Hope House

Hi everyone, this is Steph. Our time here in Swaziland has been amazing so far. It has definitely been a rollercoaster of a ride so far, both physically and emotionally. But one hug, smile, or word from the kids makes it all worth it. I wish you could all see how happy and grateful the kids here are after receiving the quilts, socks, toys and most of all the attention and love we have been giving them.
On Saturday, we had the privelege of working with Pastor Chomba of Hope House Orphanage. Every Saturday he has a "Soup Kitchen" type outreach at his church and feeds about 200 kids lunch. These families and kids walk from what we would consider really far distances just to have a small meal. We were able to serve the long, never ending line of kids. There were so many kids that the ones towards the end of the line had to wait for other kids to finish, so they could use their plate!
After the soup kitchen, Pastor Chomba and one of the boys that stays with him, Colane, took us on a couple home visitations. We visited homesteads, which is like a mini community of single room homes that all belong to the same family of many generations. It was amazing to see their homes made out of sticks, rocks, mud and cow manuere. The first family that we visited was very warm and welcoming. There were so many of us, that we could no fit into their house, so they brought out all their benches outside so we could sit while we talked and prayed with them. The grandfather, several small children and a younger woman were there. We asked them if they had any prayer requests, and the grandfather requested prayer for his knees. We gathered around him and layed hands on him, and asked the Lord for healing. As I prayed for the man, Colane was interpretting it into Siswati. It was cool hearing my prayer in another language. The younger woman shared that she was a new Christian, and asked that we pray for her to grow in her walk with God. After praying for her, Rosie shared with the woman that she too was a new Christian, and encouraged her to keep seeking Him.
The next homestead we visited also had many small children, and a few younger women. We didn't see too many men around. We squeezed into their tiny house and we noticed that none of the kids had shoes or jackets on, and it was freezing outside. They told us that they were all sick and not feeling well. As we were praying for them, you could feel the presence of God in the room. After we finished praying for them, my mom (Penny), remembered that she had some extra quilts left over from New Life in the car. We were able to give each child a quilt, and as we were driving away, they were all standing outside with their quilts wrapped around them waving goodbye to us. We were wondering what we were going to do with the extra quilts, but God knew all along that they would be the ones to recieve them.
Today (Sunday), half of us went to Pastor Solomon's church, and half of us went to Pastor Chomba's church. I was among the group that attended Pastor Chomba's church, and let me tell you, those people know how to worship the Lord with their whole heart and soul. The way they sing and dance for the Lord is amazing. The air was thick with the presence of the Holy Spirit as people were speaking in tongues, receiving words from God and just moving in the Spirit. Pastor Chomba is also a very dynamic speaker to say the least. He really gets fired up for God. When you talk with him in person he is very calm and gentle, but when he gets up to the pulpit, his energy and style of preaching are the complete opposite.
After church, we were able to hand out the quilts to the children at Hope House Orphanage. They were so grateful and happy. Pastor Chomba asked the kids if anyone wanted to say anything to us, and one boy prayed for us. It was really moving to hear him pray for us and thank God for us. Even though we are the ones giving to these kids, we get soo much more in return.
When we headed back into town, we went to the grocery store to buy food for the families we visited in the homesteads. We bought rice, cooking oil, beans, peanut butter, bread, apples, sugar, salt, and some cookies. I never knew you could have so much fun grocery shopping! I guess its because it is for people who need it and we know how much of a blessing it will be to them.
Tomorrow we are going back to Hope House to work with Pastor Chomba again and deliver the groceries to the families. Sorry this is soo long! I could talk all day about what God has been doing here in Swaziland! It is sad that our time here is coming to an end soon. Pray that the Lord would bless Hope House Orphanage and the surrounding community, and that we would be able to touch more lives and be a living Jesus to the people of Swaziland!
Because of Him, Steph