A Day at the Clinic

Here's a new video of what a day at the clinic with the Luke Commission is like.

The Last Two Clinics

Our third clinic was at a school named Vusweni. It was truly an incredible drive into the mountainous part of Swaziland, with incredible scenery everywhere. When we got to the clinic, we got to see the school kids sing a few songs for us. It's amazing how entire schools of kids in Swaziland can sing together in unison. Then it was off to giving medical care to the school kids. After seeing all of the kids and the adults, we got to give out two special things. First, throughout the day we got to give out some wonderful homemade baby blankets. We brought a duffle bag of blankets provided from a group of hospital volunteers in Nebraska, which fit perfectly in the more mountainous and cold part of the country. The other thing we got to give out is Bibles. One of the goals of the Luke Commission is to provide a Bible to every homestead in Swaziland. They grouped together the people into homesteads and whether they have a SiSwati (the Swazi language) or English Bible, and provide whatever they need. It was a blessing to provide the Word of God to the Swazi people.

The last clinic we did was at a school in Esulutane. This was back in the eastern part of Swaziland which is flat and more barren. It was a bit more developed than some of the other care points – it actually had a merry-go-round, something you seldom see in Swaziland. Our kids got to give the kids rides, usually with our kids in the middle pushing and about 25-30 students riding on the outside. We also got to give out pencils and jolly ranchers which we brought along with us. One of the most incredible things and two of the saddest things happened at this carepoint. The parents and the kids have the option of getting an HIV test before the doctors see them. One of the kids was tested who was 15 months old and was positive for HIV. That was just crushing – someone so young now essentially condemned to likely die before she became teenager. Second, we went to another home visit. This was at the home of a man who lived alone. His lungs didn't work very well because he had tuberculosis. One of the complications of his severe lung disease is that his liver had stopped working. In the US, he could potentially get all of this treated. In Swaziland, all we could do is give him some medicines to make him feel better for a while, but wouldn't ultimately get him well. Fortunately, the night ended with one of the biggest blessings in the trip. We had finished giving out Bibles to the people waiting when we heard a noise in one of the buildings. Some of the Swazis had started a spontaneous worship service on one of the buildings after getting God's Word. You could just feel God was in the room with them. It was such a beautiful moment.

Counting the Cost

Swaziland is a country with a mix of Christianity and traditional ancestral religions. One of the things that the Vanderwal's told us is that witchcraft is as common in Swaziland as materialism is in the USA. We did see many places where products for witch doctors were sold and where their craft was practiced. Obviously, witchcraft and Christianity can't really work together.

One of the workers with the Luke Commission is named Sipho. We call him "big Sipho" as opposed to one of the other workers, "little Sipho." He actually was on the Swazi national soccer team, so he's definitely big. He's a very kind hearted man who truly has a heart to see people in his country come to know Jesus. If there's anything that needs to be done for the group, he does it, from driving to setting things up, to translating for the doctor. When we went to visit his homestead, we got to meet his wonderful family as well. We also got to see a few of the gravesites on the premises, one for his brother and one for his daughter.

Sipho had become a Christian and went to work for the Luke Commission. Sometime after that, his brother became married to a witch doctor. When the witch doctor learned that Sipho was a Christian and was working for a Christian organization, she got mad. She started poisoning his four-year old daughter. For a few days, she got sicker and sicker until she finally died. I'm sure Sipho was very angry, but he didn't speak out against her, since it was his brother's wife, and it would be disrespectful. His brother eventually died of AIDS. In Swazi culture, when the husband dies, the wife has no claim on anything in the family, so they kicked Sipho's brother's wife out of the homestead. In his culture, I'm sure Sipho must have had to think hard about staying committed to Christ and the Luke Commission, but he did stay.

The death of Sipho's daughter is truly tragic. I can't imagine his pain, especially since I have two daughters of my own. He remained committed to serving those he loved in his country despite losing his daughter. It reminds me so much of the love of another Father who loved me so much that he gave his son, Jesus, up to die. I want to have that kind of level of commitment to Jesus – one that stays strong despite any hardship because of my love for God and others.

The Beautiful Swazi People

Manzini

Manzini is a very unique city. It is the economic and transportation capital of the country of Swaziland. It is also the home of the only airport in Swaziland. The city itself is fairly sprawling and full of lots of what I would call little shacks for homes. We were fortunate to live in a Seventh Day Adventist guest house that had two bedrooms, a living area, and a kitchen. One day we got to take a short walk to the Vanderwals. It seems like everyone had a roadside stand in that small stretch, including fruit (lots of oranges and avocados), peanuts, chips, pop and other assorted goods. We walked past the local hospital and the Nazarene school. You can tell lots of workers by the blue suits they wear. There are also lots of dogs in Manzini and in other areas we saw, but rarely were they as pets. Evidently there are packs of dogs which roam the country and city. Manzini is perhaps best known for its local market. Now it's not like the kind of market here in the states. It's much more like a massive"farmer's market" except with all kinds of goods. There's a downstairs with all kinds of produce being sold. The upper level of the main market is more like a tourist's playground with all kinds of curios and trinkets available for sale. The rest of the market is full of a variety of people selling clothes, tin, baskets, and other things. There's also a few shops set up where witch doctors sell their wares, including the stuff needed to do their work and others to actually do the spells in the market. Thinking of the various things in town, a few come to mind. First is the trash. I don't know why, but it seems like there's no such thing as trashcans in Manzini. The other thing is smoke. When they do something with the trash, it's usually burning it. Despite this, there is such beauty in the surrounding community as the city is surrounded by rolling mountains. The people are also so kind and gentle. They are always smiling, laughing, and easy to get along with. It's a city mixed in goodness and darkness. Pray for the city and the people in the city, that God would continue to shine his light there.

Operation Christmas Child

This is a video Andy made from distributing the Christmas Child boxes. It's also his first attempt at making a video!

Our Second Clinic

Our second clinic was at a new location for the Luke Commission, but was familiar for us. We visited the Mahlabeneni care point that our church sponsors and where we have a child we support through Children's Hope Chest. The area driving to the care point is beautiful, with mountainous ridges and green sugar cane fields. Unfortunately, where the care point is located is also in one of the poorest sections of Swaziland. As we drove up the dirt road, it struck us how barren and almost desert-like the area at the care point was, with lots of rocks and brown and yellow grass. The care point didn't consist of much – a brick kitchen, a water tower, and a covered tin area used for a church. Surrounding it were several homesteads, the areas that entire Swazi families live. So we set up the clinic and started seeing people like the previous clinic, but with less people. Evidently, there are usually smaller numbers the first time the Luke Commission visits a place because the people aren't sure they can trust the doctors. After one clinic in a location, the word spreads that the doctors are trustworthy and the medicines work, and the numbers grow by word of mouth.

After seeing patients for about an hour, we were asked to go see some people in their homes by the local pastor, Themba. The first home was truly heartbreaking. We visited a man who was 36 and had cerebral palsy. He could not move his legs and they were essentially folded up underneath him in a kneeling position. To get around, he had to use his arms and pull himself. He also had some mental delays, so he needed help caring for himself. Unfortunately, all of his family had died and he was left to himself. He had a wheelchair near his home, but it was bent up and broken. Fortunately, the local sugar cane plant decided to sponsor him, so he had someone who would come to his house daily to help him with food and getting around. Still, he spent most of his days sitting outside his hut with nobody around. We did what we could for his medical problems and hopefully will be able to get him a "bush-ready" wheel chair which the Luke Commission has coming. At our second stop, we say a lady who had shingles on her face which kept her from getting out of the house. It also blurred her vision, so we referred her to the eye doctor in Manzini, the town we are based in. We also met Christiana, a boy who was about Caleb's age. He and Caleb started up a quick game of soccer and he came with us back to the care point.

When we reached the care point, we got to do a special thing – hand out Operation Christmas Child boxes to the kids. If I have ever been a Scrooge about doing the boxes, the experience I had will never let me be one again. The kids all get in line and get a box based on approximate age and gender. They all sit in a small area and are told they are getting the box from people overseas who want them to know that Jesus loves them. They then all get to open at the same time. The looks on their faces was priceless! Kids were shouting for joy for everything they got, lifting it in the air for everyone to see. Everything from underwear to shirts to pencils got loud yells. It was truly amazing to see their gratitude for a small box of prizes and to know that it was used to express God's free gift to them in Jesus.

One special thing about the day was that we got to see Caleb's sponsor child, Lwazi. He was a very sweet fourteen year old who Caleb hit it off with easily. Caleb was able to talk to him a bit through an interpreter, give him a Christmas Child box, and give him some clothing. It was a real blessing to meet him, and will make our prayers for him much more vivid and real. All told, we saw about 280 patients that day and left knowing that we provided clothing, healthcare, and lots of joy to the care point. We pray that as more gets built and Pastor Themba continues to preach, more lives will be

changed there.

The Local Hospital

The day after clinic is spent restocking the supplies for the clinics. We spend time filling up bins with clothes and filling small bags with individual portions of pill and medicines to give out. We also had the opportunity to go to the local hospital. Hospitals there are certainly nothing like hospitals in the US. Patients are put in wards of beds with many patients in one large room. The pediatrics wing has a few extra rooms with one for malnutrition and a few rooms for tuberculosis patients, although they really weren't "isolated" the way we would isolate them in the US. It was hard to believe that there are rooms in the hospital just for malnutrition, something rarely seen back home. We also met a boy nicknamed Lucky. He was 14 and had been in and out of the hospital for skin grafting and healing from a burn he suffered two years ago. He was in his hut and the petrol (gas) had leaked from one of the canisters in the hut. When his sister lit a candle for light, there was an explosion and Lucky was burned severely. With the amount of skin area he was burned over, he was indeed lucky to have survived. He has undergone several skin grafts since then and now is near leaving the hospital. We also met and prayed with a severely malnourished boy who was 12. I don't think any of us have ever seen someone so thin in our lives. He didn't even have

the strength to put food in his mouth. Wendy was able to feed him some of his meal and he even smiled a bit. We could see Jesus in that boys face. After visiting the hospital, we realized that God can work in all kinds of places in many different people and circumstances.

Our First Clinic

We went to our first clinic in Swaziland with the Luke Commission at Madubeni. This is a local village with a primary school where we were set up. It's amazing that the trucks and trailers are able to survive the trip on the long bumpy dirt roads. We pulled in to the school and there were well over a hundred beautiful children looking out at us. There were also lots of adults waiting for us when we arrived. The Swazi workers with the team started setting up the clinic while the kids started lining up for a check-up. We went through the lines and lines of kids, checking them for scabies, ringworm, and hair fungus. We then proceeded to have the kids come get some clothing. Wendy, Caleb, and Hannah took kids one by one to fit them in the clothing items. Several of them were shoeless, so we were blessed to give them shoes. There were also several kids who weren't students at the school who we gave clothes out to. One of the little toddlers only had on a shirt – no shoes, no pants – and we were able to give him both. We spent about 3 hours as the kids came in one by one giving out clothing to hundreds of kids. As the kids left with their new item of clothing and a bible comic book that Rachel handed out to each one, many of them were smiling and so thankful for just one item of clothing. After this we started the adult medical clinic. The people were divided into two groups, those with eye problems and those without, who could go straight into the medical line. The eye patients got their eyes screened on a basic eye chart and then, if abnormal, had them checked with an auto-refractor, which can tell any eye problems. A computer program was able to print out a "prescription" which was them plugged into another program to get a number for a set of eyeglasses which were given to the patient. On the medical side, people lined up for some basic tests – blood pressure, pulse, and blood sugar. They were also offered an HIV test, many of which accepted. Patients then came into another room where they were told about Jesus and offered a chance to pray for salvation. They then went to see the doctor – either Dr. Vanderwal or Andy – with the help of a translator. Their medical record consisted of a 3x5 card with symptoms on the front along with test results, and medicines to be prescribed on the back. If they were HIV positive, they were given a referral to a regional HIV and had some more testing done. After being seen, they were sent to the pharmacy room, where Wendy and the kids helped a Swazi named Themba give out medicines from prepackaged containers. Everyone then had the chance to watch The Passion of the Christ with another Swazi translating. After everything was done, we packed up for the drive back home. All told, we left at about midnight and got back at 2 AM after seeing 614 patients. It was an exhausting day, but a real blessing to know we had blessed the people with the love of Christ.

Arrival

I wanted to get some blogs out while we were in Swaziland or the few days in South Africa, but lack of internet kept us from doing so. So we wrote the blogs and are posting them now.

We made it to Swaziland safe and sound. It was a long couple of flights – first 9 ½ hrs from Denver to London. After an 8 hour layover in London, we flew 11 hours to Johannesburg and hung out in the airport for 5 hours. Finally, we flew a small twin-propeller plane to Manzini. There we met the Vanderwal's, the people running the Luke Commission, after going through customs. They are such a nice family of six (8 year old triplets and a five year old) who have an incredible ministry here. We drove to their house and met some of their help, and one precious little girl named Susanna. She is a beautiful little Swazi girl that the Vanderwal's took in as she had been abandoned at the local hospital. They had heard from their local sources that her mother had left here there, but they didn't know much about the mom. They know that Susanna was on HIV meds after birth because they didn't know the HIV status of the mom. There is a social work program at the hospital for babies like Susanna, but it can take quite a while for an adoption to go through. There's evidently about 2 or 3 babies abandoned a week here, so there is certainly a strain on the system. The Vanderwal's took her in and will take care of her until she is adopted. That's on top of taking care of their own four kids, as well as their staff of 10 Swazis and a nurse staying with them. Fortunately, we will be able to care for her and even have her at nights. Pray for Susanna, that she would be HIV negative, that a good Christian home would adopt her, and that she would grow up to be a woman of God.