Busy, Blessed, and Broken-Hearted

I don't even know where to start. I'm sitting here on the bed, while Mary-Kate is packing, contemplating how to steal her passport so she can't leave! Haha, Actually we are really contemplating how we managed to fit in so much stuff into one week. It felt like we did more in one week then I've done in the whole 4 months I have been here. It was actually really awesome! We started painting the girl's home, spent time with the kiddos (Ayanda, Johannes, Tenele, and Andile), went to the school MYC has called Enjabulweni to hand out pen pal letters from Mary-Kate's students in the States and have the kids write letters back, and we bought other material for the girl's home so that the workers could continue to work. We did so much more as well! Here are just a few events that really stuck out to me this week:

1. Just having Mary-Kate here all week has been wonderful! She has such a love for these kids that just rubs off on you! She truly shows Christ to them. She showed Christ to me this week! I know it was good for her to come and spend the week here in the place she loves, but it was such a blessing to have her here and to share this passion for these kids and the girl's home. She is such a go getter and it truly motivated and encouraged me to keep pushing on and to do what I need to when she is gone! I have a pretty long to do list and I am so excited to get these things going so that the girl's home can be open by the end of January!

2. We spent a number of hours at the school through MYC, Enjabulweni. Working with the boys homes I haven't had much interaction with the girl's in Swaziland but going to the school some the week before Mary-Kate came and then while she was here gave me the opportunity to build some relationships with some of the girl's! It was actually really cool to see how they open up to you and share their lives with you by simply taking the time to listen to them. It was just cool to invision what it might be like when the girl's home is actually open.

 3. I really realized my love for these kids (Ayanda, Johannes, Andile, Tenele, and Lucia, Tenele's daughter) this week and how hard these kids have it. I saw Tenele's Mom kick her out of the home and tell her that this life wasn't for her and that she was a whore. I saw an interview with Ayanda where she smiled the whole way through trying to keep herself from crying while she talked about her life. Also, I saw the silence of the boys, being strong and hiding their feelings and needs from those around them. Lastly, I witnessed them experience rejection by someone who they thought cared about him. One of them even asked if that person hated them. Their pain became ever so real to me this week. Yet, living through all of this they all have such wisdom about life. I seriously sometimes wonder: Where does all this wisdom come from? These kids have much more wisdom and even joy then I do! I've learn so much from them and I am at least 5 years older then them if not more. Just with all the events that have happened and with what they've gone through in life they know so much more about life then I do! I used to think that I could teach them something being older but no they have taught me so much more than I can ever teach them about life! I am truly blessed to have them in my life and to be called their Auntie!!! (Mary-Kate is their mom!) 

The main room where girls will eat and study

4. Last but not least, the girl's home! I feel like so much was done at the girl's home this past week. We got to paint, the toilets were put in, the showers were tiled, and the main room was tiled. So it is coming along and we have an open date for January when the office reopens! So pray that the open date doesn't get moved back so that we can start having girl's move in and start out at a new school at the beginning of the year!

painting :)