tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-174917452024-03-13T06:39:05.903-07:00GaBrIeLlE & Co. - Swazi Adventure.Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-60630474305530840942009-02-05T08:02:00.000-08:002009-02-05T09:04:33.783-08:00CAUTION: I.B. may be bad for one's health...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/SYsbWByF7uI/AAAAAAAAAGo/czMU8nVqH_c/s1600-h/gabr.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/SYsbWByF7uI/AAAAAAAAAGo/czMU8nVqH_c/s320/gabr.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299359451781132002" border="0" /></a>This picture was taken in Bilene, in Mozambique. Over the holidays Aissa and I got to go with LIz and her family to this beautiful beach. It was so much fun. I'll post a pic showing the lagoon where we swam, later...<br /><br />My dad keeps telling me I should write. Its not that I don't want to...its just that it is kindof overwhelming... :) I don't ever know what to include or what to leave out of blogs. Are they supposed to be deep and meaningful, or can one simply say what they're thinking about that day or what they've been doing?? I seem to include details on all of the above every time I write so I'll just stick to what I know haha.<br /><br />You know what stinks?? I went to the orthodontist yesterday...so EXCITED because it was THE day I was getting my braces off!! YAY... but NOO, I went to get them off ryte?? And I came back not only WITH them on, but WITH rubber bands as a bonus!! HOw cool is that!? lol. :) He said my bottom teeth need to move 1 more millimetre...(dude...a millimetre??) so I have to wear bands for a month and THEN I can get my braces off... sigh. Oh well...at least they will be off for my birthday...hopefully...<br /><br />It is now the 3rd week of I.B. (which is a 2 year pre-university course I'm doing) and I can't even believe how much work I have. I should be doing it right now...but I was stressing about what all I was going to say in my blog, so I figured I'd go ahead and do this. Plus...I seem to be really good at procrastinating unfortunately :) So...usually in IB there are a few weird, random, crazy people who come as international students from around the world...but in our class of 120...everyone is AWESOME!! Seriously...we have an amazing group!! I dont know everyones name yet, but I'm getting there. I now have friends from Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Kenya, Zimbabwe, England, Norway, Finland, Italy, Argentina, Afghanistan, India, more from Ethiopia, Mozambique, and many other places. (even some cute guys ;) haha. Everyone is really cool and its been fun getting to know them. There are even two from the USA...which has been nice. We have conversations about how much we miss pop tarts and easy mac and krispy kreme and tootsie rolls and basically everything...in math class. Yea its sooo much more fun than doing exponential equations :)<br /><br />There are even a few Christians, a really cool group from Kenya, who were so happy to find out they weren't alone. We even have become really close with our SRC president (student rep) Vivian, who is in IB 2 and I think is the ONLY Christian in IB 2. Now that there is HEaling Place Church Swaziland...we have somewhere to go for fellowship and just to experience God in such a real way. 412 is kicking off big this new year and God is already doing great things...<br /><br />Quite a few Waterford students have been coming to HPC on Sundays, there is a bis that brings them to church and back to school, as well as on Friday nights for youth. HPC is all about being real and connecting with other believers...and going though life together...the students at my school love that! Lizette, Seipati, Ziyanda, Tukiya, and I are all youth leaders at HPC and LOVING being a part of 412. I had been leading worship at 412 and playing guitar at church on Sundays, but I haven't lately because I had to take a little break off from leadership. Just to get some things in order.<br /><br />I got mugged just after New Years...two guys held me and my friend Ntsiki at knife point and stole our phones. That was a big wake up call for me... they took my phone, my soccer cleats, and my Bible...3 of the most important things in my life...they each represent something which so easily can take the place of God in my life. It was scary, but I thank God we didn't get hurt and that God spoke to me through it... I'm still trying to find my way, I'll get there... I kinda find myself wishing I didn't have to grow up, a lot. The more I grow, the more I realize how bad this world really is and how easy it is for me to fail everyone I love...including God. When I was little, life was sweet, easy, and when I messed up it was always easy to fix the mistake...because I learned not to do certain things as they ended in punishment, or pain in some way or the other. Its still the same...the consequenses part anyway...only that the consequences now are soooo much worse and doing the wrong thing is so much easier. Ahhhh life... But hey, we all have to grow up. We all have to see the world for what it really is...a really messed up place, with really messed up people...all in desperate need of salvation, peace, and love from the only One who can clean up our messed up lives...<br /><br />The past 3 weeks I have been training with the number one team in SD, Muchachas Ladies FC. Theis coach asked me to play with them in the Shosholoza tournament a few months back and I finally got my coach to release me to play with them. The tournament was this past weekend, here in Mbabane. This tournament is HUGE...each year it is hosted by either Mozambique, SA, Angola, or SD (the countries involved). This year there were two teams from here: Kappa ladies (number 2 in the country) and Muchachas. 2 teams from SA : Flamingos, and Nigel. And one from Mozambique: Ajax. Since my team wasn't in the tournament and I really wanted to be a part of it...not just for the soccer but for the experience...I was sooooo excited when my coach released me to play with Muchachas. I trained with them for 3 weeks...and it was the best training I've had in a while. Real, professional training...on a NICE field. It was like being back in the US. I loved it. And I became really close with the girls on the team. I was a bit nervous about the weekend though because we stayed at a hotel called Esibayeni, so that the coach could make sure we all got enough rest, we weren't drinking or smoking (some girls on the team have a problem with these 2 things), we were bonding before the games, and so that he could give us plenty team talks lol. I was nervous because at first I was only really close to Ntsiki...and i though maybe they would only speak Siswati and leave me out... But the lady coach (thats what they call her :) told them to include me and try to speak English sometimes so I could understand. It was funny because sometimes they would be talking in Siswati to me or to each other and then I would answer back in English and they were so surprised that I understood what they were saying. I can pick up a few things, but I cant answer in Siswati. I was shocked too.<br /><br />The weekend was interesting, shocking at times, but SOOO MUCH FUN!! I really became close to them...and we won FIRST PLACE!! KFC sponsored the tournament with like 95000 rand, and they gave us lunch everyday...yummy. :) We got a big trophy, or kept it because Muchachas won last year too...and silver medals. Oh and I got to keep a few things like shirts and bags that say Muchachas...which I was very thankful for because I love that team. There were pictures of us playing in both newspapers Monday and tuesday this week. I wish I could post them but there not on the website, or atleast I cant find them. I am saving the papers though cuz there are some funny pictures of me. I was the only white chick...as usual hehe. I love it!!! Oh and Saturday night...we had a big braii with all the teams, with speeches and a talent show and dance etc...it was so cool to meet the other teams and just hang out with everyone. Sunday after we won...I cried. I love my team, but the connection I have with them and with the girls on Muchachas is different. Im close to 2 people on my team, the 2 I can talk to because they are the only ones that can speak good English... On Muchachas I feel like Im part of the team and Im close to everyone. Not only that but the way they play...wow. I wish you could watch. They really play as a team and have such great coaching. They said there is always a place on the team for me and I really hope my parents let me play for them next season so I can improve and play that kindof game again...I really miss it. Its still my dream to play in university so I would love to take this opportunity to get better these last 2 years I'm here. Anyways...I'm probably boring you to death...haha. Sorry. One more thing...sigh...we're playing Muchachas this weekend...my mom promised my team KFC if we win...so hopefully. Im kind of sad about playing against them... My dad said the only way we will win is if they have a bad day, and we have a really good one. haha. Sounds mean, but its true... Not many people come to training on my team so we don't exactly play as a team. We'll see what happens though...we have beaten Muchachas before u know... :)<br /><br />What else?? Oh...I got my IGCSE (final high school results) and they were pretty good. I got a distinction.<br />English Lit A*<br />English Lang A<br />History A<br />Biology A*<br />PE Studies A*<br />Spanish A*<br />Physics A<br />Chemistry B<br />Maths B<br /><br />I was pretty happy about them. I'm really enjoying some of the classes I'm taking in IB now. I'm doing History (higher), Bio (higher), and English (higher). Spanish (standard), Maths (standard), Siswati (standard), and T.O.K. (theory of knowledge)<br />I love English...the poetry we are doing is sooo cool. I never thought I would appreciate poetry so much. T.O.K. is very challenging at times, we question things like our existance and perception and belief vs. knowledge etc. It leaves me lost at times, but its never boring!!<br /><br />I have a TON of homework to do so I better go get to work. I know this was basically like a news report on whats been going on...no deep or interesting stuff. Next time :) I could always tell you my latest T.O.K question and then you could help me think of an answer....please??<br /><br />The latest one is : "We see the world not as it is, but as we are." Comments...<br /><br />God bless!!!Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-35242610373582481942008-09-16T06:51:00.000-07:002008-09-16T07:33:04.901-07:00Coming back...This is the title of a song God put in my heart 2 weeks ago. It's funny how the words only began speaking to my heart and situation this week. Or maybe I just wasn't prepared to listen to Him then.<br /><br /><em><strong>"Coming Back"</strong> </em><br /><em>I'm tired of walking this dark road</em><br /><em>And I can't do it on my own</em><br /><em>I'm at the point of desperation</em><br /><em>Crying out in my frustration</em><br /><em>Why can't I feel you?</em><br /><em>Does that mean you are not there?</em><br /><em>And if I can't hear your voice-</em><br /><em>Does that mean you do not care?</em><br /><br /><em>I'm coming back...</em><br /><em>I'm coming back...</em><br /><em>I'm coming back...to You.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Let Me speak some truth over this situation</em><br /><em>Let me speak some truth over this situation</em><br /><em>Let me speak some truth over...you</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Yes, I can hear you-</em><br /><em>And yes I care.</em><br /><em>Yes, I am with you...</em><br /><em>I've always been there.</em><br /><em>I am your Father</em><br /><em>I am your Saviour</em><br /><em>I'm your Deliverer and Redeemer...</em><br /><em>I am I AM.</em><br /><em></em><br />You know those times where we just completely shut God out of the picture?? Where you know full well He is speaking to you but you choose not to listen or to make dumb excuses...like "oh he can't be talking to me...or that doesn't apply directly to what's going on" Well...that's been me...for a few months now. I can't go into detail about what's been going on but let's just say it's been a struggle. Don't worry I wasn't on drugs and I haven't accumulated a drinking problem guys!!!....but it was something I never thought I would struggle with. At first I could hear God speaking clearly to me...."come back"..."this isn't right"...but as my heart became harder His voice became weaker and weaker until the point where I think He just gave up trying to speak directly to me. That's when He started speaking through other people. 2 sundays ago at church we were worshipping and the Lord spoke through Brother Ron, a powerful man of God who also goes to HPC. He said "How dare you call me Lord when I am not master in your life?"<br />You would think I would have gotten the message...I felt my heart stirring but I wasn't ready to deal with the situation, so yet again I ignored Him. I simply quit singing the song.<br /><br />I had convinced myself that nothing was wrong even though I knew otherwise in my heart. It is so easy to let our flesh and feelings control how we live and the choices we make...I guess once you are convinced that everything is okay what your heart cries out seems irrelevant because you become "comfortable" in your situation. I am soo thankful that God loves me enough not to give up on me when I totally turn away from Him. I only realized how much He wanted me back when He spoke to a lady I don't really even know...and told her to be praying for me. Finally He showed her why and everything was illuminated. It's actually quite funny...God was tired of me not listening so He decided to fill everyone close to me in on what I was sooo desperately trying to hide. Thanks God!! :)<br /><br />So this past week has been like a war for me. Every moment of the day I have to choose what to believe and to let Jesus be my master. Sometimes the pain in my heart is so unbearable, I feel like giving up...but then I remind myself...God didn't, hasn't, and WON'T give up on me!! Not ever...and I simply cannot understand that kindof love...but I am so grateful for it. Jesus did speak truth over my situation and continues to do so every day, especially through the amazing people He has put in my life. So I want to thank them for allowing God to use them to speak love and truth into my life: Jacci, Jessie, Zinty, Sarah,Mrs. Susan, Natalie, Jordan, Pat, Busie, Lizette, Angelle, Crystal and mostly...my parents. Thanks guys for keeping me on track and watchin out for me. Y'all mean the world to me!!<br /><br />Dang...this year has been a emotional and spiritual roller-coaster so far!! I know satan has been trying to bring me down the whole year but God has held on to me when I refused to hold onto Him. His love overwhelms me...I cannot even begin to explain the way my heart feels each time I think upon it. Even though He has gotten me this far...it's still hard. My heart still hurts and I know it will get better with time...but your prayers would be deeply appreciated. Pray for wisdom, strength, healing, and complete restoration. Please also pray for my friend and sister in Christ, Ntisiki, who is also going through a lot and yearning to be all God has planned for her to be. <br /><br />Okay now for some happy talk...I got to play and sing the song this past Sunday in church...with Zinty. It was scarry but I think God has really been taking me out of my comfort zone lately, so that's always good I guess. :) I'm taking mock exams now. They finish thursday. Cant wait! BUt then we still have the real ones....17 of them!!! Oh my... Oh and I got my prom/graduation dress in Capetown. It's really pretty. They call it "leavers" here...its kinda like prom and graduation mixed. Its November 15th. Wish you all could come!!<br /><br />Going to soccer practice now....yay!!!<br />God bless!!Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-25640819521058816142008-08-20T04:57:00.000-07:002008-08-20T05:20:50.186-07:00If God is for us, who can be against us??The title of my blog is the truth that is keeping me going today. I don't know why...but these last few weeks have been some of the worst of my life. It seems like ever since coming back from the Passion worship conference in Jo-berg, life has been so confusing, relationships have been confusing, I've been struggling with things I never thought possible, I've had to make decisions that have been unbearably painful, and worst of all I haven't been doing my part in the battle...through prayer and getting into the word.<br /><br />Passion was awesome!! God really touched our lives and afterwards I was sooo on fire and ready for whatever!! But then it was like back to reality and the reality is....as i'm still realizing...that some things needed to be changed. If I want to stay on fire and truly go deeper with Christ...He has to come first in my life, above all the things that I love like soccer, and even some of my relationships with people. So what do you do when you want to be closer to God and know you need to be in order to live a life that is pleasing to Him and worth anything....but the desire isn't there to do what needs to be done. Is it normal to have these dry seasons?? How do you quench the thirst when the only water sources in reach are polluted?? I know there is one available that is ready to fill me to overflowing with love and mercy and peace....His name is Jesus....and I desperately want to get there. I'm on my way!!!Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-70748410101124964512008-07-17T13:11:00.000-07:002008-07-17T14:33:29.198-07:00GUESS WHAT!!??SO....I have sooo much to write about since I am not a faithful blogger, and by the way my dad is making me update my blog more often, so hopefully you will be hearing a lot more from me in the days to come. :) Life just gets so busy and before you know it there are tons of stories that need to be told, but simply not enough time or space or concentration span (for u guys) to tell them. This is why I need to blog more often huh?? I know, I know.<br /><br />Most recently....I applied for the IB program at my school ( a 2 years pre university course ), and I found out Monday that I was accepted! SO that's pretty cool. I'm happy and relieved, but not really looking forward to the work-load. I pray that God continues to give me the strength and patience and faith I need to get through it, and still be on fire for Him. I've seen many Christians come into my school and unfortunatelt many of them are no longer Christians by the time they have finished. I pray that doesn't happen to me. I know I can't live with out Christ so I pray I don't become lazy or stupid and give Him the backseat in my life you know?? I finish high school in November after our final exams. Right now school is okay...just a lot of revision because we have a 4 week break coming up in 3 weeks and then when we come back to school we have mock exams (practice exams before the real thing).<br /><br />My best friend, Angelle, is coming here with HPC next week on a missions trip. I am sooooo beyond excitement I don't even know what to say on this matter. I can't even believe its really happening......God is awesome!!!!!!!! I really want to kidnap her for a few hours so she can meet my friends at school who are DYING to meet her, so we'll see how that works out. DOn't worry I'm not really gonna kidnap her (just in case your parents are reading this, angelle) :). There is going to be a huge youth day next saturday called Streets on Fire. God willing, it will be amazing!! There is going to be a 3v3 basketball tournament, DJ's, music, dances, food, etc... Please keep that in your prayers. Jordan and the guys have been going around to different schools advertising it.<br /><br />As most of you probably have heard by now....my parents no longer work with Children's Cup. It sounds sad at first, and it kind of is because even though we aren't leaving Swaziland......it feels like we're somehow being separated from our 'Cup family. But God is in control and He has plans for my parents' ministry here as well as for us.....so I will fear not!! :) I just pray that through this separation from Children's Cup, God can make stronger the bonds between my family and the Children's Cup family, and not allow us to drift apart. I am excited about what my parents will be doing here.....my dad will be doing skills training for I guess teens and young adults who are unemployed. This is really cool because there are many unemployed young people here, many who never had the chance or money to attend school, so hopefully through this, God can use my parents to touch people's lives and draw them to Himself in the process.<br /><br />I've been really busy with soccer the past few months. Our season just ended last weekend, we came in third in the league.....how sad. Muchachas were first and Kappa Ladies second. It's been a rough season for my team, most of the time we were short of players because one girl (Tema) hurt her knee and is currently recovering from surgery, and for some reason ( i think it's because my coach is unable to pay them) we lost a few players earlier in the season. With teams like Muchachas and Kappa who have sponsors, tracksuits, transport, and money.....finding players isn't really difficult I guess. I really want to become a Swazi citizen so I can play on the National team (Sitsebe) because the coach keeps asking me and I think it would be a really cool experience, since I dont think I could ever play for team USA. :)<br /><br />Over the past few months, I have been blessed to have a new friend and sister in Christ. Isn't it cool how even before we were born God knew who would be our friends and who would end up being closest to our hearts......and it's also cool how God brings these people into our lives.<br />A few months ago, actually back in January, I got an sms (text message) from a player on the Muchachas team....her name is Nontsikelelo Mkhonta, or Ntsiki. But at first I had no clue what people were saying when they said her name, so I called her Ziggy... and it stuck. :) She asked me if we could be friends and I was like .....sure, why not!?!? But it was different....with the girls on my team, we're friends, but all we have in common is that we play soccer. With Ziggy, it was like we both knew we would be friends even before we met. It was a God thing. Even though at first, we didn't talk much because her English wasn't so good at the time, we clicked, and now I can talk as fast as I want (almost) and she answers right back....usually with some hilarious sarcastic remark that I end up rolling on the floor laughing about. :) Anyways.....she is like the best female soccer player in Swaziland, she's 21, and she loves the Lord with everything she is. This past weekend she came to play with my team in a friendly match against another women's team. It was sooo much fun because I actually got to play with her, instead of having to defend her....which is close to IMPOSSIBLE!!! But a lot of the time she had to scream at me to get open because I would forget that I was playing and just watch her dribble everyone on the field, and pass a brilliant ball .....(to me who was supposed to be anticipating the pass and going to the goal to score)....and then of course, I ruined everything and missed the goal all together!! Yea...it was one of those games. She laughed at me a lot. Everyone did. I even missed a penalty kick......yup, i kicked it straight to the keeper. I laughed at myself for this one. It was fun though. I think I am most happy when I am on the field with my soccer buddies. I love playing with them, I learn something new everyday.....most recently: SPECTATORS SIT OUTSIDE THE FIELD.......gotta get my head in the game. :)<br /><br /> She is part of a ministry at her church called Vessel of Glory (or V.O.G.) They share the word and love of God through dance, poetry, singing, interpretive dancing, and step....and they write their own music. God is using them to touch Swaziland and He shines through all the 10 girls and Pastor The-The (tay tay) so brightly. We just recently went to one of their shows called Dvumisa Acts...The revelation continues. Wow.....u can feel the anointing before they even begin singing. Seriously I recommend that all of you some here just to see them dance and sing, with everything inside of them....all for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's awesome what God is doing through them and I can't wait to see all that He is going to do. They have blessed us so much and now we want to bless them. Jacci and I were talking about having an evening where we minister to them instead of the other way around...( hey it won't be as good as theirs BUT).... there comes a time in ministry when one needs to stop for a little while and be renewed, refilled, and ministered to....now it's their turn, so please pray that God uses us to bless them.<br /><br />Please keep my friend Ncamsile in your prayers. It is actually from her that I got my Swazi name Gabsile Shongwe. She is also a Shongwe. Ncamsile is on my soccer team and is an amazing soccer player. She can just about dribble anybody....boy or girl and sometimes you just have to stop and stare because its like "what did she just do, and how did she do it??" My coach started calling us sisters last year because she has a lighter complexion than the other girls on my team lol. ANyways.....I think she is sick and it makes me sad because there is nothing I can do about it. I mean she is fine now....but it just scares me that one day I will go off to University and leave all my close Swazi friends here.....and what if when I come back.....some of them aren't here anymore..... My mom was just reminding me that probably 1 in 3 of my friends here has the virus. I guess it never really clicked before because I am ,in a way, protected at my school and with the other missionaries. But its different now....a few months ago I was only really close to the other missionary people......now some of my closest friends are girls I play soccer with....and I just pray that God uses me somehow to touch their lives and help them find Him...so they can experience the love, joy and peace that comes through knowing Him. I guess its just hard because it seems unfair that I don't have to go through the things that my Swazi friends do, because of where I'm from and how I was raised and all. I wish I could somehow do something that would bless them and show them love like never before. And I know I can't do that in my own strength.......I need Jesus, they need Jesus.<br /><br />SO...there were all the main stories. Obviously there is so much more I could write about but Its late and I don't even know where to begin. Or end. Basically...I'm still alive, the family is doing well and God is still in control!! Thanks for your love and support. I'll wrote more soon....I promise.<br />God bless!!!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/SH-4to7M1aI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/dpzvAYumAhY/s1600-h/Gabridle%21%21+026+-+Copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/SH-4to7M1aI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/dpzvAYumAhY/s200/Gabridle%21%21+026+-+Copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224097186992412066" border="0" /></a><br />Gabsile Shongwe<br /><br /><br />In the pic--> Ncamsile, Shisa, and Gabsile<br /><br /><br /><br />Oh and funny story....I made a fool out of myself in South Africa yesterday...ok so I dont get out much. I got in an elevator....first time in a LONG time, and I just stood there. About 5 minutes went by and then Ziggy asked me...."why aren't we moving?, did u press the button?" I was like DUHHH I pressed the close the doors button. Then I started thinking we were stuck on the elevator. Ok so I forgot that you have to press the button for the floor you want to go to......eish technology. I really need to get out more. :)Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-36460539762409654362008-03-12T08:49:00.000-07:002008-03-12T09:14:46.762-07:00Its been a whileHi everyone!! Yes I'm still alive n' kickin! Just been extremely busy with school and sports. I'm leaving tomorrow for Johannesburg, SA. I made the senior bball team and we are playing in a tournament at the American International School in Joberg this weekend. I'm excited, but really scared. I just started playing basketball last year and I still have a lot to learn. Tips are needed ;) We dont have much competition here in SD, our usual score against the local schools is soething like 75-2. Our aim is to usually not let them score at all and for us to try and get 100. SO Ive gotten used to easy games, and I've heard that the competition at AISJ is rough. Its okay though, I'm kindof a bench warmer. hehe.<br /><br />Hmmm....lately....I've been doing nothing but homework, soccer, and basketball. Literally. I've totally been pushing God aside, and not making time or room in my life for the most important part, He is my life. My family and Jacci have been trying to keep me on track though, I love them so much. It's just so easy to get caught up in life. And its been showing too.....last week was the worst...I fell asleep in Physics, English, and oddly enough during lunch. I would be in the middle of writing a sentence and then the pen would fall to the floor and I was OUT. Thank God I have wonderful friends though, they kept an eye on me and tried their best to keep me awake. I only got kicked out of one class. ;) oops.<br /><br />Jacci just moved to Mbabane, right down the street from our neighborhood and in the middle of all the 'cup people who live in Mbabane. It's awesome! Me and danielle have been taking turns staying with her...until she gets settled and feels comfortable staying alone. SO I guess I'm kindof like a body guard. Eish. Her house is soooo cute!! ANd she has the biggest yard out of all of ours put together. It's a really amazing testimony, how she got the house. A major test of faith and display of God's faithfullness to His children. I gave up hope when the owner said it was already taken, but Jacci stayed strong and felt like it was going to be her house even though the situation seemed impossible. I learned a lot through the whole process and screamed in the middle of bball practice when I found out she got the house. You don't understand.....she had seriously been looking all over swaziland for MONTHS!!! Totally God. SO last Friday night all the 'Cup people and our other american missionary family people got together at her house and prayed. We walked the property and invited the presence of God and demanded anyone/thing else that was not God to LEAVE or HAMBA!! :)<br /><br />I have a really long story to tell about something that took place next door to our house a few weekends ago...but I'm not sure if I have enough time to fully describe it. Short version:<br />In the middle of the night (jacci was sleeping over) we heard this loud wailing and really loud drums coming from next door. At first I thought maybe it was a church service ( they had a big tent up) and maybe someone was getting a demon cast out of them or something. But something didn't feel right. I was overwhelmed with a sense of fear. Jacci and I prayed for a while before finally falling asleep. The drums played the WHOLE night. COme to find out, my dad and mom had a rough time sleeping, they both wrestled in their sleep, and our other neighbor who is also a Christian couldn't sleep. And he didnt even hear anything that was going on. Also, Roger, our swazi brother who lives in our house could not sleep so he stayed up and prayed the whole night. He knew what was going on next door, so the next morning (sunday) we didn't go to church so we could have a family meeting. Roger explained to us what was happening because by this time we were all scared. We went outside to see the people next door sacrificing goats right next to our fence. Our dogs were going crazy and the guy with the knife ( he looked completely possessed or something) was swinging the knife at our dogs. <br />SO here is what was happening: They were having a graduation ceremony for a lady who had just become a witch doctor, and during the night she was basically giving her soul to the devil. It was her wailing the whole night. All day sunday people would come to test her and see if she really had 'powers'. There was some scarry stuff going on over there, I wont go into detail. What made it even more scarry was that all day it was dark and cloudy. Me and my siblings went outside and startd singing worship songs really loud. Then these 3 guys who were chanting something over the goats body all of the sudden turned at the same time and stared at us. We ran inside. :) It was scarry, but it just opened to our eyes to what the devil is up to. It was hard for us to understand because we're not really used to this having grown up in the US. God really comforted us through the body. We had a prayer evening that night and everyone came over to pray with us and around the house. Everyone was crying. I love them soo much. <br /><br />Well....I have to go...this is kinod random because its rushed. I'll write more soon. Wish me luck this weekend!!!<br />God bless!!!Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-52411247560390111482007-12-27T07:14:00.000-08:002007-12-28T02:57:05.020-08:00My desire......South AmericaYou know how when you have your mind so set on something....its all you can think about.....but in the midst of the worrying "how am I going to be able to do this?" "how do I get there" "what if...", God keeps hinting at something else so totally different to what you think you want to and should be doing and then you ask yourself "have i just been wasting my time making my own plans when in the end it is God who directs my paths?" Well if not, it's okay....just wanted to put it as a rhetorical question because my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">English</span> teacher says that it grabs the audiences attention. And you are the audience........is your attention grabbed?? <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">lol</span></span>.<br />Well that is exactly what has been going on with me lately. I thought I knew what I want to do and I can't really say it on my blog because in the odd chance that I really do end up doing it, everyone would know and then I'd have to kill ya! ;) Just kidding.<br />All my life God has been telling me that I'm supposed to be in Missions work and I thought well...now we're in Africa, being missionaries.....is this what He was talking about? Maybe now that I'm here, I'm doing what He's called me to do and then after school I can do what I want. Now that I go to a really good school, where doors and possibilities have been opened and maybe will be opened where before I would have never had them. e.g....getting a scholarship to a prestigious university after schooling here. These are thoughts that have been running through my head and honestly I have been so stressed lately because I know what I want to do, but I've been telling myself that I don't know what God wants me to do. But all along, He has been hinting it....missions, missions, missions.<br />I personally don't see myself in Africa in the future, after school, though if God <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">specifically</span> tells me to be here I will. The place that has always been on my heart is South America, maybe even Mexico. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Every time</span> I talk about it I get this feeling in my heart, I can't explain it, it's like a yearning, a desire to be there. Before we came to Africa, my dad had always wanted to go to South America for missions work, but God led him and our family to a totally different place, somewhere we never once imagined we'd be and I know His purposes for my parents, maybe even us, are at work every day here.<br />With the thing that I want to do , there is no yearning, I want to do it because it sounds exciting and I'd get to travel a lot and learn other cultures and ways of life, but with missions work, being an Ambassador for Christ, I would get all the excitement, though I know from experience, it isn't always fun or easy, plus the travel, plus learning other ways of life, while also taking part in the advancement of God's kingdom. That is the most important thing that could ever be done.<br />My mind is set on doing something....but my heart is yearning to be in South America. The Holy Spirit has confirmed this to me in so many ways.....through other people, through my journal entries that I have recently looked over from 3 years ago......and simply through the fact that I want to walk in His perfect will for my life. I feel Him pulling me one way, and yet I still try to pull another and I don't even know why. Maybe I'm stubborn, maybe afraid, maybe <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">confused</span>. I just pray that each day I become closer to Him and I pray that He will open doors where they need to be opened in order for His purposes to be put to work in my life. I don't want to do something without Him in the centre. I want to be where He wants me and though I do not know exactly where it is, He will show me in His timing.<br />Please pray for me. God has already opened doors for me to be able to go to South America on a missions trip, we know some really cool missionaries there. I need to raise support to be able to do it though. Please ask the Lord if He would use you to help support me.<br />God bless!!Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-55728305701453915232007-12-27T06:10:00.000-08:002007-12-29T05:26:25.124-08:00Holidays with new adopted family members!<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Jacci</span> is officially a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Rehmeyer</span>. She has accepted and signed the terms of the Declaration of Initiation Contract of Dual <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Familyship</span> 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 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Nemo</span>, and Danielle was randomly floating around on a raft in the pool. My parents were standing there <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">solemnly</span> 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 <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Christmas</span>, basically she is always at our house or I'm always at hers. But she lives all the way in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Manzini</span> so it's been cool to spend so much time with her because during school I can't really go to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">manzini</span>.<br /><br />Last week she put together, along with her Swazi friends, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Ncobile</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Zanele</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Zwagele</span>, and Cynthia, a Christmas party for the ladies that work at the AIM <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">care points</span>. 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, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">coslaw</span>, and beet root salad. It was all really good. There were about 40 women in total at the party. The best part, besides what <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Jacci</span> 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 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Jacci</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Zwagele</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Ncobile</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Zanele</span>, Cynthia, and of course God who made it all possible and a day to remember.<br /><br /><br /><br />Our other adopted family member is a wonderful lady by the name of La <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Salet</span>. (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 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Tabenkhulu</span> (the sugar cane <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">company</span>) 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 <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">everything</span> 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 3<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">rds</span>. 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, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">huggy</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">kissy</span> people. She is and she rubs off on everyone because <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">that's</span> 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 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">lipsticky</span> smooch by La <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">Salet</span> herself....the chief kisser. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">lol</span>. She has such a big heart and she dreams big.....really big.<br /><br />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 <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">resources</span>, 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 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Salet's</span> heart and for what He is doing through her in that community.<br /><br />So anyways......we spent Christmas day with La <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Salet</span> 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<br /><br />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) <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Of course</span> just joking, because the only litchi tree we saw was in La <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Salet's</span> yard and I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">don't</span> think he could make much profit from one tree. But hey! if he wants to try.......<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">lol</span>.<br /><br />On Christmas my family, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Jacci</span>, Sandra, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Rajni</span> went to her house and she had a HUGE meal set out. There was : prawns, prawn curry, rice, chicken, turkey, honey glazed ham, salad, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">samusas</span>, 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, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Jacci</span>, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">Rajni</span> watched <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">DeJaVu</span> (spelling?) I love that movie. The rest of the time was spent relaxing, talking, eating, sleeping, and making necklaces. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">That's</span> one of her many hobbies, and they are very pretty. Oh and another quick random story....the other day before the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">Christmas</span> play we were driving to her house and we saw a black <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">mamba</span> on the road. My dad stopped and we all looked at it and he <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">didn't</span> 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.<br /><br />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.Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-88319961878954019612007-12-27T05:25:00.000-08:002007-12-28T05:05:16.807-08:00Christmas Parties Etc....<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3TrTZCqBHI/AAAAAAAAAEA/DTEmStYSJqQ/s1600-h/CIMG7788.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148998992363390066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3TrTZCqBHI/AAAAAAAAAEA/DTEmStYSJqQ/s320/CIMG7788.JPG" border="0" /></a> Shelly,Jacci, Zinty, and me at the Mbabane Christmas Party<br /><br /><br /><br /><div>I know I know....I haven't kept my end of the deal up. I thought I would be able to just chill at home and be bored out of my mind these holidays....but actually timehas been flying by because we've been so busy and its really freaking me out!! I don't want to go back to school. Everytime I think about having to go back I get so sad...God please give me joy about school and endurance...emotionally.<br />So the first few weeks of December were the Childrens Cup Christmas parties. There are 11 carepoints in Manzini, 2 in Mbabane, 1 in Tabenkhulu and 1 in Mozambique. There were 4 parties in all....the one in Manzini being the largest with over 2000 kids. It was awesome because we rented a big field at a local school and their were kids EVERYWHERE! The buses just kept coming. A team from Celebration Church in Texas was here as well as a doctor from Arizona, Rajni. They helped with all of the parties and were just AMAZINGLY AWESOME people. I was so sad when the Texas team left because it's like really cool relationships start to develope and then they have to leave. But the cool thing is is that even though on earth , I may not have the chance to hang out with some of the people I meet....one day in heaven we will all be together. So these relationships God is creating are just getting us ready for eternity where all believers will be together. And Rajni......Wow she's just .....Rajni. No words are good enough to describe how awesome she is. The day she arrived here, she came to our house and she was totally different than what I expected her to be. She is so easy to be around and so fun to talk to. It is impossible to have a dull conversation with her. She is leaving tomorrow and we're all sad. I just hope that one day I'll get to see her again somewhere...either in the US, here, or in another continent since we both want to travel the world. Anyways....short update on cool people i've recently met and gotten to know.<br />So the parties all went well... <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3Txi5CqBNI/AAAAAAAAAEw/mzO8dBqhZA8/s1600-h/CIMG7575.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149005855721129170" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 247px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 195px" height="200" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3Txi5CqBNI/AAAAAAAAAEw/mzO8dBqhZA8/s320/CIMG7575.JPG" width="314" border="0" /></a><br />Manzini: It started off rainy and cold and we were worried because it was supposed to have the largest number of kids. The buses started rolling in and we stood on guard as they stampeded down the hill next to the field. I started out at the space walks....wow it was difficult because we had to make sure only 10 kids got on at a time and they were only on for 1 minute. Since I only know a few words in Siswati, it was rather difficult, but I picked up a few words that were necesary for this mission. Hamba!- Go. Puma!- Get out. Bambe- Hold on, wait. I know more than just that...not much more but a few phrases. ;) We served hot dogs, chips, and this weird soda drink that tasted like kids tylenol syrup. Lizette came and helped as well. There was also face painting, relay races, a worship tent, and other games here and there.<br />Tabenkhulu (Mapheveni): IT WAS SHISA-(hot)- wow. The sunburns were bad for all the malungus (white people) but it was really fun. This is the newest carepoint and the farthest away (in Swaziland). The community the carepoint is for is very p<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3TyBpCqBOI/AAAAAAAAAE4/KgzcS9QLaVA/s1600-h/CIMG7550.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149006384002106594" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 141px" height="121" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3TyBpCqBOI/AAAAAAAAAE4/KgzcS9QLaVA/s200/CIMG7550.JPG" width="200" border="0" /></a>oor and in need. Thabenkhulu is a sugarcane company, and mapheveni is a community where all the outcasts or rejects from the sugar cane company live. So they are in major need of food, love, and Jesus. One of the poorest areas of Swaziland. It is so cool to see all that God is doing there through childrens cup and Pastor La Salet...I'll talk about her later. Talking about how awesome she is could take up a whole blog in itself.<br />Mbabane: As far as orginization goes, this one ran the smoothest. I did facepainting for most of this one. We had it at a soccer field close to where we live. The kids were split into groups (they were at the other parties as well but at the manzini one, it was a little chaotic because of the weather and at the Mapheveni one the area was too small to proper<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3TuIpCqBKI/AAAAAAAAAEY/thzX8dxSMD0/s1600-h/CIMG7799.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149002106214679714" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3TuIpCqBKI/AAAAAAAAAEY/thzX8dxSMD0/s320/CIMG7799.JPG" border="0" /></a>ly divide them into groups.) The Mbabane party was great because the area was huge and there wasn't an overwhelmingly large amount of kids. The kids did a christmas program that they had been working on and it was really good. Again...hot dogs....they were looking pretty funny by this party. And you know the funny thing?? We still have hundreds of them left....in our freezer....I'm telling you if I ever see, smell, taste, imagine, walk by, touch another hot dog I might just die. Not really because I usually really like them....but they have scarred me for life. I will never thoroughly enjoy another hot dog again.<br />I heard that the party in Mozambique went well...Thank you Jesus! Unfortunately I couldn't go, there wasn't enough room. Jacci, Patrick, Christy, and Zinty took the Texas team.<br />So all in all the parties went well....except for a few minor disputes and frustrations amongst the cooks and elders but I won't go into that because I don't fully understand it myself. All glory and thanks to God for being there with us and with the children and for blessing them and making it a success.</div></div><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3Tvi5CqBLI/AAAAAAAAAEg/1Fk3a3tXEas/s1600-h/CIMG7725.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149003656697873586" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3Tvi5CqBLI/AAAAAAAAAEg/1Fk3a3tXEas/s200/CIMG7725.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Sac races at the mbabane christmas party. The kids had a blast!<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3T0WpCqBQI/AAAAAAAAAFI/rUwiDdKq30A/s1600-h/CIMG7810.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149008943802615042" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3T0WpCqBQI/AAAAAAAAAFI/rUwiDdKq30A/s200/CIMG7810.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My dad with his safari hat...organizing the food?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3Tv0JCqBMI/AAAAAAAAAEo/rL6rJJ0SLIw/s1600-h/CIMG7699.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149003953050617026" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3Tv0JCqBMI/AAAAAAAAAEo/rL6rJJ0SLIw/s200/CIMG7699.JPG" border="0" /></a>Some of the girls at the Mapheveni carepoint did a dance as part of the Christmas program.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3TyBpCqBOI/AAAAAAAAAE4/KgzcS9QLaVA/s1600-h/CIMG7550.JPG"></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3Ty4ZCqBPI/AAAAAAAAAFA/IxxGNnO5o_k/s1600-h/CIMG7563.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149007324599944434" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/R3Ty4ZCqBPI/AAAAAAAAAFA/IxxGNnO5o_k/s200/CIMG7563.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Crab walk...one of the many games going on. As you can see it was pretty wet in Manzini. </div><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-8593792619965261922007-11-12T09:09:00.000-08:002007-11-12T09:37:16.394-08:00The Phone-call...So...Tori asked me to say something for a chick night my church (HPC) was having for the middle and high-school girls last Friday night. I said yes after a little hesitation because I was soo scared. But I was at the Survivor thing for my class, camping so I convinced my teacher to let me take my phone and we found a place where there was good service for when they would call. The plan was that they were going to call me at 3 AM Swazi time, Saturday morning and I had been worrying about what I was going to say all week, Lizette was going to come outside with me and hold the flashlight. So I prepared something to say and a phone call came at 2:54 AM, I picked it up, but then it disconnected. (tori just emailed me and told me that they realized no one had international service on their phones at the service so they got Jean Ohlerking (meemaw) to call me and tell me what happened..but unfortunately it didn't come through)<br /><br /> I walked around the campsite a bit but no one called back....it was REALLY cold outside and I was half asleep, all I wanted to do was return to my cozy sleeping bag and get 2 more hours of sleep before they woke us up to hike, but I felt the Lord speaking to my heart, telling me to stay outside. I told Lizette, who was sleep-walking I think lol, that she could go back to sleep, that I was going to walk around for a while.<br /><br /> I was kind of sad at first, I was scared but looking forward to speaking, but as I sat there looking at t he stars I realized that I wasn't supposed to speak. I had planned something and was so sure of what I was going to say, but in my heart...I didn't believe what I was saying and God knew...He wanted to show me a few things that morning. I guess He's been trying to speak to me for a while, but I've been too busy to listen. It took a disconnected phone-call at 3 in the morning in a quiet place where the only people awake were me and God, for Him to get through to me. <br /><br /> As I sat there I began to sing, and then weep because He reminded me of my purpose here, my mission field...my friends...the 89 people sleeping in their sleeping bags all around me. My heart broke because I love them so much and if I love them that much...I can't even imagine how much God does, and how His heart breaks to see them hurting...longing...searching for the one person they need to save them and love them, but who they are so against accepting...Jesus.<br /><br /> I began to pray for them and to pray that God would help me and speak through me and open doors to witness to them. You know...a few days ago I was wondering why I'm here, again, and how can I even be considered to be a missionary when I'm not really involved with my parent's children ministry, what I thought was the reason I was here. I go to school just like all the other girls that I was going to speak to. I would say I live a normal life...school, soccer and more soccer, but the thing is...It is soo much harder to witness and share Christ's love with smart teenagers at an International World College where there are so many different backgrounds and religions, than at a care point where the children are starving for love and are so ready to accept Jesus into their hearts. It is hard, and we (teenagers) are STUBBORN!! ;)<br /><br /> So, that night, God reminded me of my purpose and that there is so much more work to be done, so many hearts to be softened, and so many more seeds to be planted. Although I didn't get to speak, it actually turned out to be a good thing because my heart was in the wrong place. I had forgotten my task and ignored God's calling in my life. I'm telling you, I have never felt the presence and love of Christ so strongly as I did at 3 Am Saturday morning and I pray that I never get that busy and caught up in useless things again that I can't hear God speaking to me. <br /><br /> God knew what He was doing...and He blessed another girl that night at Chick night, who got to speak and share what God has done in her life...which is AMAZING!! I wish I could have been there! But God had something else in mind for me...a one on one chat session under the clear Swazi sky. God is awesome!<br /><br /> Tori...see, no worries! You're the best, I LOVE YOU!! ;)Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-5103040499942795292007-11-12T08:54:00.000-08:002007-11-12T09:08:53.702-08:00Waterford Form 4 Survivor 2007This past weekend, my whole class (about 90 students in all) went to Malolotja nature and wildlife reserve to have a survivor weekend. We were split up into 10 groups and had to give all of our bags to the counselors to lock up in a roon. They didn't want us to be eating anything except what they brought for us and knew that most of us had brought our own snack supply. We were only allowed into our bags to get our shower stuff and sleeping bags (they monitored what we took out, which was good because a few of the guys had brought a lot of alcohol) I had brought some good snacks too, DARN! ;)<br /> <br /> The reserve is HUGE, with endless green mountains and zebra and wildebeest and lots of monkeys. We had 10 survivor challenges the first day, and had to hike at least 2 miles to get to some of them. Some of them were deep in the woods and it was like we were in the jungle or something, we got lost a few times. My favorite challenges were swimming across the dam and going into a gold mine to look for 'treasure'. There were bats in the cave and it was so scary in there, especially with Ralph saying the whole way 'This is like a scene from the Texas Chainmsaw Massacre'....thanks Ralph. lol.<br /><br /> My team was called the HIllbillies...guess who came up with that name? ;) For dinner the first night each group was given 5 potatoes, an onion, half a bag of froxen veggies, a few slices of roast beef, and a packet of soup. They told us to make our own dinner, so we made stew. It actually turned out very good...especially since I smuggled out some spicy seasonings from my bag. Hey, I'm from Louisiana...gotta have some spice!!<br /><br /> On the second day...they woke us up at 4:30 in the morning and said we were leaving at 5 to go for a hike. We hiked from 5 till 10 ...at least 20 kilometres, up and down huge hills...it was AWESOME! We stopped at a beautiful waterfall for half an hour and swam. It was cold, but so much fun!<br /><br /> When the bus dropped us off in town for our parents to fetch us, we were like zombies.....the parents were like...whoa what did they do to you? TALK ABOUT TIRED! It was really cool to be able to hang out with friends and learn how to work as a team. I really enjoyed it. I'll post some pics when I get them.Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-25299659145469336552007-11-12T08:03:00.000-08:002007-11-12T09:54:19.093-08:00Now there are 3 teenagers in the Rehmeyer house...oh boy!Danielle turned 14 NOvember 2nd and Nathan turned 13 this past saturday. Me and lizette baught a joint gift for Danielle and I wasn't sure what to get Nathanael, so we took him to lunch after school last wednesday. Here are some pictures.<br /><br />First : lizette, nate, me, and Jacci<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n006.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Second: Me and Jacci<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n599220142_447407_3387.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n599220142_447407_3387.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Third: Nathanael and Ralph<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n026.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n026.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Fourth: Lizzy and Nate<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n022.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Fifth: Desert<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Nates%20Spur%20B-day%202007/n032.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-34802101064603309832007-11-06T07:32:00.000-08:002007-11-06T08:01:30.273-08:00Exams are over...form 5 has just begun....oh my!So you would think I would be so relieved after 2 weeks of exams and staying up till 2 30 in the morning studying....but its kind of hard to be when the teachers just make us go right back to tests and essays and.....you know the usual. No mercy...at all! lol.<br /><br /> Exams finished last week Thursday. We had 12 in all. This week we have been getting them back and for some subjects, this is a very unfortunate even depressing event. ;) So heres the update on my academic results for this years exams:<br /><br />English language- A<br />English literature- A<br />Math- B (hey i didn't even get to finish..it was like 30 pages....ok fine no excuses ;)<br />History- A<br />Biology- A<br />Physics- A<br />Chemistry- A or B...not sure yet because I got a B on my first paper and an A on the next.<br />Spanish- A<br />P.E Studies (yes its different than P.E.)- A<br />Music Theory and Listening- well.....um its after B and before D...so i guess that makes it a C?? hehe. Sorry i cant distinguish between Bach and Handel, or a fugue and a sonata, or a minor 3rd harmonic and a ...okay you get the point....music theory is very hard for me.<br />Music Composition- A<br /><br />So that's the update. Oh and my music composition is a song, a solo on the guitar called "How Can I Run?" It's a Christian song, the second one I've written this year....every time we have to write a composition I freak out, but then when I am worshiping God on my guitar...its like He just gives me the words and it all comes together perfectly. My music class is going to Pretoria in 2 weeks, I'm so excited! Were playing at the British embassy and there are only 8 people in my class so we're pretty close, it should be fun. I love my school....we're always doing something fun.....when the teachers aren't trying to sabotage us with homework. ;)<br /><br />This weekend, my whole form (form 4) is going camping for a survivor weekend. It should be...um...interesting. Not sure what we'll be doing but I'm sure it wont be too dangerous/survivorish because we have ALOT of whiny girls in my class.....including me sometimes. ;)<br /><br />Danielle just turned 14 last Friday and Nathanael will be 13 Saturday. Me and Lizette are taking him out to lunch tomorrow since we won't be here this weekend. Lizette is practically like our sister so we do joint presents for my siblings. lol. For Danielle's birthday we had a HUGE party at my house Saturday night....everyone from Children's Cup came and other missionaries we are really close to. I love it when we all get together.....it just makes me feel soo happy to be around the people I love, especially since it is so easy to get homesick.<br /><br />I spent Friday and Saturday with Jacci...it was soooo much fun. I love hanging out with her...she is like my big sister. And she says shes 'adopted' me as her sister. So I officially am NOT the oldest in my family anymore, i refuse! lol. We went to the gym in Manzini, it was soo much fun I love gyms! Its also cool to know that someone else loves to exersize as much as I do. I just LOVE it! And I'm not crazy, i promise! So yea...I love Jacci to death!<br /><br />Now's about the time I just start rambling about nothingness, because I don't know what else to talk about. So I think I'll wrap things up. You know what I've been craving? Waffle house. Oh my.....that just sounds soo good right about now. OKay....im rambling. lol. I'll try and write more soon and maybe next time I'll have something of importance to talk about besides my waffle house cravings and horrible grades...;)<br /><br />God bless!!!!Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-54150443866185289242007-10-24T08:48:00.000-07:002007-10-24T09:00:10.653-07:00I know . I know....im hopeless at this blog thing. My bad. ;)Okay so ....i know I NEVER write anymore....facebook is just so much easier. ;) I need to though, but the thing is I dont know if anyone even reads them anyways so I'll make a deal with you....whoever you are....if 3 or more people let me know somehow...in response to this blog that they actually read them ( i know 2 people do) then I will make it a point to TRY and blog weekly. I promise. <br />Nothing much is happening now, just school and exams which are stressing me out like crazy. Kristen just left...so were all pretty sad about that. Oh and there is this lady...Jacci, who works with Childrens Cup and I just met her like last week. She is sooooo awesome! She has been helping me out with espanol and yea shes just amazing! Im so happy I met her.<br />I've learned that although sometimes God takes away the people I love, He always puts someone else in my life who is so amazing, and even if He doesn't...He never goes anywhere. He is continuously teaching me to put all my hopes and trust in Him and not in people...because I tend to do that a lot. I have to remember that He is a jealous God and he alone deserves my trust. <br />So yea...thats basically it for now. The soccer season starts next week, Im pretty excited about that. So I will write soon IF people read my blog. lol. ;)<br />Later gater!!Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-56878108491747149152007-07-25T08:43:00.000-07:002007-09-05T05:57:26.117-07:00The famous words- I can't do it.This is exactly what I have been saying over and over again the past few days. It seems like everyone I get close to and come to love here, leaves. I guess that comes with being a nissionary kid, but I didn't think it would be this hard to say good-bye. I was thinking maybe I should try not to get to attached to people, but I'm glad I built these relationships, ones that wouldn't exist if I weren't here.<br /><br />There was this couple here, Nate and Crystal, from Las Vegas. They had been here for almost 6 months and work with Youth For Christ. They are an amazing couple, and have two sons, Judah and Micah. ADORABLE BOYS! I just met them within the past 3 months, and Crystal was descipling me and Lizette, so we were/are really close and I love crystal to death! She just found out last week that she has cancer, so they had to move back to the U.S. It seems so sudden, and unexpected. They were confused and sad to leave but know that God has bigger plans, so they are trusting Him and being the strong Christians that they are through it. I look up to Crystal soo much for being so strong and faithful, she is so scared, but chooses to trust God. I wish I could take her place, but I know God has a huge plan and many good things, though we cannot see them now, will happen through this. Thank God, the cancer is almost 95% curable and they caught it at an early stage. SO please help me pray for her and her family. They left a lot of their stuff here, because they hope to be back when the treatment is over. It was so hard to say good-bye.<br /><br />Also, Kristen and Charles are leaving and it makes my heart hurt just thinking about it. I can't picture living here without them here to run to when I was having a spiritually low time or going through struggles at school. They are like my youth pastors, and have become that to MANY people at my school, like Lizette. She loves them just as much as I do. It seems like all the people who have helped make us the Christians we are and have encouraged us in our walk with Christ are being pulled away and quite frankly, I'm scared to death. I can't do it on my own. I dont know what to do. I know God has amazing plans for their lives and I pray He blesses them abundantly, wherever He leads them next. They could never know the impact they have had on me and lizette's lives. We love them sooo much. We have cried so much together already, when they actually do leave........I donno. I really feel like giving up....but maybe this is a time where we have to learn to lean on Christ alone and grow in Him rather than lean on others to keep us strong.<br /><br /><br />Lizette put it nicely in this conversation we had yesterday:<br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Lizette says:</span><br />I feel so sad, maybe God wants us to lean on him but i feel as though all the people that were encouraging us to be who we are and be proud for Christ are leavng and they're leaving us in the big bad scary world...... </span><br /><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Gabby says:</span><br />i know exactly how you feel lizzy, i feel the same way<br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Lizette says:</span><br />And as much as i was close to Crystal and Nate, my heart is breaking for charles and kristen<br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Gabby says:<br /></span>im scared honestly, im so scared for them and for us. i cant do it great now im crying again<br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Lizette says:</span><br />Me too Gabby i don't know where we should go from here. I'm crying too</span><br /><span style="color:#000099;"><span style="color:#ff0000;">Lizette says:<br /></span>I'm so sad i just wish i could see what good could come of this. This is probabaly a test for us too so we need to start praying b4 school everyday and just ask God to strengthen us and help us through because i'm not sure where we should go from here...<br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Lizette says:</span><br />And i think you and me should start taking the larger part of responsibility for our bible studies and make some changes to help other people just like N&C, C and K helped us</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000099;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">So yea....its been rough, but God is still good. God is still good. My mom told me yesterday morning that when God shuts one door, He always opens another. Me and Lizette had been praying for God to send us someone to desciple us and that could teach us more about God and the bible, and then we met Crystal and she asked if she could desciple us. It was such an answer to prayer. We were soo excited. Thats why its been so hard because we thought God had put her into our lives and now she is gone. And we love her soo much. So I had basically given up hope when she left Monday. But last night my parents got a call from a lady in the states who wants to come here and work for Childrens Cup. She is a nurse so she can help my mom with the medical side, which is exactly what she has been praying for. Then she told my mom that she desciples teenage girls, or somehting like that, and my mom almost stated crying. I get goose bumps just thinking about it. God is soo awesome. When I told Lizette today , she teared up.</span><br /><br />I am going to miss Crystal and Charles and Kristen sooo much and I wish they didnt have to leave. Atleast with Crystal, they will probably be back when she is better. Charles and Kristen, I dont know. I love these people so so much. No one will ever take their place in my heart, but God had made more room for other people so I need to move on and trust that He will take care of us and Crystal, C and K.<br /><br /><br />Jesus, please heal Crystal completely and give her strength as she goes through treatment. Give Nate strength and wisdom as he takes care of his family and bless them abundantly.<br /><br />Please be with Kristen and Charles and give them peace and strength as they take the next step in life. Help them to carry Swaziland around with them in their hearts and remember all the precious moments spent here. I know you will touch many peoples lives through them, as you did with mine. Thank you for sending them here and thank you that you have a perfect plan for all of us. Amen.Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-51798946955752479722007-07-12T05:20:00.000-07:002007-07-12T06:15:30.863-07:00You're my Kentucky Rounda!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RpYmQzS9rAI/AAAAAAAAABI/Qp2LWKrJ2_0/s1600-h/G+032.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5086294899251063810" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RpYmQzS9rAI/AAAAAAAAABI/Qp2LWKrJ2_0/s320/G+032.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />This picture is at my house, its Beau, me (shorty), and Chris. Beau is like my brother, he is in my class at school and his family is like my second family here. They are also american, well half, (his dad is from New Zealand and mom from Alaska/New Mexico) Chris was visiting him from Alaska a few weeks ago so we hung out a bit.<br /><br />I just got a ride down from school with the headmaster (principal, he was going to town anyways) because i dont feel well. My ear hurts soo bad. Everyone has been sick lately. Even our dog is sick, we think she got stabbed the other night so now she has stitches. Last week was midterm break, so we only had school on monday and half of tuesday. The rest of the week I chilaxed with Lizette and Aissa and played soccer and did homework. I never knew it was possible to have so much homework. I could sit at the table from 8 AM to 8 PM and do homework for 2 days straight and still not have it all done, ha these teachers are so heartless. lol<br /><br />This past sunday, my soccer team , Imbabatane, went to Maputo, Mozambique for a game against a womans club team there. I think it was the most interesting experience of my life. We were gone all day, it takes like 2 hours to get there and we played at 3. The place we played was way back in a very poor area of maputo. It was kindof scarry back there, i must say. The "field" was like a giant sand box and the lines were made with water. It was so hard to run and those Mozambiquans sure can run. lol. They beat us 4-0, but I still enjoyed it a lot. Ill never forget it. Around the field were shacks and houses and there was a very old/torn up school infront of it. We changed in the school. The bathrooms were definately a new experience, one that I dont think I ever want to do again. There were no doors, just a hole in the ground and it stank so bad. I think it was the fastest ive ever used the bathroom in my life. I held my breath the whole time. My team was just laughing at me. lol. All in all , it was a great day. My dad drove us there and back, im so thankful to him for always driving us everywhere.<br /><br />Tomorrow, is the 24 hour run fundraiser for my school. We formed teams of 35 and have to run (in different slots) for 24 hours. Its compulsary to be there, so why the teachers are still giving us homework I do not know! lol. Should be interesting.<br /><br />Next week friday, my school soccer team is going to MIS (Maputo International School?) for an indoor soccer tournament. I can't wait for that.<br /><br />Charles went to the States yesterday so keep him in your prayers as he travels. Him and kristen have made such a huge impact on a lot of young people's lives here. ALOT. So many people at Waterford love them and look up to them, including me. Everyone keeps asking me whe the next youth night is, they love them. It would be sooo cool to have a youth like at HPC , Refuge Swaziland lol. That would be pretty tight!<br /><br />Well....Thats all I can think of for now. Please pray for my school and friends.<br /><br />You're my Kentucky rounda!- this is from a song by a south african artist, Pitch Black Afro, and in it he says "youre my kentucky rounda" like the KFC rounders....anyways I just thought it was funny. Dont ask , im feeling a little random today.Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-91538023756793809032007-06-13T08:30:00.000-07:002007-06-13T09:09:03.475-07:00The past month or so...Wow...so today all of the music students at my school went to the European Union Delegate's meeting to perform while they were eating and during the breaks between the speeches. We went to the German Embassy Estate in Ezulwini Valley...talk about BIG!! There were so many important people there. It was scarry. And It was soooo formal!!! I had to wear a dress and high heels..which is extremely rare!! My friends who didn't go, were like WHOA, you should dress like a lady more often. Thanks guys. lol. SO me and my friend Aissa wrote a song, she plays piano and I play guitar. It is a Christian song and has "Jesus" in it so we were a bit worried at first about even showing it to our teacher, but he liked it, so we played it. I was sooo nervous! But it went well. The food was good too. lol. School is killin me, I have so many testes this week and a history report due next week that I have not even started on yet! AHHHH!<br /><br /> A few weeks ago, the girls in my form went to Shewula, a small community near the Mozambique border. We spent Friday night there and did community service at 3 of the schools in that area. It was sooo cool! We got to split into groups and play with the kids. My group had the 8 year olds. There were about 40 of them. They were adorable!! The place we stayed at had 4 cabin things, and the rest of us put up tents. Talk about interesting!! It was so much fun to hang out with all of the girls though. We talked most of the night....GIRL TALK!! It is so cool to be able to go to places like that and help out and play with the kids, we at Waterford, are so privileged. I hope to go back sometime. I'll post some pictures soon.<br /><br /> There was a youth night last Friday night. It went really well. Please pray that God opens doors for us to be able to have them more regularly. Also...at my school, some,e teachers and students have started a G.A.P. (gender awareness project) to encourage homosexuals to come out and not be scared to be who they are. They want our school to be more tolerant to other lifestyles etc. There is even a whole week coming up dedicated to GAP and we all have to participate. I don't know what that will be like. I wish we could have a Christian week, that would be awesome. Anyways..please pray for my school and I don't even know really....it seems satan is having his way in a lot of things , maybe for strength for the Christians. I think during this time, Christians are going to be attacked because they assume that we are not going to agree with what they are bringing into the school. We don't agree, we are intolerant of the sin, but we still love the people. After all, God still loves us when we sin. I don't see why they can bring GAP into the school because they are being intolerant of people's religious beliefs, but do they care?? no, not really. Oh well....God is in control and hopefully He will work through us during this time. There are sooo many hurting people at my school. Please pray for two girls in my class...Anna and Nadja.<br /><br />Oh yea...I'm playing basketball now and i LOVE IT!! I still love soccer the most but I really like basketball. It all started at a Concrete Hoops camp here in Swaziland, put on by a group of Canadian coaches. It was awesome and now I can't stop playing. Weird i know.<br /><br />That is all I can think of at the moment. School is keeping me extremely busy and stressed. I miss everyone! God bless!!!<br /><br />The group pic is our Concrete hoops group with our coach, Rachel, at my school (waterford hosted the camp) And the other picture is Tyrone (canadian coach), me, and Rachel. I got the most improved player award! lol.<br />The other picture is me, and my two best friends here: Lizette and Aissa, at Spur (restaurant in SD)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RnAUaTxx3XI/AAAAAAAAAAw/k2RTEjgnTp4/s1600-h/awwww.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RnAUaTxx3XI/AAAAAAAAAAw/k2RTEjgnTp4/s320/awwww.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075579222264765810" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RnAVHjxx3YI/AAAAAAAAAA4/mIXFS3s9V28/s1600-h/fave.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RnAVHjxx3YI/AAAAAAAAAA4/mIXFS3s9V28/s200/fave.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075579999653846402" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RnAV_zxx3ZI/AAAAAAAAABA/KwoI91ca5b4/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RnAV_zxx3ZI/AAAAAAAAABA/KwoI91ca5b4/s200/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075580966021488018" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RnAUaTxx3XI/AAAAAAAAAAw/k2RTEjgnTp4/s1600-h/awwww.jpg"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a>Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-26722001222336331562007-04-23T06:53:00.000-07:002007-04-23T07:13:54.085-07:00Back from HolidayzzzHowdy folks! We just returned from Margate, SOuth Africa Saturday. Margate is a little town near Durban, right in the beach. It is soo cute! This place reminded us so much of being in the States, it was almost unreal! There were malls (some better than any I've ever been to in the U.S.....sorry) , restaurants ( can't touch the restaurants in U.S....oh YEA), and hm....there were a lot of ice cream parlours. lol. The beach was beautiful and our hotel was very nice. It even had air conditioning and cable TV...now THAT'S new!! <br /><br />We went deep sea fishing, swimming with dolphins, hiking, shopping, and to a snake farm which had southern U.S. alligators. I just assumed they were from Louisiana, so I spent a lot of my time by their cage to talk Southern to 'em, maybe make 'em feel a little more at home. Oh yeah! We also ate a lot of ice cream, not as good as Baskin Robins, but it was good. <br /><br />We are out of school for a month! Yayyy. But I already have a daily schedule for the whole break. I can't live without schedules, I just can't. That's normal right........guys??.....guys?!? No, its fine, I know I'm weird already. haha. Most of the Childrens Cup team is in Mozambique right now with the Elevate team. I really wish I could go and hang out with them, but I can't. I have soccer and an orthadontist appointment in South Africa wednesay and then a church camp this weekend. So sad. <br /><br />I am reading "more than a carpenter" by Josh Mcdowel. It is really helping me with situations at school and now I can see for myself why the Bible is true and how it all came about and the evidence for Jesus being the One, and the resurection and other things. I like it a lot. I really am into apologetics and learning about the history of Christianity and the Bible. It is very interesting. Anyways...That is all that's going on at the moment. I'll write more soon. <br />gabbyGabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-40724974983484125572007-04-09T10:41:00.000-07:002007-04-09T11:54:03.636-07:00Government Hospital Visit<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RhqGQ4GPgII/AAAAAAAAAAg/8jEKMFGT50k/s1600-h/T-G+078.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RhqGQ4GPgII/AAAAAAAAAAg/8jEKMFGT50k/s320/T-G+078.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051497556544028802" border="0" /></a><br /> Today my family celebrated Easter together. A day late, but we were in Tabenkhulu(sp?) yesterday, so we decided to do it today. We colored Easter eggs and then ate them and then made cookies. Very interesting I know. Don't worry I'm not just blogging to say that, what I wanted to talk about is my experience at the Mbabane government hospital this evening. We went to Spar and got some lolly-pops and chocolates to bring to the kids in the hospital. I had never been there before, so I didn't know what to expect. Oh..... my..... goodness.<br /> The first two rooms were occupied by at least 15 kids each and their mothers or whoever was sent to take care of them. Yeah....they have to make sure a family member or friend goes with them to the hospital, because if they don't the child probably won't get fed, bathed, or even taken care of, much less a check-up. There were kids from the age of just a few months, to 10....I'm guessing. With injuries such as : burns from hot pourage, broken legs, injuries caused by car accidents, pneumonia, HIV related illnesses, and some with the flu but dying from it. As soon as we started to hand out the sweets, the mothers all rushed up to ask for one for themselves, lol. We spoke to all of the children, wished them Happy Easter and took some pictures. My mom prayed with a lady and her son, who has pneumonia, the lady was very scared. There is a mentally retarded boy that has lived there all of his life, who was going around helping all of the children and talking to us, he is so sweet.<br /> The third room is where the abandoned children stay. We spent the longest time in this one. I fell in love with a little boy, John, he is soo adorable. I had to hold the lolly pop for him to lick it because he is only a few months old and doesn't even have any teeth yet. He smiled at me the whole time. The abandoned children are soo desperate for love and they just want to be held. When we left, they cried. I almost cried. They are mostly all healthy, just don't have anyone to care for them. I wish I could take all of them! One of our friends, Robin Pratt, runs an orphanige here called Sandra Lee. She usually takes the children in the abandoned ward, but has no more space and has to wait for another home to be built. For now she has to refrain from going to the hospital, because she knows she will want to take them all home with her. I can't wait till these kids get to go with her. They just have to sit in their cribs all day long and most all of them were wet, dirty, and stinky from not being taken care of. Just sad. I hope to go back there soon and visit these kids. They are starving for love and attention and it is so good to know that God has a plan for each one of their little lives.Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-68082854317898200202007-04-08T08:14:00.000-07:002007-04-08T08:32:32.210-07:00Sorry.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Home%20for%20the%20Holidays%202007/soccerbuds078.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m58/Gabster14/Home%20for%20the%20Holidays%202007/soccerbuds078.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"> Hey, I'm really sorry my last blog turned out to be so long. I just realized how long it was when I didn't even feel like reading all of it. Please read it though. lol. I just got carried away! </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"> My friend, Tabby, sent me this picture. They put together a soccer reunion party for me in Louisiana. It was really nice to hang out with these girls, they're some of the best friends I've ever had. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);"> -> Val, Me, and Tabby.</span>Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-14435280214987198602007-04-07T11:07:00.000-07:002007-04-07T12:48:59.323-07:00Outside of my ...Bubble.Were in Easter break now, we got out Thursday and wow, that day was the roughest day I've had yet. Spiritually, emotionally, just plain rough. I called my mom , in tears, before the day was over asking her to come get me because I was so confused and ashamed that I was broken inside, so easily. I felt like a failure. I had 3 conversations come up from 3 different religious backgrounds, all going against Christianity.<br /><br /> First, it was my history teacher who is …well I really don’t know. She is American, but HATES America, and she never really teaches us History, we usually end up talking about homosexuality, global warming, or how she hates Christianity. She goes to an Anglican church, but only because she 'likes the ritual thing and the smell of the incense . She says she believes in God but "not the whole Jesus thing". She basically was going on about how the Bible isn't accurate because the Catholic church picked and chose what should be in it many years ago, so of course nothing contradicts itself, everything that did they took out. She said," If there is a loving God, why would he make it so there is only one way to heaven , through Jesus. What about all the "good" people in the world. I sure don't want to believe in a God that condemns people to hell just because they were brought up in a different religion. What's the point?"<br /><br /> SECOND: After what happened in history class,Lizette and myself went to tutor period, enxious to be able to tell our tutor what happened and thinking that she also believed the same as us, she would be able to encourage us. Lizette and I were especially hurt/shocked by what happened here, because we thought she believed the same as us. Turned out, we were very wrong.<br /><br />After we told her what our history teaches was saying, she asked us," Why are you getting so upset? You know what you believe , so don't worry about it"<br /><br />SO then we said , " But it's hard not to worry about it because we don't want people to not go to heaven, isn't it our jobs , as Christians to witness?"<br /><br />Then she said, "How can we judge where someone is going? That is Gods decision and I think He will decide justly."<br /><br />I agree with that completely, and we weren't judging, we just assumed that since our history teacher does not believe in Jesus as her Lord and Saviour and doesn't the Bible say that "Jesus is the way, the truth , and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him.", that right now, if that is what she truly believes, well.....you know.<br /><br />So then our tutor ( she is Catholic) told us that she believes that there is no hell, hell in the bible represents earth and what we have to go through, so we all will end up in heaven one day no matter what religion you come from because when we see God face to face we will be able to ask for forgiveness and go into heaven. SO basically she said that, they in their Catholic faith, believe that God is loving and therefore would not condemn anyone to hell just because they didn't follow Jesus or accept Him as the only way. I was so sad, because I thought that she was a Christian. I know not all Catholics believe that because Lizette is Catholic and she is one of the most radical Christians I know who definitely knows Jesus is the only way. My heart felt like it dropped after hearing this, I called my mom and could not stop crying. Lizette remained strong, as usual, to encourage me and remind me of how much Jesus loves me. I love her.<br /><br /> AND THEN...to top off my wonderful day,one of my Hindu friends was telling us how she is alive to seek forgiveness for the sins of her past life and there is no real heaven or hell. Hell is here on earth. She was wearing this red necklace and said her grandma did a ritual and prayed over the necklace so that she won't receive anymore "evil stares from people at school". And she has a god for everything. etc. My friend Ziyanda was trying to ask questions that would make her think and open a door to be able to witness to her. She kept asking me to help, but I just felt like crying. I felt so horrible that I could say nothing and here Ziyanda was trying so hard and becoming more and more discouraged, I just felt like giving up right then and there.<br /><br /> Sometimes I wish I could go back to my little bubble in Hosanna, where I never was challenged for my beliefs and I never had to worry about whether my friends were saved or not because they had the chance every Wednesday in chapel. I know God has a plan for me here at Waterford, but what if I’m not helping? I feel like I’m not doing anything to help God’s kingdom , but at the same time, I’m slipping farther an farther into doubt. Its sad how people change what the Bible says to fit there own agenda. Like ….”why should God only accept you into heaven if you have a relationship with Jesus, lets make it so that if you’re a “good person” you get in.” Isn’t that like idolatry, creating your own God. ??<br /><br /> And it seems that they are happy with what they believe, so how can I help. I can show love, but so can they. Nothing I say will change their minds. My mom told me “ You are not superwoman, you can’t change the world by yourself.” I know that. I know that I need to just trust God and pray, but I just don’t want my friends to go to Hell. I want everyone to be in heaven with us. Someone asked me, “why do you even care so much?? If you know where you’re going , why worry about where everyone else is going?” For some reason, I just cannot think like that. It sure would be easier, but it doesn’t seem right. What do you do in a place where Christians are a joke and considered intolerant? I guess that's the world though. All we can do is pray that God would use us to change one person at at a time to bring glory to His name. I'm not even worthy enough to be in this position, but Jesus loves me and wants to use me. I just pray that I don't let Him down. I don't want to doubt like Thomas, I want to be so sure of my faith that NOTHING in the world could make me doubt.<br /><br /> I love rainbows, like Mrs. Susan, I absolutely love them. The past three days there have been such beautiful rainbows over Mbabane. I almost cried when I saw one on Thursday (but didn't have anymore tears left), God is so amazing. His love overwhelms me. I don't know why I ever doubt, when I feel His love so strongly in my life. He is continuously reminding me that He will never leave me, His promise remains true, I will never walk alone. Even at Waterford, even in this world. HE WILL NEVER LET YOU WALK ALONE! NEVER.<br /><br /> Don't you wish you knew all the answers to questions that non believers ask you? I know I do. But I don't and even though I can study and learn apologetics, I will NEVER have all the answers. This battle is one walked by faith. God, help me not to be like Thomas, but to have faith in every circumstance. John 20:26 - "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."<br />Give me the words to say, and quiet my spirit when I feel like exploding (e.g crying ). Direct my every conversation and my whole being. I am fully yours.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" >Ephesians 6: 10-20. My prayer.<br />10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" >19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.</span>Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-23253998507016025692007-04-04T10:55:00.000-07:002007-04-04T10:59:08.626-07:00No more shortcuts for me.So...It is wednesday again and honestly...not much has happened since last wednesday. School closes tomorrow for Easter Break , so that is exciting. <br /> <br /> There are no words to describe the way I'm feeling right now, except for empty. Empty. That's perfect. I NEED to spend time with God, I NEED to get into the Word. I WANT to feel Him in my life like I used to....before school stated. And I know, that is NO excuse. I get so involved with my school work and stressing over tests, that I forget and procrastinate doing my Bible study. I dont know why I care so much about school......I guess it is not really a bad thing, but I need to set my priorities straight : GOD, School, and then soccer. If I want to be all that God wants me to be and if I want His plan for my life to happen, I need to do this. Starting now. Jesus please forgive me for not putting You first. I want more of You and less of me. <br /><br /> Yestersay i 'bout had a heart-attack!! I was walking along this short-cut, path thingy to get to the office from where the bus drops me in town, and I was listening to my music, so I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around me. There was this guy , who looked high on drugs and drunk at the same time, um.....going to the bathroom in the bushes. Next thing I knew, he was jumping at me and HE WASNT EVEN DONE GOING TO THE BATHROOM!! OH MY GOSH! I have neverrrr run so fast in my life!! Thank God I jumped to the other side of the path just in time, phew. My heart was racing. It is kindof funny...in a weird way now that I think about it, I mean I almost got peed on by a drunk guy. WHEN DOES THAT HAPPEN?? Not often. DISCUSTING. eww. So...moral of this story is...DONT TAKE SCARRY SHORTCUTS, USE MAIN ROAD WHERE THERE ARE NORMAL PEOPLE (hopefully). wow. lol.<br /><br /> Anyways...That's all for now. I would upload some pictures but it isn't working for some reason. Later.Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-58341872231602971622007-03-28T09:11:00.000-07:002007-03-28T09:59:54.826-07:00We are M.O.O. and M.O.O. are WEAlright, Ive made a promise and I must keep it.........mee-maw. haha. So it is wednesday and Im at the office listening to the rain outside. Ahhh Swazi weather...gotta love it! SO last Wednesday was my 16th birthday..OH YEAH! SWEET SIXTEEN! No hectic dance party or anything like that...just school. But my day was great. My friends at school made me a poster and sang happy birthday to me in assembly...kindof embarrasing, the rest of the 500 students were like WHO CARES SHUT UP! I love my friends. Then, we my mom had a little party for me that night for all the Childrens Cup staff. And of course....the Ohlerking tradition....they all sang happy birthday to me in the most horrible, off key, loud, painful, but funny way you could imagine. And Trinity coloured me a beautiful picture, though I am still trying to decide if the object on the page is supposed to be me or .....a tree. trin is awesome! Then I got a lot of emails, which made it even better.<br /><br />School is going okay. Just seems like the work and studying never ends, guess thats life though. Maybe I should just be a stay at home mom.....okay no, wouldnt work out for me. Thank God for them, but I just always have to be doing something.<br /><br />Our youth group at school is still growing and we voted on a name a few weeks ago. Um......were called the M.O.O............mount of olives. Its okay I guess....but I wanted something catchy like H2O or RAMP or REFUGE (oh yea...representin HPC), but oh well....MOO we are and we are MOO. Yipee. BUT ANYWAYS.......we were supposed to be having a youth worship night at school this Friday...but everything fell through and we had to cancel it. I was soo sad because everyone had been looking forward to it and we were hoping that it would be a life changing event, but then Charles saved the day! DUH-NUH-NUH-NUH!!!!!! So, we are still going to have a youth night Friday, but at a different venue and its going to be cool. Basically I have two days to spread the news and plan how to get people there and home again. PLEASE PRAY! Transportation is the biggest problem when trying to have an event here. urg. Please pray that it goes well and that God moves , even though it is kindof a last minute thing. God is in control.<br /><br />You know what?? I really want to go to South America. Yeah ...I do. I dont know why, but its been on my heart for a long time now. Ecuador or Peru or anywhere really. I dont know what God has in mind for my life, but I wonder why I feel such a longing to be there. In His perfect time. Just wait, Gabby.<br />I always have to tell myself just to chill and stop planning my life, when its not even my own to plan. <br /><br />So...soccer is going well. We won a tournament this past weekend and my school team also won a tournament this past weekend. My school also had a 21k half marathon in sunday (from the Oshoek border to the top of the Waterford hill.....OUCH), but since I had a soccer tournament later that day, me and 3 other girls formed a relay team and each ran 5.1k's. It was fun, and I wasnt tired for my soccer games so all was well.<br /><br />Thats all for now. My dad really wants to go home. My mom isnt home so it looks like he has to come up with something for dinner. Hes really excited ( wink wink). Until next time,<br />We are MOO. haha.Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-75037724149949582842007-02-23T01:53:00.000-08:002007-02-23T02:21:11.679-08:00Can you hear me now? GOOD.Stephanie my wonderful cousin, this is for you. I LOVE YOU. lol. I had the most splendid tim.......OKAY ENOUGH WITH THE FUNKY ENGLISH! I've been around too many British people lately. lol. I loved hangin out with you and samantha. I will never forget our swing mishaps and nathanaels encouraging words "You have to strive!". or whatever he said. Yall are the best cousins anyone could hope for. PLease come visit us. I LOVE YOU> haha.<br /><br /> Now that that is over with, whats been going on? Oh, bible study at school has been growing with each new week. Nathanael preached yesterday on being "Souled out to the world or Souled out for Christ". It was really good. I was so proud of him. All of the older students were impressed because hes probably the youngest person there and he preached to them. It was really cool. LIzete is planning a youth event for the youth by the youth. PLease pray that God guides us with that and that He is there in everything from the planning to the actual event, if it happens.<br /> <br /> School has been rough. Im struggling with a few subjects. My birthday is next month yay! Sweet 16. I asked my parents for a car......you can guess the answer. I think I'll take a couple friends on our next vacation as my party/preasent. Were going to Durban after this term. <br /><br /> Well....I have to go to my next class. Ill write more soon. LATER!!Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-35727008107065201392007-01-31T04:37:00.000-08:002007-01-31T08:14:35.056-08:00D.C.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RcCPwyTNPCI/AAAAAAAAAAU/wmunjz_zUjQ/s1600-h/tar1+020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5AYqvLRp4MI/RcCPwyTNPCI/AAAAAAAAAAU/wmunjz_zUjQ/s320/tar1+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5026175252444298274" border="0" /></a>Us in Washington D.C. I like this picture. Danielle's trying to be gangnsta'! lolGabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17491745.post-89994819672259527862007-01-31T04:20:00.000-08:002007-01-31T04:36:45.737-08:00Bak in SD!!Hi everyone, SOOOO....It seems I have a lot to catch up on. The U.S was great, but I got homesick for Swaziland about 2 weeks before we left. Its good to be home. I love Swaziland , I really do. The last few weeks we were in Louisiana. Spending time with family was fun. I got to hang out with my best friend, Angelle because they had just moved back from Minnisota while we were there. Definately some unforgetable moments. Shes awesome. We also got to spend time with family in Alabama and Pennsylvania. Well, School started last week. Im in form 4 , now. Nathanael started Form 1 , so he now goes to Waterford with me. Its nice having a bus-buddy, lol. Watching the Form 1's is quite funny though. They're always lost or think they're late etc. Hes getting used to it though. It kinda grows on you. The classes I chose to take are: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Music, P.E. Studies (different from P.E), HIstory, Math, English, and Spanish. So I;m taking the maximum amount of classes you can take. The least is 7 I think. I have no free periods and soccer every afternoon, so this homework thing isn't going to work out. lol. Just kidding, homework comes first, of course! ;) So actually, I've been stressing because I need to drop a subject, but I dont know what, because I dont know what I need to take to go into Sports Medicine or just Medicine. Actually, I was thinking about joining the army because I dont really know what I want to do and ......okay, I guess thats not a very good reason. lol. Im praying that God shows me what to do. I've been playing soccer a lot since we've been back and just catching up with friends. A few day after we got back, I went to a water park in South Africa called Badplaas, with my friend Lizette and about 7 other girls. It was fun, especially beating all those mean South African girls in volleyball. Well....I really miss Patrick and Charles and Kristen. Life just isn't the same without them here. I simply cannot wait for them to return!!!! All of my friends at school are asking where they are because they want another youth event. lol. Well.....not much else has happened..atleast not that I can think of. I'll write more soon. I HAVE SOO MUCH HOMEWORK!!!Gabriellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00005002998676279315noreply@blogger.com2