Volunteer Reflections #8

We have had great few days and cannot believe our time in Swaziland is winding down. Ministry has kept us busy, but we have also enjoyed some time with our friends. Thursday, we spent the morning on a prayer drive in an area where there is no evangelical presence. That afternoon, we stopped by Thunzini and enjoyed spending some time with the Mkhontas. Mavayi’s baby, Amanda, went with us, also. It was the first time Brinkley had ever seen Amanda, and we have included a picture of the two of them. There is also a picture of both of us with Babe and Make Mkhonta and Amanda. The third picture from Thunzini is of Hunter and Simanga’s youngest brother, Bandile at the homestead. Thursday evening, we led a Bible Study at Nhlangano Baptist Church. We did not have a large number, but had great discussion time together. Hunter taught about the promises of God, using the examples of Isaac and Jacob. We have also included a photo from the Bible Study. It was a long day, but we enjoyed the variety of things we did.
Friday, we spent the morning at the mission house before heading to Maloma in the early afternoon. We picked up a few youth from Velebantfu and had a few from Nhlangano and Thunzini go with us, also. When we arrived at Maloma, we played “rugby” with the youth while we were waiting for more to arrive. After about an hour of attempting to throw a soccer ball under the church benches (while only being allowed three steps each time you touched the ball), we began our Bible Study. Brinkley taught about God’s love using Psalm 103. We had this study under the stars using the moon and a flashlight. We had a little added excitement when a mouse ran under the benches that we were sitting on. It’s all part of the African experience that we love. We have included a picture of Hunter with Bongani (from Nhlangano) and two youth from Maloma.
Today has been a full day, mostly filled with stories, laughter, and friends. This morning, Chris stopped by the house. He is in town for the weekend and was able to bring Mavayi home from school. (We have included a picture of Chris and Brinkley in front of the house.) We saw Mavayi briefly last night when we were coming back from Maloma. Simanga was also able to get the weekend off from the Police Academy in Matsapha. We saw him briefly last night when we dropped the Thunzini youth off. He had completely surprised his grandparents, who were not expecting him at all since he was home last weekend. He came into town this morning, and we met up with him, Mavayi and Amanda. We all walked to town together to see a few friends and then had lunch at the Myers. There is a picture of the four of us after lunch attached to the email. Both Simanga and Mavayi went to the Bible Study at Mgamudze with us along with Mpilo, from Thunzini, and Mfan’fikile, who has been translating for us each night. We also stopped by Matsanjeni and picked up about 6 or 8 youth from there. When we arrived at the church, we played rugby while we were waiting for more people to come. There is a picture of this lovely rugby game, with Mr. Wayne right in the middle of it all. For the Bible Study, we sat outside again, and Hunter taught the same lesson from Thursday night. We had about 20-25 youth and about 10 children in attendance. Unfortunately, we had to say good-bye to Simanga at the end of the night. He has to leave right after church in the morning.
In the morning, we will be going to Nhlangano Baptist so we will see Mavayi again before she goes back to school. After church, we will head to Thunzini, pick up Mpilo, and then go to another service at Zikhoteni. We have another Bible Study on Monday afternoon, and then we will be going to a game park in South Africa on Tuesday. We hope you enjoy all of the pictures. We had a little trouble picking which ones to send, so there are a little more than usual.

Love, Hunter and Brinkley