http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org SWAZILAND: 1/21-4/21/08 (RL College) - Making Disciples: Reaching Our World en-us Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:42:44 GMT 30 http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=homestead-tour-video http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=homestead-tour-video A little look at where we lived for three months!!! Sun, 3 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=pictures http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=pictures Hey all so I finally took the time to put some pics of our trip up since internet was so slow in country. Enjoy! They are located in the Swazi Photos tab to the left but here are just a couple... our team...        Pictures hardly touch our experiences but I thought you might enjoy looking at them. : ) Mon, 2 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=lyrics-of-my-heart http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=lyrics-of-my-heart I have been home for two weeks now and what a whirlwind! Life in America is so different and although I am embracing running water and two ply T.P. I am missing my team and the relationships I built there. I continue to learn of God's love for me and His plan. Trusting Him is a daily decision. I just thought I would share lyrics to a song that met me where I am at... The words are powerful and bring me to tears everytime... Never AgainThrough the grieving of the brokenHold them in Your ha Mon, 5 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=one-last-time http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=one-last-time Lucky for me (and possibly some of you) I am still a contributer on the blog and felt like putting up an update now that we're all home. I'm guessing that none of my teammates will write another blog because they became so much of a chore while we were in Swaziland. Regardless, I wanted to just share a bit about some things I never touched on before and talk about being back.The last Saturday that we were there, something happened that I really feel the need to share. At the Mbabane hospital, th Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=the-end-is-here http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=the-end-is-here Sanibonani from Mbabane, the capital city of Swaziland!It's our last weekend in country and the team is starting to say their good-byes. I thought I'd post a rundown of what this coming week looks like so you'll know how to pray for us!!!Today they have to say farewell to their relationships in the hospital and the abandoned babies' home in the city. Tonight is our last fellowship with the fyms at the teamhouse in Manzini. We will be leading worship and are very excited for this time together. T Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=12-days http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=12-days So it's time to blog!   This is our last blog and I'd like to start out by apologizing.  I'm sorry I've only blogged like hmm three times or so.  I don't know what my problem is!  I just don't do good writing under pressure.  If It was optional- which I guess I've made it seem optional with my lack of blogging -but anyway if it was optional who knows maybe I would have written one every chance I got!  Most likely no. haha.   So I'm sure everybody is g Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=freedom http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=freedom "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1   When I look into the sweet faces of the little girls at the slums this verse takes on a whole new meaning.  God created all of us to live in complete freedom.  Aside from assuring us eternity, living in freedom on this earth is one of the main purposes why he came.  How in the world do you tell a five year old little girl to " Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=let-god-be-god http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=let-god-be-god As my time in Africa is nearing its end, the sorrow of parting ways is beginning to creep in. I feel as if the theme of my trip has been God teaching my prideful heart how to trust Him. As soon as I feel that I have fully comprehended a lesson He is teaching me about trusting Him, He reveals to me yet another area where He is bidding for my full reliance on Him. In the time I have remaining to write this I cannot even begin to go into detail about all the areas God has taught me to trust durin Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=my-baby-love http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=my-baby-love So it is no shocker to you all that as I come here I have fallen in love with the little babies. I wrote before about a baby named Benjamin who I love! He had gotten discharged but I saw him again in the outpatient clinic. He is not doing well and has continued to lose weight since going home but his mother denies his malnutrition and will not readmit him.  The American doctor asked if I wanted to start taking care of him. It took everything in me to not say "of course I will". Realistica Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=numbers http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=numbers Numbers        It has been 78 days, 15 hours and 7 minutes since I flew out of Kansas. In 11 days, 10 hours and 45 minutes I will arrive back there. We have 6 days left of ministry, that's less than 17 hours of ministry total. Our debriefing will last 4 days, and traveling will take up one more full day. I have at least 3 children that I will cry saying goodbye to, and dozens more that I will miss daily. There are also 4 members of our host family that we have to leave Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=prepared-to-flow http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=prepared-to-flow As I right my last blog, I think of the journey the Lord has taken me on throughout the trip.  I reminisce and take in the relationships I have formed, the smiling faces of the children, and the people we have lost (most recently, Precious, read Amanda's blog).  It is funny; I came on this trip to bring hope to these people, to tell them of the love of Christ.  As I sit and reflect, I realize that through my interactions with the very people I came to "evangelize to" the Lord has Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=the-king-is-enthralled-by-your-beauty http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=the-king-is-enthralled-by-your-beauty "The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord."  Psalm 45:11   These past two weeks have been full of events, and I couldn't pick just one thing to talk about so I am going to touch on a few things that have impacted me most.  The craziest thing to me is that our last day of ministry is on Tuesday, April 15th.  Our time here has been amazing and I have learned a lot from the Swazis.  They don't need more Americans coming here to give them the " Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=treeline http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=treeline             The first week time that we went to the slums, I met a spunky girl named Daniella. She was always running around, jumping on you, and smiling. She is one of the most loving children that I have ever met and constantly wants to be loved on and held. After spending a couple of weeks with her, I was informed that she was one of the girls who went to the treeline. The treeline is about 50 feet long, in between 2 trees, where men will Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=lift-us-up-in-prayer http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=lift-us-up-in-prayer Entering our last week of ministry we have some prayer requests   Squatter Camp- This week we have a special set of VBSs planned. On Tuesday we will be splitting the girls and boys. The boys will be going over being warriors for Christ. Teaching of how to stand firm and confident in Him. The girls we are talking about purity and touching on some of the huge sexual abuse issues present in their lives. We want to affirm in them the beauty God sees in them. Please be praying that God wil Mon, 7 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=just-a-quick-update http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=just-a-quick-update Hi, Family and Friends!!! This is Kristen Torres-Toro, one of the Real Life leaders. The team is enjoying their last non-communication off day, but desperately wanted to contact y'all with prayer requests as we head into this last week of ministry. The blog posted below was compiled by several of the girls and it lists everything from individual stories to what we are planning for ministry this week. Please be in prayer for all of these things and for whatever else God lays  on your hearts Mon, 7 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=beauty http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=beauty Since I have been in Swaziland I have seen so many different situations and outcomes in the ministry at the Manzini hospital.  My friends Elvina and Dena were healed recently and sent home; Praise God!  Dena showed up at the hospital on Tuesday to visit us because she knew we would be there visiting other patients.  How cool is that?!?!  It was so great seeing her there, healthy and happy.  She asked us that we pray she finds a job now.  She has no way of making mon Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=new-opportunities http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=new-opportunities     God is giving me a couple of speaking opportunities this week.  As excited as I am to see God move through them, I'm not used to preaching in front of groups of people.  I've done teachings in smaller settings, but the Lord is obviously stretching me this week.   I could use some prayer.   This week we finally made it to the high school on time Wednesday morning.  We had been having a lot of difficulties getting there in previous weeks.  It was Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=dare-you-to-move http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=dare-you-to-move             For the past couple of weeks our team has tried to begin a ministry at one of the local high schools but our plans never seemed to work out. When we planned to speak on Wednesday mornings our driver ended up being late, when we went to play sports they were either testing or had early release, and because we weren't showing up on time we were losing the trust of the students and the faculty.       & Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=ruth http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=ruth Again we headed to the Manzini hospital as I enter the children's ward I was so excited to hear that baby Benjamin had been discharged**. It was kind of bittersweet because I had been spending most all my time with him so now I prayed for His direction in how to minister that day. My mind went to a woman I had prayed with only a couple times who had TB in the woman's ward. As I headed to the woman's ward I prayed that God would give me guidance in what to talk about/do. She beamed as she saw m Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=pray http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=pray Although this seems unbelievable, as of today we have less than two weeks left in Swaziland. At this point we are the most comfortable in our ministries, have built the strongest relationships and our desire is to leave our new friends with a message of hope that will last the rest of their lives. Please be in prayer for these things until we arrive home.   If you are reading this as soon as it is being posted right now we are at the squatter camp following up with children about the mes Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=blessed http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=blessed As the trip is winding down, I am realizing what a blessing it is to be here and to minister here. God has grown me in so many ways and I am beginning to see how He has used me in other people's lives. It is an indescribable feeling to know that God is using me during this time in the lives of the people of Swaziland. At the Manzini hospital, I used to visit a woman named Dena. I watched the Lord transform her life and heal her body. The first time I saw her, she was really skinny and she look Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=trusting-in-his-perfect-plan http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=trusting-in-his-perfect-plan On Thursday, we went to the Manzini hospital. I had bought Senanile some Easter candy and made her a sign but when I got there found out that she had been discharged. (Praise the Lord!!) The Easter candy that I bought for her had 8 big chocolate eggs in it, so I decided that I would hand them out to a few kids. I had two eggs left and went into the room across to hand them out. There were two ladies, a mage (mom) who was not much older than me, and a gogo (grandma) who was probably in her 50's. Thu, 3 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=passion-with-focus http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=passion-with-focus There is an unbridled passion in my life that screams to run after something great. There have been many things in my life that I have run after that I should not. There have been many things that I have allowed to distract me from the only thing worthy of my praise. I have come to realize that the Lord is a very jealous God and He wants to be the focus of my life and the passion of my heart. He wants to transform my life with His love if only I would allow Him to become my everything. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=he-has-my-hand http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=he-has-my-hand God's ways never cease to amaze me. Nearly every saturday we go to the capital city Mbanbane for ministry. We visit the hospital there and then an abandoned babies home. Last saturday our team got the chance to meet and talk with Michael Pratt, the man who started this ministry. Turns out that all the way across the globe God showed me just how connected all His children are. Michael's wife Robin is a nurse and used to run the abandoned babies ward at the hospital we visit in Mbanbane. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=a-childs-faith http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=a-childs-faith A few weeks back, I was brokenhearted by the lack of "childhood" that a lot of the kids are able to experience here. I was discouraged and could not understand why God's plan for a child's life could include TB, rape, AIDS, or a parentless life. Last week though, I realized how rich of a faith that some of the children truly have. Yes, they have to experience many difficult things, but through them, God reveals himself to them in a powerful way. I have continued to visit the 12 year old Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=the-song-on-my-heart http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=the-song-on-my-heart "The fullness of your grace is here with me. The richness of your grace is all I see. The brightness of your glory has arrived. In your presence God I'm completely satisfied. For you I'll sing I'll dance rejoice in this divine romance lift my heart and my hands to show my Love, to show my Love." (parts of Phil Wickams' "Divine Romance") This song has really been on my heart and I just wanted to share the words. So, how is everyone? I've been doing pretty decent. God has be Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=community http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=community Week ten of our trip and the reality of living with 14 other people has set in. All the little habits of people are out. As frustrations or annoyances grew I went to God searching. How do I love the people who rub me wrong, who are just plain difficult at times? As I sat in a field near a waterhole last week I decided to listen to a podcast from my church at home. I had 17 different sermons on my ipod but only one would work and it was no coincidence that it was on authentic co Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=benjamin http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=benjamin Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=colile http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=colile "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12) -- Before this trip, that verse had always been one that I had read and then kind of skimmed over. I had never fully grasped its meaning. However, in the past months, I have learned what exactly "the powers of this dark world," and the "spiritual forces of evil" really Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=benjamin-take-2 http://08sw0121rl3.myadventures.org/?filename=benjamin-take-2           As I walked into the Manzini hospital, I eagerly awaited seeing Benjamin's tiny little face. Just a month ago I walked in to find a weary mother and the smallest two month old I had ever seen. She spoke no English but through the other mothers around her I learned his name was Anton but she wanted him to have an English name. I named him Benjamin. I was not able to communicate so I began to sing. I sang Jesus' name over and over. Ben had not Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT