"I read this blog written by Pastor Gift,
our ministry contact in Swaziland, where we worked this past February.
Reading it made my heart break again for that nation and its people,
for its orphans and its widows. Please take the short time required to
read it and answer the question Gift asks at the very end."- Katie Rowland
"The Nsoko community once again is facing a challenge within a
challenge. Most people in this area depend on Government food grants to
survive. What I do not understand is why it takes so long for Government
to replenish the food supply to these people?
"Yesterday I was sitting in my house doing administrative work when
I heard a timid knock at the door. At first I thought it was my puppy
now becoming big dog Max. I heard the gentle but desperate knock on the
accompanied by murmuring sounds. I reluctantly stood up and went to
check this unusual knock out. Guess what I found out there? God. Yes, I
saw God. But this time it is not as I expected to see God. He was
represented by this old lady. This lady was so frail and skinny you
could have thought she was dead. I inquired, "how can I help you gogo".
She shyly gave a response, "I am hungry my son, help I am dying." I
immediately thought of what we had at the kitchen. I wish Isabel was
writing this blog as a third person because it is difficult to say
this. We had no food too except some bread that I was serving for my
daughter when she comes from school.
"The Spirit within me said I you going to spare food for your
daughter and not give God right at your door. Joy came upon my spirit
right then and I went to the kitchen and began to make juice and took
all the slices of bread put it on a tray and went to give the old lady
outside. Her eyes immediately brightened at the sight of food. I
watched her eat as if she had not eaten in days. When she was done I
cannot remember how many times she said "God bless you my son", "Thank
you so much" with that shaking timid voice. I watched her as she stoop
up to leave her body telling a story of shame as she moved. As she
disappeared she left me with a picture of a miserable face that does
not remember any joy. Here is someone that has lived a life of shame
most of her life.
"She is just one out of so many. Scott Borg has been to Nsoko this
month with an Adult Team that happened to have teenagers too. On
Tuesday and Thursday we visited homes for ministry. This team had
bought basic food parcels to give out to the homes we visited. I went
with a team to a home that I know is a youth headed family. Father and
mother are dead only the children survive them. The World Racers would
remember Mfan'thini.(I do) This is his family. They have absolutely no means.
This young girl, hard as it is to admit, has to sometimes prostitute
herself to feed the to young sisters, younger brother and her own small
child. On the second visit we went to this gogo's home.She is
trying her best to raise her grandchildren that were left behind by her
dead children. The only surviving daughter destroyed her house and left
never to come back.
"I must say, the people of Nsoko are still full of hope. They hope
in life, they hope in hope, and above all they have hope in God. How
people survive here sometimes I do not know. But the fact is they do
survive. They hope against hope. As I write in my car there is an
envelope full of HIV results. The Luke Commission worker tells me that
almost all of the people who got tested, they tested positive. She
mentioned a special case of a fifteen year old who is in a critical
position because her CD4 count is very low. HIV and poverty somehow do
assist one another. They are cousins. These people are poor and they
are also the most infected. In Swaziland the infection rate is at 42%.
Nsoko has a 49% infection rate. People are dying and in numbers.
Businesses are being affected.
"The other day I was called upon to rescue a young man of about 22
years. He was from hospital to collect his ARV's. He had just enough
money for transport and nothing for food. He fell next to the gate
because he could not walk any longer. We have hope though. We hope
against hope. The Real Life team is rounding up its ministry in Nsoko.
Having these vibrant young people minister to their counterparts does
give a ray of hope. It makes me think: God does care about Nsoko.
"Do you?"
If you care, please pray for Swaziland -- and please click here.
Also, if you're interested in reading a fascinating book about the plight of the Swazi people, I highly recommend the book
I just want to start by thanking all of you for being a part of this
ministry over the past 11 months. You're support, prayers and words of
encouragement were greatly appreciated and such a blessing to me and those I worked
with. I
can honestly witness to the fact that your prayers especially have made a huge difference in the lives of many
people we have had the privilege of meeting throughout
the past year. The men, women, and children that have touched my heart
will continue to be in my heart and prayers throughout the
years, and the lessons I have learned from them have made a lasting impact on
my life. So again, thank you for
following along on this journey and in this ministry!
The exciting news is that I'm not done yet! Although I have said my
goodbyes to the other 31 amazing world racers, my traveling and ministry work
will continue for the next two months. As most of you already know, I was
home for two short weeks and I am now in Johannesburg,
South Africa
visiting with an amazing friend! At first my trip down here was just a
vacation, but now it is turning into an open door to continue ministry in both Swaziland and Mozambique!
Swaziland
I can't seem to get this country out of my mind and off my heart! It
has been plaguing me so much that I'm starting to pray through how to get more
involved with the ministry that is already taking place in Nsoko. I'm
still just in the process of praying about it right now, but I'm hoping that
doors open for ways to help the AIDS orphans in this country.
The other reason I'm heading back to Swaziland is to see Dudu,
Snethemba, Elizar, and Kiwi. As you probably remember, Dudu is a young
lady who is dying of AIDS. When we left her she was quickly fading, but
through the answer of so many prayers she is still alive today! I'm not sure on her condition but I'm hoping to make
it back in time to see her beautiful face and her sweet baby boy Snethemba
again!
Elizar and Kiwi are two young orphans that we met at two different care
points. Unfortunately, both of these children were being severely abused
at their homesteads. Without parents
to look after them, they quickly became a burden to their caretakers and also a
helpless target. Thankfully, we were able to begin the long process of pressing charges and removing these
children from their homes. Remember, it is illegal to take an orphan off
the family's property so the only way to get them into orphanages is if you can
prove they are being abused at home. Unfortunately, this is not as easy
as it seems and often there is not enough money to see these cases
through. We do have the funding now for these two, but their are still many more to fight for. So, please be praying that the right decisions are made on
behalf of these two orphans and that we will be able to place them in a safe
place.
For the remainder of my time down in the southern part
of Africa, Ferdi and I will be helping to lead two different teams up into the
northern part of Mozambique.
The first two weeks we will be helping and serving a South African team and the
last two weeks we will be working with a team from Michigan. Sadly, I will not be near
the same village I was in on my first trip to Mozambique but I am excited to work
with HIM Ministries again.
Thank you again for this amazing year! Also, I will continue to keep
you all up dated on Swaziland
and Mozambique!
Our last three weeks of Ministry were spent in two different parts of Moldova. The first week we worked with a small church in Northern Moldova in a city called Edinet, and the last two weeks we have been in the Southern part of Moldova in a citied called Cahul. The time here has gone so fast and tomorrow morning we will start our journey to Kiev, Ukraine for our last six days of this trip. Here is a look at what some of us have been doing in Moldova.
In Edinet, Moldova we spent our afternoons working with children throughout the city. We went to some of the poorer areas of the city and spent a couple hours a day playing with the kids, singing songs and teaching interactive Bible stories.
Here are some of the boys reading through the books we gave them to take home. We really enjoyed our time with these kids!
Our mornings in Edinet were spent assisting the elderly and helping them with some home improvements. The lady in the this picture lived across the street from us. She is blind and lives alone in a house that is falling apart. We spent a morning cleaning out her backyard. Her house does not have indoor plumbing and because she is blind she can not find her way to the outhouse...so her backyard was in desperate need of being cleaned.
We also spent a few hours painting for an elderly man who also lived in the neighborhood.
Our last two weeks in Cahul, Moldova were spent playing with deaf children. In the afternoons a group of us helped out at a school for the deaf. This is the only school in Moldova for deaf children and there are about 94 kids from all over the country living there. What a blessing they were to us. We would go play with them in the afternoons, sit in on some of their classes, and just share life together. They were eager to teach us some Romanian sign language and we loved getting to know them. Tonight is our last night with them and we have been given permission to take them out for pizza and ice cream!
In Cahul, I spent my mornings going into the high school with the youth pastor and teaching on AIDS and Swaziland. It wasn't a planned ministry, but after the youth pastor heard my heart for those who are affected by AIDS in Swaziland he asked Lisa and me to help him teach on AIDS. I really enjoyed spending time with the teenagers and sharing my heart on what is happening in Swazi. It also helped them to hear how AIDS has completely devastated one country and to know that if they don't make wise decisions it could happen here in Moldova as well. I failed to take any pictures of the school and us teaching, but the picture above is of the youth pastor we worked with and his family.
Our time here is done and the trip is at an end, but it was a blessing to be able to spend our last weeks of ministry in Moldova. We will miss the children and all the friends we have met here. Thank you again for praying us through our last few weeks!
The Romanian Christian culture is a hard one for the
Christian youth of the country. As we
have seen in so many places and churches around the world, including our own
churches, religion often gets in the way of faith. The Communistic and Orthodox background here
in Romania
influences the religion and gives the country an extra challenge when it comes
to faith. During Easter weekend we were witnesses to the challenges that
religion and persecution have on one young girl.
Alex is a thirteen year old Gypsy girl growing up in Viile Tecii, Romania. She has believed in God for a few years now
but has been scared to make the step of faith that comes with baptism. It is hard enough to be a young Gypsy girl in
a country that does not welcome your race, but even harder to have a faith
outside the religious box of Orthodox Christianity. When Alex found her faith in the salvation
that comes only through Jesus, she and her family no longer attended the
Orthodox Church and the teasing and harassment at school began. Alex wanted to be baptized but the church
told her she was too young and she was scared this act of faith would make life
even harder for her at school. Both
religion and persecution were keeping her from acting on her new-found
faith.
When Alex heard that two of the American girls wanted to be
baptized on Easter Sunday, she finally worked up her courage to be baptized as
well. Tears streamed down her face for
the majority of the service because she was both excited and scared. She was excited to finally share her faith
with her community and friends, but scared about the consequences it might
bring to her social life. With her
mother close by and her father baptizing her, Alex finally made her step of
faith!
Of course, God always blesses those who step out in faith
and Ferdinand's story is not a coincidence. Ferdinand is a young man who lives two houses down from Alex and her
family. He has struggled with alcohol
for years and his addiction has quickly been destroying his life. He is known in the community has a troubled
young man, and his wife and child left him when the abuse got to be too much. Not that long ago, Ferdinand hit rock bottom
when he got into a bar fight that left him in the hospital. He had made a deal with God that if he lived
he would turn his life around, but after being released from the hospital he
quickly went back to his same old ways.
Little did Ferdinand know that God would hold him to his
promise. While Ferdinand stood across the street listening to the testimonies
and watching young Alex be baptized, tears started streaming down his
face. He had remembered the promise he
made to God and was finally ready to give his life over to his Creator. He said that he could not explain what
happened in his heart but he knew God had moved and in a moment he was changed! In that moment, Ferdinand knew that he wanted
to be baptized and there was no stopping him.
I've already seen the difference that Ferdinand's faith has
made in his life. One of the first days
we were in the village this man came up to Katie and I with inappropriate
intentions. I didn't understand what he
was saying but his actions made his motives clear. As always, we blew him off
and then avoided him every time we saw him outside his house. The day after
Ferdinand was baptized, a few men were walking down the street at night and
stopped to make a few comments in our direction. Ferdinand was outside his house and quickly
came to our defense. The man who was once quick to join in the taunting was now
standing up against his peers in our defense. This is just a small example of what God has done in Ferdinand's life
already, but we see the evidence of his new faith in so many ways! God has completely restored him into a whole
new person!
Our Easter egg hunt last weekend was a blast! We had about 30 kids show up from the village
for a Bible story, face painting, songs, games, and their first Easter egg
hunt!
The face painting ended up being very interesting... some of
the kids were just darn scary looking by the end.
This little boy was a bit scared when I started painting his
face, so I had to do my own without a mirror to show him what I was doing. We almost matched!
My favorite part of the Easter weekend was Monday
morning! I guess it is tradition in Romania for the
boys to get all dressed up the Monday after Easter and go door to door spraying
the girls with perfume in exchange for Easter Eggs. It is definitely a funny tradition and the
smell is very interesting by the time the day is through.
Here's a quick look at all that we have been up to in Viile Tecii these past two weeks!
Part of our ministry here has simply been serving the community. Last week we spent our time going house to house helping some of the elderly with yard work, spring cleaning and washing rugs down in the river.
The rest of days were spent visiting some elderly women who are housebound in nearby villages.
This week we have been busy preparing for Easter. Most of the country follows the Orthodox calendar and their Easter falls a week after ours. A bunch of us have been busy with kids' programs all week, while other girls spend their days teaching English and having women's Bible Studies.
Tomorrow is our last day of kids club and our big Easter celebration with the kids. We will be having our last Bible lesson and then games, songs, face painting and an Easter egg hunt. I'm excited to see how the kids react to their first experience having an Easter egg hunt! Pictures of the day will be soon to follow!
Our remaining hours have simply been spent enjoying the family atmosphere of this small village. We have all missed home and our families this year. With home just around the corner, this place is exactly what we needed!
I just want to start by thanking all of you for being a part of this
ministry over the past 11 months. You're support, prayers and words of
encouragement were greatly appreciated and such a blessing to me and those I worked
with. 
Elizar and Kiwi are two young orphans that we met at two different care
points. Unfortunately, both of these children were being severely abused
at their homesteads. Without parents
to look after them, they quickly became a burden to their caretakers and also a
helpless target. Thankfully, we were able to begin the long process of pressing charges and removing these
children from their homes. Remember, it is illegal to take an orphan off
the family's property so the only way to get them into orphanages is if you can
prove they are being abused at home. Unfortunately, this is not as easy
as it seems and often there is not enough money to see these cases
through. We do have the funding now for these two, but their are still many more to fight for. So, please be praying that the right decisions are made on
behalf of these two orphans and that we will be able to place them in a safe
place. 
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