Tag Archive - AIDS

Reality Check… A Closer Look at Swaziland Statistics

September 15, 2010 in Across Our World, Mission Trip 2010, Swaziland with 2 Comments

Erica Z.

Erica Zeiler is on the B-Team. I will meet her for the first time on Saturday, but our hearts are already being weaved together! She wrote the post below on her personal blog In The Blink Of My Eyes Thank you Erica! What a powerful post.

Prayer Team: Please pray for the salvation of our Beveni kids & caregivers.

Reality Check…. A Closer Look at Swaziland Statistics

I recently read that if you are a 15 year old in Swaziland, your chances of living to the age of 32 are 6%! SIX PERCENT!!! Translated…that means your chances of dying before you turn 32 are 94%. You are probably more likely to be struck by lightning or attacked by a hippo than live to be 32 if you live in Swaziland…all because of the AIDS crisis. Of the 900,000 people in the country, the orphan population is closing in on 200,000. And half of all 20 somethings have AIDS already. But the one that hits me hardest is the first statistic….6 %!

To put this into perspective, I have just finished packing 140 bags full of school supplies and vitamins. God has provided enough money, through so many generous people, for our team to also be able to buy each child a pair of shoes for school, have a party with a cooked meal for them while we’re there, and give out a ton of clothing…but reality is still there. According to that first statistic, only 8 or 9 of those kids will live to be 32…meaning that 132 of the kids I will meet next week will probably die of AIDS (or some disease like TB resulting from a weakened immune system) before they are my age! God, have mercy!

So what has God called us to do in this seemingly hopeless situation? Without wanting to be too morbid or a Debbie-downer, the thing that I keep coming back to is that we must prepare them for eternity. Yes, we can encourage them in school, help them set goals, encourage them to dream about their future, provide them with food, clothes, and school supplies…but we must balance that with the reality that some experts have said that with the current birth/death rates the way they are, Swaziland won’t exist by 2050 because AIDS will have ravaged it beyond repair. And James’ words come ringing true to my ears….

“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes”

(James 4:14).

And for children in Swaziland, this verse describes the frailty of life all around them, that they will be looking at death and eternity all too soon.

So as we go next week… prepared to bless the socks off of the kids and the gogos (“grandmas” that cook, teach, and care for the kids at the carepoints), as well as those we will meet through house visits…in the back of my mind I will be thinking about the best gift that I can give them…the gift of the Gospel that we have been entrusted with. As much as I anticipate seeing their joyful faces when they receive clothes, shoes, and school supplies, the look on their faces when they realize they can have eternal peace and be with the Lord beyond this world is beyond description. To look in the face of a 28 year old woman who has “the peace that passes understanding” as she prepares for her death, to sit with a grieving gogo as she realizes her new responsibility of parenting her orphaned grandchildren…the only thing that can get anyone through those times is trusting in the sovereignty of God and the eternal hope that we have in Christ.

As we go to teach VBS and love on these kids, I hope to be used by God to pour into them, pray for them, teach them, and encourage them as if they were a terminally ill child in the hospital…because they are…statistics have given them only 25 more years to live at most. Yet I go hopeful, because as we trust in what Christ did for us on the cross, we can cling to the promise that

“the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away…for He is making all things new.”

(Revelation 21:3-5)

This world is temporary because we were created for another world with unhindered intimacy with the God of the universe…and we can begin to live in that now!

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B-Team Prayer T-9 days!!!

September 8, 2010 in Across Our World, Mission Trip 2010, Swaziland with 4 Comments

Only 9 days til Take-OFF!

(anybody else feel like we’re astronauts flying to the moon?)

Photo Courtesy of Dan Fellner; www.fellnertravel.com

As I asked God what I should ask our Prayer Team to pray about (yeah, I prayed about praying!), this verse came to me.

Please pray this as a proclamation! And would you be so bold as to pray the verse out loud? Remember, life & death are in the power of the tongue! Join with the B-Team and speak words of life today!

Let all that I* am praise the LORD;
with my whole heart, I* will praise his holy name.
Let all that I* am praise the LORD;
may I* never forget the good things he does for me*.
He forgives all my* sins
and heals all my* diseases.
He redeems me* from death
and crowns me* with love and tender mercies.
He fills my* life with good things.
My* youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
The LORD gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
Psalm 103:3
*Swaziland
This tiny county has BIG needs!

Statistics show that the population is quickly dying due chiefly to the AIDS pandemic.
  • Of 900,000 people, the orphan population is closing in on 200,000.
  • Half of all 20-somethings have AIDS.
  • If you’re 15, your chances of reaching age 32 are 6%. SIX.
  • One study says that at this rate, the ENTIRE population could be WIPED out by 2050. That’s 40 years from now.
These are the realities that our Beveni kids live in. Every day. Sickness & hunger & death are all around them. They miss their parents & siblings who have been victims of AIDS & other diseases. Imagine it’s your child.

However, God is sending HOPE to Swaziland! The carepoint ministry (including our Beveni carepoint) that AIM & HopeChest have created are proof of that, like beacons of Hope & Light shining in the dark. But there is MUCH work to be done & many more children to love & bring hope to. If His Word is TRUE (and it is) then He ‘gives righteousness & justice to all who are treated unfairly.’

We serve a BIG God who is working behind the scenes, preparing Swaziland for great things. You, as the Prayer Team are a part of that!

So please pray these verses over Swaziland & pray these verses over our B-Team ask we go to serve & love on the Swazi people.

Thank you!
Danielle & The B-Team
P.S. Remember that Millie is continuing her Beveni 10 for 10 Challenge until we fly to Swaziland! She is passionate about seeing us reach our goal of $5,000 for Beveni supplies (shoes, clothing, medicines, school supplies, treats, toys, etc.) So she’s challenging all of us to give just $10 each! You can give here on my blog by clicking the Paypal button in the left column! I’ll be sure to let Millie know!
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Jesus in Disguise

April 12, 2010 in Across My Heart, Across Our Street, Across Our Table, Across Our World, Mom Matters with 8 Comments

Who do you surround yourself with?

Matthew 25:40 says, ‘And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Jesus surrounded Himself with ‘the least of these’. He gave them hope, He esteemed them highly, He even HUNG OUT with them – the beggars, the drunkards, the prostitutes, the tax collectors! But he didn’t just hang out with them, He served them!

Who is the ‘least of these’ in your life? He didn’t have to find out their life history to see if they deserved his time & efforts. No, he just served them as if they were kings.

So did Mother Teresa.

“The dying, the crippled, the mentally ill, the unwanted, the unloved — they are Jesus in disguise… Through the poor people I have an opportunity to be 24 hours a day with Jesus. Every AIDS victim is Jesus in a pitiful disguise; Jesus is in everyone… [AIDS sufferers are] children of God [who] have been created for greater things.”

This was startling to me. What a revelation of truth. Let’s chew on this.

That filthy mess of a man dressed in ragged clothing that stands on the side of the exit ramp, holding a sign “WILL WORK FOR FOOD”. He is Jesus in disguise.

That little 10 year old Swazi girl who has lost her entire family to AIDS, who has no one to care for her, who has little hope of living past her 30th birthday, she is Jesus in disguise.

Let’s bring this closer to home.

Your beautiful newborn baby girl, fresh from heaven, is Jesus in disguise. Serve her with joy.

Your teenage son’s friend who hangs around WAY too much & could be a much better influence on your son, is Jesus in disguise. Serve him with kindness.

That little old lady, who can bearly see over the steering wheel, driving 38 miles per hour in a 55mph speed zone, is Jesus in disguise. Serve her with patience.

Serve your baby girl, that teenage boy, that little old white haired lady with fresh eyes today. They just might be – no – they ARE Jesus in disguise. Serve them with joy, patience, and love. Jesus will thank you!

Look for Jesus today. He’s all around you!

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