Cape Town Getaway

After being in Swaziland for more than two years, we finally made it to one of our bucket-list destinations: Cape Town. Since our holidays typically revolve around picking up agricultural supplies in Johannesburg, we relished the opportunity to relax and explore such a beautiful region. We just wanted to share a few pictures to prove we made time to get away for a few days!

A view from the plane...

Visiting Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years.

Boat ride back to Cape Town from Robben Island, with Table Mountain in the distance.

View from the top of Table Mountain, looking East.

Meeting some penguins along the Cape.

Cape Point

Hiking up to the top of Cape Point, with the Cape of Good Hope in the background.

Kirsetenbosch Gardens

Wine and cheese tasting in the Stellenbosch Winelands. 

Visiting American friends from Swaziland who recently relocated to Stellenbosch. We had a wonderful time visiting them and their sweet kiddos in their new home.

We feel so lucky to live within a short, 2-hour plane ride from Cape Town. There are few cities that stand out as being so culturally interesting (for better or worse), geographically diverse, and absolutely beautiful. The food was exceptional, and we even got to eat at a Mexican restaurant!

Tommy and I both agreed we felt more refreshed and relaxed than we have in a LONG time. 

The Value of Quality

Perhaps my most enjoyable weekly indulgence in Swaziland is enjoying an ice-cold glass of Schweppes’ Dry Lemon. 

The second most anticipated indulgence is reading Farmer’s Weekly. A South African publication, it is an excellent mixture of technical, market, and political information. It even has a few sections that Mandi enjoys, most notably, The Hitching Post personal ads.

I recently read an article that shared tips for investing in business opportunities in Africa. One of the nuggets shared was that people, even if they are living in poverty, value quality. In fact, it gave several examples of companies that have actually increased the quality of their products when entering into lower per-capita economies.

In Swaziland, we have also seen how people value quality. Let me give you three quick examples from the New Life Homes’ Farm. 

Broilers: Typically, in this part of the world a broiler chicken is grown out for 5 weeks (from hatching until harvest). If taken care of properly, that would yield a bird that weighs 1.8kg (about 4lbs). We have realized that people like a bigger bird and we grow ours out to 6 weeks, weighing 2.2kg (4.8lbs). We charge more, create a more comfortable margin, and make customers happy. 

Pigs: We have made every effort to improve genetics over the past two years. We believe that if we can provide high quality pigs consistently to the market, we will never have a difficult time selling the pigs or demanding a higher price. So far, we have found both to be true. Recently, we have begun to artificially inseminate (AI) some of our stock using semen from top producers. We are excited about these opportunities, even if it makes our current boar incredibly frustrated (as he is temporarily unemployed).

Goats: You probably remember us buying a goat about two years ago, although for more of a hobby than a serious enterprise. Since then, we’ve learned that the market is massive and the supply is low and inconsistent. In many rural communities, there is frequent inbreeding within herds and animal health is poorly maintained. To make a long story short, New Life Homes now has 30 goats, half of which are Swazi indigenous goats (hardy with less meat) and half are Boer goats (less hardy, but with lots of meat). People are clamoring to buy our goats, especially the Boer goats, because of the quality. We sell these goats as breeding stock, which helps rural farmers increase their profitability over time. 

We are surrounded by people who live in poverty. Yet they still have eyes that allow them to recognize quality. The future for these enterprises is bright because we maintain a high standard of quality. The margins are good and the people on the farm (moms, kids, workers) are really excited about the direction we are headed. This is a huge win. Please continue to pray for wisdom and guidance as we seek to provide for these precious children.

A Cultural Adventure

Things have been a bit of a whirlwind lately, but having just finished our last school day for a few weeks, I (Mandi) find myself taking refuge from the chilly weather and finding time to finally get an update out.

We took a school trip this week to the Swaziland National Museum, King Sobhuza Memorial Park, and Cuddle Puddle Hot Springs (yes, that's the real name). We had a great time, and here are some pictures to prove it!

During part of the tour, our guide told the kids that Swazis believed in ancestors and pray to them. Lihle asked the guide, "Do you believe in ancestors?" The guide responded that she did, and then posed the same question to Lihle. Lihle responded, "No, I'm a Christian so I pray to Jesus Christ." I was pretty proud of my bold little student!

 The students were able to sit in the late King Sobhuza's classic car.

My growing belly has been a constant source of curiosity and in some cases, concern. Upon donning my "swimming costume" the kids exclaimed, "But you're too fat!" I assured them that my entrance would still leave a *little* bit of water in the pool.

It's been a long week at school, and I had a particularly frustrating encounter with one of our teachers today. Dealing with conflict in an open way is very counter-cultural here. However, I feel like it was resolved and I continue to pray that the teachers we work with would understand we are for them, yet we will still hold them accountable to do excellent work.

Thank you for praying for us. Stress has been higher than normal lately, and we really appreciate your commitment to pray that we would receive the wisdom, patience, grace, and joy we need on a daily basis!

A New Baby

So we have some news. Our goat herd is expanding. We are expecting at least three baby kids in the next week! We are now up to twenty goats. The pigs are doing well. The broccoli and cauliflower is growing. We have almost hit the mid-term break at school and the learning thus far has been very high quality. And in August we are expecting another baby to arrive. Not an animal, but our very own human baby!

To say that we are thrilled is a massive understatement.

We have been meeting with a great doctor in Nelspruit, South Africa and the facilities and the care seem really top-notch. Mandi is doing really, really well. The weather here will start cooling down with the arrival of fall in a few weeks, which will be really nice. We're starting to think about how to decorate the corner of our bedroom and what African name we will give the baby (just kidding!).

To those that are worried about our child being left off the ballet for the 2066 presidential elections, let me remind you that we still fall well within the bounds of the Natural Born Citizen Clause that was put forward by Alexander Hamilton and company. The rest of you know that we actually do not care at all if our future child is president of our country (or their local FFA chapter, for that matter). We just want them to feel loved!

That is all for now. We appreciate your friendship, love, and support.
Oh yeah, and the baby is due on August 31. 

Backpack Blessings!

Last week, the children of New Life Homes returned to school after their 7-week summer vacation. As a teacher, the beginning of the school year involves long hours spent at school preparing, but also involves excitement and anticipation. For young students, there’s also a great deal of excitement, which was confirmed by daily visitors peeking through windows to monitor the progress of school preparations.

The children at New Life Homes also had something extra to be excited about this year—new backpacks! While home in the US, University Covenant Church organized a backpack drive and was able to provide each of the 42 children with a new backpack filled with school supplies. 

A few days before school started, we gathered together and gave the children their new bags. They were so excited! Not only were the bags “cool” (boys) and “beautiful” (girls) they were also much better quality than the backpacks we can find here in Swaziland. They marveled at the contents, which were completely above and beyond what they anticipated receiving.

A few days later I was at one of the houses watching a movie with the kids. One of the boys, KK, was sitting on the sofa with his bag in his lap with his arms around it—for the whole movie! What a perfect illustration for what a precious gift these bags were! 

The gift also communicated an even more important truth to the children—you are loved. People around the world, who have never even met you, care for you and love you just because you are a child of God. Now THAT is a generous gift! On behalf of the kids, we share a sincere thank you for this special gift.

Please continue to pray for our school as we proceed as a private organization. The Ministry of Education has been neither cooperative nor communicative. We are praying to keep our government-assigned Siswati teacher for the year. Tommy and Peter are also adjusting to their increased involvement in the classroom. Despite some of the challenges, we feel much affirmation that we are doing the right thing for the long-term sustainability of the school. We do value your prayers in this area!

The HIGHS of Fur-LOWS

Tomorrow marks the end of a seven week visit to the US.

I always imagined missionaries laying poolside and sipping tropical drinks on their furloughs, earning some much needed rest from their non-stop, ministry-filled lives. 

Obviously, those missionaries have better sense then to venture home in December!

Although we've had some moments of rest (including an awesome three night stay in Napa Valley), we've been surprised at how busy our time here has been. Here are some highlights:

Preaching at University Covenant Church  (UCC) in Davis, where we were able to share about some of the challenges we've faced as well as the hope that keeps us committed to our calling in Swaziland.

If you'd like to hear the message, click here.

UCC also hosted an evening reception, which drew almost 100 people who came to hear about what our day-to-day life is like there.

Training at UC Davis. Tommy spent several days at UCD learning new skills, including how to artificially inseminate sows and process carcasses into different cuts of meat. (It's REALLY unfortunate we don't have pictures of this one!) 

Visiting churches like Escalon Presbyterian Chruch, Christ Lutheran Church Fortuna, Antioch Church on the Rock, and members of the missions committee from Hydesville Community Church. These churches offered us opportunities to share about out time, and we were so encouraged by people's love for New Life Homes. We're glad you agree with us that God is really at work!

Connecting with folks at Bidwell Presbyterian Church in Chico. Each year they organize an alternative gift fair which allows people to support organizations, including New Life Homes. People purchased everything from pigs to school uniforms, all to be sent as a financial donation to New Life Homes. It is an incredibly well-organized event which raises approximately $30,000 for local and international ministries.

Spending time with family, friends, and supporters. For the first time in two years, we spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with family! One of the sweetest joys was spending time with nieces and nephews who have grown so much in the time we've been away!

We head back to Swaziland tomorrow. We will certainly cherish the special times we had with family and friends. Thank you for blessing us with your love, availability, wisdom, hospitality, support, and care. As much as we've loved being "home" we are also eager to get "home" to Swaziland as well.

Taking the Plunge

Not every day on the mission field is a joyous one. In fact, over the last two years we have faced our share of sorrows. Today, however, was a wonderful reminder that God is moving.

During our weekly chapel time in the children’s homes, we have been learning about things Christians believe. A few weeks ago, our colleague Mary Jean spoke about baptism. She shared with the children the importance of making your commitment to Christ known in a public way, just as Jesus did. Some of the children responded by sharing their desire to be baptized and publicly declare their decision to follow Jesus.

Today we celebrated the baptism of ten children. Ranging in ages from 10 to 17, the children stood before our community and proclaimed their intent to follow Christ. Many of them shared their desire to tell others about His life-transforming power. It was certainly a joyous celebration. 

So, with thankful hearts we were able to watch these children declare their relationship with Christ. It was a wonderful reminder that God is at work in Swaziland. He is being made known, and many of the children at New Life Homes have embraced Him with their whole hearts. 

We celebrated afterwards by eating ice cream, enjoying each other, and encouraging those who were baptized. Please join us in praising His wonderful work. Also, continue to pray for those who took this important step today. We ask God to guide them as they grow into mature believers who transform their communities for Christ.