Photos From The Village of Mafutseni

These photos were taken in the chiefdom of Mafutseni, where we met with Chief Ngalonkhulu Mabuza and his executive council. The reason I took so many pictures of the children is because they are what impacted me the most in Swaziland. There are over 70,000 orphans whose parents both died of AIDS. In addtion, there are many 13-14 year old children who are the head of their homes, rearing their younger siblings alone. Imagine being 13 and having to try to figure out how to feed your 3-4 year old brothers and sisters when you have nothing. Whatever one may think about how their parents contracted AIDS, these kids have done nothing wrong. They are innocent and suffering.

After we discussed the problems with the chief, I prayed for him. He is a good man who has a heart for those in his chiefdom and sincerely wants to help them. After we prayed, several on the executive council were wiping tears from their eyes. One man told me that "unless God intervenes, we will not survive."

After I return home and am certain of how God is leading me to proceed, I plan to become proactive in helping this village. Will you begin to pray about joining me in an expression of our Father's love toward these people?

I have watched many TV infomercials about hungry children, but having seen first-hand the tragedy of a hungry child who has only the clothes he wears, no medical care, no parents, etc. I cannot sit idly by and do nothing. I assured these people that I would be a voice for them. I will share more with you soon and invite you to participate together so that we can change these children's future. I'm reminded of James asking what good is does to tell people about God's love, then say "God bless you" (Be warmed and filled) without doing anything to help. The best way in the world to begin to help these people know our Father's love is to, not only tell them about it, but show them.

None of us can help everybody, but we can all help somebody. Together, our efforts will make a huge difference.

I can never be the same after seeing all that I have seen in Swaziland. I took a huge step of faith when I told the chief, the village leaders and even the church where I spoke on Sunday that we will do more than talk -- that we will help. It wasn't a knee-jerk emotional reaction to what I saw. We've seen lepers in India, persecuted Christians in China, poor people in many places, but I sensed God moving me to become directly involved in Swaziland by not just preaching Christ's love, but practicing it. I'm not sure exactly how it will look, but I'll give you more information after I've strategized and discussed it more with leaders there.