Lions and Hippos and Giraffes, Oh My.......

Today was Safari Day, we slept til 6:00 and then went for breakfast, breakfast

has been awesome everyday, however eating so well makes me feel bad when

I know there are kids not far from here that haven't eaten in days.

We took our laundry down to housekeeping this morning to find the door

closed, what we heard coming from that room was so beautiful. The

housekeeping staff was singing praise songs acapella. We just sat there

and listened to the voices of angels. They are happy and praising God

before they begin their day.

We went to a the Swazi candle factory today and found many gifts for

everyone. Then we were off to the Safari, it was AMAZING! We saw

hippos, Rhinos, Giraffes, Elephants, wild Boar, crocodile, Impala and

1 lonely lion. We had great drivers and I totally loved the safari jeep!

We are off at 7 am tomorrow to go back to the Community where we

will get to spend some more time with the awesome kids. Some of

our team will be finishing the garden for the orphans and some of us

will work directly with the kids. Can't wait to see them.

Goodnight everyone :)

Safari Mobile

Elephants

Unknown Species

A Long Day Of Adventure

Well today started with 6 am breakfast, then off in our comvie
by 7. We had a two and half hour bus ride this morning to a remote
community in Swaziland. But, before we could get there, we were
pulled over by the police, and our support truck driver locked the
keys in the truck. We finally met up with Rainey who was the pastor
of the church. She explained where she wanted her garden planted.
Rainey is an amazing women with the face of an Angel, she is an
angel. Her garden feeds all the orphans in her community.. We left
part of our team there to plant and the rest of us headed to teach
vacation bible school. We were told it was just 5 miles up the road
and we would not be able to take the comvie. We only could get
there by truck, so we all squished ourselfs in the truckbed of this
pickup along with 2 nuns from Taiwan and the pastor. We went up
the narliest roads, and through a river to get to this place that was
just 5 miles down the road....ha! We finally reached our destination
feeling a little beatup from our short 5 mile trip up the road. We
were expecting 50 kids and ended up with 271. They were all
amazing, beautiful kids that were so excited to see us. We didn't have
enough supplies for so many children, so with our leader, Sio's great
direction we did a quick verson of" Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat" the musical. Some of us on this trip had just done this
show in the winter in San Diego. Shaun McGraw was Joseph. It was
amazing! The kids sang with us and prayed with us. We then went to
another school and sang with 35 other teeny little guys in a school
that looked like it was made out of sticks.

School Kids And Me

There are too many stories to tell, but I will tell you a few more. The pastor
asked us to visit a woman who had just lost her husband, she was now A
widow with 4 children. We prayed with her and gave her part of our lunches
along with a bag of oranges that had been grown at project Canaan. She was
to remain in her mourning hut for 30 days, we prayed with her.


Child of the Widow



Another story that made my heart cry was a little 3 year old boy we found wandering down the road. People in town said his mom would leave him and his sister home everyday. This little boy was left to care for his 2 year old sister.

These are just a few of the stories we left with today.

Little Boy Left to Take Care of his Sister


I will never forget this day! It will be forever in my heart. The children chasing our truck for over a mile. The children singing us songs about Jesus. Their FAITH and love for God is amazing. They have so little, yet have so much.....GOD! I would really love to take them all home with me, but knowing that's impossible, well.....it leaves me with a feelng that there is so much to do for these amazing kids. Who am I to ever complain or gripe?? I will never forget the children chasing the comvie, they happily chased after us for over a mile. That image and their faces will be with me forever. We went there to teach, and I left feeling like I was the one who learned so much! I feel so blessed for having spent the day with Gods precious children. Can't wait to see them again on Wednesday and I really wished I woud have brought another suitcase full of school supplies, they need so much!

Kids Chasing our Comvie

Supplies For Only 50 Kids, but there was 271

First Day At Project Canaan

Today was an amazing day! I went to the dedication of the new Chapel at
Project Canaan. It was beautiful!! It was on the top of a hill with an
amazing view, it was so peaceful. Very meaningful service, they spoke of
Aids and one man spoke that he was deliberately given aids and has had it
for 18 years, he now helps people with aids all over Swazi. It made me sad
to hear how affected Swaziland has been by the aids virus. I always knew
this was true , but it really hit home.

Project Canaan is a place of HOPE for the children who are left parentless
due to aids. It is a beautiful 2500 acre farm that a year ago was just brush.
They are getting ready to build beautiful housing for children and Babies
to live. The farm will provide them with food and have plenty left over to
sell.

New Chapel At Project Canaan

We then went to a beautiful little lake on the property where we all had a picnic lunch.

Lake At Project Canaan

I enjoyed a little game of soccer with a rock and new friends.



I met many people from Taiwan,they were awesome and raised enough money to buy 15000 blankets for the people of Swaziland.

More Friends of Project Canaan

We then took a tour of the property on a comvie. It was a blast, kinda reminded me of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. Sorry Disney, this ride was better;)
I'm tired now and going to sleep, can't wait for vbs in the community tmrw.
God Bless!

Shopping Mall

It was interesting I was just telling my Mom this week how I would love to walk across a State line, walk from one state into another. Well today, that wish came true and I got to walk into another country. WOW! We walked through customs in South Africa and then walked into Swaziland. Pretty Kool!
I also realized that planes aren't the only means of transportation that can have turbulence, busses can to???.

We got to our hotel, and ran to the shopping Market before they closed. My Mom finally got her shopping fix! They were the sweetest people who literally plead for you to please, please look at their stuff. It was very hard for me to say "No" to all those sweet faces. AS we were walking back to the hotel, my Uncle Mike was our protector, making sure we were aware of our surroundings. Hmmmmmm.....Uncle Mike....our hero! Thanks Sio for helping us find our way back to the hotel;). Well its 8:15 and I'm beat, gotta get up bright and early to attend the dedication to the new chapel at "project Canaan", can't wait! God Bless!

We made it to our hotel in Swaziland. We are getting ready for dinner. The dinner will be served buffet style. We are not suppose to take more food than we can eat.

We have had some good snacks on our trip that are not sold in the U.S., like BBQ Pork Rib potato chips.

My Mom just saw a mall, but the buss driver would not pull over.

Making Good Use of Our Time

We are making bracelets for children of Swazi while we ride the bus. The bracelets are made of many colors like Joseph's coat of many colors to represent Gods love.