Invasion event and work

Hi everyone, back in Swaziland and preparing for the youth event. We are working to do some organization, publicity and logistics stuff for the event that can all be prayed for. The event can best be described as an all day music, speaking event and game day for the youth of Swaziland. It's a beginning step to reaching a lot of the youth that Childrens Cup exists for.

Yesterday it was a little rainy but we went around to 3 of the care points to see some work that rob barbara and I are going to try to do doing. Two care points are being setup now to build forts so the children can play and the third is being eroded away by heavy rains and were going to try to fix that. The rain has slowed us down alot since it rained all night and is still raining to today but we are all in the office and Pat is catching up on some of the work here.

The conditions of Swaziland are very different in regards to housing and developement. Some areas look nice and have more or less regular housing, and the only difference is the electric fences and razor wire on the walls. Other areas though are jsut broken. There are houses made out of pallets, dirt, rock whatever can be found. Up by one of the care points we saw houses that were smaller than my den back home. Yet despite the housing or the dirt roads that most people would consider some serious off-roading the people are joyfull.
The attitude of most the people we have met or talked with is joy, happines and being content. Unfortunatly I think most of that masks so many of te problems plauging Swaziland. Ben Rodgerswho we are staying with said that the HIV infection rate of the children here is 10% and he expects that he 20-40 ages are as high at 60%. Aside from the disease, the number of orphan children, abused children and wives and completly broken families are amazing. Its difficult to understand how broken the home situation is because to many is what is "normal" and not discussed as a problem.
Childrens Cup is working hard not just to give a better life tthe children, but also to get communities, churches, and the adults here to take possesion of their lives and future. By working with them to build care points for food and education and not just giving it to them the people have a sense of ownership over what is going on and its the beginning of the culture change that is needed. Pat was explaing to us yesterday that the care points that are doing the bests are the ones that have taken hold of this shift and are workin for their community. Its all about what we can give out of ourselves to others. Our reward in heaven is standing with the people we have worked with and changed their lives by telling them about Jesus. As Ben put it last night: we all have something to give. At the very leat we have time, money, skills. knowledge, friendship. There is no excuse not to give of ourselves.