Thoughts from 30,000 feet in the air - what is the truth?

CTV Ottawa with Egg Farmers of Canada CEO, Tim Lambert

On October 16th Ian and I left the comfort of our home in Africa and headed to North America for a month-long journey to build awareness of what is happening in the Kingdom of Eswatini, the developments on Project Canaan and to raise money for the project to continue.

We have flown 26,000 miles (42,000 KM), visited 14 cities (sleeping in 14 beds), driven 1,200 miles (2,000 KM) in rented or borrowed cars, spoken to hundreds of people, answered a million questions,  eaten too many good meals and braved the snow/slush/blizzards of a Canadian winter.

The highlight of our trip was, without doubt, spending time with Spencer and Chloe. We got to see Chloe’s new student housing at Brock University and meet many of her close friends, and then got to witness Spencer graduate from Queen’s University (Smith School of Business) with a double Master degree in International Business and Marketing Management).  I am very proud to announce that Spencer was hired by EY (formerly Ernst & Young) in Chicago, and will fulfill his dream of becoming a Marketing consultant there.  We are so proud of both of our children.

Having two grown children studying marketing, we often find ourselves discussing our past lives in the marketing world, learning lots of new things from them and observing what hasn’t changed at all. The question of “The media vs. The message” came up the other day, and it made me reflect on our 30 day journey. Were people responding to the media (Ian and me) or to the message of HOPE that we were sharing.

In some ways the trip was disconcerting because it seemed that people looked at us as Super-heroes having given up a life of luxury to serve the poor, but nothing could be farther from the truth, and the truth is what we were trying to share.

The truth is, we were called to serve the poor and the oppressed, and there is nothing that gives us more joy than to do that.  The truth is that I was homesick for 30 days and can’t wait to land in Johannesburg in a few hours (we are on our last, 15-hour, flight).  We will stay overnight (the border from South Africa to Eswatini closes at 10PM so we have to stay in SA) and then get up in the morning, grocery shop and then make the 5-hour drive home, with hopes to see the children before they all settle in for their dinner and evening routines.  The truth is, I miss our little ones.

Thank you to my dad's family for coming and supporting us.

It’s not an easy road to travel, but one that I wouldn’t change for anything, but it is hard to straddle between a world of abject poverty and despair to the a land of riches and plenty, especially when many who have plenty still think they are poor.

I am thankful for everyone who came to meet us, greet us, hear us speak, share in our joys and our tears, made a financial gift and/or prayed with us.  You were all a blessing to us and we are leaving North America encouraged that there are some people who DO care about “orphans and widows in distress” (James 1:17)

Canadian friends Leslie and Fraser Wilkinson

Tuesday is my birthday and I have the privilege of sharing it every year with three of our children:  Rachel and Leah turn 7-years-old (their mother died years ago after a long fight with Tuberculosis) and Maxwell turns 5-years-old (he was abandoned on a railway line and came to us with the name “Maxwell” on his health card!). It will be a day of fun, lots of cake and pure joy and I can’t think of anywhere I would rather spend my birthday.

Today I am going to make a bold ask of you the reader. Would you consider making a donation in honor of our birthdays?  We have a year end matching gift of $50,000 right now so any donation you make will instantly be doubled. Many of you knew Rachel and Leah’s mom and perhaps would give $7 for each of the twins or $70 or $700?  You could give $5.00 or $50 or $500 in honor of Maxwell or his very name?  And I will turn 56-years old, so perhaps you would like to give $56?  Or $560?  Or even $5,600?

Click here to make a gift in the US.

Click here to make a gift in Canada.

Every dollar that you give will be matched and go directly to helping us feed more children, rescue more babies, employ more people and educate the future leaders of Eswatini. HOPE – that is what we are all about.

Thank you for being on this journey with us.

Live from 30,000 feet above the earth … on our journey home.

Janine

Who would have thought?

Who would have thought? (Circa 1984)

Who would have thought that a little girl, affectionately known as “Janny-Lynn Willis”, born to an unwed 15-year-old girl in Northern Ontario, Canada in 1963, would grow up to become the mother to 159 Swazi children? 

Who would have thought that Janny-Lynn would be sent off to boarding school, where she would meet a young man whom she would marry 11 years later, and he would grow up to be the father to 159 children?

Who would have thought that God would bring together a girl with a mind for marketing/communications with a boy who had a mind for number/operations, have them run a successful marketing company for 16 years, and then send them to Africa to start a home for abandoned babies and farm?

Who had even heard of Swaziland, Africa all those years ago?

We often say, “We can’t make this stuff up”.  And we really can’t. 

The Message bible translation of Jeremiah 1:5 says,  

 

“Before I shaped you in the womb,
    I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
    I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
    that’s what I had in mind for you.”

Isn’t that cool??

Today is Canada’s 150^th birthday, and while I was only 3.5-years-old when Canada turned 100, I distinctly remember the “theme song” that played over and over on the airwaves.  “Ca-na-da … (one little, two little, three Canadians), we love thee (now we are 20 million)” and on and on it went. (I had to Google it to prove it to Ian - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18-oRTLIe3I).  

Ian thinks it’s very funny that I remember a jingle from 50 years ago – clearly the Lord designed me in a certain way, and “knew all about me”.  He knows all about you too.  Isn’t that cool? What is asking you to do today?  What has he been asking you to do for a while, that you have been putting off?  As the old ad says, “Just DO IT” – otherwise you will miss the blessing that He has in store for you. 

Who would have thought that we would be celebrating Canada’s 150^th birthday in Africa with our 159 Swazi children?  Not me, that's for sure. 

Live from Swaziland … Happy birthday Canada!  My home and native land.

Janine

Why are people so nasty?

Aphiwe and Brooke

We have the opportunity to squeeze 240 boxes of diapers and wipes in to a 20ft container in Canada that is coming to us filled with donated educational supplies.  We don’t want to ship the container with any empty space so we have actively been asking our Canadian friends to shop at Amazon in Canada http://bit.ly/2017diaperdrivecanada and buy diapers and wipes to fill the container.  We have received 90 of the 240 boxes that we desire.

We needed a place for those diapers to be shipped and a dear friend agreed to have them shipped to her school, but they could only be there for a week due to limited space.  So another friend said she would be happy to borrow/rent a truck, go to the school and pick up the boxes and store them in her garage until the time of packing the container.  I love my friends.

I was so thrilled to see how smoothly this all happened with many people offering their assistance.  I saw photos on Facebook of the diapers being loaded in to the big box truck and volunteers happy to be involved.  It made my heart happy.

Then there was the Facebook comment.

Right below these happy photos was a comment (I have permission to share this) that read “Why are you sending those diapers to Africa when you should be sending them to the flood victims in Quebec?”

Honestly, I was shocked.  And I know I shouldn’t be because people post stupid comments on social media all the time, but really??  Why should you send diapers to orphans in Africa who don’t have parents to care for them?

I am proud to be a Canadian.  I love that when tragedy or natural disasters strike we have a country where family helps family, neighbors help neighbors and communities help communities. Many of us also have the opportunity to purchase insurance and then there are our Provincial and Federal governments who quickly jump in to help those in need.  It may not be perfect (and yes our taxes are high), but I am proud that the system works better than most.  When there is a problem, Canadians know that help is on the way.

I am now living in a country where families have nothing to give other families. Babies are dumped in out door toilets to die because young mothers have no food or even a blanket to wrap them in. Children die of malnutrition and neglect, right in front of our eyes, because we just don’t have the resources to save everyone.  In fact, just this week we saw an 8-month-old in our own immediate community die and we will have to bury him on Monday.  (Note, this is not a baby who lives at our baby home).

 

Gregory

I am thankful that there are people who are helping my neighbors in Quebec who are in need, but to the lady who posted that comment … I hope you are actively involved in helping in Quebec, not just sitting on the sidelines taking pot shots at others trying to help orphans in need.  Furthermore, stop being so nasty.

For those of you who support Heart for Africa and the children of Swaziland, I say THANK YOU.  For those of you who want to buy diapers for these babies I ask you to shop today in the US at http://bit.ly/2017diaperdrive  and in Canada at http://bit.ly/2017diaperdrivecanada.  We are only half way to our total goal.

Margie

For those of you who support other charities, ministries and organizations either financially or with your time, I THANK YOU!   There are a lot of people who need a lot of help around the world. I encourage everyone reading this today to get involved SOMEWHERE. It could be in Quebec, it could be in Swaziland or it could be right in your own community. 

It takes a village to raise a child. Please be active in your own village and for a very small group of you, please stop being critical of people for helping in a different village.

Live from Swaziland … thankful for all who can help us.

Janine

Oh Canada, je vous remercie pour votre hospitalité.

This past week Ian and I have been guests of the Egg Farmers of Canada in Ottawa, Canada.  While we are told that it is “spring” here, the -15C (33 F) weather, snow on the ground and grey skies seem to contradict that belief.

The purpose of this part of our trip was to be here for the official launch of the partnership between Heart for Africa and the Egg Farmers of Canada. This included media interviews and many meetings on Parliament Hill with Members of Parliament who may (or may not) be interested in what we are doing in Swaziland.

We were completely out of our “comfort zone” and on days where it was a 122F (50C) difference in temperature between Ottawa and Swaziland, our hearts were warmed by the friendly welcome that we received by every one we met. 

Thursday was a particularly interesting day as we were invited to speak at the Standing Committee on Foreign and International Development.  We were considered “witnesses” and were brought in before the committee as “experts” on what is happening on the ground in Swaziland. 

We met with the Chairman and a Member of this Committee on Wednesday and they were interested enough in what we were doing in Swaziland that they extended our time on Thursday from 60 minutes to 90 minutes.  

It was a fascinating experience and we started by reading a 7 minute written introduction that we had to submit the week before so that it could be translated in to French (all things in Canadian government are in both French and English).  From there, the committee members had a “first round” of questions, which gave each Member of Parliament 7-minutes to ask us questions and for us to answer them. Once the first round of questions was finished, then the second round was made up of 5-minute time slots of questions and answers. 

All dialogue was either in English and interpreted into French or in French and interpreted into English.  When questions were asked in French, we put an earpiece in our ears and listened to the interpreted question. When we answered in English the interpreter changed it back in to French for the MP.  It was an exhausting, but interesting experience, and we sincerely hope that the Canadian government will be able to come alongside Heart for Africa and assist us in the future.

For those Canadians reading this, we will be on Breakfast Television on Monday, March 30^th at 6:20 AM.  CTV Ottawa is doing a feature on us that will air on the evening news on Thursday, April 2^nd at 6:25 PM.  

We are enjoying this time at “home” where the Tim Horton’s coffee is hot, the air outside is cold, much of the conversation around us is not in English (or siSwati) and the people are friendly and supportive. 

Thank you again Tim Lambert, Peter Clarke and the Egg Farmers of Canada for your love and support.  We are proudly Canadian.

Live from our Nation’s Capitol … we are flying to Toronto.

Janine

OH Canada! Our home and native land. (This blog is written in "Canadian" eh?).

 

While I always call Swaziland “home”, there is no question that Canada feels like home as soon as we step off the airplane.  The first sign to greet us is a photo of Mayor Rob Ford welcoming us to his fine city.  The first news we heard was that Mayor Rob Ford had just checked himself in to a Rebab facility for cocaine, alcohol and stupidity (my blog – I can say what I want).

The Toronto Raptors are in Game 7 of the NBA Playoffs against the Brooklyn Nets.  While we have never heard of the Brooklyn Nets, the Raptors have clearly been practicing their game since they first opened the franchise during our ONYX Marketing days in 1995.  Go team go. 

We went to dinner at Milestones and saw that the game between the Montreal Canadians and the Boston Bruins playing on the TV behind the bar.  I thought I was having a flashback to May 10, 1979, when during  Game 7 of the NHL semifinals, the Bruins were whistled for a too-many-men penalty.  Many years later I was hosting a dinner party with Mario Tremblay and Michele Bergeron when this controversial topic came up.  Our friendly dinner party turned heated and almost came to blows in a matter of seconds!  And here we are again.  The Habs vs. the Bruins.

Ian, Spencer and I are only here for a few days to visit friends and family so we had to plan our eating very carefully and strategically so that we could include Tim Hortons, The Keg, Swiss Chalet and a trip to Loblaws to get Cheez Whiz, Kraft Peanut Butter, Ketchup chips, Jos Louis and dill pickle chip dip.   This is not a weight loss trip – don’t judge.

It was great to see friends from so many different parts of our past lives.  We had an “open gathering” at The Keg and saw friends from our Grenville Christian College days (where Ian and I went to High School), from ONYX Marketing Group days, of course my lawyer from 1988 to 2004, our Canadian Board of Directors, our neighborhood on Archerhill Court and people who have been our closest friends since I landed in Toronto in 1985.  

Tim and Kathryn

Ruth Noble

Louis call 225 please!

We also got to visit with my mom at her nursing home in Guelph and got to set up a Skype call between her and Chloe in Taiwan. Oh the joy of high speed internet!  While mom can’t really hear us and there is a new dementia setting in, it was really great to see her and watch her enjoy Spencer’s photos and video from his company called Cirque Freaks.  She is a very proud Grandma.

Spencer and Uncle Al

The gang.

Spencer, Sydney and Alexis

Ralph and Judy

I love being back in Canada. The water coming out of the tap is cold.   The people want to have interesting and reasonable conversations that won’t lead you to a possible sink hole where you might unknowingly make a bi-partisan statement that changes the trajectory of the conversation, and possible friendship.

Kim Skyping with Chloe

Today we are heading downtown to the Royal Alexander theatre to see a live performance of “We will Rock You” – 24 songs from the band “Queen” (my favorite band of all time).  The irony that Freddy Mercury, who is arguably one of the most brilliant musicians of our time, was one of the first public people to die of HIV/AIDS in America, is not lost on me.

Tonight we will have a family reunion with the Maxwell clan and enjoy a few laughs and family memories.  A great time will be had by all.

Spencer with cousins Ella and Jack.

Ian and his sister Laura and her son Jack.

Thanks for reading this. If you are not Canadian and made it this far, I say “Merci beaucoup”.  

Live from Toronto … we are heading back to Tim Horton’s for a Bear Claw.

Janine