Lost and Found

Our return trip to Swaziland was pretty uneventful… until we arrived at the Matsapha airport in Swaziland and found only one of our four checked bags. This was on Saturday morning, and being the weekend our options were already severely limited. So, we registered the missing items with the airport baggage staff (who also serve as the check-in staff and runway traffic control [you know, the guys with the orange sticks directing the planes]). We were told to call them at 3pm to check if our bags had arrived on a later flight.

We tried calling the airport after 3pm, but no one answered. We’ve learned that the best results come from in-person conversations anyway, so we drove the 15 minutes to the airport. However, once there, we found that the last plane had come and gone by 2:30, and the whole airport staff promptly left.

Sunday morning we decided to get to the airport for the first arrival from Johannesburg. We thought we could quickly pick up the bags (we were hopeful they were there), and be at church no more than 15 minutes late. Of course things went very differently. The bags were not there, and apparently the airport’s computer system had been down and so the report of our bags had not yet been filed. We found the staff to be incredibly helpful, however, and were invited into their back room to make phone calls to all kinds of people in Johannesburg. Between the four of us in that office, we spent an hour on the phones trying to get information from various airlines and offices in the Johannesburg airport. All to no avail. And we didn’t get to go to church.

Back at home, with no real prospects, I (Michaele) was feeling incredibly discouraged. All the nightmare stories of stolen bags were coming back to me, and I just kept remembering more and more items that were stowed away in those three bags. Not willing to give up, I continued to call all the dead-end numbers we had tried earlier. I finally was able to talk to one person who was very helpful, but still had no news about where the bags were located.

Brent gave up and took a nap, and I got online and started emailing everyone I could think of who might be able help – baggage claim service, customer service, and friends I knew would be passing through the airport on Monday. I also left a pretty despairing status on my Facebook account regarding our lost luggage. Within a few minutes, I had received a message from Dr. Filimao Chambo, Africa’s regional director for the Church of the Nazarene. He said he would be traveling through JoBurg airport that night (Sunday), and he would check on our bags for us. Saying a prayer and thanking God for this small glimmer of hope, I sent him all the information on our lost luggage.

Last night, over a late dinner, Brent and I tried to remind ourselves that God could take care of this, even though it looked like our bags might be gone for good. We also reminded ourselves that there were worse things in the world than lost luggage, (though we had a tough time considering it as the luggage lost was full of presents for our Swazi friends). We went to bed at peace with the situation, feeling wholly out of control, but aware that God could handle it.

This morning we received an email from Dr. Chambo bringing the awesome news that he had located our bags!! Somehow, they were in a storage room for domestic luggage with one of the airlines who had said they had nothing to do with our bags when we had called them. Since they could offer him no guarantees that the bags would arrive safely in Matsapha, he took the bags with him. They are safely at his home in Johannesburg and we will pick them up when we go there for scheduled meetings on Friday! When we looked at the time stamp on Dr. Chambo’s email to us, we realized that even as we were trying to encourage ourselves over dinner the night before, God had already taken care of it.

This story is a great reminder to us of several things. Even in the most seemingly insignificant circumstances, God is at work. And in the areas in which we feel we have absolutely no control, God is at work. Even when we give up and go to sleep, God is at work! We are also reminded that in Africa, relationship is everything. Processes and systems have their place (but not usually in Africa when emails and telephone calls and customer service fails, a face-to-face means everything. Dr. Chambo was able to accomplish in person what we never could have in a million phone calls.

Although a bit anxious and frustrating, our first 48 hours back in Swaziland have been rich in lessons and many reminders of why we’re blessed to be in Africa!

Back to Africa

36 days

3 countries

9 airports

5 states (excluding lay overs)

10 different beds slept in (excluding plane seats)

11 flights

4 pieces of checked luggage, weighing in at just under 50 lbs. each for a total of 200 lbs.

4 carry-ons (weighing more than our shoulders should carry)

Traveling home to see family and friends for Christmas...

PRICELESS!!!

Thank you to all who made our month at home such a wonderful time. We are feeling richly blessed with friends and family like you. The next months will be full and busy, but we're excited to jump back into life in Swaziland. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

A Quote

May the peace of Christ bless you and keep you. And today, may you hold those in your house close to your body and feel them breath and take in their remarkable scent and give them your love.

- Jim Chaffee

On the Road Again

Well

this week finds us traveling again!!

Since we arrived we have been able to visit with Michaele's family in Ohio. Monday we traveled to Philadelphia to spend the week with my parents. And today we traveled to Syracuse New York to visit with my Dad's parents. This picture shows Michaele doing a crossword puzzle and yawning..but not because she is bored...

We are so blessed to visit with our families these weeks.

We thank you all for the prayers as we have been traveling and continue to travel.

May God's blessing be on you this season as you realize the most important gift of his Son!!

Back in the USA

Don't know how it happened but in just a few hours of travel (16) we arrived back in America. It is great to begin spending time with family. We feel extremely blessed to be given the opportunity to make this mid year trip home.

As we sat in church today it was hard to imagine that last week we were at a preaching point of the Bhalekane church and worshiping with them.

We will be writing more from the last few weeks and about our plans in the next few weeks later but wanted to praise God for his protection as we traveled and let everyone know that has been praying for us.

(Just so that no one gets confused the picture attached was not taken in America..it is really cold here and does not have the 12 apostles)

A Beautiful Vote of Thanks

This story could not be told without an understanding of Sisatsaweni, so please see the previous post for important details!

Last week we received a call from David Tembe who is the water manager for Sitsatsaweni. He asked if we could visit the primary and high school as they wanted to say thank you to us for the Solar Water Pump that was donated by BFC November 2008. In accepting the invitation we did not know what to expect but were excited for Monday morning to come.

We all sat in chairs lining the small office, which was actually a portion of a large classroom sectioned off with shelves. The rest of the room was used as storage and the secretary’s office. The head teacher, Mr. Mahlalela addressed the group first and announced his community’s intentions of being like the one leper in ten who returned to thank Jesus for his healing. His short speech was followed by several others in the group, until nearly all had said their thank you’s. Each person highlighted a different aspect that had been helped by the presence of the water, and it was amazing to hear it all!

The primary school (1st – 7th grade) has begun agricultural classes this past school year (2009) so that students can learn to plow, plant, and grown crops. Next year they will also be adding chicken to the agricultural program so that students will learn how to care for, breed and sell chickens. The primary school is also working on a home economics class which is now possible with the presence of water.

The high school has also added an agricultural component to their students’ curriculum, and we were able to see some of the fruits of this labor. Two small fields have been planted with maize (corn) and other vegetables. Two taps have been added to the system in the high school premises to accommodate these gardens as well as hand-washing near the toilets.

The head teachers and school committee representatives commented on how the presence of water has helped retain teachers as well. Previously, they said teachers would not want to come, or would not stay very long at Sisatsaweni because there was no water available at their homes. Now teachers are content, and as Mr. Mahlalela said, “happy teachers make for better students”! He also commented that this pump has put their small community “on the map” as he has been asked about it many times from other head teachers during seminars and conferences.

Sisatsaweni is not yet without challenges, however. Although the primary school had 750 students in 2009 and will likely have 850 in 2010, they only have 300 suitable chairs for students. The high school is also in need of much-needed expansion because they can only accommodate 170 students in their school. This means many students cannot continue to high school or have to take years off before moving on after grade 7. Usually in Swaziland these issues would be resolved by raising school fees marginally for the year in order to raise funds for necessary improvements. In Sisatsaweni, however, there is a high number of orphans and vulnerable children who cannot pay the full amount of school fees, let alone a temporary increase. Mr. Mahlalela told us separately that 80% of his students are orphans.

In spite of its challenges, this community has taken it upon itself to make continuous improvements capitalizing on the presence of water. David Tembe has increased the number of taps in the system so that water is available many places throughout the school and clinic grounds. They also requested that this same gift be given to other places in Swaziland, and said they had been praying about that.
After their thanks had been said, it was our turn to say a few words. We told them about the Coca-Cola project and the fact the Sisatsaweni pump had been the first of its kind that sparked interest for a much larger project to go all throughout Swaziland, just as they had prayed. We also reminded them that just as Bethany First had been the ones to offer them a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name, now they had the ability to offer that same gift to others in their community.

Our time ended together with light refreshments, a stroll of the grounds to see the gardens and new taps, and then a group picture under the solar pump. There were too many thank you’s to count, but apparently there were not enough said to satisfy one community member present. He said, “We wish we had a million mouths to say thank you a million times!” We felt that we truly experienced that it is somehow, miraculously more blessed to give than to receive – and that in the family of Christ, you often get the privilege of reaping what had been sowed before you.

Faith for Water

Hebrews 11:1
“Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”
James 2:17
“In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

For many people across Africa life revolves around the daily challenge of finding enough clean water for basic needs. This is the case in many places in Swaziland as well, especially in the rural areas where large water sources have not been developed and brought close to homes.

In July of 2008 a Global Outreach team from Bethany First Church of the Nazarene traveled to Swaziland to work in a small village called Sisatsaweni, Swaziland. As most of the team worked, one team member looked up the hill at the primary school and saw a tall windmill that was not turning. He wandered up the hill to check it out and asked the teachers and other community members about this windmill water pump. He was told that it had been broken for quite a while yet the water source beneath it was still strong.

The idea of water being just below the surface and yet not accessible to the community above who was in desperate need created a holy discontent in this team member. It was a discontent that caused him to begin to research water systems in the country and to find professionals that could assess and possibly remedy this issue in this community.

Before the team went home this man had met a contractor who gave information and a quote for installation of a solar-based water pump system. This came with a price, however, and when the team got home this team member felt led by the Lord to share this need with others. Together with other members of the church he raised the necessary moneys to hire the contractor and install a new system into this bore hole. It was a solar system that would bring water at no cost to this school and the clinic.

With this project finished, the church members continued to dream and pray about the water needs in Swaziland. In March of 2009 they came back to Swaziland to do an assessment of the other 16 clinics and surrounding communities in the country. When they had finished they found that putting a solar pump at the remaining 16 Nazarene clinics came with a large price tag. The cost did not deter them, but they knew it would take a long time to complete all of the Nazarene clinics. They felt led by God to continue on this path, but unbeknownst to them God was leading others down the same path as well.

Meanwhile, the Coca-Cola Foundation was looking for a group that had a vision and a plan to bring water to Swaziland. Jim and Colleen Copple, BFC members and grant-writers for NCMI, made the connections between Coca-Cola, NCM Swaziland, NCMI, Swaziland’s Nazarene hospital, RFM, and Bethany First Church. The plan that had already been developed by BFC’s assessment in March became the basis for the proposal to Coca-Cola.

By July 2009, Coca-Cola had awarded a grant to NCMI to bring solar powered water systems to Nazarene clinics in need, as well as several community gardens. The gardens are operated by HIV support groups initiated by Swaziland’s Nazarene HIV and AIDS Task Force, and are a life source for people with HIV/AIDS. The first phase of the project began in mid-August, and there are already several solar water systems up and running, providing free and clean water to their surrounding communities.

It is the plan for the twelve Nazarene clinics and communities in need of a better water supply to receive a solar water system with associated water harvesting and sanitation systems in the remainder of 2009 and the first half of 2010. As the water supply dictates, the system is intended to serve the clinic first, then the school and church on the mission station, and finally the community. Yet this is only the first of three phases in the grant.

This story would not be what it is if it were not for the strong faith exhibited by many. It was the faith of one team member who felt a holy discontent and urgency about water. It was the faith of a team who prayed around a broken windmill in July 2008, and whose continued prayers multiplied the supply of water throughout the country! It was also the faith of those who were able to see God’s hand in the small plans of one church as well as the large plans of an outside donor. Stepping out in faith is one of the ways that God uses us to bring glory to himself and to his Church. Sometimes the glory of God comes in the tangible form of clean water in the name of Jesus – the living water!

(This article recently appeared in the regional Nazarene publication, Out of Africa.)