traday update
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[Tuesday, March 4th]
Hello Family.I’m sitting here at the Nazarene Hospital with some of the world racers. Now it’s about 7am.
This morning I was awaken by Jeanette, a world racer whose team I’ve been a part of for the last month. It was about 5:30-5:45am. She came in and told me that last night, Mcolisi, our 6 week old tiny baby boy that we were taking care of stopped breathing and died. Two of the FYM (First Year Missionaries) girls were taking care of him through the night because there had to be someone with him 24 hours a day. He was to be there for 3 weeks being nursed back to full health and so we were all going to have a turn in being here with him.On the inside I do not feel angry or overly grieved about it. Mcolisi’s no longer in pain, he’s no longer struggling to breathe, he’s no longer starving and fighting fever after fever, he’s no longer in a world of sin, darkness, and perversity. No, I’m not grieved, but my heart is sad for my team…for all the aunts and uncles. We all loved Mcolisi as our own, but at the same time we all trusted and put him in God’s hands. He knows best. In no way am I saying God killed this boy, not at all. Only I’m saying that perhaps in His grace and mercy He came in the night for this tiny one. I can only imagine what Mcolisi saw when the Lord came to get him. I imagine there were angels dancing, songs of celebration being sang, laughter and peace and abundant joy. So I rejoice for Mcolisi!To be honest, when Jeanette told me all of this this morning, it was a sigh of relief because I knew he was no longer hurting in his little body. The hardest thing for me while he was with us was knowing that he was struggling to survive and was in pain. His tiny, tiny body would struggle day and night and now he’s free. Freedom for Mcolisi!!So I thank the Lord for all of this. As for my team, at this initial point, I’m sure we have been taught something. None of this has been in vain and all of this has been for a very important reason. Perhaps in a day or two or more, who knows, as we sit in the presence of God and let Him speak to us and wash over us and hold us, we will come to see the importance of all of these events. From finding Mcolisi, to caring for him as our own, to gathering his brothers and sisters together, to bringing him first to the Lord and then to the doctor until his final breath, and finally to the Lord coming in Glory to get this baby boy.God bless our team, God bless the doctors, God bless any and everyone of you who prayed for Mcolisi, everyone who gave of their time in prayer and thoughts for this boy…whatever you’ve done…God Bless!!!In the beginning we made the choice to trust God in this and we still do. Now we are to take our next steps and as we do, I trust that the Lord will lead us by His Holy Spirit.Today we will travel back to Nsoko to take the body of the baby and the certificate of death to the mother. There are two of the team already down there who, with Pastor Gift, are notifying the mother of her child’s passing. Please continue to pray for this mother and her 4 remaining children. The mother is terribly sick…too sick to care for her children and almost too sick to care for herself. The reality is that she’s on the verge of death herself. Her children are ages 3, 5, 7, and 12.Thanks Family!!!Love you all!! ~~Makhosazana~~~~Traday~~
[Monday, March 3]
Hey everyone!!
How’s it going??? Well hopefully I’ll get the pictures to upload to this email so that you can see what has been happening here. The internet is running extremely slow here at the internet café…but maybe it won’t be too big of an issue. So here goes… We were in Nsoko from February 7 thru February 29. It was a great few weeks there!! I got the privilege to teach some kids ages 3-5 a couple of days at the Joyela care-point. Well really it was because there was no teacher to teach them…but it was a great experience nonetheless. During the stay in Nsoko we held a couple of ‘seminars’…one being a teaching seminar and the other being a business seminar. In these we taught the teachers how to be teachers and we taught and encouraged the mothers and grandmothers to look beyond the day that they’re living in and to think about the week…to think about the month. These women are just trying to survive the day and to have food for the little ones. And so our message was to help empower them to help themselves by the crafts that they are skilled in. Most of them know how to make something…grass placemats and rugs, different weave type items, etc. They have skill, but they have never been given the challenge or encouragement to do these things and make money. They never believed they could until we presented to them in very simple terms that it could be done. So hopefully they don’t lose their hope and joy in this endeavor. In this business meeting Jeanette (a world racer and I) got to pray with each woman individually. This was such an honor!!! We prayed for the most part blessings and favor over them and whatever else the Spirit of God led us to pray. Amazing!!! Yall, be very grateful for personal vehicles. There have been all kinds of crazy things that have gone on in the kombis (public transportation). But it’s all good. I’m still alive and single!! Ha Ha Ha!! Kombis are little V W vans that pack on as many people as possible in order to make maximum money. It can be a scary situation sometimes…but after we actually make it to our destination, it’s fun to sit and talk about how crazy a ride that was. There have been drunk men on the buses that pass around the Marula talking loud, singing, trying to hold a conversation with us…crazy. One day there were five men spread out across the street dancing and singing and hollering…completely drunk. The kombi jammed the brakes, but we were so packed on there that no one hardly moved.I think the kombie is made for a maximum of 16 people, but there have been 19 to 22 people on there…CRAZY!!! Anyways, this little one…the little baby that we’ve been taking care of…his name is Mcolisi. He’s still sick. Traci and Crystal…two world racers took him to the hospital today to see the nutritionist to see if he would have to stay so that he could be nourished to a healthy weight. If that is the case someone would have to stay with the baby all day and night to see to him. None of us wanted this, but our concern is to see that this baby is healthy. He has become like our own child. He has two uncles and 8 aunts. We pray for him constantly. We speak life into him and bless him as we hold and feed him. He’s such a tiny baby, but we all trust God with his life. When I think about the future of this child…how he will grow into a young boy, a young man, a grown man, and an old man, it’s so awesome to know that we as foreigners have been a part of this baby’s life. We all love him as if he were our own and I’m sure it will be tough to part with him as our time comes to leave this place. But as we said, we trust God with his life. Alrighty y’all…i’ve been informed that some of the racers and myself will be doing a revival tonight and so i’m going to have to cut it short. FLEXIBILITY…that’s what it’s all about. Tomorrow hopefully the pictures will come. I love you all!!Will talk to you again!!!Blessings!! ~~Makhosazana~~~~Traday~~
