and a dance to the song “Freedom” by Eddie James. I talked about God’s plan/purpose/will/calling for our lives. Es bueno.

Today is Saturday… I was going to walk to Hawane Dam (which is down the road a little ways) with a bunch of the kids, but we are going to do that tomorrow. I just hung out with the kids and played with them. I have 2 new best friends. 2 little boys (ages 3 and 5) have taken a particular liking to me and are always jumping on me and holding my hands and hugging me and dancing with me. They are adorable! So the 3 of us went into a room where church is held and some of the guys were playing the keyboard so the 2 little boys started dancing. They are hilarious! We walked around the farm together and braved giant horses (not too close), and crazy snakes (there was a dead one in a gutter), and carnivorous lions (aka 2 of the sweet dogs on the farm), and then we (pretend) raced go-karts. It was great fun. One of the boys found a grasshopper and chased me around with it. I was laughing so hard. I’m not a huge fan of bugs but this was probably the coolest red winged grasshopper thing ever!

Kylee isn’t feeling too well so keep her in your prayers too. I realized that everything here is extremes. It is either really hot or really cold. Fortunately it is quite nice weather wise. I love being here. And I am even being taught some SiSwati! Its so fun. I made powerpoints with some songs I wanted to teach the kids. For the ppt background I used my personal pictures I had taken in the US or in Swaziland. They are so cool! Also in addition to all my other tasks… I’m starting cheerleading here so I’ll be coaching… haha. And I’m also event planning and managing teams when they come… which is super exciting. I love it.

Okay so keep me in your prayers for decision making when for after I get home! Love you all. Keep it real. Email me tiffnd10@hotmail.com