Welcome back in Africa, Jumbo
Wow! What a weekend! I was on my way to Swaziland and decided that I was going to spend two nights with my brother and sister in Johannesburg. I was very excited, because I have not seen any of my family since Kriek (Creek) and I arrived back in South Africa. (We spent the first week with Kriek’s family in Cape town.) I arrived in Johannesburg and my sister tells me that she feels like a McDonald’s ice cream. So we went to McDonald’s and as I was looking around, I saw this older couple walking towards me. I looked at the man and I thought, ‘Wow, this guy really looks like my dad,’ and then I saw that it really was my father and mother. They drove all the way from Kuruman to see me, because they could not wait another week before seeing me. My mouth just fell open and my surprise was very big. It was a great weekend!!! I only missed my wife, because without her the weekend was not complete.
My brother then decided to go with me to Swaziland, because he has never been there before. It was awesome to see that nothing has changed in this small country that is in desperate need: You still wait 30 minutes in line outside the border post to get through; the only good road in Swaziland is still only the 10km road from the border post to Mbabane; the people are still so thankful for the people from outside that is coming to help them and you can still see the contentment in the eyes of the children, because this is the only life they know. It did my heart good to see that when a ‘bakkie’ (truck for our US friends) leaves, every living child wants to be on it. And believe me, they can pack it from side to side. It was good to drive again on the roads where you have to come to a stand still to wait for the hippo to get out of the pothole. (Just a joke! But the potholes are really big.) And when it rains, you know there is a big possibility for you to get stuck for a day or two. It was good to experience again that you can just stop wherever or whenever you want to, to quickly greet an old friend, and the cars behind you will just pass you or wait patiently, because it is important to hear how it is going with a friend. The air was fresh and it felt good to be back in my beloved Africa where nothing is easy, everything takes time and relationships mean everything. The great continent where we do not measure the distance between places, but the actual time it takes from one place to the other. The awesome experience of knowing it will take you the whole day just to go and send email and that you will most likely wait for two hours for the person that you were suppose to meet at a certain time. I love it and missed it!!
I went to Bulembu (in the north of Swaziland) for an important meeting. This (long) meeting went well and I am still very excited about the potential and opportunities that could flow out of this. But more on this later when we are certain about more things and when we are moving into a direction.
The next day it was great to go and visit and encourage our missionary friends in Swaziland. It is hard to be on the field and there are always many frustrations, but it was good to see each one of them. I also got to see the new care point that is being built by AIM in Timbutini and how this action has pulled the community together. I really feel like commending these guys for doing an awesome job.
I would like to ask everyone that is reading this to pray for the missionaries in Swaziland, for their health, their protection and their continuing ministries.
