An Adoption

It’s hard to believe we were only here a few months when we found the perfect kid to adopt! Tommy and I recognize our potential to be somewhat negligent parents, so we made our choice carefully. This kid needed to be pretty self-sufficient: able to feed itself, already beyond those troublesome first years, and able to play unattended for long hours. Meet Sidwaba (she’s the one in the middle!). 

Her name (sids-dwa-ba) means nothing to you at home, but Swazi’s recognize it as the traditional goat skin apron that women wear. Some of the workers and moms here have gotten a big kick out of it!

Sidwaba has a purpose here on the farm. We have an incredible amount of grass here. The cattle graze in the pasture, but this grass is too close to vegetable fields to allow the cattle to roam freely. Sidwaba is on a long tether, which allows here to graze and browse while keeping the vegetables out of reach. We’ve quickly realized that one goat is not enough to handle the abundant amount of grass here on the farm. And it turns out when we bought her, we got scored with a two (or three?) for one deal. We recently learned Sidwaba is pregnant! So, there are even more kids on the horizon for us.

Additionally, Sidwaba is a meat goat. We plan to eventually sell her, and make a little extra cash. Goats are a relatively small investment, so she makes a great model for the kids and the workers on the farm. We are considering the possibility of helping some of the kids raise their own goats—they would manage them and keep any profits from their project. The children here, especially the girls, seem quite keen on the idea. 

We are so grateful for the love and support we feel from you all. We will hit our three month mark tomorrow. Although we are feeling more and more settled, we realize we are also entering a season where many new missionaries begin to feel discouraged by their new culture and really feel the sorrow of missing family and friends. Please continue to pray for the relational aspect of our ministry here. It is easy to work, but it is much harder to develop and maintain relationships. 

P.S. Check out the spitting cobra we found a few steps from our veranda! 1.2 meters!

Between Prison Walls and Shady Trees

A few days ago I was walking home from a morning of teaching and I noticed a Swaziland government vehicle pulling onto the farm (New Life Homes). The distinctly colored green bakkie van (a four door pickup truck) had big white letters that read “DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS.” I watched four baton-wielding men get out of the vehicle while I went inside to change from my “school clothes” into my “farm clothes.” Minutes later, I received a knock on the door and one of our workers proceeded to tell me that I was needed immediately. By this time I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I, or Mandi, did wrong. It turns out that they were less interested in me as a criminal and more interested in learning about how to grow moringa at the prison’s farm (go here to learn more about this awesome crop). We gave them a tour of the moringa fields and drying facilities. They mentioned eventually having us out to the prison the see their resources. Lo and behold, the next week I was headed to prison. After touring the future moringa growing site at the Bhalekane Prison Farm, we went into the prison to talk about the details of growing—water, opportunities for growing other crops, pest control, and fertilizer management. 

The challenges that they face are very similar to the types of challenges that face many growers both in America and other parts of Africa. In fact, two days later I found myself under a tree meeting with seven growers and three extension specialists discussing how to revive a beautiful piece of ground that has sat fallow after the crash of the sugar market. Their desire to start growing vegetables on this land (about 40 acres) was being challenged by theft of electrical equipment on their pump, knowledge of fertilizer and water requirements, and market accessibility. 

Though these two meetings could not be more different in their environment, they both are examples of opportunity that exists for Swazis to capitalize on the gross shortage of vegetables that are grown within the country (more on this later). These types of meetings are encouraging-they lead me to think that Swaziland, at least agriculturally speaking, is headed in a positive direction. 

Quick Hits:

Thanks to your generous giving, we were able to purchase a pickup. This second-hand Toyota Hilux (seen in the picture above with kids and pig heads, yum!) has already proven to be a great asset to us, the farm, and surrounding community. We will be moving into our new one-bedroom flat on the farm next weekend. We have been busy collecting and organizing household items needed to move in and we are beyond thrilled about making it happen! Thanks for praying. We appreciate your support while we do God’s work together.

Meet The Students

Tomorrow will mark the fifth week of school. The students and the teachers are finally settled into a routine… finally. My class is now up to twelve students: six third graders and six fourth graders. They are an absolute joy to be around, and are also very rambunctious. I am delighted to have three students that were previously in my preschool class back in 2007. 

One highlight has been reading Charlotte’s Web aloud to the kids. They have loved it! Classroom activities have included letters to Wilbur (“Dear Wilbur, I love you!”), field trips to see a real runt and a real spider, and creating spider webs using chalk. The kids can really connect with the setting of the book, although the idea of “saving” a pig from being eaten is a little counter-intuitive for them. 

As you know, Tommy has volunteered to teach 6th and 7th grade math in the wake of one of the teachers leaving after the first week of school. He’s doing a fantastic job… he really keeps the kids laughing with his Americanisms like “winner, winner, chicken dinner!” and “it’s on like Donkey Kong!” I think the older boys will be particularly heartbroken when Tommy goes back to being a full-time farmer. 

Thank you for praying for us! The first month here (yes, it’s already been a month!) has been wonderful, challenging, joyful, and stressful. Many yays and yucks. We would really love prayer for wisdom in investing one-on-one time with some of the older kids and for continued profitability for the agricultural enterprises on the farm (which is the primary support for the children who live here). Many crops are being planted now and we are all praying for good weather, abundant water, and the eradication of pests!

We Made It!

From here on out the blog posts might get a bit more interesting… 

We made it to Swaziland exactly one week ago. We spent our first week reorienting ourselves to Swazi life--including reuniting with kids turned teenagers, meeting many new faces, adopting early bed times, navigating muddy roads and creative driving, defending against countless ants and mosquitoes, and enjoying stunningly beautiful mountains and valleys. Mandi was introduced to the curriculum that she will be teaching and I spent time familiarizing myself with the farm and work crew.We both began to ask many, many questions. To say we are in the “learner” phase would be an understatement. For kicks, we thought you might be interested in what we are doing today. 

Mandi has a school staff meeting in the morning and will be spending the rest of the day preparing for the first few days of class, which starts on Tuesday. She always has plenty of helpers (kids and cows) stopping by her classroom door. 

I (Tommy) will be taking eight pigs to the abattoir early tomorrow morning in Manzini (1.5 hour drive), picking up some feed, and running a few errands. Later in the day I will meet with Mhti, the farm manager, to talk about his vision for the farm in the coming years. 

Please continue to pray for our transition. There are a number of small frustrations we are facing, including credit card issues and minor computer problems, which would be easy to fix in the US but are testing our patience here. Despite all of that, we have so much to be thankful for. The missionaries who we are working with have been awesome in helping us get settled and the kids have come running with open arms. Our stomachs are full and the mornings are peaceful. What more can we ask for? 

Thank you for praying. 

Growing Together

People often ask how we first learned about African Leadership Partners and their ministry at New Life Homes.

While attending college at Chico State University, I (Tommy) was sitting in a pew at Bidwell Presbyterian Church listening to Peter Kopp, one of the founders of African Leadership Partners, share how can God equips people with practical skills—such a medicine, agriculture, or construction—to help meet the world's greatest needs.

One of the BPC services meets at the El Rey theater.

Bidwell Presbyterian Church has developed a very cool partnership with African Leadership Partners. I began attending Bidwell Pres in 2004, just as it was experiencing awesome, God-led growth. Bidwell Pres is one of the fastest growing Presbyterian churches in America. The pastors and elders of the church are constantly looking for new ways to get members to become more intimately connected with the greatest needs of the world. I originally went to Swaziland as part of a short-term team from Bidwell Pres in 2006. The rest is history.

The partnership between Bidwell Pres and the folks in Swaziland has continued to grow. In 2010, the church raised money through a special offering to build a school. The school currently educates approximately 75 orphaned and vulnerable children, and is transforming education in the local community. One of the biggest needs New Life Homes is currently facing is housing for missionaries and school teachers. As a result of not enough housing, some missionaries and their families are traveling long distances on dangerous roads, where auto accidents are frequent.

The New Life School

The members of Bidwell Pres wanted to do something to further support the ministry of New Life Homes. This year, they dedicated their Christmas Eve offering to build two new homes on the farm. They raised $31,750! What a special Christmas gift to the children of New Life Homes and the local community.

God is so good and we are thankful for their generosity. We look forward to sending along pictures as construction progresses and eventually having short-term teams stay in the facilities. Bidwell Pres and New Life Homes have cultivated a unique and beautiful relationship that we look forward growing this relationship even more.

Here is a short promo video the folks at Bidwell Pres put together. Enjoy!

Pair of Ducks

We returned to Davis last night after spending approximately four weeks on the road, most of our time being spent at Mission Training International in Colorado. We are grateful for a challenging and engaging training and God's protection during several snow storms that we forged through during the drive home.

As 40 adults were learning upstairs in the training center, approximately 25 children were receiving similar training downstairs. Although most of our curriculum was different, there were some similarities built into the program. A pair of ducks is something we ALL learned about.

If you say "pair of ducks" fast enough, you'll hear something that sounds a lot more like "paradox." At our training, we learned that many of our experiences can be described by this word. In each "pair of ducks" there is a yay duck and a yuck duck.

In some ways, your heart will be saying "yay!" and it other ways it will be saying "yuck!"—often at the same time.

For example, we just purchased our tickets for the flight over. We leave January 12th. The yay duck in us is thrilled to finally begin this adventure, after much waiting and anticipation. The yay duck is so hopeful in this calling we're received, and we can't wait to see what the Lord will do in and through us. The yay duck says "Let's go!"

The yuck duck in us is experiencing great sorrow just thinking about the loved ones we'll leave behind. The yuck duck want to resist leaving our community in Davis, our careers, and some of our favorite hobbies. The yuck duck says "How can we possibly leave?"

As you can imagine, its a very emotional time for us. This week will bring many goodbyes. Thank you for praying and caring for us in the midst of the yays and the yucks.

Questioning Our Pickers

Most of the time, what seems like a bad idea usually turns out to be a bad idea. It tends to be the same with good ideas. However, there are those rare circumstances when, what seems like a good idea is actually, well, a bad idea. 

One week ago we left Davis and headed to Colorado Springs to attend a 3-week missions training with approximately 40 other missionaries preparing to enter the field (www.mti.org). On our second day of travel—in which we spent most of the ten hours on the road in the beautiful state of Wyoming—we were quickly approaching the Colorado State line and were getting very hungry.

 In search of some good home cookin’, we decided to stop at a local diner instead of hitting up another Subway. We picked the Luxury Diner (the irony will hit you in a moment) in Cheyenne, a restaurant that had more than its fill in character but left us questioning our pickers. 

This fried food frolic left us feeling like we were 8½ months pregnant for the last three hours of the drive. You would think the lesson would be learned, but it turns out we have a history with misjudgment. 

When making the decision to attend this training, we heard awesome reviews from others. We still thought it was a bad idea. How could this be a good idea with a dissertation to write, curriculum projects to finish, and relationships in which we’d like to invest? 

Boy, were we wrong. We do have too much work to do, and we do love our friends and family, but we had no idea how much more we could learn and grow. We are learning a ton about ourselves, each other, and God’s plan for our lives. What seemed to be a terrible idea, turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. 

We’ll still misjudge situations—evidenced by the fact that I (Tommy) took down 20 hot wings the other night and could not sleep a bit. That being said, we are both so thankful that what seemed to be so bad is turning into something that is oh sooo good.