The chapter ends......

Yesterday was an extra special day and a memory that will be imprinted on my mind forever! The teachers at the pre-school had arranged a day full of fun, dancing and lots of food to say their goodbyes to me! It was extremely moving and of course there were tears! Lots of them! I can’t help it! They gave me presents and cards and some of them gave me little messages that really touched me deeply! The presents were wrapped in dinosaur paper and included a framed pic of me and the class and a Swazi flag! Very sweet! After that some of the children performed a variety of traditional dancing while singing (in SiSwati) ‘Why are you leaving us sister Kirsty, who will look after us now’! How do you respond to that? No matter how much you mentally prepare yourself to cope in a situation like this, it will never be enough to answer this question without grieving your inner man and cutting you to the heart! Realising that it wasn’t me that they were drawn to but Jesus in me, left me feeling very thankful for the Lords love and faithfulness to these little ones! I’ve grown so close to them and value every minute spent with them but I still seem to be stuck for words! These children have changed my life in so many ways and revealed the capacity of compassion that is within me by just being in their company! You can’t help but love them all! As for the language barrier……this never interfered with our growing relationships! Of course it would be great to understand them sometimes but I know that they knew how much I loved them by my ways of affection! Their faces will always be remembered!

As my time here in Swaziland comes to an end my heart is saddened as I say my goodbyes to the Swazi family I’ve been blessed with and my beloved friends that I cherish so much! This has got to be the hardest part of being used by the Lord overseas! Every time I think that my emotions are under control and there can’t possibly be any more tears left in me to cry, they come in floods as I see another face that I have to say farewell to!

I hope you have been inspired and encouraged as you have followed me on this beautiful path that the Lord had planned from the very beginning. Challenge ministries is an amazing organisation that is used by God to change hearts, restore lives and offer hope to the hopeless! I feel honoured to have been part of the ministry for this time to see Gods hand at work in so many broken lives.

So this is goodbye from me until the next trip. Where? As yet I don’t know but I will keep you all informed! Thank you for all your support and know that I have appreciated your prayers throughout my time here!

To my beautiful Swazi friends, insightful counsellors and discerning teachers I pray it won’t be too long until I see you again. I will miss you dearly! To my family, friends and counsellors back home…….I will be seeing you very soon!!!!

Much blessings and love

xxx

God has his hands on them!

Freedom in Christ..........

Challenge Ministries vision is to compassionately WIN Swaziland, through partnering with like-minded individuals, churches and organizations; to TRAIN up a remnant to preserve the future by becoming an accurate representation of Christ being lived out amongst communities; to SEND out empowered believers from a restored Swaziland to a world in need.

The latter part of this statement has become more real to me as my time here has unfolded. I feel this part of my journey has been in the direction of preparation and training for my next step in Gods will for me, therefore being more equipped to serve God in Love for his Kingdoms sake. I believe through this experience I will be stronger and more aware of the abilities and gifts which the Lord has given me to do his good works! Although this is all very important I feel the main reason for God bringing me to Swaziland was to get to know him as my father. I’m going to be very transparent here but I feel I should share, coming to Swaziland I believe my image of God was very distorted. I mean, I knew he was mighty to save, all powerful, the Alpha & Omega and ruler of everything but I seemed to forget of the main reason why he created me……..to be in relationship with him, father and daughter. Knowing God as not only my guide through his Holy Spirit, my protector and my provider but also as my father who embraces me with his unconditional love, has been overwhelmingly pulling at my heart and flooding my thoughts for a while now. Having once believed that I would receive Gods love and blessing in my life through good works to now believing that its through his grace and unconditional love that I am saved. The need for perfectionism in my life was like a weight around my shoulders which left room for condemnation and feelings of ‘never measuring up’ would creep in when I couldn’t reach my own expectations. The Holy spirit has opened my eyes and the Lord has freed me from this, so much so I could jump up and down! My chains are gone!!!

I pray you are all well in the Lord. Please know that I love you all as my brothers and sisters in Christ and my love and thanks go out to each and everyone of you!

Please continue to pray for Gods direction and strength for me as I prepare to leave this beautiful country, all the children whom I love dearly and my beloved Swazi friends!

Much blessings xxx

Salakahle (Goodbye)

My life in Swaziland!!!

Class of 2011

Sanibonani my friends!!! Please forgive the long delay in blogging!!

Everything is going well here and although I’m really looking forward to coming home I catch myself at times very emotional at the thought of my last day here! This usually happens when I’m in pre-school. Just watching the children develop and grow academically makes me so grateful to the Lord that they have this opportunity that so many don’t have. Their little personalities have captured my heart and i love just spending time with them. Most of the children i worked with last year have left us now and started at the local primary schools. On their last day i watched with pride as they terminated this part of their life with a graduation service! Graduation gowns were hired for this occasion and they all looked so cute!! It was a memorable day! They are sadly missed at the pre-school!!! The pre-school re-opened on the 18th January and has brought in even more children than last year! At the last count there must have been 40 altogether, 30 which are new! So many new faces with new names that can be hard to pronounce never mind remember but i feel it is very important in building loving relationships with them if I take the time to know all of their names and not leave any of them out!

Although i have 3 months left before i come home i feel the Lord has already started preparing me for my life after Swaziland! So many emotions, so many tears and so much of the fathers love is consuming me at this time as he gently nudges me in the right direction! He has spoken clearly to me of my next step and confirmed that Bible College is next on his agenda! This makes me a little nervous but the excitement of this seems to overpower the anticipation of what is to come! My when and where still unknown but my trust is completely in God’s perfect hands and timing! I would appreciate your prayers regarding this.

Thank you everyone for your support during my time here, my love and thanks go out to you!

Speak soon xxx

Teen Challenge Graduation

On the 27th November I attended the Graduation of the male and female residents from Teen Challenge and also the TCMI students. This is a day with much celebrating and as you can see from the pictures they really dressed up for this occasion! Teen Challenge Graduations have got to be the best! As all the Graduates got on the stage to sing for us I was reminded of the graduations in Wales. They are truly special! God reuniting and restoring families back to their original intent. Please pray for these graduates as they embark on this new life with the Lord. Life is just so much tougher out here and opportunities are scarce. They need our support in prayer regarding employment, finances and of course strength when trials come, that they may stand firm in Christ Jesus!

LTI Conference

It was a great privilege to attend this week long training course in the beginning of November. This was a time where all of the ministries within TC joined together, this included, Staff and Students of The Lighthouse Emafini (Male Centre), Staff and students of Elusitwini (Female Centre), Staff, volunteers and house parents from Hawane Farm (Children’s Homes) and also the students from TCMI. The aim of this conference was to train up leaders and equipping them to be effective within the ministry of Teen Challenge. The guest speakers were the lovely Bernie and Cathy Gillot (Global TC), Kevin Ward (Founder TC Swaziland) and Doug Wever (Global TC). It was such a pleasure to see Bernie and Cathy again after 8 years. They are Special!!
The whole week was insightful and refreshing! The Lord brought a lot of healing to a lot of hearts, including mine! God was certainly challenging and changing us. There were a range of topics in our training including ‘The heart of a leader’, ‘Shame’, ‘Faith’, ‘Leading in tough times’ and ‘Discipline for change’. Although the altar was usually packed at the beginning and end of each service I remember in particular the events on the last day. The Lords spirit was moving intensely and many people were bringing words from the Lord. It was so exciting! Then someone had a word from God calling those who hadn’t received the baptism of the Holy Spirit to come for prayer. Within 2 mins the altar was crammed full! I watched with so much excitement as people were being baptized and speaking in their new heavenly tongue. We were all moved deeply by Gods presence, it was so tangible!
At the end of the conference an awareness dinner was held. This was such a special night! Kevin shared on the background of Teen Challenge Swaziland, the progress that has been made over the years and also the needs that still require support. Most of the TC family then got up to sing for us which was so heartwarming. As I watched I was touched by how much of God’s grace was evident in that place. Gods love rescues!! As you can see from the pictures I was part of the team of waiters. This was a little funny considering my past experiences with waitressing would usually end with my P45 in the post. The good news is there were no hic ups! The evening went really well and everyone who attended left happy and blessed.

My little angels!!!

How Great is our God!!!

My time in Swaziland is becoming more meaningful by the day. I mean, I knew this was going to be a big challenge and a giant step for God but I never realized how much God would teach me in this time. I feel as though I am being poured into so much more than I am pouring out. The lord likes to pull me out of my comfort zone and into his trust on a regular basis so therefore I am changing, growing and being poured into more than I could’ve imagined. My prayer is that through me allowing God to work in my life and heart I will become more and more like him each day.

The farm has been a little quieter for the past couple of weeks as the children are on holidays from school. They usually use this time to visit any family they have but not all the children have this opportunity. Some of the children are either estranged from their parents or they have no known relatives alive. I really thank God that he has brought these children here where they receive the love and attention they need and where they are surrounded by the family of God.

I’m looking forward to pre -school opening again on the 8th. I never thought I’d ever hear myself say this but I miss the noise!! I have missed the children so much and can’t wait to see their faces. There’s one little girl called Bagezile who doesn’t speak or understand English a lot but we just chat away (very funny) and sometimes her face is just crying out ‘please understand me’!! I have learned a few vital words in siswati to help me there and when I use them with her, her face just lights up. The phrases that come in really handy are, ‘Ukhalelani’(why are you crying), ‘Kwentenjani’(What’s wrong) and ‘Umuhle’(You’re beautiful). They usually get me through the day but I am always trying out new words.

A couple of weeks ago now I had the amazing opportunity to go to a rural part of Swaziland to help a large team minister and provide a lot of medical attention to the poorer and more disadvantaged. We started the day at 5.30am and got home around 2am. Although this is a long day it didn’t seem to affect the work being done. The organization is called ‘The Luke Commission’ and it is founded and run by a couple of missionaries from America. They catered to the needs in this area by providing several nurses who would test for HIV and check the blood sugar. They would then go to see the doctor for any other pains or problems. The place was packed with desperate patients and we never left till everyone had been seen. I had the job of checking the blood pressure so I was kept very busy. A job that I liked! I had the chance to use my siswati on the locals which highly amused them and ‘Umuhle’ (You’re beautiful) came in handy. There was even a dentist from America there, and by the end of the day, reported that he had removed around 80 teeth!! The best time of the day for me was handing gifts out to the children and watching the smiles appear on their faces. I have a video of them singing and I will try to put it on next time. A very successful and powerful ministry with the blessing of God all over it.

I will update again in a few weeks. Thank you for all your prayers and support xx Miss you all very much xx

Beautiful one I love.....

........Just one look on your face, just one glance of your eye, my whole world's changed. Oh i seek only to see your face. I don't want to go anywhere without you God, without your presence. Oh let me see your face, the beauty of your holiness God. Take me into the holy place. And only one word comes to mind, there's only one word to describe.....HOLY, HOLY, HOLY Lord God Almighty.....