Sawubona from Swaziland!

Sawubona, or hello from Swaziland!  After 30 hours of air travel and a few more hours on a bus, we have arrived at our hotel in Manzini, Swaziland.  Thankfully we made all of our connections and most of our luggage arrived...but three of our teammates' personal bags got stuck in Amsterdam so they have been troupers getting by without some of their things (their bags are supposed to arrive on Tuesday!).  Highlights of the trip so far have included a noisy welcome at the Johannesburg airport from soccer fans who were waiting for one of the local pro teams to arrive and seeing two of the 'Big Five' African animals while at a gas station/convenience store on the drive from Johannesburg (when was the last time you saw rhino and water buffalo while enjoying lunch?).

This is my second trip to Swaziland; it's definitely more comfortable knowing at little more of what to expect this time, and little things like enjoying the outside balcony at our hotel make me feel like I was just here weeks ago.  Tomorrow will be our first day at the carepoint.  The first time I came I remember having so much excitement and anticipation of seeing Mkhombokati Carepoint for the first time.  I still have much of that anticipation this time and even more excitement.  So much has changed since our last team was here in February 2012.  Thanks to the generosity and continued commitment of our Capital Church community, a well and solar pump has been installed and is providing water to the carepoint, a large shade structure has been transformed into a fully enclosed building, and a greenhouse and garden are nearing completion to provide fresh food for the Carepoint.  Those are huge things that so many of you have made possible - thank you!  Two of our main projects this week are to paint the new building and help install an irrigation system and plant the garden and greenhouse. 

I'm also so excited to see the kids tomorrow - kids whose faces and names are now familiar to me, (even if I can't pronounce all of them), kids who we have been thinking of and praying for since we left last February.  As many of you know, just before we left we got word that one of the boys at our carepoint, Thanduxolo, has some health issues was in dire need of surgery to save his life and the logistics of that were not in his favor.  It was definitely heavy on all of our hearts in the midst of the travel excitement, but we have gotten a few updates and last we heard he not only made it out of surgery but is off a ventilator and in the ICU.  Thank to all of you who have been praying for him, and please keep praying!  We'll keep you all posted with updates on him as we learn more this week.

It's time for me to get some sleep before a busy and exciting day tomorrow!  We'll have lots of great photos to share soon...for now here is one of our amazing team at work organizing our 2000+ lbs of supplies tonight.

Grace and peace,
Karen Mohr