Last update: 01/07/2010

Mission Team News and Praise

Swaziland Mission Team - January 5-16, 2009

Monday - Team members Lydia Allen from Neuse River BC outside of New Bern, Wes, Teresa, and Erin Piner from Parkview BC in Morehead City, Tiffany Linquist from Florida and, who along with Erin, are students at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forrest, and Hartford Honeycutt and myself of Aurora FBC left my house in New Bern for the long trip to Swaziland.  Bayboro BC was kind enough to lend us their Church van for the trip to Washington D.C.  We flew from Dullas airport to Amsterdam and then on to Johannesburg.

Tuesday - We arrived in Johannesburg late Tuesday evening. The airport was pretty much shut down except for us. Our flight was uneventful, which is usually a good thing, except that one of my pieces of luggage did not make it. We spent the night in a motel in Jo'burg. Rarely has a horizontal sleeping position felt so good. Bless-ed horizontal sleep. No matter how much you sleep on a plane, it is just not the same. A shower was the next best thing. The place was quite nice and was only about $25 per person.

Wednesday - We left the hotel a little after 7:30 and went back to the airport to exchange our money and buy a few phone cards. If you will notice I said that we left a little after 7:30. It is because we have a couple of college students with us, Erin and Tiffany by name. I was ready on time but they were not. Sing with me - "God is so good, God is so good..." :) (Those of you who know me will know what this means.)

We went to a Mug and Bean Restaurant for breakfast and then to the Baby House. We had a great visit. Kate was there and not long after we arrived Don and Cheryl Allen came to see us. But guess who else was there? Stephanie Munholland from Canada. She has returned to work with the little ones once again. She is a blessing beyond description and is such a blessing to the Door of Hope Ministry. There were not as many babies there as before. Kate said that the current social workers at the hospital are heathen and do not want the babies subjected to religion unless it cannot be helped. Can anyone dispute the depravity of the fallen nature of man and the wicked and deceitful heart of those outside of Christ? Not me.

We arrived in Swaziland in the middle of a thunderstorm. The good news is that we breezed through customs at the border. The bad news is that there was no power at the Guest House when we arrived. But since the staff had already prepared the meal and the hot water heater still had plenty of reserve for showers - we were ok. We used kerosene lanterns until the electricity came back on, but shortly after supper the power line feeding our house went out. The rest of the complex had power so this meant that we could still take showers and eat. The only downside was the smell of burning kerosene along with the heat the lamps produced, and sleeping without our ceiling fans. Did I mention that there is no air conditioning here?

Thursday - HOT, HOT, HOT! It is so hot. We have just returned from VBS in Mgamudze, Prayer Walking Sessions in Thunzini, and construction work at Maloma. I have not seen a thermometer but I would swear it was lying if it said anything under 100. It is probably not that hot but our teaching sessions were inside the Thunzini BC building whose sides and top are tin. With the midday sun radiating with full force it is like an oven inside. Thankfully the good Saints of the Church installed windows a few years ago so it is not as hot as it could be. At least now the smell of roasting flesh is occasionally replaced with a waft of fresh air.

We ate supper with Wayne and Barbara at their house and met the new missionary couple Bert and Lisa Warren and their three children. Then we headed back to Thunzini for Revival Services. Wes and some of the rest of the Team went on to Mgamudze where he held a Bible Study. "...such singing you will hear, never heard by mortal ear..." How that building in Thunzini held up under all that Praise and Worship is beyond me. The roof, by all rights, should have blown completely off. These people sang, shouted, danced, prayed, wept, praised, and worshiped the Holy One for at least an hour and a half and showed no sign of slowing down. The building was packed out but no one was complaining. These people were seeking GOD and personal comfort was the last thing on their minds. Oh, what shame they bring on we Americans. The official start time was 6:30 and I think it was at least 9:30 before we left. I do not have the ability to do justice to the service with words. I took an hour of video. You will have to see it for yourself. Better yet, why not come over here and experience it for yourself? Jesus said, "Whenever you will, you may do them good." When will you?

Friday - 6am, up and at'em. We had a wonderful breakfast - yogurt, mango, peaches, apples, grapes, porridge, cereals, granola, and then out came the "cooked breakfast" of eggs, bacon (real bacon I might add) sausage, toast, and fried tomatoes. We will have to charter a cargo jet to get us back. Great day in class today. Wes and I finished up our teaching sessions on Prayer Walking. For our Prayer Walking exercise we divided up into two groups and struck out for the country side. We passed many homesteads and some very poor looking maze crops. I probably spent as much time praying for the crops as I did the people. Everywhere we went the people were staring at us - probably at me more than at the group. I guess it is seldom they see a white person walking down the paths that they have traveled so often rather than speeding by on the "tar" road. It was a good time and a hot one as well. The sun was relentless and I was very thankful that Wes had brought along a supply of Farm Bureau Insurance hats. We returned for a little rest, a shower, and then were off to Wayne and Barbara's for supper. Barbara and Lisa are quite the hostesses. We had spaghetti - American style. :)

We left for Revival Services, and when I say Revival Services, it is nothing like most of us have ever experienced. I thought last night was awesome, but it just keeps getting better. I don't know where our Lord is taking us but it has got to be awesome. Somebody once said that half of the fun is getting there. Well if that be true then I can tell you we are headed for a place that is beyond comprehension. Last night the house was packed and tonight it was even more packed. People young and old having absolutely the best time in the Lord. Singing to the top of their lungs, shouting, praising, worshiping, dancing, wiping sweat, and doing it all over and over again for close to two hours. You have to be stone cold dead not to be moved by being a part of this. To miss the Holy Spirit's presence has to be intentional. I feel so sorry for Saints who are satisfied with where they are spiritually. There is so much more than we know. These people have very little of this world's goods but they are rich in the things of God. You want to talk about Joy - don't even think about it. Come over here and experience it for yourself. Most of us would find out that we did not even know what it was. But - it is for you! Life, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost!

I preached from Mark 12:28-34 The greatest commandment of all. "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart..."

After I finished preaching, I turned it over to the Pastor Nkosingphile (I think). He extended the alter call and they cranked up the music again. This time they shifted the praise and worship into high gear. If the Pastor had not cut them off there is no telling how long they would have lasted. These people have no conception of time. Church is an event to them. "It ain't over till it's over." Shame on us America! I preached to a crowd, some of whom were sitting on the edges of their seats, staring me in the eyes, so hungry to hear a word from the Lord. O God, move mightily upon this people, and have mercy on spiritually bankrupt America. Maybe what is happening to us in the USA is a wakeup call. Have you heard our Lord's alarm clock in your spirit or are you in a deep sleep?

Three young ladies in either their late teens or early twenties were saved tonight. GLORY!!! That is what it is all about. "...and to the poor the Gospel is preached, and blessed is he who is not offended in Me." There are three young women that you will meet in the kingdom someday and they will come up to you and thank you for sending the Gospel to them. Bless everyone of you who made it possible for us to come.

Saturday - Up and at'em again. Same schedule as yesterday. VBS in Mgamudze, Church construction in Maloma, and classes in Thunzini. Erin is not feeling well so she stayed home today.  She was asleep when we left and was still asleep when Wes and I returned in the afternoon. The Prayer Walking classes ended yesterday so Wes and I had ask them what they wanted to talk about today. Wes' presentation was on the Promises of God and how we can always stand on the Truth of the Word of God, because His Word is Truth. They also wanted to talk about backsliding, a subject Wes handled very well. I talked about the marriage relationship and how God intended for it to work and the responsibilities he had given to each person. We had intended to go out with the Saints either Prayer Walking or doing some homestead visitation but it had begun to rain and looked as if it was settling in for the day.

Revival services were a little less well attended tonight than the previous two nights. The steady rain, which the people received as a wonderful blessing from the Lord, kept some from coming. Many of these people walk between 3 and 5 miles to Church and some of them elected to stay home. The Church was still full, it was just not packed to capacity. We had a goooooooood time Praising and Worshiping. Few or many, these people get into it. What a time. O what a time.

I preached from Acts 13:21-23 "A man after God's own heart." And Matthew 18:21-35 "Forgiveness."

It was so foggy on the way home that we had to slow down to about 10 mph at one point.  The rain made for a messy night, but it was much needed and it is what we had been praying for, and our Lord kept us safe.  Thank you Lord!

Sunday - Up and at'em for our final day of Ministry. The VBS Team conducted Commencement Services at Mgamudze, and Wes preached the Worship Service message. The VBS Team made up of Erin, Lydia, Teresa, and Tiffany brought with them Jonah and the Whale outfits with which the children put on a play that the Church in Mgamudze will never forget.  They also marched around the walls of Jericho (the interior of the Church) blowing horns and having an awesome time.  I only heard about it, but the Team was so excited by what they were able to accomplish in this tiny impoverished community.  These people will never forget the Team from America.

Our crowd at the Thunzini Church was the smallest yet as many of the Saints who have been coming to the Revival are from other Churches. They attended their own Assemblies for the Morning Worship Services.  I preached on "The Bus Ride to Hell" using Luke 19:11-27 as a text - "Those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."  I talked about our evangelistic efforts and how different people respond to different approaches.  Some like the rebels of Luke 19 need to be scared out of hell, while some like "the woman at the well" just need to hear the Truth.  Others like Mary Magdalene need to know that God loves them and that somebody cares, while others like "the woman taken in adultery" need to have compassion shown to them.  Some like "the Rich Young Ruler" will reject the Truth no matter how it is presented.

Sunday evening saw a packed house. And when I say a packed house I mean packed, literally like sardines in a can. The pews in this Church building are actually benches with no back. As the Service shifted into high gear and the people kept coming in, they moved all of the benches as far forward as possible and put them so close together the your knees were touching the rear of the person sitting in front of you. They had a version of our pews lining the two side walls of the building and people were sitting on the backs of the pews while others sat on the seats. A fire marshal in the US would have hauled us all to jail, but it would have taken a tractor trailer. There were well over 100 people in that building. It is about half the size of our auditorium at FBC Aurora, but it suited them perfectly. In fact, I think they like it that way. No one left. Imagine if you can, approximately 130 people, jammed in a tin building, and singing at the tip of their voices. And when I say singing at the top of their voices, I'm talking turning their faces toward heaven, opening their mouths wide open, and cranking the volume to the max. Throw in a group of people that are in unison and one accord when it comes to unashamedly worshipping the Lord, and you have an atmosphere that will bring life to the coldest of Saints.  No one is looking to see who is looking.  They are all into it.  This truly is a House of Worship.

I preached from Luke 7:19-23 "Are You the one, or should we look for someone else?"  We continued our "bus ride to hell" and talked about our Lord's desire to get you off of that bus and onto the one going to Heaven.  I turned the service over to the Pastor who preached some more.  As the service wound down we said our good-byes, took a few pictures, loaded up the van a headed for home... the Guest House, that is.  But... you can never go straight home as you will always have a load of folk who need a ride.  Sometimes you may have to drop off one load and come back for another as Wayne did.  We made some new friends and reacquainted with some old ones.  What a joyful reunion we will have in the Kingdom.

Monday - Our ministry time is over and I would love to have slept in this morning, but that was not to be as the "tourist spirit" in the Team kicked in.  We traveled to Manzini and went to a couple of the tourist traps for some curios.  We met Missionaries Monica and Steve Allen at the Calabash Restaurant for lunch.  Dumisa, one of our old friends from our Manzini BC construction days (1999 & 2000) found out that we were coming to Manzini and wanted us to stop by for a visit.  He works at a grocery store next to one of the shopping stops we were making so Wayne called him and he came out for a short visit.  Later that afternoon he called Wayne to say that the Manager had just called all of the staff together and told them that the store was closing and they were all out of a job.  He asked for our prayers.  You too can pray for him right now.  :)

We returned to the Guest House where a braai had been prepared for us, the Myers, and the Warrens.  Last year Chris and his wife joined us for this same meal, but this year he and his family are in Zambia where he is building a home with the intention of returning to his homeland and raising his family in the Zambian culture.  We spent the rest of the night packing and getting ready to leave in the morning.

Tuesday - Up and at'em for our last breakfast at the Guest House.  (These people get up way too early ~ "before one can know another")  Off we go, headed for Kruger Game Park.  Our route takes us through Mbabane, Swaziland's capital.  We stop there for a few snacks for the road.  Leaving there we make a curio shopping stop at the Ngwenya Glass Factory.  Over the years the Glass Factory has expanded and there are other shops there as well.  There is one shop that makes wooden rocking horses.  They are absolutely awesome to behold but are also quite pricy.  Some of them are as much as $3k.  No way would I buy one.  If I paid that much for a rocking horse I would dare any kid to come within 10 feet of it.  :)  (In love and in a Christ like way, of course.)  Crossing the border into South Africa, we rode for several hours to Malalane where we stopped at the Spur Fast Food Restaurant for lunch.  Tiffany had quite a time getting her lunch.  It seems that the young lady waiting on her could not get her order right and had a bit of an attitude as well.  (The Saints are tested every day.)  Arriving at Kruger we stopped at the first bridge to check out the hippo's and the Cape Buffalo.  A little further on we came across a pack of African Wild Dogs.  They are aptly named "Wild", for they are ruthless and merciless.  They are generally elusive creatures and you don't see them very often.  This is only the second time I have seen them in Kruger.  We also saw impala, zebra, wildebeest, and elephants.  Did I mention elephants?  We happened upon a bull elephant and he came within 15 feet of our van and gave us the sniff test.  We spent the night in the Skukuza Camp in the game park.  Some of the Team went on the night drive but I decided just to hang out at the Camp and chill.  We went to the Camp restaurant for supper.  It has a nice buffet.  You can also get grilled lamb.  I ordered a plate full for the group, but ended up eating most of it myself.  I don't think most of the Team was as enamored with it as I was.  It is far better than what you can get in the US, unless you buy it and cook it yourself.

Wednesday - Up and at'em for a day of cruising the Game Park and letting the animals check out some really wild humans.  All but me got up early and went for a morning drive but I opted to sleep in.  We drove to the Bayabob Tree which cannot be adequately described.  You will just have to come over and see it for yourself.  This bayabob tree is the southernmost one on the continent of Africa.  We saw several of hawks, water buck, Cape buffalo, wart hog, giraffe, zebra, ducks, baboons, eland, hippopotamus, crocodile, elephant, turtle, spring bock, and many species of birds.  Back to the camp for some shopping, internetting, and supper.  One of these days I would like to spend an extra day in the park and spend it at the Camp - just chilling - reading, sitting by the river, studying the Word, Prayer Walking, doing absolutely nothing that entails rushing.  But alas - I dream.  Spent the last part of the evening packing for our return home.

Thursday - Up and at'em for our return to Johannesburg to catch our flight home.  On our way out of the park we saw three baby giraffes.  We saw lots of other animals that get surprisingly commonplace in a very short time.  We made a pit stop at the Park Gate where we took group photos.  I have a photo of Tiffany and Erin making their way through elephant dung that appeared to have been deposited the night before.  Such is the life of Game Parkers - but it is time to get back to reality.  We stopped for brunch at a Mug & Bean Restaurant in the Riverside Mall which is "somewhere" in South Africa.  The wait staff at the restaurant put several tables together for us so we could all sit together.  I was sitting between Tiffany and I do not remember who, as I lost track of all such things given what was about to happen.  Remember I said it was brunch.  Some of the Team ordered breakfast, some ordered lunch, and some ordered a combination of the two.  Tiffany ordered a salad.  I remember no one else's order, not even my own.  We were all engaged in the usual chit chat while waiting for and eventually receiving our food.  As Tiffany is eating her salad she discovers a caterpillar on the back side of one of the pieces of lettuce in her bowl.  We later surmise that while it was not moving it may have still been alive but just not moving due to the cold temperatures that the lettuce was kept at.  Anyway, after and initial "O my gosh", she calmly removes the offending piece of lettuce, places it in a bread dish beside her plate, and continues to eat her salad.  In less than a minute the manager just happens to walk by asking about our food.  I told him that everything was great except for the worm in Tiffany's salad.  I wish you could have seen the look on his face.  It was priceless.  Anyway, to make a long story short, she got her food for free.  The manager, however, took the caterpillar with him.  He did offer Tiffany a new salad but she said that it would be fine and she could just check it out as she ate.  She ate the rest of the salad, but I noticed that she carefully turned over each piece of lettuce before eating it.  One of the key words in Missions is "Flexibility".  Tiffany definitely has this trait as she is flexible even when she doesn’t have to be.  I am ever learning.  Thanks Tiffany.  We spent the next several hours completing our journey to Jo'burg.  We went to Cambono's for a little curio shopping.  They have the quality stuff there - and the prices to go with it.  We wanted to go to the Carnivore for supper but we were a little pressed for time so we went to a restaurant that Wayne knew about called The Steakery.  One more last African food throw down before we struck out for home.  The bus that we rented to transport us back and forth was very nice and relatively new and a pleasure to drive.  We took good care of it and hoped to return it undented, unscratched, and right side up.  Unfortunately about two hours outside of Jo'burg something hit the windshield and cracked it.  Thank you Lord for insurance!  Our flight was a late one, 10:50pm, so the airport was not nearly as crowded as it normally is.  We made it through check-in and Customs in just a few short minutes.  Our flight to Amsterdam was uneventful - Thank you Lord.  It was in the airport at Amsterdam that we learned of the flight out of New York that crashed into the Hudson River.  Everyone was glued to the tv monitors.  Watching plane crash news while waiting to board one is not necessarily uplifting, but it does tend to stimulate one's Prayer Life.

Friday – Leaving Amsterdam in the morning, we arrive late in the afternoon at Dullas in Washington, DC to frigid temperatures.  They are quite a switch from the 90+ temps of Africa.  Wes drove to the NC border and I took us the rest of the way.  Hartford sat in the front seat and talked "loudly" to me much of the way.  Thank you Lord!  I was sooooo tired.  You see Dear Ones there are many ways to minister and to be used of the Lord.  Something as simple as keeping someone company can be ministry.  This is an awesome Team and I would go with them anywhere.

Side note:  Evidently the Praising and Worshiping during the revival at Thunzini BC was too much for the building.  There was a storm a couple of weeks later that blew the roof completely off of the building.  They have no money, so Wayne and Barbara paid for the new roof.  It cost approximately $450.  If you would like to contribute to this just send a check to FBC of Aurora, PO Box 88, Aurora, NC  27806 and I will forward it on to them.  I am not trying to take away a blessing from them, but they can use the money for similar situations in the future.  "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven..."

Teresa Piner's e-mail:

Hi, I hope you are well. We have been going very hard, combining what would normally be 2 work days into one. VBS in the morning and revivals at night. It's been wonderful. Wes has been teaching Bible classes in the mornings and revivals at night. He has been awesome. We feel your prayers and thank you so much for them. At VBS there was supposed to be someone to cook for the children but some kind of miscommunication made us resort to giving the children extra cookies (they are called biscuits but they are cookies) and juice, before sending them home. :( By the last day we finally got our cooks and all the kids had beans and rice which they were so excited about. We have had some lively, to say the very least, revivals. Barbara and Albert would have a time w/the enthusiasm from these people! The singing would go on for hours. We have been sleeping well, not much, but very well.

We have met a wonderful couple w/3 kids that are new to the mission field and boy, does God have a plan for them! They are just surrendered vessels that were so inspiring to us. The Warrens are from around Roanoke Rapids NC! Can you believe it!!! North Carolina is just full of saints.

Mike Huffman has been preaching and teaching in a different church than Wes. (Thunzini). Lydia Allen (a saint from New Bern) and I have been teaching VBS. (Mgamudze) The first day we went from homestead to homestead to be sure everyone knew that we were going to be there for the week. This was quite a cultural event. It went well but it was @105 degrees. I used sunscreen but had to reapply every 5 minutes due to sweating it off. I have gotten a nice burn but it will probably be peeled off by the time we are home. (A little extra info there) :)

Well, I guess this is plenty long. Sorry and keep praying for us. We love you all!

Thanks,

Teresa