News from the Frontlines of eSikhawini

We received news today from Gail - some uplifting and some tragic. She is currently in eSikhawini with the Mafu Family.

We had our first rally of 2008 on Saturday and 200 children attended. It was great fun!

We also had a sad funeral on the same day as the rally. Thulani, a police man and member of the church, had his second child die within 2 months. The small boy was going to turn 1 this week. As tradition goes here it is customary to visit the family every night and to help with the cooking. We also cooked for the 200 children at the rally. This adds great stress to the weekly events that also have to be taken care of. We have had three more deaths that we have heard about this week. Mercy and I will travel 1 hour to visit the families of her cousin that passed away. We will not be able to attend the funeral as we need to be back for the 2nd rally this upcoming Saturday. Isaiah's brother's wife heard that her brother-in-law passed away this week as well. Isaiah will have to travel far for this funeral. There was also a death in the McKanya family. Mercy is taking one of the church members to the clinic this morning as she is very sick. Her husband George who has been a friend and member of the church for many years just passed away in September. She is trying to take care of 5 children.

The new building that will house team members is coming along very nice. They are almost done with the plastering and have started on the ceilings. We really need funds to complete it. This house will enable teams to come to eSikhawini and serve the community in a really tangible way.

Gail

[Note from the editor: Please lift up our hurting friends of the KwaZulu Natal in prayer. Consider contributing to the Team House so that it can be completed before the next team arrives.]