dancing...swazi style.

We’re not exactly sure how we got involved or why we were invited to join, but we were asked to be in a traditional Swaziland wedding. In order to participate in this wedding we had to learn the dances. So we started going to dance practices every day the first week we were on the homestead. We would go and try to keep up and have all the kids laugh at us when we would mess up. You would think it wouldn’t be that hard because all you’re doing is stomping, but dang it was hard. Thankfully I have a marching band background so it wasn’t too difficult for me but it was still hard. You had to stay in step and every song had different steps and rhythms. But we keep going and going to practice and eventually we start recognizing the songs and knowing what steps to do. Well the big day finally comes…wedding day! and it’s time to dance! We get all dressed up in our Swazi wraps and we are welcomed once to wedding by “You are so beautiful!! You are Swazis now!!” Which I’m not gonna lie…it felt really good hearing that! Once the bride finally comes out of the hut she is dressed in one of the craziest get-ups I have ever seen. She was wearing a head-dress with lots of feathers sticking out of the top and then these white strings things were hanging in front of her eyes. She also had on her shoulders this cover up that was made up of horse hairs. It covered her shoulders, the front and back of her. It looked extremely heavy. Once we finally get lined up like we had practiced, we dance for two hours or more. It was exhausting. And we each got several of proposals. It is a big deal that each of us girls walked away without a husband. I mean really!! They will come up to you and say “Hello I am in love” and the first that comes into your mind is “oh great.” The men are persistent and they don’t understand “No. There is someone else in the states waiting for me. I don’t need a Swazi boyfriend or husband. It doesn’t matter how many cattle you have I can’t marry you.” Really it is very draining. And unfortunately it was only the end of day one.

Saturday morning we woke up and got all dressed up again to go dancing. Apparently today was the actual ceremony. We walked down to the where ceremony was taking place and everyone was still getting ready. After about an hour of waiting again, everyone lines up and we march up extremely slowly to where the wedding was going to takes place. After the bride goes up and talks to some elderly woman (I’m assuming asking for permission to be married), the dancing began. Again it lasted for two or more hours and it was exhausting. We still got marriage proposals from several different men. This was one of the most hilarious and confusing things that I have seen so far. They would run up to carrying a stick or shovel or whatever they had. But they would run up to us and then slam it down on the ground in front of us and then look up at us and then run away run. Everyone around us would laugh as we were looking at each other going “what the heck was that?!” We asked our translator what it meant and apparently it means that they are asking for our hand in marriage. Perfect. But all in all the marriage ceremony was a huge learning experience and a lot of fun. It was a definitely an experience that I am extremely thankful for and we hope it will hope a lot of doors for us to pour into these women’s lives. 

deployed.

We were at a Youth Leader’s Conference the first weekend we were in Swaziland and one of the leaders said something that completely struck me and I just had to steal it. The youth leader’s name is Musa and he is an incredibly person. Musa loves Jesus and he is on fire for God and he is impacting Swaziland in a mighty way through True Love Waits and in so many other ways. He was giving the closing/encouraging statements to the conference. And he said that we are about to be deployed into the field. He said that when troops are deployed they are focused on a mission and have a specific purpose. They all work together for a common goal and they work together as a team. Nothing stands in their way. They make decisions based on what’s good for everyone involved. They are focused on saving the innocent people and are determined to make the situation resolved. He said that is exactly what we are doing as Christians being commanded by Jesus to make disciples. We are deployed out onto the mission field to change the beliefs about AIDS, to tell people about the Gospel, and to make disciples of Swaziland. We are going. We are deployed by the power of God. And we are called to do this wherever we are. “God’s design for taking the Gospel to the world is a slow, intentional, simple process that involves every one of His people sacrificing every facet of their lives to multiply the life of Christ in others.”- David Platt, Radical. Christians need to realize that God has deployed each and every one of us to make His great name known throughout the world. And anything less is disobedience. 

a joyful noise indeed

One of the things that I love the most is the way the Swazis worship. Actually this usually happens everywhere else in the world, except in the US. But the Swazis will praise Jesus with everything they have. They will sing at the top of their lungs, using every ounce of energy they have. It is a beautiful sound. What’s even crazier is that everyone here can sing! No one here has a bad voice. And they harmonize so naturally. Even the little kids who can barely talk, but when they sing it’s a sound unlike any other. I haven’t quite figured out how everyone here can sing but not everyone in the states can sing (even though they like to think they can). It’s almost like God knew that these people wouldn’t have access to pianos, guitars, drums, or anything else to make their music even more elaborate, so He just gave them all beautiful voices so their worship would be something unique to them. That way when they worship it would be a beautiful sound to everyone who hears. It catches your attention. It makes you stop and listen. Even though I don’t know the words I can be a part of their worship service. I can worship right along with them because it is so uplifting and just amazing. And everyone sings….no matter what. To start the next song, someone just starts singing. It doesn’t matter who, what age or if they are male or female. They don’t have a worship leader because they all are so involved in their worship service. The songs last for a while too. They just keep singing and singing, repeating the same lyrics over and over again. There is no set amount of time for a song. It’s so different to be a part of these worship services then what I am used to. These people love to worship!! They don’t want it to ever end. It seems like people in churches in the US aren’t even singing along or truly participating because they just want it to be over. This is mostly because they aren’t coming into the worship with the correct mindset because they don’t understand who they are worshipping or why they are worshipping or maybe it’s because they don’t know how to worship and don’t feel comfortable worshipping because they feel as though everyone is watching them. And they care more about what over people think of them then worshipping their Savior. Honestly, I even get caught up in this mindset. But being around these people, God is teaching me that it doesn’t matter who is watching, JUST WORSHIP. With everything I have. Because after all He is done, isn’t He worthy of my worship? My adoration? There is nothing else I should be doing...just worshipping Him. 

you can't save swaziland.

One of hardest things to learn. Our missionaries told us this during our orientation but it didn't make sense and I wasn't sure what they were talking about. But now, after living with these people for nine days, I know. And all too well. Everyday at our homestead we have children to come over and play, with a maximum as of now, at about 19 kids. But these kids come and play every single day. They love soccer, running, drawing, music, playing tag, being tickled, just being wrapped up in a hug. They absolutely adore the attention, because they honestly don't get it enough. Not saying that their parents don't love them, it's just that their parents are too busy surviving that it seems like they forget that their kids need attention and lots of it. When these kids come to the house they are usually covered in dirt. Just so dusty. I really just want to give them a nice warm bath and clean them up. And usually they have no shoes or shoes that look like they have been handed down from their great-great grandmother that wore them. Or something that I have seen a lot is the boys will be wearing girls shoes and not comfortable ones either. Usually the ones that little girls wear when they play dress up. The plastic ones that are good for only play and not actually wearing. But these boys will be wearing them because it's all they have. Or more often then anything they won't be wearing any shoes at all. And they can walk anywhere because their feet are so calloused from walking anywhere. They will chase after a ball on rocks in their bare feet. I can barely walk on the pavement in my bare feet and these kids are running on jagged rocks or stepping on thorns and not feeling a thing. And they usually come in the same clothes more than three or four times. And their clothes are filthy dirty. And they are rags. Torn dresses and clothes that are too small. It just breaks my heart...down to the core. Plus these kids haven't had a bath either...so honestly they don't smell like roses. It's just something to get used to. But you have to do is down put your stuck up ways and show these kids the love of Jesus. One thing that comes to my mind is the song by Casting Crowns, "Love Them Like Jesus." That's really what you HAVE to do. Because if not, they would not see the Gospel any other way. But like I said...I can't save Swaziland. I have to let the Gospel be enough. Now this is something that we in American don't do at all. We like to do everything we possibly can just to make people happy and not to offend people that we completely forget to tell them the most important thing that saves. Letting the Gospel be enough means you stop trying to save the world through your ways and making people feel all happy on the inside...but just telling the Gospel. The Gospel. The Good News. What saves beyond any good feeling conference or book or speaker that tells you have to do all these steps. But just the Gospel of Jesus. And the Gospel of Jesus is told verbally but also through actions. So showing these kids love...the love of Jesus. The beautiful, sweet love of Jesus. I am realizing that I can't save Swaziland but the Gospel can...and it is. 

day one and I’m already in trouble with the police.

The flight from Jo’burg to Swaziland was very short and then we were finally here. While on the plane we could see all the mountains that this place is surrounded by. This place is breathtaking. Every where you look you see a huge mountain. The airport we landed at was extremely small no bigger than a small convenience store. We step off the plane and read a sign that says “Welcome to the Kingdom of Swaziland.” I wanted to take a picture of the airport, sounds normal right? Well I took the picture and the next thing I know an officer comes running up to me and asks me to delete the picture. And he stood by me and watched me delete the picture, just to make sure I wasn’t the rebellious type. So the first thing I learned in Swaziland, don’t take a picture of any government buildings including airports. lesson learned.

meet the team!

While in Swaziland I am working with three families of missionaries who have been spreading the Gospel and they are supported by the International Mission Board (IMB). Wayne and Barbara Myers have been in Swaziland for 18 years and have started several churches across the country. Steve and Monica Allen are career missionaries and have been in Swaziland for 10 years. T hey have two kids Lacie and Nathan. Todd and Deborah Hoskins are married Journeymen couple through the IMB. They have been in Swaziland since October and are both graduates of the University of Georgia. I also traveled with five other college students who were also able to go on this trip through Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM). There are three guys: Adam Mattison who is a junior at College of Charleston; Jonathon Barberio who is a student at Trident Technical College;  Reh Harvey a junior at College of Charleston. There are also two other girls: Tiffany Phillips a senior at Francis Marion University and Elizabeth McWhite who is a sophomore at North Greenville University. And of course me! I am so excited to work with each and every one of these people. We each are gifted with different talents and also we struggle with different things, so it’s really neat to see how God was so involved in each of our stories and everything seems to be coming together for this trip. We are all really excited and cannot wait to get out there and live with the Swazis!

The Travel Tales

The flight from Charlotte to Atlanta was short with a rough landing in Atlanta. Coolest part of the whole flight was that we flew through a CLOUD!!! I was pretty darn amazed by that. We then hung around the airport for a few hours then it was finally time to board our plane and head to Johannesburg, Africa. Our flight was 14 hours and 41 minutes. Adam and Reh switched seats with people and we all ended up sitting next to each other which was a blessing. We were lucky enough to have a TV in the back of the chair in front of us and we were able to pick from this huge list of movies, TV shows, music or games for entertainment. I watched two movies and then it was time for sleep. One pro about being short, I can sleep on planes!!! I think I ended up getting about 5-6 hours of sleep. The funniest thing about this flight and I wish I was kidding about this but I couldn’t make this up if I tried. The row in front of us AND behind us was full of hunters headed to Africa. But these weren’t you’re average Blue Ridge hunters…nope…these guys were taxidermists. They had the matching shirts and hats and everything. I can’t tell you had many drinks they had on the plane nor how many they were gonna have once they were off the plane, but it is definitely safe to say that I wouldn’t want to be around these guys if they had toy guys much less guns as tall as I am! That was definitely unnerving and hilarious all at the same time. And for all you “Save the Endangered Species” people, I think they were going to hunt Kudu which is kind of like Africa’s version of the elk.

When we finally landed in Jo’burg it was freezing cold. We had no problem finding the guy who was there to pick us up and then we went to dinner and then crashed. We spent the night at this place called BIMS which is where people can stay there for very little if they can’t afford anywhere else. It was a really nice place and once my head hit the pillow I was out, jet-lag had kicked in.

The next morning (June 1^st) we woke up bright and early and went back to the airport in order to catch our flight to Swaziland. In the airport we basically got ripped off. One of the worker guys comes up to Adam and offers to help but Adam tells him that we are fine and we don’t need any. And then the same guy goes up to Reh and asks him which flight we are taking. Well then Reh starts to pull out his itinerary and before he can even get it out, the guy takes it out of his hand and starts pointing us in the right direction. So we got help even if we didn’t want it or need it. Well he takes us to the check in counter and helps us check our bags and all that stuff. Then he walks us down to security and shows us what to do. On the way to security Reh asks him how much of a tip do we need to give him. He says about ten dollars each. And we are thinking okay 10 rand each…that’s a little much. Well we get to security and Adam hands him the money and he says no give me extra, give me extra. I said 10 American dollars from each. This guy was asking for a $60 tip and we tried explaining to him that we didn’t have American money and that we normally don’t tip near that much in the states. Well he didn’t seem to understand that and wasn’t going to leave us alone so Jonathon gives him 100 rand and then Reh does too because he doesn’t see Jonathon give him his money. Basically this guy got a 260 rand tip about 40 American dollars. We definitely got ripped off, but apparently he needed that money more than we did. 

Goodbye USA.

Caleb Greene you were right. There I said it. (you might want to enlarge that, print it off, and hang it up…cause it probably won’t happen again) Leaving my family and friends was the one of the hardest things I have ever done. It literally killed me on the inside knowing that once they were out of my view I wasn’t going to see any of them for the next two months. It’s not like I haven’t done this before. I left for school and gone months without seeing them, I’ve gone away on trips or to camp, heck I had even spent the whole summer of 2009 without seeing them once. BUT, I knew that they were only a phone call away. Any one of them. And it wasn’t like I couldn’t just go home if I needed to. This time was completely different. I was going to live on a different continent…there is now the ATLANTIC OCEAN between me and my family and friends. Yeah, this was quite different. Walking through security and then past the door that they were all standing at, almost made me turn back and just forget about the whole trip. But I knew that all of them would have just picked me up, carried me to the plane, put me in seat, buckled me up, and said “I’ll see ya in two months.” Turning back was not an option. My only choice was to wave one last time and throw one last kiss and follow my team to our terminal. 

getting there

On Monday May 30^th at 2:00pm my team and I set off on our journey to Swaziland, Africa. We had been waiting for this day since Monday February 21^st when we all found out that we had been selected to serve in Africa. So many preparations and arrangements had to be made on our end and by the onsite missionaries in order for this day to finally be here. Financial support had to be raised, shots had to be taken, plane tickets, bug spray, sunscreen, water purification tablets, shoes, flashlights, toilet paper, enough toiletries to last two months and skirts for the girls all had to be bought. We had to make sure that we as summer missionaries were physical, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually ready to venture off into unknown territories. There were so many unanswered questions and all we could do was to rely on Christ and know that no expectations was a blessing. Despite everything the moment had arrived whether we were ready or not.