your prayers! We are all back to our respective homes.
were home visits, care points, clinic work, children’s ministry, prayer walks…and
more. Don and I will share more after we have caught up on our emails, work,
and recovered some from jet-lag.
Here are a few stories from our team:
By: Amanda Knoll
When preparing for and arriving in Swaziland, I was
ready to share my gifts as a nurse to care for the Swazi people. I was ready
with my medical tools and suitcases full of medication.
On our first day of ministry, I was excited as we
entered the homestead of a woman who was 41 and had a stroke disabling the
whole right side of her body–as well as TB. I felt that with all my medical
knowledge, I could help ease her pain. However, God had other plans, for when
she told us that she had great sorrow in her heart–and that she lost her joy–I
had nothing modern medicine could heal.
For the next two days we tried to treat her with what we had: God’s Word, song,
and prayer. But for two days she continued to look sad, and the sorrow remained.
On the third and last day, this woman, whose name in English means
“Fortunate”, opened up during the sharing of Scripture and told us
that she never accepted God into her heart and that she wanted to do so.
So, on a bright Thursday morning, on a mat laid upon God’s red earth, we prayed
and Fortunate accepted and asked Jesus into her heart. As our tears fell we saw
that there was still sorrow in her eyes and she began to speak of the wrong
things she had done in the past–and how that saddened her heart. We told her
of Jesus’ sacrifice and grace, and visibly saw the hope in her eyes as she
prayed for forgiveness and and peace. Fortunate’s joy was restored!
As we left that day, we saw a different person in Fortunate that we saw our
first day. In her joy we saw God and His Holy Spirit. As we drove away I
rejoiced in God’s forgiveness and grace–the best and most powerful medicine of
all.
May God be given all the glory!
trip:
her two sisters, and five brothers were orphans. Being 15, she was the oldest
and took care of her family. She was a Christian and her favorite passage was
Psalm 23. This really shocked me and opened my eyes to see what kind of life
she was living on the other side of the world from me.
By: Annie Otfinoski
standing in the heat of a 62-year-old man’s hut. We were there to pray with
him, and bring him some joy and God’s love. He is dying of HIV. Our focus was
on him, with the exception of three adorable little boys with big smiles. But
God wanted my attention on someone else also.
We were singing, or attempting to sing, and feeling
overwhelmed by God’s greatness. I glanced outside to see the splendor of His
creation in the African mountains. And I saw a woman wearing and apron and a
small black hat. She stood far away from the hut but close enough to see and
hear us, the crazy white people, singing with all we had, not caring if it
didn’t sound good. I felt a need to touch her with a loving hand of God, to
give her that invitation that says God loves her. So I tip-toed my way out of
the crowded hut and slowly walked toward the nervous woman. It was clear she
worked hard. I assumed she was the mother of the three boys, and possibly only
17 or 18 years old.
I gently placed my hand on her shoulder, praying that God would work through me
to have an effect on this beautiful woman’s life. She smiled a nervous smile. I
walked over to the hut and we stood at the door, praising the Lord. I sand to
God with everything; I gave Him my off-pitch sounds and my never ending thanks.
She clapped her hands and some of the English words with us, and and I knew God
answered my prayer. After many songs, she said, “I love Jesus.”
I don’t know if she will have food in a year, but I know God is in her now and
He is in their home.
preparing to leave in the weeks leading up to Africa I felt discouraged.
I didn’t feel the excitement I wanted to feel or felt I should I have.
And I had been excited to go for several months. So I wanted to figure
out what had changed. Was it me? Was it nerves about leaving the
country? Was I scared to be in contact with people who had AIDS? I
knew I had been discouraged with my job search and that was putting a damper on
things, but it should not have had the effect it did. I actually felt the
trip was coming at a good time. Take a week break and come back renewed
and ready to tackle it once again. I didn’t really have any clear cut
answers to any of my questions so I left for Africa trying to look forward to
the work we were about to do.
being one of them. Not a huge deal, more of an annoyance really.
The airline felt they could get it there in a couple of days. I really
just felt sorry for my teammates. They were going to have to deal with me
in possibly smelly clothes till the rest of my things showed up. But the
next morning grabbing my towel I had a freak accident and ended up cutting my
hand pretty deeply. It was clear I was going to need stitches.
Questions swirled. How was I going to do ministry? How come I was
not more careful? I’m holding the whole team up. Should I just go
home? It was pretty clear at this point that everything the past couple
weeks had been the result of the enemy. Spiritual warfare if you may.
He had been casting doubts on this trip long before I set foot on the plane by
using my situation at home. And it didn’t stop. He wanted me to
think I had failed and go home. He didn’t want me to do God’s work.
But I’ve learned that even in situations that are taxing, God is in control.
I was blessed to have teammates who were willing to share their things until my
suitcase showed up. I do believe that one of them packed their entire
wardrobe which was a good thing for me. I had clean clothes. Why
did we have a nurse on the trip and why was she in my room that first night?
She bandaged me up and took care of the cut until we were able to get to a
clinic to have it taken care of. Why did I miss cutting tendons – only
tissue? And why did it not hurt? I knew then that God was in
control even through the attack.
and was fulfilling God’s work. I knew I had won. Yes it came with
challenges and obstacles, but it was worth all of it and ultimately God won.
Good stories. Can’t wait to hear more.
Sounds and looks like another great trip! We look forward to hearing more…
Thank you Amanda for your post. This really described what happened. I was going to blog about my own experience with her and still may but you did a great job!