The Pain of Death

    Swaziland was AMAZING!!!  It was a hard month emotionally but it was the slap in the face we needed.  Working at the care-points was so much fun!  I felt like I was back at camp… singing camp songs, playing camp games, doing skits and just spending time with the children.  Just holding a child’s hand made the day brighter.  Seeing Christ in their eyes, smiles and laughter.
    We also got to work with women’s ministry.  On Mondays we met with the older women who were just very hungry for The Word.  They wanted to know how they could implement God in all they did… how to make God a part of their homes.  We also met up with the younger women (ages 12-17) on Fridays.  We talked to them about living a life for God: how to walk in purity and in truth.
    But we also did house visits… and it was hard.  We visited people suffering from HIV/AIDS.  These people were bedridden or just very sick that they couldn’t really care for themselves.  Robyn and I visited a woman named Dudu,  Dudu is only 25 years old and is suffering from HIV/AIDS and TB.  Her story (as most of the stories we heard) was heart wrenching.  Her boyfriend left her when he found out she was pregnant and HIV positive. She now has a young son (just over a year) whose name is Cinetemba (which means, “there is hope”) and he too is HIV positive.  One day as I held him, I could see Dudu, with a sad look upon her face, staring at us.  I could only imagine what was going through her head.  She can’t even care for him… not even hold him.  Does he even know she is his mother?  Does he even take notice of her?  Pain swelled up inside of me to know that she couldn’t take care of this child she loved and that he will never know the woman who was full of life before this disease took over.
    The house visits were a slap in the face of how real death is and how real HIV/AIDS is affecting this country but it was what we needed.  We could have gone the whole month just working at the care points, playing sports, working with the women, etc… and not done the house visits but then the reality of it all wouldn’t have been there.  It was just what we needed.