Remembering Maria

It seems fitting to remember Maria Mavuso during Passion Week. Maria went home to be with the Lord last month. She was a simple, uneducated widow who lived in desperately poor circumstances. Unlike some of the other SHBC volunteers, Maria spoke almost no English, so our previous mission teams weren't able to learn much of Maria's story. It turns out that she, like other SHBC volunteers, also had AIDS. We can only speculate about how she acquired the disease, but a likely scenario is that her husband, as is often the case with Swazi men, had multiple sex partners and brought AIDS home to Maria (and possibly other wives).

If I were in Maria's situation, I would probably stay home in bed, immobilized and victimized, allowing my family and friends to care for me. But Maria didn't allow her poverty, lack or education or AIDS to keep her from serving others. Every morning Maria got up, walked miles to collect firewood and water, then started a fire and cooked for hours so the Dwaleni orphans could have a nutritious mid-day meal. And in addition to these community orphans, Maria went to her simple home every evening and cared for two more children who had been orphaned by AIDS.

This Easter, as you think about the challenges you face which might be preventing you from living sacrificially, consider Maria and the sacrifices she made in spite of her desperate situation. When I think about Maria and the way she she lived, "being Jesus", she encourages me to do more of the same.

Rubbing off . . .

When I was a little girl, my grandmother’s house had white washed exterior walls and a courtyard with a fence that was also whitewashed. When my sister and I played in the courtyard the whitewash would rub off on our clothes. In fact, it seemed like just hanging out near the whitewash would cause it to rub off on us. We were pretty oblivious to the influence of the whitewash on our clothes while we were busy playing. It wasn’t until we came inside and were away from the courtyard that we noticed how the whitewash had affected us.

Isn’t how it is with things that rub off, good or bad? It’s not very often that we try to get something on us, it just happens. That is what happened to me last month in Swaziland.

Shelley, Patti and I just returned to Piet Retief and the home of our friends the van Wyngaards. We spent 5 days in the South African Cape teaching and talking about solar cooking and pasteurizing water using WAPI’s. The weather was cooperative and we actually cooked Mealie Pup perfectly, starting from cold water. Only an African woman knows what a big deal that is. Even though this area has sporadic sun in the summer, we determined that with just 100 days of sun per year (a very reasonable estimate), a family could save $1600 Rand by using solar instead of parafin or electricity, school fees for several children. Thanks to Grahamstown and Kirstenbosch Rotary clubs for hosting us and working to see that the introduction of this technology is helpful and sustainable.

Sightings

There is a little red hawk that I see on my way to work. He sits on the top limbs of a dead tree or a street light along the junction of southbound highway 41 and westbound 180 (Fresno residents will know where I’m talking about). I first spotted him about 6 months ago. After that, I started looking for him every day, right after the McKinley exit. I keep watching until my exit; Blackstone / Belmont. I find him about half of the time, and because I find him so regularly, I expect to see him. I assume he’s somewhere nearby.

Greetings to the Shiselweni Caregivers

The words of the Apostle Paul to the dear brothers and sisters in Thessalonica also reflect Project Glory’s heart for the Shiselweni Home Based Caregivers (adapted from 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3, 8-9, 11-13)


We are writing to the Caregivers in Shiselweni, Swaziland, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give you grace and peace. We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.

They didn't know what they were doing right . . .

Last Sunday my pastor (Jeff Harrington – Central Community Church) preached on Matt 25, the parable of the sheep and the goats (vs 31-46). He pointed out something about the sheep that I’d never considered before.

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

I Will Not Trust in Princes . . .

I’ve never read that phrase from scripture the way I read it last week. Psalms 118:8-9: It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

In the context of this passage, the Psalmist clearly is speaking about his own anguish, reminding himself as he penned these words that only God is faithful. He needed to remember God’s faithfulness in the face of terrible human opposition. He was crying out for deliverance.

I am so independent and self-confident. I may be (am often) tempted to rely on myself and my own resourcefulness to solve my [perceived] problems, rather than relying on the Lord. This is how I’ve been admonished by these words in the past. But I live in American and face nothing close to what the Psalmist would have experienced in his day in regard to opposition. And add to that, I’m generally a political conservative. I certainly might depend on my own resources and “good ole’ American ingenuity” to meet MY OWN needs and solve MY OWN problems. Heaven forbid that I rely on princes [read – the government or outside organization] to take care of me. That is welfare, right?

When help isn't helpful

Last week a friend from blogsphere asked about Swaziland in an IM conversation. He said “what did you learn?” I told him that I’d learned tons and that I was going to blog about my learnings. I realize as I begin to do so that it will take more than one post to describe it all, mostly because it is still unfolding. I’ll start today with this one: SOMETIMES HELP ISN’T HELPFUL.

Before going on this last trip, during and since coming home, whenever my thoughts turn to Swaziland (which is very often), I have found myself in the middle of a tension. The tension looks something like this: