swaziland sweethearts

howdy!!! good news…i arrived safely home from swaziland, africa and feel like my life is mostly back to normal. i have so much to tell you all and don't know where to begin so I will get started with this: THANK YOU!!!! there is no way i could have done this without all of the support and help from each of you. this experience has changed my life and i feel so blessed to have been able to go. saying thank you can never adequately describe how grateful i am.... but since I don't know what else to say.... thanks!!!

arriving in africa was surreal... my life long dream was coming true!! and i was so excited. we arrived to swazIland after a couple nights and HOURS of traveling. i remember instantly feeling loved and welcomed in their country. the swazi people were/are so friendly and loving and i felt it! I will never forget how kind they are. everyone waves at each other and friends holding hands is a common occurrence. it made me want to be nicer to strangers and people I see each day.

we arrived in swaziland on saturday and sunday we had the opportunity to go to church in one of the communities. it was a wonderful experience. the people in swaziland have such faith and dedication to god. they love him with everything and devote their lives to him! they sang and preached and danced and prayed... i even danced in the aisles and praised god with them! it was different than the quiet, reverent meetings that I am used to but I felt the spirit of the lord and had fun. it was great.

After church we went and saw the land where project caanan will be built. it's going to be incredible. i am not going to say anything else about it but if you want to learn more click here! canaan means the land of milk and honey and trust me…amazing things are in store!!!

monday was the first day at the school/orphanage. my heart was overwhelmed when we drove up the steep mountain and saw the kids in school and playing. i was exciting and overwhelmed and humbled and grateful.... It was a palette of emotions and it was wonderful. i knew god must dwell there because of the spirit i felt. we were able to tour the property and homes and i was so grateful that god had provided a way for all of these wonderful things to happen. you could truly see the hand of god in their lives. after our tour we got to work!!! the first day at the school i was able to garden with the kids in the sixth grade. i was also able to paint some of the medical clinic. but over the next couple of days i was also able to paint, paint, paint, play with the babies, sort through TONS of donated items, help out in preschool and paint some more!!!! each day was filled with blessings and each day brought feelings of love, peace and a desire to do good. it was awesome.

i also was so touched with the story of the medical clinic. charmain told us that someone asked her what the kids and the school needed most. at the risk of sounding selfish, she told them that they needed a real medical clinic with real doctors who could treat the kids as well as the community. charmain had been treating people the best she could with no medical degree but they just needed more. within two weeks of her simple request, she received all of the funds needed for the clinic. i'm convinced god works in mysterious ways...and sometimes he works in obvious and generous ways. WOW!!!!

another awesome part if the trip was a program called litsemba. litsemba is the sis-swati word for hope. the program was called “celebrate litsemba” and they had kids from three different orphanages prepare dances and singing and talents. it was awesome!!! the kids are so happy and so confident in what they were doing and the talented gifts they have been given. they did a wonderful job and i wad touched. this was the first year of the celebration, but they are getting ready for next july when they are doing a huge celebration. they will have 15,000…yes FIFTEEN THOUSAND orphans there to celebrate litsemba. it’s amazing and overwhelming all at once!!!! I am grateful I was able to see it.

while we were there they were finishing up a playground. it wad beautiful!!! charmain (her and her husband run el shaddai) told us that they had received the donation for the playground. it was a ladies wish that when she passed away, some of her money would be used for a playground for the kids. and her wish was coming true. not only were they getting a huge playground, but they were also getting one for the toddlers. it was smaller and fenced in and perfect for the little kiddos. i was exited for them!!!! people are good.

i can never forget the kids. they are precious and wonderful. tt was so great to feel their instant love. the moment you get there, they wanted to be with you and hold your hand and hug you and talk to you. they just wanted you to love them and they made it so easy to!!! they were happy and laughing and smiling. and even though they wore rags and had bare feet and weren't perfectly kept and clean, they were beautiful and perfect. and they were happy. most of those kids had experienced more trials and heartaches in their short life than i will ever experience. yet they smiled and laughed as if they didn’t have a care in the world. in fact, all the swazi people were loving and peaceful and hopeful. seeing how they lived their lives has forever been imprinted on my heart. i came home with a commitment and desire to have gratitude for my circumstances and to also strive for the peace that god can give us in our times of despair and sorrow. i realized that because of the faith of the swazi people, god gave them peace in their hearts and hope in their minds. i have a greater understanding of what it means to rely on god. i thought i was one tough cookie and could handle any trials god placed before me, but i had no idea what it really means to have strength!!! i am blessed.

since coming back from africa, my desire to serve has grown immensely and i feel as if my commitment to do good needs to be renewed and strengthened. I can’t get the swazi people off my mind and i feel like i should be doing any and all that i can for them. but my desire to serve doesn’t just dwell with the swazi people. I feel like i need to be committed not only to the needs of the people in africa but also to the needs of my community, my neighborhood, my friends and my family. so for this reason I am starting the swaziland sweethearts organization. the "SSO" is like a community; a gathering place for good. it is a place to come to learn about service, to be inspired and to know how you can help. there are so many ways to serve and not only do i want to get excited about serving, but I hope this site will help you to have desire to serve as well as inspire you to love others. so with all of your help, i know we can do good and make a difference!!! we can have success through serving and our world will be better because of it. so keep checking back for opportunities and information.