I’ve made it to Swaziland, Africa and I’ve been adjusting to life here once again. Having spent 5 months here previously seems to be helping me to get back into the swing of things. Driving on the other side of the road (left side) and sitting on the other side of the car (right side), living on a farm with 50 orphaned children, attending a wonderful church - Potter’s Wheel Church, and working with many new (and some familiar) ministry staff and volunteers are beginning to become familiar. Even waking up at 5am to teenagers already cleaning the house and singing is starting to seem normal. :)
I’m settling into my home, the girls halfway house, on Hawane Farm. Both teenage orphaned girls who are being cared for by the ministry and young adult female Teen Challenge Life Skills School students live with me. My role is to care for them, provide discipline when needed, provide mentoring and counseling, and oversee the daily living tasks of the house. So far it’s been great and the girls are nice to work with. Many of them have such heartbreaking backgrounds and amazing testimonies of what God has done in their lives. It’s a joy to be with them.
A new 11-year-old boy, Bandile, has arrived on Hawane Farm (part of Lighthouse Care Centre & Challenge Ministries) to be cared for here. He was referred to us by the teacher of the pre-school on the Hawane CLC church property and worked out through social welfare. This boy is a double orphan as both of his parents have died from AIDS. This precious boy is HIV positive, has cerebral palsy, is developmentally challenged and he does not regularly speak. He was being cared for by his 77-year-old grandmother who is going blind and was struggling to give him his tablets to treat HIV. Bandile came to us last week malnourished and, though he is 11, he is the size of a 7-year-old boy. He is able to walk, though not normally. So far he is adjusting well to being on the farm and around all the other children, including Mandhla, a 12-year-old boy who also has cerebral palsy. They have become instant friends and brothers as they live in the same house. So, this Bandile is almost always smiling and playing with the other children. He is attending the home school here on Hawane Farm which is being taught by a long-term missionary from England.
I’m reminded of God our Creator. Psalm 139:13-14,15,16- says “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place…. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
God has created each one of us. He has such an exquisite plan for every life. I am just so thankful that part of God’s plan for Bandile was to bring him here to be with us in the ministry. What a joy to see these abused and abandoned children rescued and brought into a loving environment where they are fed physically and spiritually!
