undeserved kindness.

"Maturity as a Christian is about mastering the basics." - Jerry Bridges

If you haven't seen Les Miserables, you should. Almost everything that stood out to me this week about God's grace is summarized in that movie. It's easy to assume that to be a mature Christian you need to have all the stories and theological knowledge possible - that until you master the history, dynamics and depth of the Bible or of God - you aren't very spiritually mature.
Just as I'm beginning to dive into and understand the undeserved kindness that my Maker has shown me, it gave me a new paradigm on the way I view my relationship with Him and why giving that same undeserved kindness or generosity is so worth it - just because understanding His grace should make me really want to give back to Him. And that I don't have to prove myself to him, but that the story is not people coming to God, but God pursuing people.

I really hope this isn't just a lightly affecting kind of realization - but that I'm amazed and reminded to the point that there's a real change in the way I show kindness and the importance of giving. It's a lifetime process, but every fibre in my being should dare to make that same grace a reality and reflection of Jesus in my own life. The response to grace should be a life of gratitude, right?

Let's just say that the more that we understand grace - the basics of following Him - that's where maturity is, and that takes a lifetime.

We did our outreach at a hospital this past Friday, and originally we were just going to be picking up trash around the hospital (which was freaky at first - we didn't have gloves right away and there were used syringes & gauze all over the ground! we got gloves after a little.) - we ended up going to the children's ward. First we went to the abandoned children's ward - and as soon as I walked in, a little girl hugged me twice and then grabbed my hand. Most of the kids in there have mental disability. I picked up a baby boy whose name was Mufothu (I'm not sure on the spelling though!).. he thrived on even being paid any attention to or being held. He started to cry when I put him back down.. man. I can't tell you how much I wanted to take him with me. That'll be the story of my life during outreach. We'll be going to at least two or three different orphanages and spending weeks there. It's going to be really emotionally taxing.

We then went to three different rooms with sick kids and I had the opportunity to pray for a few and talk to different bomake (mums) and found another little girl named Tengetile! I told her about my little girl at the first orphanage we went to.. :)
Being there just further confirmed my heart for kids & orphans & babies! aand for nursing of course.. :) We were told to go to the maternity ward and see a European baby that had just been abandoned there. We didn't have time go unfortunately.. but this happens all the time here.

After that, we got our yellow fever shots for going to Malawi in a few weeks! (did i mention that outreach is just three weeks away? AH!) I was a little scared, and I'm normally good with needles! We had to convince one of my teammates to get hers between her tears of fear.

The week approaching we'll have around 24 people in the house! 10 extra people to cook for, clean for & share a washroom with :P It'll be an exciting week with really phenomenal speakers.. but really different for us at the base. The topic is on the Holy Spirit, then next week is on HIV/AIDS (the one i've been waiting for!) and the following week on Spiritual Warfare. Then......OUTREACH! We'll head to South Africa for two weeks at that point, then straight to Lilongwe, Malawi and most likely starting at a rural orphanage where the temperature gets up to 40-50ø!

The biggest need for my team right now is 1) Continued prayer for safety of the base - especially this weekend with all of our staff gone to South Africa for a small conference. 2) Prayer for health - it's been a continuous cycle of everyone being sick on and off, and though I was just finally feeling completely well from my sickness earlier on, I now feel something new coming on - this will be a really important prayer for us during outreach with the physical labour & emotional involvement we'll have in everything we do. 3) Fundraising for my outreach team. I am still needing a small portion of funds, and just about all of the rest of my team needs the majority of their funds for outreach. We also need living money for day-to-day expenses that don't necessarily fall under outreach expenses - which is my main need.

Thank you so much for your prayers, again!
I can't believe how fast time is going! I'll be blessed to be home again, but I am definitely blessed to be here and learn/experience the things that I am.
Love & Blessings,

your sisi,

Busisiwe :)

Kathryn, Mphumelelo & Siboniso on the porch of our home.

Susannah, Me, Andrea & Hlengiwe (Nini) at the Highschool Dance Competitions

"to love the least, to love the lost is to love Jesus."

firstly:
my deepest apologies for any who have been faithful in checking my blog for updates and to make sure i haven't fallen off the planet. thank you for your faithfulness, and especially for caring and praying. it means more than you know. intercession has far more power than we recognize.*

secondly:
i have no idea where to begin.
saturday upon saturday i have sat, blank-minded, but flooded with ideas of what to present in this sort of letter: torn between what's valid to present in a personal way, and what's best to be kept to a generalization for the sake of who may be reading this.

i guess i'll go ahead with however i've honestly felt over the last few weeks, regardless of who may be reading this.
i can't say enough of the value, struggle and beauty that's been thrust upon me in the last few weeks. although, being thrust upon would mean i didn't accept it fully, and that - would be a shame.
it's been a struggle with being sick for two weeks with what turned out to be seemingly just a bad cold (in african weather? no idea!). it started with nausea, a throat so swollen i could hardly eat.. and progressed to a typical sinus headache and bad cold. along with the sickness, i've had days of awful homesickness and the challenge that comes with what i'd call soul surgery.
i call it that because of what it does to a person internally. we've had quite a few speakers with topics about hearing God's voice, the Father Heart of God, Relationships, Submission & Authority. Along with learning about these things, comes putting them into practice. i've been challenged in a lot of areas of weakness, hurts of the past, mistakes & habits of the past, and just reshaping the paradigm of how i look at things - and especially how I view God.
i wouldn't take back a thing that i've learned, or one thing that i've been challenged to deal with - it's definitely been hard - but in a really really good way. it'll be a foundation that will set me for life, and a discipline that i hope will stand strong for good.. and just a love for my Maker that comes more alive every day.

other than what i've been learning, we've had short outreach trips once a week. they've been in a variety of places - i've already written about the first orphanage we went to. the following weeks have been cleaning up at a city event where the King was (i got to see him, his wives & the queen mum!), going into a nearby town and going door-to-door to talk and pray with villagers and going to the outskirts of Mbabane where it's the most povertous of this area and teaching a kid's bible club, making the kids a soccer field, repairing a widow's home, clearing tall grass & bushes, picking up/burning trash & helping some boMake wash their clothing. (bo=plural prefix/more than one, make (mog-ay) - mother). all have been unique and impacting in themselves - but the last two have stood out the most. the chance to go around talking to villagers was a huge blessing and a lot easier than i had anticipated. there were sick kids we got to pray with and one girl asked Jesus to be her saviour that day. :) we also just got to encourage local believers to be an influence in their area and pray with a grandma who is trying to sustain her orphaned grandchildren. with going to the outskirts of Mbabane, i witnessed a part of Swaziland that i didn't know existed. it fueled a deeper love for the country, and it was just an incredible balance of being Jesus' hands and feet in both serving practically/physically by manual labour and meeting needs, as well as providing teaching and love for the kids that will have a lasting impact.
God's really moving in Swaziland. i actually wouldn't be surprised to hear of a Swazi in Canada as a missionary. :)

another intriguing event of the last few weeks is my many proposals from Swazi men...... ..i'm completely kidding. it's not that intriguing. but completely true. men here can take more than one wife legally, so they propose on a fairly regular basis to complete strangers. for one - this week on the way home one afternoon - i was taking a kombi with a friend, and i suddenly felt something in my hair. i looked over to see the man next to me touching and playing with my hair! i asked him what he was doing, and he began to point out how long my hair is and how their hair doesn't grow like that. it was a funny and inescapable conversation - and eventually led to, "will you marry a swazi man?" and, "no, i'm sorry, i have a boyfriend in Canada." and, "i'm sure i could take you from him" ..... uuuuum. i was told next time to say that i'm already married to a swazi, and he payed two hundred cows for me. (aka.. i'm worth a lot, so he can't buy me.) i'd prefer to come back to canada unmarried, thanks!

what i was actually going to talk about, though, was a strange night the other week. it started with practicing a skit that we'd be doing at a church that sunday. we were practicing with our music loud, all in one room. the gate had been locked and the lights in the kitchen off. one of our staff members, matt, went into the kitchen after practice to get a drink, to a boy huddled in between the corner and the stove. he didn't know what to do, so he came back and told us that there was a strange man in the kitchen. we figured he was joking, but went to see anyway.. and lo & behold.... a street boy. ...in our kitchen.
it was scary and strange, yet heartbreaking. our swazi staff questioned him about who he is, where he came from, why he just walked into our house, how he got on the property, etc. and he lied through the majority of the questioning. we eventually got most of the truth out of him - but couldn't just release him from the base. there was the factor that if he was a street boy from the gangs in Mbabane, he may be one of the spies sent to scope out a house to see if there were valuables, easy access or a dog.. and later they would come back and rob us. the decision was to have him sleep on the lower level with petros & elizabeth. we gave him a shower, cut his long hair, gave him new pants, food and new shoes, and prayed over him in the morning before sending him with the police on the request that they would not beat him. he was then sent to manzini to an organization that looks after street kids and finds out about any family, etc he may have.
though it was easy just to think at first of the precautions we should be taking to lock the doors and get a dog - the fear isn't what stands out to me. it was the fact that this boy said that he felt he could come here.. and that he had no where else to go. regardless of why he came to the base.. i know God's got a plan, and i know that this boy will get a whole lot of prayer because of one choice.

if you could remember him, as well as the people in Motjane - where we went door to door in the village, and the kids in the outskirts of Mbabane.. please keep them in your hearts and prayers.
another request is just for the rest of my team - there are just 6 of us going on outreach on October 5th - and altogether, we all still have a fair amount of money to raise before the outreach portion of this trip will be possible. pray for my classmates & staff that still need provision in that way, and i definitely believe that support will come in!
if i haven't mentioned this already, our outreach will be in Malawi for 6 weeks, as well as Kruger, Drakensburg & Capetown, South Africa for a total about about 5 or 6 weeks.
and lastly, for a new building for YWAM Swaziland. the base will need to move to a new building because of certain complications before my school is over. when i come back from outreach, we'll be in a different building altogether.
lastly, continual prayer for the safety of the base. last night we had three men jump over the fence and try to break in while almost all of us were at a local youth group. just elizabeth & petros were home on the lower level with their little boys and it was a really scary time for them. BUT, God is good and watched out for our home! they didn't break in, nothing was stolen and everyone is safe.

again, my apologies for being MIA! i'll try to keep updating and have more current stories, miracles, whatever God decides to dish out while i'm here! remember to be love where you are!
thank you for your prayers again and for keeping in contact! always feel free to email me and i'll get back to you as soon as possible - i love letters, emails, whatever! LETTERS especially! :)
all my love,

Busisiwe by Nkulunkulu. :)
(blessed by God.)

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mailing address:

YWAM SWAZILAND
Angelie King
P.O. BOX 4823
Mbabane, H100
Swaziland

*it takes 2 weeks to 2 months for a letter to get here - so keep that in mind if you decide to write :)

ps: dre baby, sorry for swiping your quote! :) love yah!