Jacci is officially a Rehmeyer. She has accepted and signed the terms of the Declaration of Initiation Contract of Dual Familyship last week and is now our adopted big sister. Seriously you should have seen the 'ceremony' HILARIOUS! We had it behind our house by the pool and Nathanael was playing the drum, Joelle was doing a weird chant like thing like on Finding Nemo, and Danielle was randomly floating around on a raft in the pool. My parents were standing there solemnly with a plastic sword and the declaration. Yeah right....we were all laughing so hard we couldn't even stand up straight. All that to say....she's been part of the family this Christmas, basically she is always at our house or I'm always at hers. But she lives all the way in Manzini so it's been cool to spend so much time with her because during school I can't really go to manzini.
Last week she put together, along with her Swazi friends, Ncobile, Zanele, Zwagele, and Cynthia, a Christmas party for the ladies that work at the AIM care points. They are wonderful women. They cook for the children and they also make beautiful purses which are sold as a means of making money so they can take care of their families since being a cook is voluntary. The two days before the party we went shopping for the food which was going to be made for the party as well as gifts for gift bags and then a few bigger ones to be raffled. The day of the party, the girls woke up really early , God bless 'em, and began cooking. They made chicken stew, coslaw, and beet root salad. It was all really good. There were about 40 women in total at the party. The best part, besides what Jacci shared with the women about being obedient to God like Mary was, was the game. What was the game?? Musical chairs. How was it played?? HILARIOUSLY! I was in charge of the music and most of the time I was laughing so hard I couldn't even stand up straight. So there is this lady, Ruby...she is the cutest old person I have ever seen in the whole world. She is 78, and she takes care of her 5 grandchildren as if they were her own. She is full of life and energy and the love of Christ and it is evident in everything she does and says. Her and another lady were the last ones in the game, with one chair left. When the music started, Make Ruby picked up the chair and walked away with it. It was funny. You just should have been there. So all went well and 40 ladies were blessed thanks to Jacci, Zwagele, Ncobile, Zanele, Cynthia, and of course God who made it all possible and a day to remember.
Our other adopted family member is a wonderful lady by the name of La Salet. (not sure if I'm spelling it right) She is Portuguese and has lived in Swaziland most of her life. She pastors a church in Tabenkhulu (the sugar cane company) and lives there as well, in the middle of the sugar cane fields. Her house is so nice and she has air conditioning.......an alien species in these parts. But that's not why we love her. We have known her for quite a few months now and each time we go to see her, we love her more and more. To describe her for all that she is is impossible. She's just too sweet, caring, loving, and Christ-like to explain. She is our adopted grandmother in Swaziland. Her husband passed away almost a year ago and her two sons are grown, one in England, and one married in South Africa, so she really enjoys it when we come see her. Its not just any old visit when we go. She does everything to the fullest and makes everything as nice and relaxing as it can be. She can cook.....and that is most definitely an understatement. You cannot say no to her, simply because she does not understand no. When she asks you if you want something more to eat.....you say yes because even though you are so full you feel like you are about to explode, she'll put it on your plate and then tell you to go for 3rds. She asks us to spend the night every time we go and Joelle has spent a week with her. She loves it, she gets spoiled and kissed, and hugged, and fed and boy does she take it all in. So anyways....summary.....she pastors a church there, and the church is BEAUTIFUL....another under statement. All of the people who work at the church have taken on her personality and it's so funny because in my experience, Swazi's aren't very emotional, huggy, kissy people. She is and she rubs off on everyone because that's just in her nature. SO when you go to her church you get hugged and kissed by everyone...only to walk to the front and get a big lipsticky smooch by La Salet herself....the chief kisser. lol. She has such a big heart and she dreams big.....really big.
We were able to see this yet again in the Christmas play the youth at her church put on a few days before Christmas. The set was beautiful, painted, colorful, just beautiful. The play was quite long, like 2 hours, but it sure didn't feel that long because it was so good and every moment of it you were either laughing, crying, or in awe of how amazingly put together, thought out and acted it was. They had only been preparing for two weeks, and it was seriously better than any play I have ever seen anywhere. We weren't expecting that because at most churches here, they don't have the resources, the set, the materials, and the people who are willing to give so much of their time to make it a success while also blessing the children in the process. It was The Christmas story from Zacharias in the temple all the way to Mary and Joseph heading to Egypt after Jesus was born.....but the African way. I think it is the closest thing I have ever seen to the real thing. I can definitely imagine it being just like they showed it. To fully appreciate it and feel the way myself and my family feel about it, you just have to come here for a few days and experience life here, the Swazi way. Then we'll show you the play and it will leave you speechless. I cannot explain it any more because I can't put into words how amazing it was and how amazing that church is. I thank God for La Salet's heart and for what He is doing through her in that community.
So anyways......we spent Christmas day with La Salet and then stayed 2 nights there with her. We were only planning to stay one night but, she talked us into it. Right as were about to leave, she would be like " Oh you need some coffee before you go" or " it's about to rain and you don
t want to drive in the rain". And the funny thing is....it started raining....STORMING. We were like " you prayed for that to happen huh?, it was always your plan to convince us to stay another night" She was like "Yup." I think she wants us to move in. My dad loves it down there, even though it is like 105 degrees in the daytime, because it is so relaxing and away from the city and all the stress that comes with it. He said he just wants to move down there and be a litchi farmer. ( a yummy fruit that grows here) Of course just joking, because the only litchi tree we saw was in La Salet's yard and I don't think he could make much profit from one tree. But hey! if he wants to try.......lol.
On Christmas my family, Jacci, Sandra, and Rajni went to her house and she had a HUGE meal set out. There was : prawns, prawn curry, rice, chicken, turkey, honey glazed ham, salad, samusas, apple turnovers, and cake. All delicious. Her son Sergio was there from England along with his friend, Justin from SA. That night we played a really fin game, Dutch Blitz, with everyone and then me, Jacci, and Rajni watched DeJaVu (spelling?) I love that movie. The rest of the time was spent relaxing, talking, eating, sleeping, and making necklaces. That's one of her many hobbies, and they are very pretty. Oh and another quick random story....the other day before the Christmas play we were driving to her house and we saw a black mamba on the road. My dad stopped and we all looked at it and he didn't pick it up, surprisingly because he always does, because they are really dangerous snakes. Then we saw a monitor lizard a little ways down the road....but it was dead. Tear tear.
So yea....we just came back from her house this morning....and she still wanted us to stay. We love her so much and I am so thankful that God has put her in our lives.
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