Wetsembekile means "God is faithful" in
the Swazi language and he certainly was during our entire trip to Africa.
It has now been a week and a half since we returned from Swaziland and the images and experiences are still fresh in my mind. We went there expecting to be guests of World Vision, to see what they were doing in the Sithobella Area Development Project (ADP), to meet our sponsor children and share some hope with them. But when we arrived, we found out that much more was afoot. Instead of being viewed as guests, we were considered partners in ministry. Instead of just seeing with our eyes, we had the opportunity to see with our hearts. Instead of meeting sponsor children, we found that we were meeting parts of our extended family. Instead of going there to share hope, we recieved hope (and joy) in abundance.
And when we left them to return to the States, we left a part of ourselves there. They are now our family, and we have a responsibility to help them, as we would our own kin.
I want to tell the story of when I got to meet my own sponsor child, Zwakele Mamba. Next to my wedding and the birth of my kids, meeting Zwakele was the most holy and beautiful thing that has happened in my entire life.
On Saturday, each of us on the team had a chance to go and visit our own sponsor child (by the way, if any of you want to visit your sponsor child, you can do it! Just contact World Vision a few months ahead of time and they will arrange a visit. You would just need to get into the country and make your own travel arrangements. They would pick you up and take you on a personal visit for yourself). As we prepared to go out to Zwakele's homestead, I remember having a barage of inner questions. What would she be like? Would she be as serious as she looked in the picture on our refrigerator? Would we have anything to talk about?
My family and I had been praying for Zwakele daily for many months, such that my girls called Swaziland "Zwakele's World" long before they knew the lands official name. They had picked out presents for me to bring to her that represented themselves -- a little doll, art supplies, miniature horses, some bouncy balls -- all packed in a little backpack made by our church craft corps. This trip that their Daddy was taking was all about this for them -- meeting this little girl that they prayed for and considered a pseudo sister to them.
When we turned off the main road down a long dusty path heading out to nowhere, I knew we must be getting close. As we approached a little homestead out in the distance, all of the sudden I saw a little girl coming out to the road to meet us. She had an old, pretty flower on, and an orange skirt and at once I knew it was her.
Another woman on our team, Heidi, said how amazing it was to see these hundreds and hundreds of little kids faces that look so similar, but then all of the sudden when she saw her sponsor child, she knew him. There was a relationship and a love there, even before there was a relationship. And that was happened to me as we drove up to Zwakele's house. When I saw her something happened. It was a deep and abiding love that I can't explain. As I got out of the truck and was introduced to her, I remember thinking that next to my wife and my 3 little girls, this was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid my eyes on. It was like she was one of my own. And immediately I could tell she knew who I was. Somehow the letters and the idea of having a sponsor father has sunk in -- and she knew me.
Together we walked down the dusty road back to her house -- a rickity old hut really, with stick walls held together with mud and dung and a thatched roof. As we walked alone with the world vision staff and other participants lagging behind, we kept looking at each other and smiling. It was one of those experiences where words didn't need to be said to connect and understand.
We arrived at her hut and greeted her mother, Tengetile and her 2 younger brothers Nkosinathi (5) and Phiwatinkhosi (3). Tengetile is 25 years old and like many women in Swaziland, were abandoned by her husband (he was "not responsible" - a phrase we heard many times in our travels), a world problem it seems. Zwakele's youngest brother was fathered by another man, making me believe that there is a good chance that the statistics that are devistating this country (hiv infection rate at 33%, 42% among pregnant women) might be true for Tengtetile too. Zwakele and her mother and brothers have no one. Her grandparents were dead, and the homestead they lived on was occupied only by them. Neighbors came to check in on them and provide them food from time to time, but besides that, they were alone in the world. Tengetile had no job and the maze (i.e. corn) in their fields were brown and dry because of the drought. They had nothing.
Yet, I have never seen a little girl as confident as my little Zwakele. She was the perfect mixture of my Dayle's confidence, my Lucy's artistry, and my Clara's motherliness. As we sat down, I asked Zwakele lots of questions - her favorite thing to do (sing), what she wanted to be when she grew up (a teacher - "so I can boss the kids around" she said!:) ), her favorite subject in the 1st grade (Suswati - the national language), her favorite Bible verse (Proverbs 10:1 about children who do right being the pride of their fathers). I asked her to draw me a picture, which she did to perfection. When I asked her to sign it, she took great pride and care to get her letters just right. We jumped rope with the jump rope I gave her, and she giggled with joy at the doll my kids gave her. She showed me around her house, we played frisbee and ate suckers. I enjoyed talking to her mother who thanked my family over and over again for the prayers and support. As we wrapped up our visit they gave us a cooked chicken (probably their only food for the day) as a gift which we recieved with pain but in gratefulness. Right before I left, Zwakele also gave me a reed banner that says "God Bless My Family" on it -- "because I am part of your family, I want you to have this," she said. She reminded me to tell my family that she loved them and thank them for letting her be part of the family through sponsorship. I told her that we loved her too, would pray for her and write often, and would always remember.
As we waved our goodbyes with tears, I realized I would never forget this little girl or this day. Places of my heart opened up that I didn't know were there. As we drove away, I thought about the experience that would be seered into my heart from the visit.
Early on, Zwakele told me that her favorite thing to do was sing. So, through a little coaxing from the interpreter Nocthula, she stood up and sang me the most beautiful song I'd ever heard.
Wetsembekile umsindisi wami, wetsembekile ngamalanga onkhe,siphila ngaye, sisilwa nguye uyasinakekelawetsebekile.As she sang, the translator was quietly translating the words for us.
The Lord is faithful, He is my savior,He is faithful, all the days,We live by Him, He helps us,He takes care of us,because He is faithful.
In that instant, the faith and hope coming from her little mouth deepened my love for Christ. For it was His love and care that she was speaking about, amidst the darkness of her life experience. I will never be the same.
May I never forget that moment as long as I live.
Jeff
Labels: Swaziland, World Vision
