Our Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings from Swaziland! We’ve been back in Swaziland for almost 2 months now. As Zwakele & I talked the other day, our time in America seemed so distant, like it just flew by. Being back in the States is predominantly a “working trip.” While we did take some time to rest, we were also incredibly busy. Even so, there was so much we didn’t get done, and many people we wished we could have spent time with. We really wished we would have had a few more weeks there…
However, it HAS also been GREAT to be back in The Kingdom of
Swaziland. It’s been wonderful to
reconnect with the amazing people that we work and do life with on a daily
basis. The normal parts of our Swazi
life resumed: Thandeka attending school,
and Zwakele and I ministering in our different partnerships. We jumped right back into our routine of big
group teachings, meeting with people 1 on 1, speaking at church, & working
in the rural areas both at care points and home visits.
Challenges Came Quickly! On the 24th of October, while driving on a rural road we punctured the oil pan on our car. We were far from home in a very deep rural area. When we broke down we really had that “middle of nowhere” feeling. There was no help around us for miles, it was a nice 100 degrees (sarcasm implied), and we ended up being stuck on the road for 6 hours!
The car was just fixed last week, and at a cost of about
$500. This was a big unexpected financial
hit to us for sure, kind of a “one step forward, 2 steps back feeling.” But we Praise God that He really helped us in
this situation and gave us wisdom. FIRSTLY: As we drove we never heard the hit or knew
that we punctured the oil pan. There was
no huge bump! But thankfully, I saw the
oil light flash on the dash, and immediately stopped the car. As my mechanic said “It’s good that you
stopped the car, if the car had stopped itself, we would have a totally
different situation!” I.E. an overheated
& ruined engine. SECONDLY: When we broke down we were a 2.5 hour drive from home. When we finally reached
different towing companies, they were going to charge us $350 just to get us
back to home. This is a crazy cost, and
they were really taking advantage of our “remoteness.” But the Lord provided a close friend who
organized a vehicle and a flatbed trailer and towed us all the way home for
about $100 total. So there was much to be thankful for, even amidst a challenging situation!
Here is a new version of the part that caused all of the trouble!
A Few Praises
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We gathered on Thanksgiving with about 20 other Americans and had a great meal together! It wasn't the same as being home with family, but it was the 2nd best possibility. Another praise we would like to share is Thandeka completing her preschool and getting ready to enter 1st grade in January. We are so happy for her, & can't believe she has grown so much! The picture below was taken on her Preschool Graduation:
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We gathered on Thanksgiving with about 20 other Americans and had a great meal together! It wasn't the same as being home with family, but it was the 2nd best possibility. Another praise we would like to share is Thandeka completing her preschool and getting ready to enter 1st grade in January. We are so happy for her, & can't believe she has grown so much! The picture below was taken on her Preschool Graduation:
Thank You! Thank you so much for your love, prayers, & financial support to
us. We only have one supporting church, which
is Kenmore Alliance Church. We so
appreciate the way the church, and individuals have laid down their lives for
us. We couldn’t serve here without your
love!
God bless you all!
Dennis, Zwakele, Thandeka, & Busani Brock
