Swaziland Missions Trip

There is so much to share about our recent mission to Swaziland . There are many stories to tell about the things we saw, experienced, and learned about the culture and people. In this article I would like to share with you something about the Pastor Solomon's school and the 9 men who went on this mission.

Some of the great news is that school's kitchen and cafeteria is under construction. From the picture you can see the foundation, some of the bricks and get a general idea about the size of this structure. We were able to see significant progress almost every day as they mixed cement for the foundation and started laying some of the bricks. Thanks to the entire congregation for your contributions. You have made this dream a reality for the students and staff at New Life International School .

Future Cafeteria: The trench for the foundation starts on the bottom left of this picture, goes clock-wise nearly to the building in the background, follows the bricks on the top-right and finishes just in front where the metal rebar is visible.

The other sharing are my observations about each of the 9 members on the mission:

Evan: He took a liking to all the very little children. He would be the one who sits and interacts with them, playing in the play ground, and even walking them home. He also led some worship songs during the Friday worship service and gave the kids some guitar lessons. Sometimes, Evan would be missing from the group, but always could be found sitting with one of the kids.

Donald: He was our soccer and basketball star and bike repair expert as well as worship dancer. He had his fan club of girl students who would always yell out “Donald”. He even had his own group of students cheering “Donald” during our USA vs. Swaziland soccer game. He also was part of the computer lab team along with Brett and Evan. He was always smiling and humored us by calling Mark “Mister Nagayama”.

Bob: Bob is Bob, what else can I say? He is essentially a kid in an adult body. When the rest of the team is having a meal together with Pastor Solomon, you'll find Bob eating with the kids. When Evan led the worship song “One Way, Jesus”, you would expect Don and Brett to assist in the hand and body motions, but you'll find Bob up there dancing as well. He earned the nickname of “Ma-puto-buto Bob”. He was told the name means “warrior” when translated into English, but we are not sure what it means. Bob was also a member of the Optometry team, assisted Jack for some of the dental work, one of the “kombi” drivers, and produced videos which are now available on You Tube.

Pastor Gary: He was our leader and kept the team focused and listened for each member's input. He would schedule our team meetings and discussions, decide on the following day's schedule, and provide the spiritual leadership and motivation through prayer. He also provided the Friday sermon at the school where he talked about persistence and not giving up.

Mark: He was the school Assistant-Principal who took responsibility to make sure the other 8 members were OK and no one was left behind when we went somewhere -- probably not much different from taking care of students on a field trip. When there was a crisis, he would take charge and make the decisions from input and his best judgment. He was the treasurer and controller making sure we kept within our budget. He also had the assignment of taking Pastor Solomon's teachers and staff on a shoe-shopping spree – something he said he actually enjoyed even though he normally hates shopping. These teachers work really hard and deserve this small reward. He was also one of the “kombi” drivers.

Brett: He was our computer guru and evaluated many computer related plans including the cost and feasibility of high-speed internet, networking the computers, and installing some educational and game software in the computer lab. He also was in charge of making sure the cell phones had the correct SIM cards so that they worked in South Africa and Swaziland . He interacted with the older students -- the 6 th and 7 th graders -- and presented the Sunday sermon at the school. After the sermon, Pastor Solomon was so impressed, he offered him a job at his school.

Jack: Jack was our dentist and was the member of the team who probably put in the most hours working. He examined, cleaned, and treated the teeth on about 50 children and staff. Jack did an incredible job with limited tools and equipment. He also instructed the children, teachers, and staff about taking care of their teeth with proper brushing and flossing and gave away over 400 kits containing a toothbrush, tooth paste, and dental floss. A special thank you to Chelsey Honma from Catalyst who provided book bags, crayons, and pencils in addition to some of the dental supplies as one of her Girl Scout projects. Some of the children as well as adults had teeth which were in very sad shape with a lot of tartar build up. Many had cavities where the entire top part of the tooth was decayed. Many had never been to a dentist before.

Dave: Dave was our optometrist. Our optometry plans were almost derailed by the Minister of Health (MOH) in Swaziland when he did not approve of our plan to provide free eye-care and glasses. After much prayer, we used a low key approach and were able to examine over 50 children, staff, and neighborhood residents. We were able to supply 23 people with glasses from the nearly 400 which were donated for our mission by you. The highlight of the exams was a 71 year old lady who lived in the neighborhood who was so happy when we fitted her with reading glasses. She said “I can now read my Bible!” That one patient made the day for the optometry team of Dave, Bob and myself.

Jim: My role seemed small compared to the others. I was the navigator getting us from location from location using the portable GPS, some maps of South Africa , and information provided by Mark from contacts in South Africa . I also was part of the optometry team with the responsibility of matching Dave's recommended eyeglass prescription with the nearly 400 available pairs of glasses. I also was able to fix or repair some things around the school such as door knobs, leaking pipes, loose bicycle chain, etc.

Thanks for everyone's support. We received a lot of thanks from everyone we visited in Swaziland , but that thanks really is the result of the generous support by you, the CBC congregation. So a big thank you to you all.