Saturday was our off day this week.  There were a couple different options for
what people on the team could do.  The
options were:  Shop at the cultural
market, go to this nice Swaziland
hotel for some swimming and beautifying, or go cliff jumping and swimming at Mantenga Falls. 
I still had a bunch of Christmas shopping to do, but of course who would
pass up a shot at cliff jumping.  The
drive to Mantenga was a short thirty minutes. 
I had seen a few pictures of the place and I really excited.  There were three different height jumps we
would have a chance to do.  There were
25, 40, and 60-foot jumps.  The 40 was a
pretty good climb, but the 60 footer was a dangerous climb!  We spent the whole day there swimming,
climbing, and jumping off the cliffs.  I
started with the 40 and did it a couple times before taking a break.  One of the leaders Matt convinced me to try
the 60 footer.  Wow what a climb!  When we got to the top, there was a large
thistle patch in front of the ledge.  You
had to jump over it to get out over the edge. 
I jumped on a ten count and did an unintentional firecracker (one leg
up).  I hit the water with a hard slap,
and my watch and wristband came off my left hand.  The jump was well worth the Sunday
soreness.  On Monday my friend, Ashley
bought me a new watch.  It was sure sweet
of her.  It had to be the funnest day off
yet.  It gets a little old going to malls
week after week.  If you know me, you
know that maybe I go to a mall once or twice a year.  For dinner, we went out for some incredible
pizza, and then went back to our homestead to call it a day.
    Sunday was
church at Pastor Walters.  The walk to
church is only 5 minutes, which is convenient. 
The church has an interesting formality. 
All the men and boys sit on the right side of the church, and all the
little gals and women sit on the left side of the church.  It is a rural church and I love the
congregation there.  This week was a
special week for the church.  It was the
week of an engagement.  In Swaziland
everything still is done the old fashion way. 
When a man wants to ask for a woman’s hand in marriage, he does it in
front of her church family.  The exciting
part about this is that Dennis is a missionary from Adventures in Missions, and
was asking a local Swaziland
woman from this church to marry him.  The
congregation size was huge this week at church. 
It was overflowing, and there was not even enough room for everyone even
after the floor was completely filled. 
After collecting the offering and a few songs, Dennis went up in front
of the congregation.  He gave his
testimony about Swaziland,
and also about meeting Swagelle.  She
translated his English, and he gave her the ring he had bought for her.  She gave him a watch.  It was an exciting service, and I could tell
how excited Dennis and his soon to be bride were.  It brought about many smiles.  You also talk to the woman’s family before
being engaged to her.  Nothing wrong with
some of these traditions right?  It is
good to show respect to your elders.  The
only big difference is that Dennis had to give the family many cows to get her
hand in marriage.  I think it is around
13 cows.  Dennis already has the money
for 7 of them.  Pray that the Lord will
provide more resources for the rest of the cows.  The rest of Sunday was relaxing.  We didn’t go to Dennis’s engagement party
because there were so many people going. 
I heard they had a huge party though. 
Exciting news huh.  I love Sundays
here in Swaziland!