Eric Yee, one of our sponsors from New York,
was
taken with us via his photo, presented to these hundreds of kids.
On Sunday all the teams went to the pastors
church and had service and then we were invited to have lunch with one of the
more well-to-do congregants. The church was small and very hot. All of the
pastors in that country were tired each Sunday because they had presided over
an all night burial service, their custom, for those that had died from
HIV-aids that week. Someone had always died. Most of the people didn’t have
electricity or even running water. Our meal consisted of chicken, corn that
was processed to look like mashed potatoes, beets, and other vegetables. It
was quite tasty.
Monday we did a little bit of planting but not as much as we would have hoped.
Most of the families did not have a fence around their plot yet, and the
chickens would have eaten the newly planted seedlings so we told them to get
going and get them ready. Most did not believe we were really there to help
and it took a while to understand this was going to be a reality for them,
real gardens at their homes.
The houses were spread out, not like we were expecting, as other groups had
hit homesteads where the house were packed together. That’s why we came up
with the ‘show and tell’ system where we showed them how to plant a garden and
then had them show up to pick up their plants for pre-determined spots.
Our group counts out hundreds of seedling for distribution.
Our days consisted of counting out thousands of
seedling every day. Approximately 600 gardens per day were established with
this system. We prayed with each group, for their health and the ending of the
Aids pandemic, and for rain to come and bless their gardens too. Many times we
would go and pray for folks very ill in their homes, some just prior to death,
including quite a few kids. About 50% of the kids have aids from child abuse
from adults in the community. The witch doctors there have told them that if
they have sex with virgins they will be healed- you can see what a spiritual
war is going on. This kind of seditious propaganda will entirely wipe out the
poor souls altogether.
The entire group
ended up planting,
or help plant, over 10,000 gardens...
Not only that, but half way through our ministry we
were told that the locals had been told that the ‘Americans’ (there were a few
folks from other nations there helping too though) that we were bringing
plants infected with Aids to kill them!!? This blew our minds and further
showed how the spiritual darkness was operating to thwart our help.
UNBELIEVABLE! We had to constantly assure the folks we picked up the seedling
daily from their own Swaziland nurseries daily. Most believed us we could
tell. Our love for them, and a touch from God, helped waylay their fears. They
found out heartfelt prayers for them and theirs were all too real for them,
thank-U-Lord.
We loved the kids, and they loved us. These two were found dancing for
tourists
on our way out to the country, a daily two hour drive to and from our hotel.
One of the days we had off to a game park- elephants,
rhinos, lions, and a host of other exciting animals thrilled each and every
one of us. The group went back to America after a hard week of work, but
knowing we had made a difference, a real difference in those poor folk’s
lives. The totals came in.
Valerie working in one of the gardens.
The entire group ended up planting, or help
plant, over 10,000 gardens, which will fed over 80,000! And the DFA folks
there said that was a record for any group that had come in the past year and
half, and that with a day less to plant than any other group- WOW. So less
days worked, but more plants planted, proving this was all really a ‘God
thing’, don’t you think?
Jeanette Parson, a regular sponsor of
Michael's art, also help sponsor our trip.
Of course, Michael stayed for an extra two
weeks after everyone else departed back to America so he could create a new
series of art. He focused on the Cape Town area, including the beautiful
wine valley of Stellenbosch.
Love to all of you that helped us get there,
you really touched these folk’s lives through your generosity in supporting us
to go there in your stead. Many blessings to you and yours for that.
Michael and Valerie
