House of Cards

Photo by Greg Star

When I got back from Swaziland a few months ago, everything was a bit of a blurr for me. 

I knew that God had asked me to go...but His reasons why were a bit unclear. 
I knew that I had been an integral part of the team that helped to shape and cast the vision for New Hope's ministry in Swaziland.
I knew that through the experience I began to feel like New Hope Church was home.
But over the last few months I've had this nagging sense that there was more to it. 
Sheila kept coming back to me...
New Hope church has decided to focus on the neediest part of Swazi, the area of Nsoko. I am so excited about our long term ministry there.  However, Sheila was a woman we met in the Manzini area, thus her needs did not really fall under the umbrella of the church's long term vision.  I spent some time praying through this, and the more I did, the more I got the sense that the Lord was saying to me that this one was my job. 



Wil, Sheila, and Becky
Photo by Ken Roosenburg

Here is Sheila's story:

Our first day in Swaziland, we met up with Pastor Peter and his wife Precious to visit the home of one of the families of his church.  Marcia Borg filled me in a little on our drive there.  Sheila has AIDS.  She is mother to four children, the oldest being twelve.   She is also a Gogo—the term for Grandmothers who take on the care of their children’s children because they have died, more often than not, from AIDS as well.  Sheila cares for her 9 months old grandson.  Her husband died from AIDS, infecting her with the disease before he passed.   

Marcia had asked me to share a Scripture, so I turned to the Psalm I usually use when I pray with those who are sick.  Psalm 103: 1-3.  The words sat before my eyes.  He forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases.  All.  I read that word and I realized my faith was not big enough to read that to her.  How could I look into her eyes and into her condition and read the finality of such a statement with belief?  How could I not qualify it or reduce her expectation of it?  My faith was not big enough.   

When we arrived Sheila and the baby met us outside.  Not that our group could have squeezed into the one room anyway.  We all greeted Sheila, who was forgiving of our awkward Siswati.  Swazi’s have a somber look about them, but she did return our smiles.  Marcia knew Sheila because she is one of the Timbale women, and spoke quietly and warmly with her for a while.  Soon she motioned me closer to share Scripture. 

In preparing for my trip to Swazi, the Lord had impressed Isaiah 40-41 on me.  Isaiah 40: 1 says,

“Comfort, yes, comfort my people!” Says your God.  “Speak comfort to Jerusalem and cry out to her.” 

That was my call for this moment, to comfort Sheila.  So I turned to Isaiah 41:9-10 and read the verses over her,  looking into her eyes as I read them, as if to give her every word as a gift.   As Precious translated, she took in every one, hungry for hope. 

“You are my servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not for I am with you; Be not dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you.  I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

She nodded and thanked the Lord closing her eyes to receive them into her being.  “Thank you,” she kept saying as I read.   Afterwards we all joined around her and prayed, asking God to minister to the needs of her body, mind, heart, and spirit.  She was very grateful for our prayers.  Then Marcia asked her if there was something in particular that she would like us to pray for. 

Sheila's Blocks

Sheila turned our attention to a pile of cement blocks sloppily stacked on the slope in front of her house.  As a Timbale woman, Sheila volunteers her time at a Care Point cooking and caring for orphans and other children whose families cannot afford to feed them.  On the days she is not at the Care Point, she and other Timbale women meet for a time of discipleship and share a sewing machine and make purses to sell for income.  This money is theirs to use for the needs of her household as she wishes.  Over the last few months, Sheila had used her money from the bags to buy the cement blocks.  She did not yet have enough blocks for a one room home, or money to buy mortar to put them together or for a roof overhead.  She explained to us that the wind and rain come into her house through the large cracks in the wood. During the last rains they stayed outside because there was actually more water inside.  Suddenly the holes in her walls took on a deeper meaning for all of us standing there.  Sheila’s prayer request was for one of her two older boys to find work, when not in school, so that they could save enough to build the blocks into a house that would keep dry in the rains. 



Sheila's Oldest Son and Grandson in front of their house.



I asked Jumbo later how much money it would cost her to build a little one room house.  It would be about $4,000, the roof being the most expensive piece.  Sheila sells the bags she makes through the Timbale project.  She volunteers daily at the Care Point, taking care of the needy children in her area.  It would take her about 3 years to save enough money.

 "That’s a lot of wind and rain and time," I thought. 

Then to our surprise, Sheila quietly shared with the group that she has AIDS.  This is a testament to the relationships that are being developed among the Timbale women.  Swazi’s do not normally share such things.  They never cry in public, it is a shame.  But slowly they are learning to tell their stories, and to trust that they will find comfort, sympathy, and acceptance.  We gathered around her and prayed for her, brothers and sisters in Christ, with little else in common with this dear woman.  Though she did not ask for financial assistance, we couldn’t help but feel the weight of her need and silent hope that we might help her. 

Sheila's Cross

After we prayed with her, Marsha, a nurse, sat and talked with her for a bit about her health while the team engaged with the children.    Attention is hard to come by in Swaziland, especially from adults.  Women are stretched way beyond the breaking point, caring for children with little to no food, money, or protection.  Many of them sick with disease themselves. 

Marsha asked Sheila if she was taking her medication.  AIDS meds are provided free for women with HIV positive children, but they have to pay money for transportation to get their meds, money that could be used for food.  Then they must prove that they will come consistently before they are even given medication.  AIDS medication must be taken consistently, on a strict schedule, a concept foreign to this culture. 

Unless God heals her, Marcia told me, she probably has a year to live.  I slowly walked the property, taking a few pictures.  The bits of information I had received started to come together in my head.  This dear woman’s husband has recently passed away from AIDS, which he most likely contracted from another woman.  He infected her with the disease before he passed.  Sheila was taking care of her grandbaby because his Mom has passed, so that means that she has lost a daughter in the last year as well.  Sheila has maybe a year to live and she has 5 children under her care who will have no one to care for them after she passes. 

Her faith in God is strong.  Her love for Him unwavering.  Her focus lies not on her own grief, but on building a dry shelter for her children to live in when she is gone. 

Sheila and Grandson

We gathered around Sheila before we left and presented her with a gift:  a 25 lb. bag of cornmeal to make pap, their staple food for every meal, some beans, cooking oil, sugar, tea, packets of gravy to put over the corn meal.  It was enough to feed her family for a week to 10 days. 

Through Precious, Sheila said to me as I hugged her, “I often am very afraid when I lay down to sleep at night.”  “But tonight I will rest well because of your visit to us.”  “I will have joy in my heart.”

What will happen to Sheila, I wonder.  Is there anything we can do to help this woman who suffers from the loss of her husband, her daughter?

 This woman trying to care for her children and grandchild with no electricity and no running water. 

This woman who has cracks in her stick walls large enough for me to stick my arms through and a few cement blocks on her land she can’t afford to mortar together. 

This woman who volunteers her energy and strength to take care of orphans and the underprivileged on a daily basis.

This woman who is sick with AIDS.

And I wonder, if God doesn’t heal her, what will happen to her children?  If they leave their land, they lose their property rights, but if there is a good shelter for them there, they could keep their land. 

As I thought about Sheila and the children, I felt more and more sure that the Lord was telling me specifically to do something for her.  I had sensed for a while there was something special He wanted me to do with my photos, and as I was praying about it, a very clear picture came to me and I knew what I was to do.  My Aunt has been telling me for ages that I should make up photo cards and sell them...but for any number of reasons I have been hesitant to try to make money off my photos.  This time, I knew it was the right thing.  You can actually make a really beautiful photo card for about 50 cents.  If you sell it for the price of a greeting card, you can make $2.00 profit.  So if I wanted to raise $4,000, I figured out that I needed to sell 2500 cards, or 500 packs of 5 cards at $10.00 a piece.  It actually seemed really doable.  It was as easy as 50 people selling 10 packs of cards.

I decided to call it the House of Cards project.  The people of New Hope Church have been so great in helping me put these together. 

There are three series that we have prepared.  Two of the series are photos of the children. One series is of African wildlife. Each series has five different photos cards with envelopes.  

If you are interested in purchasing sets or helping us to sell sets, come see us in the New Hope Church lobby this Sunday morning or send me an e-mail at bgrace@embarqmail.com.  I would love to talk more with you about this project.

Please pray that God will multiply these fishes and loaves.  It is possible this is only the first House of Cards we will build.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and prayerfully consider how God might call you to join us in building a house for Sheila.
Here is a sample of some of the photos we are using for the cards. 

Post and photos by Bgrace unless noted.
Please respect copyright.

Vision 2011 - Swaziland

OUR VISION: For New Hope Church, in partnership with Adventures in Missions (AIM), to build a relationship with the Nsoko Center Church that will have a positive long-term impact on the people of both churches and communities.

WHY THIS VISION MAKES SENSE:

1. It focuses on relationship and makes people a priority.
2. It partners our material wealth with their material poverty.
3. It stimulates our faith as we see God at work among the Swazi people.
4. The Nsoko Center location is key to assisting the people in the region. A strong center makes for a strong outreach to more remote areas.
5. A solid local church and pastor is key to meeting both spiritual and material needs of the local people and to helping the Swazi people help themselves.

POTENTIAL PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THIS VISION:

Relational

1. New Hope Church would send many people to Nsoko over the next 3-5 years to build relationships, share skills, provide practical aid, and offer spiritual encouragement.
2. New Hope Church would seek to get to know the families of the Nsoko church by collecting photos and family stories.
3. New Hope Church Focus Groups could be matched with a particular Nsoko family to pray for/build a relationship with.
4. New Hope Church could invite and pay for the pastor of the Nsoko church to visit our church here in Harrisburg.
5. New Hope Church could send one of our people or families for a short-term (3-6 month) term of service in Nsoko.
6. New Hope Church could send a long-term missionary to serve in Nsoko.

Financial

1. New Hope Church will provide for the salary and expenses of the local pastor at the Nsoko Center Church: $400/month = $4800/year.
2. New Hope Church will ensure that those in need have food to eat: $125/week = $6500/year.
3. New Hope Church will provide for Christmas and Easter Celebrations for the church which are very important culturally: $350 per celebration = $700/year.
4. TOTAL REGULAR MONTHLY CONTRIBUTION = $1000 per month.
5. Sending New Hope Church people to Swaziland: approximately $3000/person.

Ministry and Projects

1. Ministry of presence and encouragement – visiting families at their homes, worshipping with them as they gather for church.
2. Ministry to children – Bible teaching, craft projects, play
3. Building projects such as walls for their church building and adequate homes for community members.
4. Skill-specific areas of service for those with backgrounds in medicine, education, counseling, etc.

Swaziland is Fighting for her Life

Swaziland is fighting for her life.  This is the feeling you can’t help but carry after you spend even a little time with her.  It’s an intricate battle, one that takes some effort to wrap your head around.   Understanding it requires knowledge of Swazi’s enemies. 

AIDS has ransacked her people.  Swaziland has the highest infection ratio of any country in the world.  UNAIDS has published that 26.1% of the population is HIV positive but there is a lot of evidence the percentage is much higher.  This demographic is based solely on those required to be tested.  Most troubling is that 42% of pregnant mothers are positive.   This is likely more indicative of the true rate than the 26.1 reported.  Women 25-29 have a 44% rate while men 35-39 are 45% HIV positive.  AIDS has worked its way quickly through the population accelerated by polygamy, prostitution, incest, and extreme poverty.  Hunger leans toward desperate choices. 

Females of every age have few rights and little protection. Even if punishment is doled out for a crime such as rape, it is rarely severe enough to give pause.  Many Swazi’s don’t believe that AIDS is spread through sex.  They look for a cause/effect relationship and because they do not see immediate symptoms of the disease after intercourse they do not believe it is connected.  Thus condoms are viewed by some with suspicion--a plot to reduce pleasure—and by many with contempt.

The devastation left in the wake of this disease is almost inconceivable.  It has literally wiped out almost an entire generation.  Children are left with no parents and the “old” are left to care for their grandchildren.  Old is a relative term, because in Swaziland the average life expectancy for a female is 30 years of age.  The women who are left alone to care for their grandchildren are called “Gogos.”   They often find themselves to be the only caretaker left alive in the family. As the only living adult, they bear the burden of caring for children, grandchildren, even great nieces and nephews.  Many of these Gogos are widowed, having lost their husbands to AIDs, and some carry the disease themselves, having been infected by their husbands.

They are left with no money, no employment, little to no education, no protection, no food, and little hope that anything will change.  Though often they are provided with medication from various agencies for their disease, they may still have to pay a significant amount of money for transportation to get their medication, which must be taken consistently to be effective.  When the disease claims their bodies, and there are no more caregivers to be found, the children are the only one left to take care of the even younger children. 

Because of property regulations, which give inheritance rights to children unless they leave their homestead, the Swazi government does not allow for orphanages.  Instead of being comforted and able to mourn their loss, children are bequeathed with the unimaginable responsibility of finding food for themselves and their siblings—they are forced to focus on survival.    

It is in the midst of this context that you feel the full force of Swazi’s other enemy.  Poverty overwhelms her.  Though her cities might surprise you with bright neon lights, modern automobiles, and tourist attractions, you will discover a stark contrast that begins as you reach their outskirts.  What hits your eye first is the dirt.  Everything is the color of dirt. The brown countryside stretches before your eyes—with the lavender bloom of a few jacaranda trees defying its stubborn blandness.  It might surprise you, because on isolated properties vegetation thrives, nurtured by the mild Swazi climate. The sight of small children sharing the weight of a bucket of water between them along the dusty road explains the inconsistency.    Running water is a luxury of the rich, wells the friend of a few, and other water sources often distant and unreliable.   Growing a garden is difficult without a consistent water source, not to mention the goats that roam undetained and hungry bellies on the lookout for a free meal.  Drought and heavy rains alternate their tolls turning the land to either dust or mud.

Most of the stretches of green are sugarcane fields.  They are owned by the rich—those who have the money to put in irrigation systems.  They account for a large number of the few jobs available to Swazi’s people.  Unfortunately, their employees are paid barely enough to feed their families, about $120.00 a month—though they work 12 hours a day, six days a week.  Other industries and commercial enterprise are few and far between.  It takes more capital than the entrepreneurial have at their disposal.  The few poor who are well-educated are forced to find work in South Africa. 

Though the government does subsidize some of the education costs for orphans and the poor, it is generally not enough.  Most families have to pay about $150.00 a year per child, plus uniforms and books for primary grades and about $1,200.00 a year for high school.  For a family with multiple children and $120.00 a month income…well, you do the math.  
 

With little evidence of change on the horizon, poverty and AIDs bring along their close friends: alcoholism, and increased crime, and despair.  The death wave that began two years ago has not yet reached its peak.  Without help, Swaziland will lose the war.    

 The landscape stretches before us with a dismal view.  There seems little evidence of harvest in the making.

Until you look closer. 

Until a warm breeze blows away the dust that had seemed so settled. 

Until a new hope arises. 

We don’t have the power to make things live or grow, but as Pastor Vern said a few weeks ago,

“We can affect the soil.”

AIM has already begun to do this.  Eric and Jen Peterson, Scott and Marcia Borg, Jumbo and Kriek, Julie, and other team members are making extraordinary strides in Swaziland.  They are affecting the environment, nurturing life and enabling it to thrive.  They are feeding and caring for children, discipling the Swazi people and empowering them to minister.  They are teaching job skills and creating commercial industries to help people support themselves.  They are coming alongside the people and providing support, direction, and provision to the needy.  They need help to bring life and breath to this land.

The people of New Hope Church have decided to join the fight.  Can you see yourself in these pictures?

Article by Bgrace,

 Swazi Six Team Member

Vision 2011 - Swaziland

WHY THIS VISION MAKES SENSE:

1. It focuses on relationship and makes people a priority.
2. It partners our material wealth with their material poverty.
3. It stimulates our faith as we see God at work among the Swazi people.
4. The Nsoko Center location is key to assisting the people in the region. A strong center makes for a strong outreach to more remote areas.
5. A solid local church and pastor is key to meeting both spiritual and material needs of the local people and to helping the Swazi people help themselves.

POTENTIAL PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THIS VISION:

Relational

1. New Hope Church would send many people to Nsoko over the next 3-5 years to build relationships, share skills, provide practical aid, and offer spiritual encouragement.
2. New Hope Church would seek to get to know the families of the Nsoko church by collecting photos and family stories.
3. New Hope Church Focus Groups could be matched with a particular Nsoko family to pray for/build a relationship with.
4. New Hope Church could invite and pay for the pastor of the Nsoko church to visit our church here in Harrisburg.
5. New Hope Church could send one of our people or families for a short-term (3-6 month) term of service in Nsoko.
6. New Hope Church could send a long-term missionary to serve in Nsoko.

Financial

1. New Hope Church will provide for the salary and expenses of the local pastor at the Nsoko Center Church: $400/month = $4800/year.
2. New Hope Church will ensure that those in need have food to eat: $125/week = $6500/year.
3. New Hope Church will provide for Christmas and Easter Celebrations for the church which are very important culturally: $350 per celebration = $700/year.
4. TOTAL REGULAR MONTHLY CONTRIBUTION = $1000 per month.
5. Sending New Hope Church people to Swaziland: approximately $3000/person.

Ministry and Projects

1. Ministry of presence and encouragement – visiting families at their homes, worshipping with them as they gather for church.
2. Ministry to children – Bible teaching, craft projects, play
3. Building projects such as walls for their church building and adequate homes for community members.
4. Skill-specific areas of service for those with backgrounds in medicine, education, counseling, etc.