The Swaziland Experience

Hi Everyone,

This is the first in a series of updates about my trip to Africa. I don’t know how often I’ll be able to send updates, but hopefully a couple times per month. If you don’t want my updates, let me know (or if you’d feel badly about that, you can set up a filter to get rid of emails with a subject that starts with [Tim Update]).

On Saturday, I’ll be leaving for Africa. I will be there for about seven and a half months for international missions and volunteer work. I arranged the trip through a missions group called Operation Mobilization (OM), and I’ll be partnering with a church group in Swaziland. Swaziland is a small country about the size of New Jersey that is land-locked between South Africa and Mozambique in southeast Africa.

I’ll be working with a group that goes into the community and does home-based care for AIDS patients. I’ll know better soon what this will look like for me on a daily basis, but there is wonderful information if you click on “AIDS Ministry” at this web link: http://www.swazimission.co.za/English/.

Thanks for your prayers! As many of you know, I was having some difficulty with my final placement through OM South Africa, but so many people continued to pray. On Friday, October 5th, I was very discouraged that no solid plans had been set, and I didn’t even know where in southern Africa I would be heading. People continued to pray and pray, and within a week, all of my trip details came together beautifully. I really believe that this was God’s hand placing me in Swaziland. Thanks for your prayers!

Please continue to pray! I know that I will rely so heavily on prayer from friends and family to give me the strength I need while in Swaziland. Please pray especially for:
- Emotional and spiritual preparation for my trip
- How I will deal with being so far from the people I love, and how they will deal with it as well
- Cultural adjustment to my new surroundings
- Cultural sensitivity and awareness for me in Africa
- An appropriate view of the global church and my role
- Flexibility for God to use me in whatever way He desires (which might be very different than what I am anticipating)
- That God would give me an unbelievable love for the Swazi people and an ability to form relationships
- Safe travels and successful connections with the people who are meeting me at the airport
- My mom