The poor & needy

"The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want." Mark 14:77

Everywhere we went, everywhere we looked...the need was so great. Jesus was right. The poor and needy are all around us. The question is: Do we see them? Do we take the time to notice them? Not just in Swaziland or in some remote part of the world. But right here...right where we live. As I thought about this verse....it's not the part about the poor always being with us that bothered me....but the part about helping them 'any time we want'. See...it's an issue of the heart isn't it? How we live our lives....where we place our priorities. My prayer is that God in His great mercy will give us all 'the want to'...so that others' lives and ours, will be enriched & changed for good.

Here are more pictures:

Sick kids

"Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them." Matthew 15:30

On one of our days in Swaziland we had the chance to visit some sick kids in the government hospital in Mbabane (the capital city). Unbelievable conditions for these poor little ones. Many moms have stayed there night and day with their sick child for weeks sleeping in chairs or on the floor. During our visit we prayed with them, gave them coloring books & crayons, sang songs with them, took Polaroid pictures that they could keep for their very own, brought some much needed supplies for the nursing stations and just hung out for a while...trying to bring even a little joy into the midst of their dire situation. Our hearts were broken, but also enlarged. Truly we were the ones that were blessed. So when you think of it...please join us in bringing them in prayer to Jehovah Rapha (The Lord is our healer).

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.

red and yellow, black and white

they are precious in His sight.

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Here's some pictures:

Love one another

"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

Here's more pictures!

Orphans and Widows

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Just the first of many pictures we'd like to share with you from our trip. They say a picture is worth a thousand words...so we'll let the pictures do the talking. Stay tuned for more as we continue processing what our great God has done.

God is WOW!

"O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. " Psalm 89:88

We're back!! Just returned late yesterday from our 12 day mission trip to Swaziland, Africa. If asked "How would we describe it?'...the words: incredible...amazing...awesome...overwhelmed...humbled...inspired...grateful...
speechless...changed...come to mind. I'll be downloading pictures and updating the blog in the next couple days once we get rested up from the journey. Thanks to all of you who prayed...your prayers were answered in the most amazing ways (can't wait 'till you see and hear about it!). Until then...God bless!
love to all,
Sue

Send us out!

"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Matthew 9:37-38

(Lauren, Mark, Kathleen, Sue)
T-minus 12 days and counting until our feet touch down in the soil and we breathe the air in Swaziland Africa. We're ready and eager to go. Eager to do the work. Eager to meet and show love to the Swazi people. Eager to see what God has in store. We're all feeling a little like kids again...eagerly awaiting a gift that will soon be opened. I remember Jesus once saying in one of His teachings; "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 18:33) So I guess we're on the right track, huh?!

We continue to be overwhelmed at the encouragement, prayer and support that so many of you have given. It's times like this that words seem so inadequate in describing our sincere gratitude, but from the heart we say 'THANK YOU!' We also want to let you in on something; we'll be taking a part of you along with us, as we strive to do all we can to make a difference. A few days ago as I was reading, I came across this quote: "I will never reach them all--that is humanly impossible. But I am responsible for those I come in contact with....and with God's help, I will make a difference in their lives". Yes, the harvest is plentiful...but thanks to God (and you) there's at least 4 more workers (plus the 20 other members of this team) being sent out! On the upper left corner of my blog I've included a link so you'll be able to follow along with frequent (hopefully daily) updates on the work we'll be doing while we're away. There's also a link for the Daily Prayer Guide for those of you who'd like to know how you can be praying specifically for the team. Hope you check these out! Again thank you for your continued prayers and until later; May God bless you and keep you!

Let worship be the fuel for mission's flame
We're going with a passion for Your name
We're going for we care about Your praise
Send us out.

Let worship be the heart of mission's aim
To see the nations recognize Your fame
'Til every tribe and tongue voices Your praise
Send us out.
-Matt Redmond

That The World May Believe...

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." John 17:20-21

Less than a month to go. My head is swimming with thoughts, details, excitement, concerns, wonder. Our family has spent the past several days organizing stuff: shoes, bug spray, hats, candy and piles of clothes that we'll be taking. (They're currently stacked on top of our pool table downstairs...hope it all fits in the suitcases! :-). We've also been spending time looking through the 3 photo albums of pictures that were brought back from my previous trip to Swaziland just over a year ago. Only this time we're pausing a little bit more over each page. Pausing...wondering if we'll see these very faces again this time. Pausing...praying that God would extend His hand of mercy to the Swazi people. Pausing...asking prayerfully that God would knit our hearts together with each and every one that we'll meet. Pausing...not wanting to be so busy in the details that we miss the real message (and lesson) that God wants us all to learn.

Our team has been challenged to spend these final few weeks in prayer and fasting...using the Scripture passage from John 17 as our focus. Jesus prayed this prayer with His disciples just prior to His arrest and subsequent crucifixion. This would be His final time with them before the cross and He wanted them to never forget these words. They are significant and powerful. So we're asking, that you would please join us as we spend this concentrated time in prayer:

• That God would receive all the glory for this work.
• That many Swazis would believe the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and receive eternal life.
• That God would protect us from the evil one. (also pray for protection for our hosts Kallie and Charmain of El Shaddai Orphanage, Vasco and Busisiwe of the Manzini church and Pastor Guambe of Mozambique).
• For the spiritual, emotional and physical health of everyone involved in this mission (many of us have been fighting various sicknesses).
• That God would sanctify us by the truth of His Word, so we would be holy as He is holy.
• That our team, and those we will be working with, will be brought to complete unity.
• That we would reflect the love and light of Christ to everyone we'll come in contact with (Mt.5:16).
• That all preparations will be made according to God's will.
• That God would help us keep His word, out of obedience and love for Him.
• That we would depend on God to enable us to accomplish the work He has prepared in advance for us to do.

We praise God for this privilege of joining Him in this journey and thank Him abundantly for each of you. May the grace and peace of our Lord be with you always. I'll blog again soon.