Okay so we are just 4 days into outreach and it has already been such an adventure…We flew from Cape Town at 7am Sunday dec 20^th and arrived in Johannesburg just before 9am and then we had to catch a combi (remember kinda like a mini bus) to the main ‘combi station’ to catch a bit of a bigger combi to Swaziland. So we ended up having what was supposed to be an 8rand trip costing 23rand because we got taken for a ride that we really did not need…around the block cost 50 rand which was just for the pleasure of the driver I am sure!!!…Once we arrived at the bus station..the wrong place after all that, I was now responsible for getting 5 adults through the station with their bags and not to get anything stolen…some statistics name Johannesburg as the #1 most dangerous city in the world…there was a moment in time when I wondered what exactly I was doing in Africa and definitely wanted to be back at home.

Once in the Combi and my 18year old Tennessee teammate Olivia and I were in the front seat with the driver we were off on a real adventure. We drove East towards the Swaziland boarder and then we saw a storm starting on the horizon…by the time we reached the boarder we were in the middle of a torrential downpour with thunder and lightning coming very close together. Due to being in the front seat the driver had now collected all the passports of the other passengers I had 25 passports handed to me and I was told to jump out with them and go into the boarder office. The driver spoke very little English! I jumped out to run in the rain and come into an area that was about 6 feet wide and 60 feet long filled with Swazis yelling and pushing …it was crazy!!Then the other passengers came in and I had to get pushed to the front and then each person had to come to the front when their names were called it was organized chaos and the thunder and lightening was pounding and the rain was sweeping through and it was so creepy and then we had to go to the Swazi side and wait in another line up oh man it was so crazy when we drove away the rain was so thick we could not see 3 feet infront of the combi and the lightening actually crashed onto the ground and sparked about 30 feet from the combi let me tell you I was praying up my own storm!!!

Okay, so once we arrived at the YWAM Base we had the first day off and it went well. We quickly got used to the chickens running around, the one cow coming and looking like she was going to trample you and the thousand and one bugs and spiders and cockroaches. What was the next fun part was getting our task for the Tuesday…me and my team(we split into two teams) were responsible for cleaning out a mud hut that had been inhabited by the caretaker’s chickens…picture this… years of chicken poop, old rusted out metal things ie a washing machine, and a roof full of mold…but by the end of the day we were delighted to have helped to make this place livable for one of the staff on the base! The other team found enjoyment in scraping carpet goo for the whole day off a hardwood floor!

Today our ministry time was to go to the local hospital and to pray with the sick people. I went with one team to the children’s ward. We saw children who had broken limbs and due to lack of technology they were tied to their beds  with a tensor bandage and splint wrapped around their broken arm or leg. I came to this one boy and he did not speak English I prayed for him and then I got my male teammate Elnie who is from Holland and is 18 to start to juggle to entertain the kids…OH they loved it! They laughed and then we prayed more and more laughter.  We moved to the next area which had burn victims and I prayed for one three year old girl and her grandmother as well as one child who had he whole face burnt off it was as white as my skin with some pink spots (she was black as black can be) and another girl who had her bottom burned off again with just white skin growing over. When we left just an hour later the children’s ward had been touched by Jesus. The caregivers were happier there was laughter and we had served them with such a simple act…prayer! It was another “National Geographic Moment” and I was in it!!!

I just realized that tomorrow is Christmas Eve and after hanging my hand washed underwear(you know you are travelling when…) out on the clothing line at 9pm at night and it was about 20 degrees with a warm breeze and I  could see a beautiful moon and stars it definitely does not feel like Christmas. I was just reminded that Christmas is not about the lights and the carols and the presents but it is about the birth of Jesus and he was not born into a mansion in West Vancouver he was born into a stable and he was loved and how we are now living in a hut with a thatched roof it is kinda symbolic of being even closer to what the original Christmas was like. (just a bit!

So in the spirit of who Jesus was and is I say to you all now, pleased be blessed. Please see who you are in the eyes of God that you are perfect and you are loved that when you are in times of trouble he wants you to come to him and to rely on him. It is in God that you will find the source of everything that you need.

 Merry Christmas, love,j

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a small, landlocked country in Africa (one of the smallest on the continent), embedded between South Africa in the west, north and south. and Mozambique in the east. The country is named after the Swazi, a Bantu-speaking people. It is divided into four regional administrative districts: Hhohho, Manzini, Lubombo and Shiselweni. Regions are further subdivided into tinkhundla administered by tindvuna (royal aides or governors); each inkhundla in turn comprises several chiefdoms governed by chiefs as well as urban municipal areas and private lands.