Sonni Bonani y'all! 
I hope everyone has had a good week. 
This week has been a slow one in the field, but a productive one with my
relationship with God (which means it was a pretty darn good week).  The weather forcaste here in Swaziland is
HOTT!  Most days last week I think we
were around 93 degrees after 10:30am. 
The conversations out in the grass were good this week.  I spent my off day in the cool shade for
awhile, went to a Swazi Barber shop yesterday to lose some head weight, and
they give me the best haircut I've ever had for about 5 dollars, and helped the
cooks with dinner.  The internet places
were really full, and I wasn't feeling particularly well, so I apoligize for
the lateness of my weekly update.  From
all the emails I receive here it sounds like I'm missing a lot of stuff back
home, which of course makes me miss all of you even more.  Oh how I enjoy the cool weather of Illinois
in the winter months! 
We worked in a tall grass field the whole week last
week.  I'll just call our weekly project
a "Litchi Rescue Mission" (a Litchi is a type of fruit).  We spent all 4 days I worked this week out
cutting down grass with slashers (little longer than machetes) and hoeing
around the barried Litchi trees.  Did I
mention how much I love our farm.  I
worked a lot this week with my boss Robert. 
We had some really good talks while we worked together.  Of course Sanele is always around when we
have our talks ;)  Some of the topics of
conversation this week were martyrdom for belief in Christ, God's perfect
timing, how to be bold and shrewd with the gospel, and that God has NO limits
to what he can do.  We also spent some
time this week talking about the life of Paul. 
I wonder sometimes how it must have felt to be on a journey to persecute
Jesus followers in Damascus, and hear God speak to you on the way, only to go
blind for 3 days and be saved follower of Him. 
Or ever being one of Jesus's 12 disciples!  Picture it, you walk around with Christ, eat
with Him, pray with Him, see Him heal the sick, and he teaches through amazing
parables.  Sanele is the disciple Christ
is raising up at McCorkindales farm.  My
boss is also growing a lot in his faith walk. 

We had a birthday party on Thursday for a couple of my
teammates, Brianna and Ashley.  Sanele
stayed the night and partied with us. 
.  It was exciting that he was
able to come and hangout with the team. 
The party was a great time, and my good friend Jamie drove Sanele and I
out to work Friday at 6am.  I left the
field at 11am.  Jamie and I went over to one
of the Care points to construct a shade device (a tarp between 2 shacks with
lots of rocks holding it ;)   We stayed
there for a few hours and played games with all the kids.  It was nice to spend some time with the
toddlers again. It was also really cool because the care point we were at is
the one Ashely and Lindsey teach at. 
Jamie and I got to see those 2 in action with all there kids, and they
were even so kind to let us do the bible teaching this week.  We did Daniel and the Lions Den, and the children
starred as the roaring lions.  At the
beginning of the story they wanted to eat me, and at the end they were smiling
and hugging me (lions give pretty good hugs ;) 

One of the other AIM teams, The World Race, moved into our
house on Friday.  They did not come
alone, but with a 5 pound baby!  It may
have even been lighter than that, but it was the smallest little thing I had
ever seen.  On Sunday night Jamie was
holding young Moses, and he passed him off to me.  I was lucky Erin was right there to show me
how you hold a baby when you're feeding it. 
I can't wait to be a dad someday, and be able to love something so
small.  There are gonna be a lot of
wonderful moms that come out of this group of women I live with.  The baby was malnourished, and from a mother
with HIV and TB.  The team had been in
care of the baby for 2 weeks almost, and it had gained almost 1.5 pounds.  The world race team took the baby to the
hospital on Monday.  A couple of the
girls on my team stayed with it overnight at the hospital.  I'm so sorry to say, but the baby passed from
our world yesterday morning around 5am. 
It was a hard day in our house friends, if you could be in prayer about
this situation, for the baby's family, and for my teammates that would be
amazing.

Next week ministry looks a little bit different.  I'll be joining 3 guys on a walk across the
country of Swaziland.  They started the
walk on Sunday and finish it in about 10 days or so.  I will get to walk with them for 5 days.  We will be walking with about 100 total
people and it is around 13.5 miles per day. 
The experience will be amazing I'm sure, and if you would please pray
for our safety.  Ways you can pray for me
this week.  The Lord has been teaching me
a lot about not being such a people pleaser. 
I have to be walking in what the Lord has for me, and pleasing everybody
else's wants sometimes doesn't make it on that list.  The Lord is doing big changes in my life this
week.  Remember other peoples opinions
about your life should go in the small box because what the Lord has for you is
the Truth!  Have a good week.  I miss y'all!

Love, your brother in Christ,

Melusi