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!