Posted in Stories by Christine Chenoweth on 3/13/2010
Jeanette and I knew that God was calling us to go to the hospital and neither of us was super excited about it. The day we were suppose to go we stopped "quickly" at a care point to drop off Temu's gift and ended up spending a lot more time there than planned. By the time we left it was too late to go to the hospital and, I hate to say it, but I was relieved. We decided that we needed to go the next day even though we missed the appointed day to go. So we prayed in my office the next day for a while about our fears and concerns for the day and each person we would meet.
We got the hospital and went straight for the children's ward. I knew I needed to warm up to go to the women's ward. So we get there and I had brought guavas that I picked from a tree in my yard to give to the moms. As we stopped at each bed and asked the moms if we could pray for them and their sick child we handed them each a guava. (most people in the hospital here stay by the sick persons side and forgo many meals for themselves, these moms were no exception) I just wish I could have given more than one measly guava per person. Anyway it might have en the only thing they ate all day so they were very grateful and much more willing to let us pray with them.
I found one bright little girl with no one by her side and as soon as I went over she lit up, so of course I asked if I could hold her and pray for her, even though she was too young to understand. The nurse said that was fine, her name is Philiswa, her mother had died recently and the poor child was malnurished, there was no one to take care of her so she was brought to the hospital. I figured her to be about 3-4 months old but as I was not content with guessing, I asked her age. It turned out she was 10 months old!! she was so small. Anyways I ended holding her, talking to her and singing to her for almost an hour. I'm so thankful that I didn't miss a divine appointment with little Philiswa because of fear.
We also brought along tattoos and those were a big hit with the kids and adults :) It ended up being one of our favorite days of ministry together.
Posted in Stories by Christine Chenoweth on 3/4/2010
I have been taking Jeanette to different Care Points around Swaziland
and yesterday we went to one of my favorite places; a Care Point/ squatter camp
in Manzini where Temu lives. A wonderful woman from home sent along sweets and
school supplies for Temu and her siblings. Yesterday, Jeanette and I had the
privilege to bless her with these gifts. Her smile was priceless.
We walked her to her home about halfway through the squatter
camp to put the items in a safe place so the other children wouldn't hurt her
to get them. We ended up having beautiful God moments along the way and back.
There was maybe 20 kids that decided to follow us and so we sang to the Lord
and laughed along the way.
when we got back to the Care Point, Jeanette taught the kids, the little rhyme about the church and the steeple.
My Sister Jeanette is here for the next 2 weeks. She was scheduled to arrive at 11am on the 26 of Feb. So that morning I woke up full of excitement at seeing a family member for the first time in 14 months. I awoke with a sinus infection that I knew I needed to get antibiotics for, but was willing to wait until after I picked up Jeanette. I cleaned my house, made the bed for her, washed the cat (she's allergic) then made sure I had whole milk for her coffee, etc. I live just 7 minutes from the airport and I can here when the planes land and take off. I figured if I wait to for the plane to land then drive there, she will be thru customs and have her bags. Well I was wrong.
I arrived at the airport at ten after 11 and realized I never heard the plane land at all, I imagined it in all my excitement. So i went to 4 desks to find out when the delayed plane would be landing and in typical 3rd world coutry style, nobody had an answer. About 45 minutes later as I was waiting outside to watch the plane land, it started to rain, hard, don't you know I had left my windows open at the house because when I left the skies were clear. So now, I have no idea when the plane is going to land and I begin to pray for safety in the storm. It stopped raining and now I was hungry because my thought was to eat light, pick up Jeantte, get her a real Swazi meal, buy meds go to bed. Well her plane had still not arrived and it was half past 12, so I bought a greasy chicken mush thing in a flaky bread. Not good on an empty stomach, but it was that or chips. At 1pm the plane finally landed and by 1:30 we were back at my house.
We just put all Jeanette's stuff away and she said she would come to town with me to get my medicine, so we leave everything in the house, yes everything, including the keys to get back in. So now we are locked out of the house on her first night in Swaziland. I have never locked my keys in before, so I blame the sinus infection, excitement and distraction on the mishap. Well I'm freaking out now and I have no idea what to do. We go to town as planned and thank God, one of the Swazi workers is in the office, a guy who gets things done. I tried to call him on the way as he was the only option of who would help me find a locksmith in Swaziland. He took us to a shop and the guy said it would cost such and such an amount, I had to pick him up at 4 when he could be relieved from his post. I live 20 mins from this shop so I pick him up, we go back and Praise the Lord, opens my door. He charges me 25% less than he quoted me, another blessing, then we drive back to town, it takes us 45 minutes because it's rush hour. My sister stayed in the house and cooked us dinner, bless her soul for that, I got home famished, tired, and ready for bed. So i took my medicine and went to bed at 8. Or at least that was the plan. I guess the meds had some caffeine or something in them that keep me awake, I was up all night and overslept my alarm.
I figure God must have big plans for us, seeing as we started out so rocky in the beginning.
Posted in Stories by Christine Chenoweth on 2/20/2010
For
the past 3 weeks I have been watching my friends 3 children while she and her
husband were traveling in the States. It's been a very challenging time. The
children are eight, seven and five. During the days the 2 eldest girls were at
school and the five year old boy was in preschool for a half day. I was able to
continue with all my other ministries. The kids and I were up at 5:30am every morning. Breakfast had to be served, lunches
packed, school bags double checked, teeth brushed, and finally most morning we
were able to do a little devotional before we headed out to the bus station at 6:45am. If you know me at all, you know that I am NOT a
morning person. You also know that I am always trying to drink less coffee for
a number of reasons. With that being said you must know that I have had way too
much coffee in these weeks.
Just
this past Wednesday, I had gotten up as normal with the kids; we got ready and
off to the bus on time. After I dropped the girls at the bus stop, Ivan and I
went for a walk around the block, we tried to do this most mornings because he
does it with his mom when she's here, so it's was good for him to stay in
routine as much as possible, and I needed an excuse to exercise. As soon as we
got back to the house my phone started ringing. I didn't recognize the number
but that happens often. I picked up the phone and it was the girl's school. The
secretary told me the girls were fine, so immediately I was thinking, "Then why
are you calling me?" She told me that some of the children on their bus had
witnessed a boy being hit by a car and dying. She said one of my girls had seen
the whole thing and was very shaken up. She wanted me to come pick her up from
school. I told her I couldn't do that, but before you think I'm heartless, let me
explain. The school is about an hour and a half away in an area of the country
that I have never been. The directions to the school from what people told me
is that it's near some building in this particular town. Nobody could seem to
tell me how to get there. Most roads don't have names or sign up if they do
have names. I phoned another mom that sends her children from this area to see
if she had heard from the school. At that point she hadn't, but she said there
was no way I would find the school if I had never been there. So between the
two of us, we worked on finding a ride home for my girl. It ended up that she
stayed in school. All the kids who witnessed the accident were taken in with a
counselor and sent back to class. In retrospect, it seems this was the best
thing to do, because they didn't focus on the horrible scene in their heads all
day.
When
she got home, I took her out and let her talk about it; we discussed life and
death and prayed for the little boy's family. After a while she seemed okay. Thanks
to the prayers of many, I was able to talk and listen to her in the right way
that helped her put things into perspective. The accident happened very quickly
and so I was able to put her mind at rest that the boy never felt a thing. We
talked about Heaven. I took her for an ice-cream before we went back to the
house. Praise the Lord, her sister had been so busy talking to friends on the
bus that she never saw a thing. She didn't even know it happened because they
sheltered the kids that didn't see anything and the others were asked not to
talk about it with them.
Posted in Stories by Christine Chenoweth on 1/23/2010
There is a girl here who has been close to my heart for the
whole time I've been here. She is 13 years old and she's very bright. I met her
by "accident" one day. I know with God,
there are no accidents, just divine appointments and she was a divine appointment.
She came by my gate one day last Oct. with her sister and friend looking for
someone else. No one was there but me, so I asked them their names. Then they
told me they had walked far to come see this person, so I invited them in for
some juice and biscuits. I could see these girls were from a rough area and had
probably not eaten that day. The one girl had very good English and we were
able to communicate ok, the other 2 looked to her for translation and help with
English, and I was trying out my SiSwati as best I could to make the communication
easier. We played a little soccer, and then I sent them home because it was
becoming dark and it's unsafe for girls to be out after dark. I had mango trees
in my yard and so each girl was given a bag and I told them pick as many
mangoes as you want to take back to your families. I knew some would be eaten
on the way. This began a beautiful friendship.
The girls came by about 2-3 times a week after that to see
me, the other person they had come to see moved back to the USA.
After a while I was told I shouldn't have kids come to my house, because they
might go back and tell others and it would make my home a target for theft. So
one day I had to tell them they couldn't come to see me anymore. I started
visiting them at their homes and so our friendship was able to continue. I
found out that this girl's sister and friend had both been sponsored to go to
school, but no one was able to sponsor her. It was too late by the time I
learned about this to register her at any school. So this year I have decided
to be the one to send her to school. This past week, I took her to pick up her
first school uniform ever, new shoes, a notebook, and a pencil set. I got to
her home and she was beaming, as she jumped into my car, she was shouting back
to her friends that she was getting all her school stuff. She had so much pride on her face, I
wanted to cry. She has never been to an official school; many of the kids where
she comes from are not able to go to school because of the school fees. I feel
so blessed to be able to help her out.
Sometimes there are million words to describe what God is
doing and how He is working and other times I am in awe of Him, yet I can't put
my thoughts and feelings into words. For some of you, you are probably thinking
that I am never out of words, but it does happen on rare occasion :)
As the New Year is beginning I am coming into my final 6
months here in Swaziland,
it's been a tough time but also rewarding. Just the other day I was speaking
with the head teacher at the school I work in and she wants me to add an
additional 2 classes for me to teach Bible stories and lessons. I was shocked
and very excited at the same time. I knew she was happy with my work overall,
but many times I asked for special permission to do stuff with the children
that might disrupt the regular school schedule, she always obliged but I wondered
if it was too much. It turns out she was happy to make these concessions for me
as long as the children were getting God's Word. I am in a position to
influence an additional 45 students and I can't begin to describe how thrilled
I am. But, I am also sad to know that I will only be with these children for
half of their school year, so while I have more kids to teach it will only be
for half the time I was able to give to the previous students. Please be in
prayer as I begin this new year of teaching that the children's hearts and
minds will be open to the wonderful love of Christ.
Posted in Pictures by Christine Chenoweth on 11/15/2009
Zimba
Boots
My New House
Jane and ITraditional WearJane, Walter, Ruby Trad. Dancing
These Pictures are from our Christmas/80th Birthday party for Grandma (gogo) Ruby. The women who all sew for Timbali Crafts (make cool handbags and table runners) came together for the occasion.
Some of the Children from the Care-point where we had the party
It's been a long time since I have last updated you, three months in fact. I'm sorry it's been so long. I have many excuses that I won't bore you with. Instead I'll just give you the Cliff notes on the last three months of my life.
In July, I had the pleasure of serving in Bulembu with the students from CHS (Christian Heritage School) and was surprised to have at least 6 people that I knew involved with the team. What a blessing it was to see folks from home and hear news from home. To hear our unique accent and have people know what I was talking about when I mentioned the parkway, Penny's Diner or the circle in Fairfield. I spent a week in Bulembu serving alongside this team, helping with preschool children at the "Valley of Hope" school. I was able to reconnect with some of the children I first met in the summer of 2007 and see how they've grown.
At the End of July, I was able to take some time away and visit my friend Marieka in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I spent 9 days taking in the sights and sounds and having the pleasure of being near the ocean again (not that CT has real ocean) I saw killer whales swimming in their natural habitat and for those who know me well, you know I love animals and so to see one for the first time in the ocean, that's pretty exciting. I also was able to see some dolphins swimming one day. I tasted new foods and even learned a word or two in Africaans.
Upon returning to Swaziland I was given news that I must be moved out of my house, so that began the craziness of finding a place to live in a safe neighborhood, and having that house be within my budget. It took another couple here 10 months to find a place to stay and so I was feeling very discouraged and figured I would have to move somewhere unsafe just to be out of my place on time. God had much better plans and in hearing my situation, a woman approached me and gave me the number of another woman, she said there are no guarantees, but call her and see if she has anything available. To my surprise and delight, she did know of a house in a safe neighborhood with an affordable rent. My house was so safe in fact, that I was able to bless another missionary with my guard dog (his has just died)
In the school, I have been enjoying teaching my grade 2's more stories about Jesus, we went over the Christmas story this week, so they'll be ready for exams in a few weeks. (Yes, grade 2 takes exams). My 7th graders have been working on memory verses, something I wasn't going to push on them because it's a classroom and my lessons were biblical based but not "religious." Anyways after quoting a Scripture one week, some of the girls asked if they could begin to memorize verses and of course I said yes. I am so excited to see them wanting to know the Word of God.
At the carepoint, my girls are also working on Scripture memorization, this has been much more challenging there. the first 2 months nobody memorized the verse, even with prizes for those who did. Finally a few weeks ago there was a breakthrough and 6 girls came with the verse memorized. They received their prize (chocolate) and in the last weeks more girls are trying. My next challenge for them is to learn to apply these words to their lives. It seems to be a tough concept for them to get.
Please pray for all the children I work with, that God will be real to them and they will want to know Him more.
Pray for safety for me as I travel farther now to my ministry points each day. Also I am traveling this weekend to pick up a fellow missionary at the airport (5 hour drive into South Africa)
Pray that my faith will increase and that I will continue on even when I don't see the fruit. that I will perservere despite the challenges.
Thank you all, as always, for your prayers and support!
Posted in Stories by Christine Chenoweth on 7/12/2009
I attend a woman's Bible study every Wednesday, we have been doing a study on hearing the voice of God. A few weeks ago while we were going over the homework someone challenged the group to not just hear God's voice but to do what He says and to do it immediately. A lot of times we know God wants something from us and we intend to get to it eventually. A lot of times eventually never comes around and that thing that God has called us to is forgotten completely. We miss out on becoming more intimate with God as a result and whatever other blessings that God may have had in mind based on our obedience to His voice.
All that being said, I went home that day, encouraged and excited. What was God asking me to do? How would I know it was God? Would it be something that I would willingly respond to in His time and not my own? That night as I was trying to go to sleep, I started having all these great ideas of how I could bless the people of Swaziland. I spent at least 3 hours lying there and planning out all this stuff I could do for people. I knew of a church that has been raising money FOREVER, just for some new chairs, I could easily give to them. I knew of a girl that was trying to get into university and had spent all her resources just on transportation to get the right paperwork in, leaving no money left even for a meal. I see children all the time in rags, others that can't be in school because of school fees, mom's that need formula for their babies. And the list goes on.
Then I thought of the children in Nsoko, those sweet sweet children that don't have shoes, the ones that wear rags that are shredded in many areas, the ones that eat only if the carepoint has food that week. The children that are raising their siblings because one or both parents in dead and many times the other had abandoned them. The ones who come to play at the Center in Nsoko because they know they won't be turned away no matter what. These same children sometimes sleep on the porch of the center because there is no one to go home to. These are the children that God has called me to do a clothing drive for. It seemed like so little for their so many needs, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was telling me to do it and to do it immediately.
I started calling around to a few missionary families in the area that I knew had children and asked if they wanted to donate, I then went through my own stuff and pulled out the clothing that I won't get back into no matter how I watch what I eat, I grabbed shoes that I never wear. Then I asked a team that was leaving if they wanted to donate anything for this clothing drive. There was a family on the team and so more kids clothes, but adult sizes. I then ran out to a store to purchase girls and boys underwear. As I was about to drive the 90 min. drive to surprise the pastor and the children, I passed by a truck on the side of the road, a man was selling oranges in bags of 30. I bought 4 bags and was finally on my way.
When I got to the carepoint, I told the pastor my intention and he was thrilled, him and his wife were so thankful, they do what they can, sometimes giving children food and leaving theirs with none for a night. We organzied the kids by age, youngest to oldest and washed all their hands and feet and faces, then we redressed them in the new clothes and gave them all an orange. We got to the adults and were able to bless them with new things as well and gave them all an orange.
God is so amazing and I am so thankful that I listened to His voice, because I was blessed beyond anything I could imagine that day. One little boy got a new pair of sneakers and socks. He started strutting around and the older children kept calling out to him what nice shoes they were. I never saw a boy so proud to wear used shoes. At the end of the day everbody was dressed in clothing the right size and there was about one black bag left of clothing we hadn't used. Nobody went home without something new. About 90 people in all.
Posted in Pictures by Christine Chenoweth on 6/24/2009
One of the girls at Bhekelanga Carepoint
Teacher Brenda's 2nd grade class at Khanyisile Primary School
The ocean in St. Lucia, South Africa ( I went for a day trip and it was the first time I've been to the Indian Ocean, it was well worth my $3 parking fee to drive through the safari to get here)
Teacher Holmes 2nd Grade class at Khanyisile Primary School
The kids playing soccer from Timbutini carepoint
Julie and I after hiking a mountain in Mbabane The rural area
Rural area and some kids running home at the end of the day Jacci and I after the hike in Mbabane, she knows the name of the "rock"/mountain
Zimba
Boots
My New House
Jane and I
Traditional Wear
Jane, Walter, Ruby
Trad. Dancing
Julie and I after hiking a mountain in Mbabane
The rural area
Rural area and some kids running home at the end of the day
Jacci and I after the hike in Mbabane, she knows the name of the "rock"/mountain