15 August 2010

This week we had two appointments with the Elders; one in Mbabane with a family where the father was a little reluctant for himself; we gave a lesson on eternal families and he was really touched; we challenged him to come to Church today and he was there with his oldest daughter, he really has a testimony of prayer and we challenged him to pray about the information we gave him. The other lesson was in Manzini with a couple who have been living together for 12 years and not married; we gave a lesson again on eternal families and they expressed a desire for that but had to get married first, we were able to discover that the reason they had not married was they truly believed a ring was a necessary part of the ceremony and had not been able to save enough to buy one. Sister Blackburn had not put her wedding ring on and showed them her bare hand and they were so surprised and relieved that a ring was not necessary (Sister Blackburn will not be able to wear her wedding band to church in Manzini ever again after that lesson. The brother then started expressing how much he loved his (wife) and was so happy to be able to finally marry her. All in all a very fulfilling week for us.

We left Mbabane and arrived in Ezulwini in time for Sunday School where we were informed that the police and a representative of the Chief had been there and threatened to not let us use the school for meetings anymore if we did not attend their special meeting today; the whole congregation was commanded to attend, so we all piled into what vehicles we had and everyone went to the meeting, which turned out to be a church meeting for the sole purpose of collecting offerings; the offerings were to go into these wooden boxes which were decorated with red material and a lot of white and red gathered lace and ruffles; we informed our members to not give any offerings since they had already paid their tithes and offerings. So we will see next week if we are able to use the school until the Church decides what to do with our property here in Ezulwini.

Time of year the women gather grass and reeds for weaving into baskets and mats for their homes; it is not unusual to see the women carrying large bundles of grass or reeds on their heads. These women were sitting alongside the road so it was easy to get a picture.