We love North Point Community church!

Today we welcomed a team of eight volunteers from North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA (if you haven’t heard of it, go to www.northpoint.org).  The team has been lead by Hannah Gaddis for the past three years and each year they arrive with more enthusiasm than the year before (which is hard to fathom).

We have hundreds of visitors each and every year at Project Canaan. Some stay for days, some for weeks, some for months, and some end up moving here.  We always try to work with our volunteer teams to find out where their skills sets lay, where they can add value to what we are doing and help us do things better.  Our North Point team is a wonderful example of that intentionality being successful.  Let me explain.

Hannah and her team come from a North Point environment called “Waumba Land”, which is created especially for infants (six weeks) through preschool-aged children. Their aim is to teach these little ones that “God MADE me. God LOVES me.  Jesus wants to be my FRIEND forever.”  When the team comes to Project Canaan they work with our Children’s Ministry team and encourage, equip and train them in teaching our children the same message, in different ways, each week in Children’s Church and at home throughout the week.  It is a wonderful time of fellowship, fun, laughter and prayer for our children.

This week Hannah and the team will not only be working with our Children’s Ministry team, but we will host a special day where two representatives from all of our 31 partner churches will also come and do workshops on “how we minister to children”.  This will be the first time our Pastors will see the silly side of Project Canaan, while hopefully learning new and interesting ways to teach young children about the true heart of God. In country where so many children are fatherless (or parentless), we believe that it is even more important that they be taught how much their heavenly Father loves them and will never leave them.

Our “big kids” greeted the team at the front gate today with a traditional Swazi dance.  The little guy doing the dance in the video below is named Andrew.  He was named that after Andy Stanley, the Pastor of North Point, when he and his wife Sandra were with us a few years ago. Both little Andrew and baby Grace were place with us through social welfare while the Stanley’s were here, and both names were chosen at that time. 

The boy at the front is Andrew - named in honor of Andy Stanley.

May I take this moment to really say a big thank you to Andy and Sandra’s leadership and friendship. Also to the entire GlobalX team for training and sending such amazing people, and to ALL the people who give so generously to the BE RICH campaign each year.  Because of your support of BE RICH, North Point has been able to fund our staff housing building, our green house, a 40-seater school bus for our school and also made a significant contribution to the next Emseni building at Project Canaan. Your prayers, your love and your generosity encourage us each and every day. 

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  If you know someone who attends North Point or an associated church, please feel free to pass along this blog to them, with our thanks.

Live from Swaziland … happy to have friends visiting this week!

Janine

Would you give this swing to your child?

 

Home made swing - complete with chain, wire and old notebook.  Photo credit: Chris Cheek

In the next few weeks we have a container being shipped from the US to Swaziland, thanks to our friends and partners at UPS.  It’s always great to be able to send equipment and items that are either unavailable or very expensive here, not to mention a few treats that we all miss from home.

On the “wish list” we asked for more swings so that we can have swings for the kids up at the Emseni Campus.  We have had a donation of $1,000 to buy swings so we were debating whether we should spend the whole amount on getting two really sturdy swings that will last forever, or get some small, cheaper ones that might not last as long, but we could have more of them. 

Then there is the question of wood, vs. plastic, vs metal?  Our team in the US diligently researched the options and sent links to me so that I could go and look at them for our ongoing discussion of which swings to by our big kids.

And then this happened.

On Tuesday, I had the privilege of going out to visit one of our neighbors with our volunteer team from North Point Community church. When we arrived at the homestead the first thing we saw was the skin of a cow draped over a tree branch, drying to be made in to rope to harness their oxen.  Below the drying skin was a long chain with an old notebook hanging on it.  I was asked what that was all about, but I had no idea.

Cow hide hanging by the swing.  Photo credit:  Chris Cheek

We went on to meet with a family that was made up of an old Grandfather and Grandmother living with 14 Grandchildren (age 2-18), all of them sleeping in one room (the family kitchen).  They had no food, no jobs and all were suffering from poverty.  We sat and talked with them, brought them clothing, shoes, a soccer ball and a box of Manna Pack (food).  We purchased all the mats that the Grandmother had made, we prayed with them and then we said our goodbyes.

Later that night Chris Cheek messaged me and said that she had shown the photo of the long chain and notebook to several of the Aunties and asked them what the strange object was for?  They all laughed and said, “Gogo, that’s a swing!”  All of them knew that if you didn’t have a fancy swing made of wood, plastic or metal, that you just take an old notebook and hang it over a chain, and voila!  A swing!

Old note book that serves as the seat on the swing.

I struggle with this.  I want to give our Swazi children the best of what we are able to give, but part of me knows that they are missing out on the small things in life, like making your own swing out of a notebook. Lots of people do it in North America with old tires for swings, and have had summers of fun swinging on them.

I am not convinced that a notebook on a chain would be “fun” (at least not for my backside!), but I know that the old Grandfather at that homestead was doing the best he could with what he has.  And the kids were thankful.

So I have an idea.  In 2016 I would like to have the Kufundza center start making good/sturdy wooden swings, complete with chain, that can be purchased by our volunteers/donors for us to take to our church communities and to our homestead visits.  It will be a small way we can bless each family (in addition to leaving clothing, shoes and food). 

In the meantime, if you would like to help us build our playground for the big kids at the Emseni Campus, please go to this link today and do a little shopping:

http://www.32auctions.com/wishlist

Everything purchased will be shipped in early June, arriving in Swaziland in July.

I feel like there were several lessons in this story for me personally.  I will be chewing on this in the days and weeks to come.  I hope you will be too.

Rose swinging at the Kindergarten. Photo credit: Ken VanWinkle

Caleb on the swings at Kindergarten.  Photo credit: Ken VanWinkle.

Live from Swaziland … giving thanks for everything He has given us.

Janine

What if I had said "NO"?

In 16 days our family will be getting on a plane to Africa.  My head moves quickly from having no thoughts to write down to having too many thoughts to write down. Maybe that is an aging thing?  A woman thing?  A mama thing? Or maybe just the reality that we are moving to Africa in 16 days?

Five and a half years ago we moved to Alpharetta, Georgia.  To explain it in "Christian-ese"  I thought I had "given it all up for Him", but down deep I really did love my house, my yard, my neighborhood and my life in Canada.  If I was going to move ANYWHERE I thought it would be to Africa.  Didn't God know that I wanted to move to Africa?  Wasn't I really clear with Him on that in my prayers and daily conversations?  Had He forgotten the children living on the streets that HE introduced me to?  Had He forgotten those that I longed to care for, encourage and love?  Instead, He moved us to a wealthy, (largely white) suburb of Atlanta - this from Toronto, the largest multi-cultural city in the world.  I was not pleased.  We moved into a beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood, and I was miserable.  I was angry.  Why America (no offense meant to all my American friends), but why not Africa? 

As I look back on the past  5-1/2 years I am in awe of the people whom we have met, the places we have gone and the miracles that we have seen.  If we hadn't moved here, and moved straight to Africa (my plan) we would have missed so much.  I am thankful for North Point Community Church and for Chloe's small group and small group leader (shout out to Alyse!) who have come alongside Chloe to encourage her to be the most amazing young woman she has become.  I am thankful for the theater department at Milton High School where Spencer has been able to thrive, grow, create and learn.  After watching the incredible Cirque Kuwa performance (over and over again) I thought to myself, "what if I had said NO to moving here - Spencer would have missed this opportunity."  You see, our plans, our desires and our obedience have direct implications for everyone around us - especially our immediate family.

If we had not moved I would never have met the amazing Birk family and seen God's glory pour through a family's worst nightmare.  And of course, without that nightmare, we would not have the El Roi Baby home today.  Without the loss of little Jared Birk, our five little babies (Joshua, Esther, Caleb, Levi and Anna) might not be alive today.  Oh, what I would have missed.

So I repent again and give thanks, again, for His plans are not our plans, but they are BETTER than our plans, every time.

I continue to find it interesting how others perceive our move to Swaziland.  We are not moving there to be missionaries just like we didn't move to Georgia to be missionaries.  We are just a family moving to serve in another country at this time.  But this time I feel like I won the lottery.  I get to go and spend time in a beautiful country, serve with people I love and respect and serve people who are in desperate need.  "Religion that God our Father considers pure and faultless is this; to look after the orphan and widow in distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  James 1:27

For the past 5-1/2 years I could look after orphans and widows from Georgia, but it was a daily struggle to keep myself from being polluted by the mall, Starbucks, Macy's one day sales and NCIS marathons on TV.  You know what I mean?

I look forward to long walks around the farm, driving Chloe to her really cool International school, sipping coffee with Ian looking out at our amazing view of the fields, Skyping with Spencer to hear about his life at FSU, having philosophical conversations with Kaleli, rocking babies to sleep with Helen and visiting orphans and widows in distress with Pastor Mike.  I have won the lottery, no doubt in my mind, and I am so VERY thankful that I didn't blow it by saying, "no, I don't want to move to Georgia." 

Is there something that you are doing because you want to, not because you believe God has asked you to?  Are you avoiding doing something that you know you are supposed to do?  A phone call perhaps?  A move?  A job change?  Don't put it aside for another day.  Don't blow it.  His plans are better than our plans, I promise.

Thankful in Georgia.

Janine