Fire, Ambassador, Paperwork & Pizza

What a title....aren't you excited....do you know what all 4 of those have in common? Yep....they were all part of my day! It is freezing here......in the night....it got down to like 35 or 40. It stayed cold all day. So this morning....we built a fire in the fireplace and cozied up by it to work and have our morning tea. There's something about being in Shirley's house, having tea and around a fire that warms your heart!!!! Blessing.....

Janine and I had a very important lunch meeting today. We met Ambassador Gwebu

and Mathokoza for lunch today! We met at LaCasserole..... fun place! They had great food and we had great company! I think my new favorite friend is the Ambassador Gwebu.

She is a HOOT! A riot! She makes me laugh. She is a fashionista, amazing shoes, incredible accessories and is a GO GET it kind of person! She is a advocate and friend.....so she is working with us to help with Litsemba. Here is a cool story about her. She lives in Taiwan and has for 10 years as the ambassador to that country.

So....she decided that she would start volunteering in a local recycling plant. She was moved by the fact that every person in Taiwan...serves...for free! It is part of their life, their culture....so she started doing it too! She goes to a recycling plant and removes plastic lids and paper labels off of water bottles. So while she was doing this....she finds out that they are recycling these bottles to make blankets for a small country in Africa. She thought...really! They were making 10,000 blankets to be donated to this country.

She had to think, "well where?"! And to her surprise.....to Swaziland, your homeland. Isn't that God.....isn't that a mighty God that would have her taking off paper labels and plastic lids to wrap a child with in Swaziland. The great thing is that she is so for Litsemba and we're honored to have her a part!

After lunch.....we took the Ambassador to her mother's homestead. It was just past our offices so we drove her. Wow.....how amazing! Her mother's homestead has her home and 4 other homes (her siblings) on the property. Lush gardens and amazing vistas. Here you can see one of the views from their front yard. The garden was full of harvest and about 10 varieties of lettuce. I love how everyone goes out from the home....has a place in town (Manzini or Mbabane) but they still build a home on their parent's land or their family land....hence....homestead! Such a different but great way of life!

After lunch.....a long afternoon of paperwork by the fire. Planning, spreadsheets, numbers, errands, etc. You see....our first team members come in tomorrow afternoon.....so we're down to the wire! We ordered pizza into the house and settled in

for the night. Not much you can do in the freezing cold with lots of work! Today is our last day of internet all day. I'll be relocating to the Lugogo Sun! So I'm not sure how often I'll have the blog updated....but I'll try!

Today was another fun day of talking with family and friends. Casi, my sister in law, and Lauren, doodlebug - my niece, called this evening. It was their afternoon and

Matthew has headed to camp. The internet was really slow....so it was hard to get an image. I also had a great conversation with Dana. She's our Wardrobe Designer for Whitestone Motion Pictures. She is amazing! She is

creative. She is adorable. She is a dear friend. So we chatted tonight as she was helping our team Cast for the next film - The Candy Shop! Here she is on video chat. Then...Elliott and Brian made it to Africa! They Skyped me from South Africa. They've landed safely and will drive into Swaziland tomorrow. I'm excited!

So.....have a great night. Thank you for praying for us! Please pray tomorrow morning at 2:30 AM your time....8:30 AM our time. HA HA...you can just pray right now! But anyway....we have another big meeting. We are expecting news that we aren't real sure what we will do with it....but God has led us through this journey thus far.....so we remain obedient to His call. Pray for favor!

Leaving you with this verse.....

Philippians 2: 9-11 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

For all of His fame.....

From Africa with Love

Masi