Bible Study at Sympathy Church

Sympathy Baptist Church is a very rural church. It does not even have a building. The people gather in a small shack used for grinding corn. On Tuesday afternoons I do a children's bible study there. One week, the girls from soccer practice decided to all ride with me to the bible study. It was a very blessed time as the older youth played with the children of that area.





In the background is the bilding where the church meets on Sundays.

Easter in Swaziland '08

Watching "The Passion of the Christ" at a homestead
at Hawane.



The children made cross necklaces at Easter services.



The Hawane youth choir at Easter services.

Peanut

Lacie and Peanut on the hammock.

Vacation to Egypt

In front of the Cairo Museum.

March and April

Back:
I saw the doctor in Joburg and he said the scar on my back is healing normally. I am able to run now and, even though I am technically not supposed to play sports for another week, I played ultimate Frisbee on Sunday and everything was ok. There is absolutely no pain.

Easter Services:

There was a good turnout of about 200 people. Julia and I had the children for at least 2 hours each day. We used a combination of stories and drama to tell of Christ’s death and resurrection. We also taught them some new games like 4 corners.

Some doctrinal confusion was revealed during the services, for instance speaking in tongues. I think as a result of watching televised Pentecostal services)

Meetings:

The morning after Easter services we left for Joburg for a big regional meeting (AMTM). There were over 500 missionary adults and children there with the IMB from all over southern Africa. The meetings were surprisingly interesting and helpful to my ministry. It was nice to here about what things work for other people and what doesn’t so that I can learn from their mistakes. After the AMTM was single’s retreat. This was for all the single missionaries from the 20-somethings to the 60+ group. I was just excited to see my friend Jena who works in Uganda. After a week and a half of living out of a suitcase I was ready to come back to Swaziland.

Peanut:

The day we left Joburg I fell in love. His name is Peanut and he is about 9in high and about a foot and a half long. He’s a reddish brown 3 year old dachshund. A missionary family is going stateside for a few months and was giving him away. Julia and I jumped at the offer.

School Break:

School break starts April 18 and lasts about 3weeks. Weekends and school breaks are my busiest times since that’s when the students are not in school. I’m trying to figure out what to do during this school break. I’m still in the planning stages of partnering with a high school to starting a girl’s soccer team. I know how Kingdom values can be easily incorporated into sportsmanship. I’m really hoping and praying that this soccer team works out. Athletics (maybe not so much soccer, but that’s what is big here) is an area where God has gifted me and I want to use that gift for Him.

Also, lately I’ve been looking into a “Reach for Life” book to see if the 40 lesson study that accompanies the book would be a good thing to do in Swaziland. Please pray that God will make clear what He wants me to do in my future ministry, specifically school break.

Finally:

I’ve entered another phase of homesickness lately. I think mostly because I’m missing out on my older sister’s wedding planning: important stuff, like picking out her wedding dress, that I always thought that I would be there for.

Pics of Christmas and MK Camp

Swazi team on Christmas Day


Me decorating our Christmas tree


The Power Puffins. Don't we look intimidating?

Christmas, New Years, and Prayer Requests

News letter on Christmas and New Years

My Christmas was really good. Christmas Eve a bunch of people went to a couple’s house who I’m friends with. The wife goes to a lady’s Bible study I attend. So, there were a lot of people from the study along with their families and some neighbors. The food was good and I had fun. Christmas Day Julia and the Allen’s came to the house and we had biscuits and gravy. Then Julia and I started opening presents. All of them were from her family. I still haven’t received the boxes my family sent me. I thought it was nice that her family sent me stuff. It was like lotions and other little things, but it was still thoughtful. Then the whole team had lunch at our house. I was busy cooking even though everyone brought food. I made a big pot of mashed potatoes, salad, and corn. It was a lot of fun. I liked having people of all different ages, including kids, because then it was more like a family atmosphere. We did a gift exchange.

The day after Christmas I left for Joburg. I worked MK (missionary kid) camp about an hour west of Joburg. There were about 60 kids whose parents are missionaries with our company. They came from all over Southern Africa including Madagascar and other Indian Ocean islands. I stayed in a room with seven 13 year old girls. Half of which were incredibly boy crazy, but they were so much fun. We had some late nights and I was completely exhausted by the end of the 4 days, but I loved every minute of it. I’ve only gone to basketball camps, one volleyball, and once 4-H camp. So, it was like church camp/ summer camp for me. I had to keep reminding myself that it was MK camp, not Kimber camp. I played sports with them and everything. (By the way, you can stop laughing about me going to 4-H camp. It was cool at the time.) My sport’s team was the Power Puffins (I didn’t choose the name). We never won an event, but we did win the spirit hippo one day. I had to suppress my competitive side a bit. Apparently not everyone is as set on winning as I am (that might be an understatement).

I asked around and there aren’t any Christmas or New Year traditions that are much different from how they are celebrated in the US. One person told me that they got the holidays from the British, so they celebrate them much like the British. However, there are a few things that are different. Christmas seems to be celebrated more like Thanksgiving – a family day with feasting. Some teenage girls I talked to that live in a semi-rural area were excited about getting to have rice and meat. Easter is the big Christian holiday (as it probably should be in the US). For Christmas, people do exchange gifts, but it’s on a much smaller scale then how Americans do it. There are little decorations too. As you know, Christmas and New Years occur in the summer time here, so braai’s (aka bbq’s) are big on those days. It seems that they are both family holidays with good food and dancing. Also, I think that the ways the Swazi people celebrate these holidays also depends on how westernized they are. Those in the cities are more likely to have a Christmas tree and get more into presents. Many of the Christians go to church on Christmas and later meet to pray in the New Year as well. There is a small influence of Santa Claus. He is known as Father Christmas and is popular mostly with the whites from South Africa.

Also, the church I attended the Sunday before Christmas had a special party. They borrowed a large tent, had a decorated Christmas tree, did a nearly church wide gift exchange ( I was elected to stand up front and call out (struggle through) the names on the gifts), then had a huge braai afterwards. The bbq chicken was so good.

One more thing. I doubt this is the case everywhere, but in one area this happened. Some of the people in the community committed to giving a little bit of money each month to a pot. Then a couple days before Christmas someone went to town and bought a whole bunch of food so that each family would be able to have a good Christmas meal. I thought that was neat and smart, because a lot of times the Swazis are not good at saving money.
Sorry it took me so long to get this out. I’ve been very busy lately. Please pray for the following:

- Monica and her pregnancy
- Safe travels for me as I take vacation in Cairo Feb 10-21
- My doctors appointment on Feb 21

As always you can view pics on my blog Kimber-swazitales.blogspot.com.
Thanks, Kimber