Hello to our friends and family! It has been a few days since we have been able to update our blog, but we hope you have enjoyed the pictures in the meantime. We are doing well and loving life here in Swaziland. The weather has been cooler this week. In fact, I am currently sitting by the fire drinking hot tea (that's just for you, Mom). Speaking of fire, it is the dry season, so fires are a common sight these days. Today, we had one on our mountain that had to be contained by the fire department.
On Sunday, Monica was in Johannesburg with Lacie (who is turning 7 tomorrow) for an international gymnastics competition, and Steve, Nathan (3), Katy and I went to Nstinsta for church. Monica calls this the "climb every mountain" church, and now Katy and I know why. After we traveled as far as the truck would allow (and probably a little farther), we hiked the last part to church. The attendance was a little less than usual because there was a community meeting, but we still had a wonderful service. When the team from First Baptist is here next week, we will be doing some Bible Studies here, so it was good to start making connections.
On Monday, Katy and I spent the day catching up on things around the house, uploading pictures, writing Bible Studies, and just having some much needed down time. We went into town with Monica, ran some errands, and spent the evening at the Allen's playing cards with the kids and visiting with Steve and Monica. On Tuesday, we were anxiously awaiting a container filled with 648 5-gallon buckets that contain medical supplies for HIV+ Swazis. However, the container never came, and it will be another few weeks before all the paperwork can be finalized. The 6 True Love Waits (TLW) summer missionaries came over for a while with Mr. Wayne, because they were with the head of TLW International, who was in Swaziland for 4 days. In the afternoon, we all headed to Manzini for a TLW Gathering. It gave the Swazis an opportunity to share testimonies and celebrate what God is doing through this ministry. Katy and I were able to see several of our friends and visit during the tea/dessert time. We were also able to do some souvenir shopping while we were in Manzini, which was a lot of fun.
On Wednesday, we went with Steve, Monica and Gogo Shandu to the Mbabane Government Hospital to visit Babe Mkhonta (Simanga's grandfather), who had surgery on Tuesday. He was doing very well and was actually discharged a few hours later. After visiting with him, we walked through the hospital and saw the children's ward. Most of the children in the hospital are admitted for burns from a fire, broken bones after being hit by a car, or dehydration. This was the first time Katy had been to the hospital, so I will let her tell you about her experience individually. However, we can both say that it was extremely heartbreaking. In the afternoon, we went to Sibebe with Gogo Shandu and taught a children's Bible Study. She faithfully teaches the study each week, because there is not a church in this area. Bible Study is held on rocks overlooking a waterfall and can consist of anywhere between 10 and 25 children. When we got back to the house, the 4 Hands On missionaries were there with Mr. Wayne. He had picked them up from the airport when he dropped off the TLW International staff. These 4 girls will be in Swaziland for 6 months as part of their degree. Two will be living in Mbabane in the house where Katy and I are staying and two will live in Tshaneni close to the Myers. We all went out to eat and spent some time visiting and getting to know each other.
Today, we had orientation with the 4 new missionaries. This afternoon, Steve, Gogo, Katy and I headed to the new work area (Ngowane) for Bible Study. We picked up a few ladies and our translators from Hawane and drove another hour and a half. This new work area is in the same part of Swaziland where a lot of the witchdoctors from all over Africa are trained. There is a lot of spiritual warfare in this area, but people are hungry for the gospel. Katy and I saw this firsthand today. She taught the children's Bible Study and had over 150 kids. I taught the adults and had over 30. God is doing some incredible work in Swaziland, and it is a blessing to be a part of it. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
Love, Hunter
Ephesians 4:1-6
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