Thursday, February 22, 2007

Living Water...


Jesus said; "whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14

Water. One of the most essential things for sustaining life. We can't live without it. Crops can't grow without it. Yet it's something we in this country (U.S.) take for granted. When we're thirsty, we just go to the tap, turn it on & voila it's there! Fresh, clean, abundant. But in Swaziland...it's not that simple. For many, the only available resource of water is located several miles away at the nearest creek. It's a common site seeing people walking those miles, day in & day out, filling up a container and carrying it back home with them. What an arduous task! But that's not the worst of it...I've seen those creeks! Creeks where sewage flows, creeks where clothes are washed, creeks from which animals drink. What can be done to help the people?

Well, right now there's a small group of 3 people from our area (Linda, Tom & Dale) over there until Feb. 28th (they'll also be a part of our July work team). As I've been reading their emails, they've shared about working tirelessly these past few weeks; ordering construction materials for the July work projects, taking people to clinics for medical care, organizing child sponsorship opportunities for orphans and doing whatever else needs to be done. But there's one thing that excites me the most; there's a Water/Well Project in the works. Two actually: one at El Shaddai Orphanage and one in the village of Manzini. They hope to have them up & running very soon. Just think, having a freshly dug well with a generator operated well pump that will for many.....provide fresh, clean, life giving water for the very first time! How awesome is that!?

Well, the next time you turn on the tap...take a second to think about the work in Swaziland and say a brief prayer....one of thanksgiving & hope...as we continue to reach out and make a difference. God bless you all & I'll blog again soon....

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Where your heart is...

"...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21

Happy Valentines Day!


I once had a person tell me that if they could take a peek at my 'day planner', they'd be able to tell alot about me...thinking that how we schedule our days tells the real story about what matters most in our lives. That may be true, but I believe my refrigerator door might run a close second. To give you a visual, on it is an erasable whiteboard for notes...kinda like our 'important things to do list' (can't live without that!). But you'll also find pictures on it. Pictures of: our immediate family, the missions kids we sponsor, close friends who mean the world to us, and a few magnets to hold it all in place. But there's also one more thing that's been up there for quite some time...that might sum it all up. It simply says; "Love God, love people, nothing else matters". With today being Valentines day, my hope and prayer is that maybe we'd all take a little time to reflect on what truly matters most in this life...and begin to devote ourselves to that. Thanks for listening as I share my heart with you today. We appreciate every one of you and are grateful that you're on this journey along with us. Please continue to keep us in prayer. Some things to pray for:


  • That we'd stay focused (and encouraged) as we keep moving ahead by faith
  • That God would continue to open doors of opportunity to include others in joining us in this work
  • That the entire funding for the airline tickets for all four of us would be in place by the Mar. 4th deadline (we are trusting God for a miracle in this)
  • That those who are over in Swaziland now (until Feb. 28th) would continue to lay the groundwork for our trip in July
  • That the school fees (set by the government) for the Swazi children/orphans would not increase (as is the word on the street...)
  • That God would mercifully keep alive those who would benefit from this work

Love to you all. I'll blog again soon....

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Every tribe, every tongue, every nation...


"(Jesus) with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." Revelation 5:9

Sawubona! Ninjani! (there's your very first language lesson in SiSwati...it means 'Hello, how are you!'). Well, the prep continues. This week has been a busy one. One daughter got her first Hep. A shot (didn't hurt too much, right?) and Mark and I have been busy sending out emails and letters to as many people as possible letting them know all about this journey we're on.
In my quiet time this week I asked God "how can we get the word out...who needs to know about this?" Almost immediately we began to see Him answer in amazing ways! We found out that one of the guys that'll be going on the trip with us is a weatherman for NBC25 (our local NBC affiliate). His station is going to be documenting the entire missions trip. How cool is that? My prayer is that this documentary will bring awareness to the people in our viewing area of this work and encourage them to get involved in some way. (tune in: 1st program due to air Friday Feb. 16, 6:30am & 6pm). Also at my hairdresser's (time for a trim & hide the grey...shhh :-) I had the opportunity to talk with a state government employee (w/the governor's office) about it. She was moved by the importance of this work and said she'd share it with those she works with. And just today (out of the blue!) I received an email from a journalist in England that writes for an international cycling publication called "Procycling". He used to follow the elite cycling circuit back when I raced (over 20yrs ago!) and writes a monthly article on "How Things Used To Be Years Ago"(or something like that). He said that while currently writing a section on women's cycling, at one moment he hesitated wondering 'what ever happened to Sue Novara...?' (my maiden name). He then used the Yellow Pages on the net to contact a bike shop in our area asking about me and voila, we've made contact. He'll be phoning me within the next few days for some information to include in his upcoming article. But there's more...He also wants to run a feature article for cyclingnews.com about me, mentioning 'what we're up to now'. Amazing! God has opened up this incredible opportunity to let 'the world' in on this very important work.
So please be praying...that the message God wants out there will continue to go forth, so that 'every tribe, every tongue, every nation' will be reached. Thanks so much for your continued prayers & financial support. Can't do this without you! I'll blog again soon....