Siyahamba' Ekukhanyeni' Kwenkos'

Hi Folks! Well, this is it, the final blog. It's been a fun journey and I've enjoyed writing the blog! With the number of people that stopped to talk to me in church this morning you'd think I was famous. But don't worry, I'll not let it go to my head ;)

Where do I begin? I guess this is the only time in which I get to start at the end. We were up early on Thursday morning, hearts breaking as we said goodbye to Bongani, he really had become part of our team. I already miss his jokes about chickens.  It felt awfully strange not to have him in the mini van as we drove to Hippo Hollow in South Africa for our own short holiday payed for by us; this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of us in the group, to stay in a place called Hippo Hollow for one night which is close to Kruger National Park. We went on two safaris. The first safari was on Thursday evening and the second was early Friday morning. We were mainly looking for the big five, (elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo and rhino).

Unfortunately, it was my turn to be sick. It was mainly the result of an early morning and a Malaria tablet on an empty stomach. Either way the 6 hours spent on the safari went by fairly quickly for me as I slept between sightings. We only managed to see four of the Big Five, the leopard deciding not to make an appearance.

We set off for Johannesburg around 1pm and made it there at around 7.30pm; Liz only drove some of the way otherwise we would have been there much quicker we even took a detour around the entire airport in search of the entrance (sat navs fault). And so after securing the perimeter, we headed in with no hassle AT ALL from passport controls. Not one person asked for my birth certificate. *Long sigh*.

Getting to London was easy but once we got to Heathrow our flight to Dublin was cancelled right as we were about to board. So we spent another 2-3 hours around the airport before flying home.

All I'm going to say about being home is - IT'S FREEZING!

Ballywillan church, by the grace and guidance of God. provided the following, to help Challenge Ministries and people of Eswatini:

• We have agreed to buy a second hand car for Pastor Sipho and help pay for the maintenance of it. He really really needed this and the roads to his ICBC are shocking!
• We are paying for 15 new beds, mattresses and bedding for the Women's Centre. This will mean they can take in more women needing urgent help.
• We bought painted and painted two ICBC churches.  They looked great, even if I do say so.
• We handed out clothing in Ngwenya.  The children were delighted with them.
• We gave the ministry two second hand laptops.
• We also supplied them with flash-drives.
• We bought balls and games for the Children in Hawane along with books for the Women's Centre.
• Liz McAuley donated a Nebuliser to the Bulembu Clinic
• The GB have enabled a refurb of all the cooking utensils for one of the children's houses at Pine Valley [pictures of team members being swamped by kids]
• The Team spent many hours with the people of Eswatini, providing much needed food, praying ,singing and even dancing, along with a few tears, whilst spreading the word of God.

We hope to maintain a close relationship with Challenge Ministries in the future, too!

Needless to say this trip has been the experience of a lifetime and I look forward to going back sometime soon. 

"From the very beginning the Word was with God." John 1:2

Translation of title = We are moving in the light of the King