Getting there is half the fun

Ok, really it's not.  In fact, I can state categorically that well over half of the fun of going to Swaziland is being there, not getting there.  Nevertheless, getting there is the first hurdle in the race.

It is a high hurdle.

Up at 4:00 am on June 26, I dressed in the clothes that I would wear for the next 36 hours.  Then I woke my dear wife, who had the unenviable task of driving me to our rendezvous point: New Life Church in Glenside.  I loaded my suitcases in the car and we left the house around 4:30.

On the way we purchased coffee, both the liquid kind to drink and the grounds for making coffee during the trip.  After a short drive we arrived at New Life shortly before 5:00 am.  There were already several team members milling about the parking lot, but no bus yet.  I unloaded my stuff, kissed my wife goodbye, and she headed back home to return to bed.  

The bus (and the last few team members) arrived around 5:30, and we loaded up the bus and headed to New York City's JFK airport.  

To describe the trip, let me encapsulate:

2 hour bus ride to NYC.

1 hour checking in and passing security

2 hours waiting for our flight

14 hours flying from NYC to Johannesburg

1 hour collecting baggage and clearing immigration and customs

4 hours on a bus to the South Africa-Swaziland border

1 hour (actually more, I think) at the border

1 hour from the border to Manzini

There were some fun points on the way: I got to know a team member that I had only met a few weeks before (14 hours on a flight sitting next to someone, and you get to know them), I got to eat at Nando's (more on that later), I got a Nosh bar (like a Snickers but with hazelnut, and not available in the USA). 

Nevertheless, by the time I finally arrived in Manzini, Swaziland to the greeting of a dozen of our Swazi brothers and sisters, I had experienced only a fraction of the fun that I was to have on this year's trip.

-Mdu

Home!

It's nice to be here!  Our plane landed at about 6:30 am this morning and I am currently composing this on a bus ride from NYC to Philly.  I did not maintain this blog while I was away due to limited internet access and a need to keep our team's facebook page updated, but I did keep a journal of the trip and over the next week I will post 1 or  2 days worth of entries each day for the subscribers to this blog.  Thanks for your love and support!

-Mdu

Go! My default position.

Do you know that one light switch that you always keep in the “on” position?  Maybe you put tape over it, or maybe you buy one of those metal switch guards.  Or maybe you want to be able to turn it off but the usual position of the switch is “On.”  For me it’s the porch light.  I pretty much always keep it on.

Around this time every year I am asked the same question:  “So, are you going back to Africa this summer?”  It’s not surprising.  Since 2007 I have been to Africa five times.  I have numerous relationships with people there, and I suppose it has become a defining part of my year.  For me, the “Swaziland Trip Switch” is set to the “Go” position, unless something prevents me (like that motorcycle accident I had in 2011).  And this year, unless I am prevented somehow, I plan to return again.  To that end, I ask you again for your prayers and support.

Much of the work that we will be doing is still in the planning stages.  We will once again distribute clothing, food, and medical supplies in the various villages where we have done so in the past.  We will also be holding free clinics in those villages.  I will also be reuniting with many friends I have made over the years.  This year we may be expanding our ministry into South Africa as well, I’ll let you know as I know more. You can follow my blog at:  http://comfortforswaziland.blogspot.com

Please pray for me as I prepare to go.  A few specific prayer requests are:

1)      End of the school year.  A colleague once described the end of the school year to a train wreck.  Lots of very frenetic activity followed by a sudden halt.  Thanks to snow days, I will be leaving for Africa the day after my last day of school. 

2)      Support raising.  I need to raise $3300 this year.  If you are willing to contribute, you may make a check out to Bridge Community Church with “M. Sander-Swaziland” in the memo line.  You can also donate online at www.swazilandrelief.org

3)      Traveling.  I don’t sleep well on planes and busses, and it is a long journey.

4)      Spiritual and emotional preparation.  Please pray for me as I make my preparations for the teaching and dramas/puppetry that I will be doing.  Also, my wife won’t be going this summer, so I will miss her.  Please pray for us as we are apart.

5)      Relationship building.  One of the most important aspects of Swaziland Relief is the building and maintaining of relationships in Swaziland.  They are difficult to maintain over the great distance.  Please pray that they will be renewed and refreshed.

6)      God first!  Lastly, please pray that I put God first in all things.  This isn’t “my” trip, it’s His work that I am privileged to be a part of.  Please pray I put my ego aside and seek His purposes.

Watch this space ...

Time to start this blog up again.  More coming soon.

Where we were in Swaziland, 2013

I took my GPS with me to Swaziland this year so I could take coordinates of all the places we visited.  Click HERE to see a detailed Google Map showing where we were.

Prologue: How my shrewd souvenir shopping affected this year's trip

I've said it many times: whenever I have traveled on mission trips the thing I miss the most is my wife (ok, she's not a thing, but I miss her more than any other person, place or thing).

You see, my wife works in a small oral surgery office, and they are usually very busy in the summer. I have tried in the past to get her to go with me to Swaziland, to no avail. This year I didn't even ask her if she wanted to go; I didn't want her to feel pressured between what I wanted and what her job demanded. But I really wanted her to come with me.

Fortunately, last time I was there without her, I bought her this bag.  It's a nice bag, isn't it?  I bought it in the Manzini market in 2012.  And indirectly, it was the bag that was responsible for my wife's decision to join the team this year.

You see, earlier this year (Jan-Feb) she took a class to learn Windows (the Microsoft operating system, not the glass panes). She took this bag with her to class to carry her notebook and such, and her teacher asked about it. When she told her that it was from Africa and her husband (that's me!) brought it home from a mission trip, the teacher was intrigued.  She said she had always wanted to go on a mission trip. So my wife invited her to come to this year's exploratory meeting (a meeting for those who are interested but not committed to going).

Well, the teacher didn't end up going, but after the exploratory meeting, my wife got to thinking that maybe she would like to go.  Eventually (and with no undue prodding on my part, although I did pray a lot behind her back) she decided she wanted to go and took up the matter with her boss.  While he wasn't thrilled at losing his favorite assistant (that is not hyperbole) for two weeks, he did support her decision to go.

I can't tell you how great is was having my wife with me on the trip this year, but I'll try in the posts to come!

My Swaziland Webmoir 2013

What a sad little, neglected blog this is. I didn't post anything leading up to this summer's trip, and now it's over. Yes, I returned from Swaziland today. So this year, instead of a daily log of my activities leading up to and through the trip, I will be posting a more of a memoir of my trip. So if a web log is shortened to "blog," then I suppose this is my "bmemoir." Hmm, maybe "webmoir" is better. Well, I don't think that either term is going to catch on.