Michaele Preaches at Sharpe Memorial Church

Today Michaele preached for the first time since we have been here in Swaziland. She preached at Sharpe Memorial Church here in Manzini. It was a great morning of worship with beautiful music (as always) and baptism of more than 20 members of the church. Michaele was originally told that she would not be speaking thru a translator..but right before she began the pastor took a vote and the church members voted to have a translator for her. Talk about adjusting on the fly..it was a great sermon where Michaele spoke on Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. She focused on the work of transformation after Salvation. Service was great and the message was well received. We thank God for this opportunity to share the word of God with brothers and sisters in Swaziland and look forward to sharing again next week in a town close to Endzingeni.

Michaele's Swazi Birthday

This past Tuesday was Michaele’s birthday!! I (Brent) had been worried that this might possibly be a hard day for Michaele in that she would be away from home..

BUT …

God had plans for Michaele.

The day before her birthday Michaele received a call from one of the leaders of the New Hope center asking her if she could come over at 4 as the kids wanted to celebrate their “Thanksgiving Time” with her. New Hope center is a home operated by Elizabeth and Tracy Hynd along with their staff that have adopted 40 orphaned children. We arrived at 4pm and the children sang songs of praise to God for all he had given to them that day and than began to “thank” God for Michaele on her Birthday. It was an awesome event to take part in with 40 plus people thanking God for the life of my wife Michaele. The girls there had also purchased Michaele a gift (a coffee mug) which she especially enjoyed as she loves coffee. After that each child came up to Michaele and gave her a blessing in their own way..some blessed her with the fruits of the spirit..others blessed her with a hug if they were to young to say something.

After that Michaele and I came home and made Chilli and corn bread for about 7 of our new friends who came over to celebrate Michaele’s birthday. For some of them it was their first time having chilli and corn bread. At the end of the day being able to watch Michaele relax and enjoy herself with new friends drinking out of her new mug I was praising God for taking care of our needs ..even going far beyond our needs by making Michaele’s birthday very special for her.

The next day Michaele received a notice from the post office that there was a package for her. We picked it up and it was from BFC thru their links program. It was a great reminder to us that there as SOOOOOOOOOO many praying for us and supporting our ministry here in Swaziland.

Many thanks to our God and to the people of God for taking such good care of my wife.

Father's Day with Dr. Samuel "Babe" Hynd

On Saturday we were honored to spend much of the day with Babe (pronounced bah-bay) (father in Siswati) Hynd on the day before Father's Day. First we went to a celebration commemorating the continued work of his dream HIV clinic, the ACTS II clinic here in Manzini.

The King’s man walked everyone there around the property to show the boundaries. After that there was prayer and than we had meeli meal and some grilled pork. We would not learn until much later today the signifigance of what happened there in the blazing sun!

Later that evening we went to a restaurant for a Father's Day celebration with Babe Hynd. There was a pretty large group of about 15, many of which were from Dr. Elizabeth Hynd's New Hope Centre, and Dr. Tom Noble from NTS (who is here researching his book on Dr. David Hynd) and Dr. Margaret Hynd (Samuel's sister). We went around the table and talked about each of our stories as an introduction, which was wonderful to hear God’s call on so many people and his miraculous work that is going on here in Swaziland and across so many continents. At the table were people from South Africa, Swaziland, Korea, Australia, UK, Scotland, Canada and the USA.

Doctor Hynd shared more about the ACTS II clinic and the long story of having the Hospital give him the land, having construction start, then getting miraculous funding from even the Canadian government. Several months into construction, one of the King’s men stopped the work due to conflicting desires for the land. Now, two years later, the work could finally continue. Dr. Hynd had said he was ready to write to his donors this very weekend to tell them that the work could not continue and send his apologies. Yet this past Wednesday he received a call to come to the King's palace, where he learned that the work could commence again.

Apparently about two years ago Doctor Hynd and Elizabeth had a conversation with one of the wives of the previous King (Sobuhza), and she was finally able to sit down with King Mswati this Tuesday in a private audience and ask that he allow the work to go on. Dr. Samuel Hynd has been in Swaziland his whole life and has been very involved with the royal family. Yet he told us that this was the first time he had ever heard of someone being allowed to speak to the King in private, as this woman had done. All Glory to God and thank you Jesus that we were able to see the mighty hand of God move in ways that could not have been dreamed!

The story of Esther in the Bible ringing in our ears, we learned that the King's man who led the ceremony that morning was the very man who had the project halted two years ago! We delighted in the Lord's sense of irony and were glad for the King's man's sake that his end was better than Hamaan's.

It was an honor and blessing to spend the day in such company and in the presence of God's work. Babe Hynd kept saying that night, "You know people say God is dead... well I just don't see it!"

Over-due Update on the Lenexa Team

Due to the lack of internet service while the team was here, it was difficult to give you updates on what we were doing. But now here are some highlights of our time with the team and what they accomplished. Thank you for all of your prayers!! As you can tell, it was a great week and God richly blessed all those involved.

The team arrived Friday, May 29, and we were there in Johannesburg to pick them up at the airport. Saturday through Monday were spent in Manzini, during which the team was introduced to many of Swaziland’s Nazarene leaders. On Sunday the team worshiped at Sharpe Memorial, and on Monday we toured the hospital, visited clients with the HIV/AIDS Task Force, and spent time at the New Hope Centre (an orphanage run by Dr. Elizabeth Hynd). Tuesday through Saturday of that week were spent working at Endzigeni, preparing an interim nurses’ home so that extensive renovations could be done on the existing home.

The team’s work there caught the attention of Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini, and he visited the work site on Wednesday, adding his own financial contribution to the clinic. This was a wonderful day and a huge event for our team to be involved in!

The community rallied around the project and there was a great deal of support from community members – both in encouragement and helping to do the work. One of the local chiefs gave a cow to the team to show his appreciation!

Along with the construction work, there was also a large group of the team who focused on providing a VBS for the area children. Each day of the VBS they saw over 500 children! Kids and adults both enjoyed the lessons and activities. The team also made significant contributions of food, supplies, and clothes to the HIV/AIDS Task Force.

Additionally, on June 3, Rev. Rob Prince of Lenexa Central and I led a workshop for the pastors of the Hhohho region, organized by DS Rev. Philemon Dlamini. This was a great time of discussion, teaching, and fellowship with many of the pastors in the district. Thank you for all who prayed for that day, and my part of it. I felt that the Lord really guided us and used my teaching on discipleship and mentoring young leaders in the church.

We ended our time in Swaziland by visiting the rock on which Harmon Schmelzenbach received his call to seek and save the lost of Swaziland. The view from there allows you to see a vast territory of Swaziland, and it was a breathtaking sight. Even more special was to know that all of us were there, 100 years later, because of the message that Harmon received from God on that very spot. The picture is of the team on that rock.

Thank you for your continued prayers! God is continuing to lead us into exciting and surprising new adventures all the time!

Settling into our Flat!!

Well after a wild weekend (We got to take another trip to Kruger) we are settling into our flat here at the mission. There is much to do (like make sure we know where the plates and utencils are) but God is showing himself in large and small ways (like helping us get connected to the internet today) This week we are beginning preparation for the August team and taking actions to complete the great work that the Lenexa team did while they were here.

Please be praying for
- Michaele and I to have wisdom in the meetings that we have each day
- Michaele and I to continue to make cultural adjustments
- Soft hearts and many opportunities to share the love and hope that is in our Lord Jesus Christ.
- God's help as we begin seriously to learn Siswati.

Day 2 in Kruger

Well!! DAY 1 was great but Day 2 has been even better.

We began the day with a 5:30 am morning drive and spotted animals I had never dreamed of seeing..rhinos, giraffes, and Lions.. check out the picture (will have to upload later it is taking to long)!!

We travel tomorrow to Johannesburg to drop of the team from Lenexa. Please continue to pray for safety and celebrate with us the protection he has provided thus far.

In Him..

Brent

(Ultimate Alliance member)

..that was for you Jason!!)

Kruger Park

Today we are once again in South Africa, in the far northern section outside of Kruger Park, near Melalane. The Lenexa team is still here, but they will be leaving on Wednesday. The week in Endzigeni was wonderful -- there will be a much longer post to follow on all the highlights and some pictures of the week. We left Swaziland this morning and spent several hours inside Kruger Park in South Africa. Our few hours were quite profitable -- we saw giraffes, impalas, elephants, and hippos! Tomorrow we get to go again, and we are all excited.

Thank you again for all of your prayers. God has been doing wonderful things and we know we have Him and many of your prayers to thank.

God bless, and we'll update again soon!