Home Sweet Home

Our Lavumisa safely touched down back in Dayton this morning. They were greeted at the airport by family and friends.









Team members had wonderful things to say about their trip. We invite you to hear updates from them during services the weekend of June 12 & 13.

On behalf of CLC's Swaziland Ministry, thank you for supporting these travelers and their familie during the past two weeks. Your prayers were appreciated.

Heading for Home

Our Lavumisa masonry team left Swaziland today and is on their way home. They were delayed getting out of Johannesburg by about 1/2 hour, but hopefully can make up the time in the air.

It's been quite a journey for the team and we look forward to hearing all about their experiences. They have 18 1/2 hours of flying time ahead of them as well as 3 hours of lay over time. It can be a tiresome journey and it will take a few days for folks to adjust to the time difference.

The team is scheduled to arrive in Dayton at 9:49 a.m. on Wednesday, June 2. You are invited to join the welcome team at the airport!

We pray for God's protection and favor as they travel home.

Walls Go Up

Saturday was our team's last day for work at Lavumisa. As a result of their hard work, they were able to get the framing up and bags stacked for two complete walls of the church before running out of materials.

During the week, they also had the opportunity to make visits to 3 homesteads. The visits are very meaningful experiences as they give the travelers a first-hand glimpse of what it is like to live in Swaziland for a typical family. The dwellings are very modest and frequently sparsely appointed. Yet, the family takes great pride in their home and is honored that visitors would come. On each visit our teams took some of the rice meals CLC packaged back in December, and left them as gifts. Sharing testimonies and scriptures and praying with the family is frequently a part of the homestead visit; for this is when the good news of Jesus is actually spread and the real work is done. Acts 20:24 tells us:

"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."

On Sunday morning the team worshipped at Lavumisa with Pastor Sabelo and members of the Lavumisa community, then they headed back to Mbabane, the capital city of Swaziland. There was quite a temperature change in moving from the low veld (where the high during the week got to 85 some days) and the upper veld (where the high temperature today is currently 64 and it will get down to freezing this evening). The team spent last evening at the Mountain Inn and today they headed back to Hawane CLC. Today is a "team day", so they will have some time to visit some local craft merchants to purchase souvenirs. The may also go to the government hospital where they will visit with patients (frequently children) and pray with them. This can be extrememly heart-breaking, yet the prayers are so very necessary! James 5:16 tells us "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

We are grateful to those who have been praying for this team. Thank you for interceding on their behalf. Very soon they will be back with us. We trust God to continue to guide and protect them. We pray as they prayed in days of old (Numbers 6:24-26)

The LORD bless you, and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.

Things are Going Well

One of our team members was able to get off a quick text message to home saying that "things are going well". When a loved one is half-way around the world, those can be very comforting words! We can also take comfort in knowing that God has them in His hands. There is a verse in Exodus that has become a cornerstone for our travel teams:

Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. - Exodus 23:20

As we continue to send teams and individuals to Swaziland, we have found God's promise in this verse to be true. He has been faithful in watching over our travelers. His plan for Swaziland and the miraculous work He is accomplishing there is evident.

Today will be the last full day of construction work in Lavumisa for the team. It has been a busy week and the team is certain to be physically tired from their labors. It can also be emotionally tiring work as the team deals with the realities of living in a third world country. Seeing first-hand the living conditions in which many Swazi families live can be overwhelming. Also, looking into the faces of the people there - adults and children- and knowing that almost every other person they meet is infected with the AIDS virus can be heartbreaking. Yet, while it might be hard physically and emotionally, our prayer is that this trip becomes life-changing from a spiritual perspective.

Galatians 5:13 tells us, "through love serve one another." In Mark 9:41, Jesus tells us that "anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, just because you belong to me, will surely be rewarded." When we serve in Jesus name, we earn an eternal reward. If our travelers are truly able to understand and comprehend that, this trip can become a spiritually transformational event for them. To know that you are exactly where God wants you to be, doing exactly what God wants you to be doing for Him, is a humbling yet amazing insight. It can take you to a new level of spiritual intimacy with God.

Many team members go on mission trips with the intent of helping others and making a difference in the lives of others. Frequently they return home realizing they have gained more than they have given away. May God continue to guide, direct, speak to and bless these travelers during their final days in Swaziland.

How Firm a Foundation

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus encourages His followers to set the foundations
of their faith on "the rock" and not on sand. Lavumisa CLC is also setting it's foundation on the rock of our faith, Jesus Christ; but we're also using sand... literally! The walls of the church, the pastor's home and the children's homes will all be built using sandbags filled with sand and dirt.

Earlier this spring, some folks from Potter's Wheel church set the footers and foundations and erected the steel frames for the buidlings on our ICBC site.









When our team arrived, the next step was to put up the walls of the church. The general contractor/construction manager we are using for the project suggested using sandbags instead of soil block, which we had originally planned to use. While this "technology" has been used in other parts of Africa, it is new to Swaziland. We trialed using sandbags when building the 3rd children's home at Hawane CLC, and it appears to be a workable process. So,this entire week, the team will be hard a work filling, stacking and covering sandbags. Once the bags are stacked, they are wrapped with a fine wire mesh and then coveed with mud - a typical building material used for in homes in Swaziland. The photos below are an example of the "sandbag technology" (these are pictures from a third children's home that is being built at Hawane CLC)











It will be exciting to see the progress the team is able to make during the course of this week The goal is to get as much of the church completed as possible. Please pray that God will help them be efficient and quick and that they would build a quality place in which to worship our God.

Ministers of our God

When the team met at the airport last Thursday, Stacey Weneck (a previous extended stay traveler to Swaziland) shared this passage of scripture with the group:

"They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities destroyed long ago.
They will revive them,though they have been deserted for many generations.
Foreigners will be your servants. They will feed your flocks
and plow your fields and tend your vineyards.
You will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God." Isaiah 61:4-6

While our team is not necessarily repairing ancient ruins, they are reviving an area that has been devestated for many years. While they are there to build "a" church, our greater prayer is that "the church" - the body of believers - grows by leaps and bounds. For those who have been following our blogs and team updates over the past couple of years, you know that God has been at work in Swaziland. Miraculous things are happening; things that can only be attributed to Him.

This morning, the team was greeted by some of the residents of the Lavumisa area. Some came to see the team from American; others came to assist with the work. Before any physical labor was initiated, a time of praise and prayer was held until 10:00 a.m. Then the work began. Our team members, Potter's Wheel team members and Lavumisa folks all joined together to begin putting up the walls for Lavumisa CLC. After several hours of work, the team broke for lunch. A simple meal as shared among all the workers. Pastor Sabelo also shared a brief message and team members were invited to share a testimony, a work of encouragement or a prayer. This time of fellowship is the most meaningful part of our missions work. It is a time when we connect as people, created in God's image, united in ministry. This is the time when friendships are formed and memories are made. Ask any of our previous travelers and they will tell you the names of the people who touched their lives during their mission experiences. They can close their eyes and see the faces. Their hearts swell with a love that's hard to explain and the desire to return is rekindled. It is this uniting of hearts that gives meaning to the work.

After lunch the team got back to work. They are sure to have worked up a sweat as the high today was in the upper 70's/low 80's. The plan was that they would work until late afternoon, then visit a local homestead before heading back for an evening meal and a good night's rest.

As they continue their work through out this week, my our team truly be "ministers of our God"

Survivor Lavumisa?

As you know by know, Lavumisa CLC is being established in a rural area of Swaziland. Lavumisa lies in the south-east corner of the country in what is known as the "low-veld region". It lies approximately 650 ft. above sea-level. It is primarily an open plain, with gently undulating hills and a volcanic rock bed base with significant levels of erosion. The climate is semi-arid with summer drought often being a concern. Rainfall is frequently less than 21 inches a year. The average temperatures in the low-veld region range from 63 degrees F in the winter (our July) to 81 degrees F in the summer (our December), however it can get as high as 100 degrees. Grasses are the predominant plant life, with clusters of Acacia trees frequently seen. It is this environment that our team will call "home" for the next 7 days.



As you can see, there is no Holiday Inn; no Best Western; not even a Motel 6! Our team's accommodations will be a well apportioned campsite which has been set up under the roof of what will become Pastor Sabelo's house. The campsite includes:

* A dinning area with two 10 ft.tables and 12 plastic chairs. This area is secured by a shade cloth for privacy.

* A sitting area with 12 camping chairs and a fire pit area.

* The kitchen includes a gas fridge, gas freezer, gas cooker rings, two scuttle braais (barbecues?) utensils and dishes for 12. Bottled water (water coolers) will be available for drinking.

* In the evenings, the campsite will be lit by two gas lights, five battery lights, 12 battery torches, two electric generator lights.

* Showering will be done using two suspended bucket system showers.

* Two portable toilets have been brought to the site.

* The sleeping units are five tents. A shade cloth area surrounds the tents. The tents can each accomodate 4 people, but we will only house two people per tent. A ground covering has been spread beneath the tents and thick bed mattresses were put in each tent, on which a sleeping bag can be placed.

* A security guard is on duty twenty fours a day.

* Only the ten members of our CLC & Potter's Wheel teams will be allowed in the campsite area.

While these accomodations are a bit more rustic than the cabins at Hawane, they are much better that what would be available if this was Survivor Lavumisa. Better yet, no one will be voted off, no one will have to participate in challenges, there are no hidden immunity idols and ...... no one will be competing for 1 million dollars! Instead, there will be a greater reward made available to all of our team members as they serve with our brothers and sisters of Swaziland to build the church, stake a claim for Christ and store up their treasures in heaven.

May the ground on which they live and work be blessed by God. May He protect the team from the elements of nature and spiritual forces. Most importantly, may God be glorifed through out this week.