The Swaziland Experience

Sowabona,

Here we are for Tim Update #2. I’m sending these updates to quite a few people– ranging from my parents and very best friends to people who I don’t know nearly as well but who are curious about my trip. So I will start with a brief summary, and then if you’re curious you may read on.

I don’t have much email access at this point. I am typing up this email on a borrowed computer with no Internet, and I’ll burn it to a CD and take to town to email it out in the next couple days. So, please write letters!

My address is:
 Tim Deller
 Pasture Valley
 PO Box 1129
 Nhlangano
 Swaziland
 Africa

—– Summary:

My travels were very good. I’m now living on a large farm in Nhlangano, Swaziland called Pasture Valley. We have vegetables, cows for milk, some fruit trees, and lots of timber.

This week I went all around with Dr. Arnau van Wyngaard, the missionary who I’m working with. We first toured southern Swaziland and met several of the leaders of the home-based care networks. I also saw several of the churches. On Thursday, I attended an orientation meeting with a new home care group, and on Friday I attended a meeting of the volunteers of the original home care group in Dwaleni. I had the chance to introduce myself through an interpreter. I told them that I came a long way to be with them, I have so much to learn from them, I hope to become friends with them, and I can’t wait to see how God works among them. Then, Arnau & I stopped by a health clinic where we met several very sick AIDS patients.

This has been quite an adjustment! I’ve felt quite a range of emotions, but I’m so glad to be here. A couple times, I’ve asked myself what I got myself into, but I really believe that the Good Lord has placed me here. He has also given me a farm full of people who help to satisfy my extrovert personality. Thank you Lord!

Over the next few weeks, we’ll figure out what work I’ll focus on while I’m here. It will likely be some combination of working with administration of and going out with the home-based care groups and working with a new church plant in Lavumisa. Arnau is curious about trying a new type of church there, which has me excited as well.

Overall, I’m doing very well. This has been an unbelievable week. I feel like I have decades worth of stories from only several days! I have had some sad and scared moments, but I’m feeling very acclimated and glad to be here.

—– If you’re curious, read on (or skip to prayers at the bottom):

1. My travels
2. How am I feeling?
3. AIDS Clinic, Thobile
4. Root48 Group in Swaziland?
5. I love to hear the Swazis sing
6. Connectivity
7. Languages
8. Who do I miss?
9. The Good Lord placed me here.
10. The hills are alive with the Sound of Music!
11. Pray for…

1. My travels
My travels were great. My flight was the first on a larger aircraft from Atlanta to Jo-burg. So, we had some extra delays when we touched down in Dakar for fuel. We were about an hour late. I rode with folks from OM for the 4 hour drive from Jo-burg. I arrived in Swaziland on Tuesday.

2. How am I feeling?
I’m feeling pretty good right now. There have been some difficult moments for me. I want to thank the people who sent notes along with me. They have provided such comfort. I have read them a couple times and been able to let out a much-needed cry. My world is so different today than it was two weeks ago! Processing all of these changes has been challenging. I have been journaling a lot, which has helped so much. I have not felt lonely, but I have been scared that I will feel lonely. It’s interesting how the romantic idea of living on a farm in Swaziland has become a reality. I have focused on a prayer from (I think) Psalm 143:7 when David asks God not to hide His face. This has been my prayer during my adjustment time: God, please do not hide Your face, because right now in my life I need to see it continually.

3. AIDS Clinic, Thobile
On Friday, I visited an AIDS clinic with Arnau. We spent most of our time in one room with four women. One woman was quite old and seemed at peace with me standing beside her with my hand on her arm. She did not speak English, but she was talking quitely. The second woman was very close to death with TB (a common AIDS-related disease). The third woman was probably in her upper-20’s. She had an AIDS-related disease that was causing dimensia. Near the end, we scared her very much, and she tried to get out of her bed to get away from us. It was very sad. The fourth was a 25 year old girl named Thobile. She spoke very good English and was so happy that we were there. We talked for several minutes, but we eventually had to leave because woman #3 was so scared. Thobile did not appear as sick as the other women, but she was dehydrated and had an IV. She works at a local tire shop, and she tried to get me to promise that I would visit her there. I told her that I would sure try. Thobile made quite an impression on me, and I hope to see her again. (I’m starting to tear up just a bit thinking about her.) We were able to pray for her, and I think that she really appreciated it.

4. Root48 Group in Swaziland?
Arnau is considering a new style of church in Lavumisa. This is based on some work of another pastor, and it is based on Matthew chapter 10 (especially verse 11). The idea is to find one strong person or family in the area, and then to develop that person. For a while, only that one family would be worked with, and then as they build a foundation, people from the community would be added. At least at the beginning, this would not be a bricks-and-mortar (or sticks and mud) church, but rather a home-based church. Wow, it’s like Root48! So, Brian, I’m working on a new Root48 plant here in Swaziland. Brian, thank you so much for your training and developing of me as Christian and a leader. I hope to pass it along here in Swaziland.

5. I love to hear the Swazis sing
I love to hear the Swazis sing. It’s beautiful… absolutely remarkable. You’ll have to come visit to hear it for yourself.

6. Connectivity
For now, I’ll be able to use an Internet cafe in town, but it’s quite expensive and I don’t always have trasportation to town. It is also slow Internet. So, I may or may not be able to read emails. This might change over time, but it won’t get much better. I’m typing this email on a borrowed computer on Friday the 2nd, and I’ll burn it to a CD and email it from town when I can.

7. Languages
In Swaziland, people speak English, Afrikaans, and/or Swati (related to Zulu). The whites speak Afrikaans and/or English. Almost everyone who speaks Afrikaans also speaks English. Many young Swazis also speak at least some English, as it is taught in school. Arnau, the missionary to Swaziland for 20 years, can speak quite a bit of Swati, but he usually speaks through an interpreter if he’s talking for a while. Since many people speak both English and Swati, finding an interpreter is usually possible.

8. Who do I miss?
If you have read down to here in this email, then I can almost guarantee that I miss you!

9. The Good Lord placed me here.
Whew, this is quite a story. A 23-year-old guy named Brian was trying to arrange plans for about 8 months to get to Swaziland and work with Arnau. For some reason, as Arnau says, God blocked him from coming. I don’t understand exactly what happened, but something with finances through OM and Swaziland was not working out. Then, in total contrast, Arnau heard about me on October 5th, and by October 13th I had purchased a plane ticket! I am even using the housing arrangements
that were set for Brian. I believe that the Good Lord placed me here. I really do. Incidentally, Brian is now working for a missions group in Sudan. Pretty neat, huh?

10. The hills are alive with the Sound of Music!
Many of you know that 2 years ago I had a really fun time in Milwaukee when about 10 people came over to sing along to the Sound of Music. On Friday night, I watched the Sound of Music with 14 people (including the 12 kids who live on the farm)! It was truly a blessing from the Good Lord to keep my spirits high.

11. Pray for…
- Relationship building with the Swazis
- Relationships with people on the farm
- A continued sense of peace, joy, and happiness for me
- My potential role with the new church plant in Lavumisa
- Should I buy a car? There are many advantages/disadvantages.
- The new home-based care group orientation next week
- My first time of making the rounds on Monday with a home-based care group
- That God would continue to make his presence abundantly clear to me
- The people who I miss and who I love