You're my Kentucky Rounda!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

Well....Thats all I can think of for now. Please pray for my school and friends.

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.

The 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!

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.

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.

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.

That is all I can think of at the moment. School is keeping me extremely busy and stressed. I miss everyone! God bless!!!

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.
The other picture is me, and my two best friends here: Lizette and Aissa, at Spur (restaurant in SD)

Back from Holidayzzz

Howdy 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!!

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.

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.

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.
gabby

Government Hospital Visit

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.
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.
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.

Sorry.

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!
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.
-> Val, Me, and Tabby.

Outside 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.

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?"

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.

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"

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?"

Then she said, "How can we judge where someone is going? That is Gods decision and I think He will decide justly."

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.

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.

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.

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. ??

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.

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.

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."
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.

Ephesians 6: 10-20. My prayer.
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.
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.

No 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.

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.

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.

Anyways...That's all for now. I would upload some pictures but it isn't working for some reason. Later.

We are M.O.O. and M.O.O. are WE

Alright, 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.

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.

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.

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.
I always have to tell myself just to chill and stop planning my life, when its not even my own to plan.

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.

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,
We are MOO. haha.

Can 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.

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.

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.

Well....I have to go to my next class. Ill write more soon. LATER!!

D.C.

Us in Washington D.C. I like this picture. Danielle's trying to be gangnsta'! lol

Bak 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!!!

In the U.S.A!

Hey everyone! Were in Maryland now , visiting Grandparents. We got here last tuesday and will be here till monday when we leave to head down south. It was really weird at first, major culture shock, but we are having a blast and enjoying every minute of our time with our family. YOu should have seen us in the mall and walmart!! You would have thought weve never been shopping in our lives. It was so fun though. We definately enjoy the simple things a lot more than before we moved. I love Swaziland, but America is the best! I've been talkin to my friends and cannot wait to see them in Louisiana. Its been cold the past few days, but now its like 5o degrees and getting warmer. We were sad because we wanted to experience snow before we go back , but oh well. Maybe it will snow in LA...HA YEA RIGHT!! lol. Its so beautiful here, i love it. My Grandma can cook sooooo nicely! So weve been lovin that! I miss everyone back home in Swaziland and I cant wait to see everyone in Louisiana!!

As you might know (if you know me), my dream is to go to college & play soccer. I really want to attend a soccer camp next summer (really interested in Wake Forest in North Carolina). It is quite expensive (you know to fly from africa and everything). So please help me pray about it and if you would like to support me to go that would be soooo great! The cost of the camp is $495 , plus about $1500 for air fare. I know its alot, but I really would like to go to a competitive camp and check out the university so I can see if it is somewhere I would like to go.
Thank you.

THIS GURL CAN PREACH!!

Hey! Ok so I have this friend, Lizette Dos Santos. She became a christian this year and is totally on fire for God. She is very out going, so when we have events like the Invasion this weekend, she makes the announcements in assembly and basically makes a fool out of herself..(which i respect her for, since I am too chicken to do something like that , lol). Anyways....on TUesdays and Thursdays we have a bible study at break for anyone from Form 1 to IB 2. This week was our week to do them. So I picked a topic- " Being Intolerant- out of LOVE", and since Lizette is sooo good at speaking, she read it. YOu see , Im quite boring, I just was going to read something out of a book, and I was studdering, so I asked her to do it. WOW, when she got started, it was like a firework went off or something. She sat the book down, and started pacing the classroom just like a pastor. lol. I have never seen/heard someone preach like that before , atleast not someone our age. I was crying. Every word she said touched my heart and even though most of us were about to fall out of our seats laughing at some of the things she said and did, im sure it touched everyone else as well. I believe God has such a huge plan for her life and she is willing to let Him take control too. I look up to her for that. I mean, I've been a christian all my life, and here comes Lizette, a new christian , preaching like...... I dont know what. lol. One day when she is on TV or doing youth camps preaching to people, I will be sooo proud to say I know her. OHHH and last night, she had a dream that she was preaching in front of a lot of people, and she was "just tearin it up" lol. That is exactly what she did today. Isn't it amazing how God works? I'm soo excited to see what God has planned and to see the gifts He has given all of my friends at Waterford, and Im also excited and anxious to know mine. It is people like Lizette who will change the world for Christ, and I cant wait to see it happen. It has already begun!!

Rainy Day

Today is cold and rainy in Swaziland. I think the weather goes along well with how most of the people at my school are feeling right now, though. Yesterday, a student, Hassan, died. He was hit by a car after the Form 5 prom after party while he was crossing the road. People keep asking, if there is a God, why does He allow things to happen like this? All I know is that God knows what He is doing and is in control of even the bad things in our lives. Though this is a tragic thing, I believe God will bring good out of it. The really sad part is that he wasn't a christian. My heart literally hurts when I think , what if one of my friends die before they come to Christ? That is my dream, my hearts desire, to be able to see all my friends at Waterford in heaven with me when I get there. I pray that through what has happened, God will open peoples hearts and make the soil fertile. I also pray that the christians at waterford will rise up and plant the seeds before the soil dries up again. PLease join in me in this prayer. Waterford needs a revolution and through Christ, it is about to begin.

God is in control

Ok...so there are 46 days, until we get on a plane to come home to visit. I'm so ready for this term to be over.....EXAMSSS...are really stressing me and my head feels as if it is going to explode. I'm just overwhelmed i guess. I cant wait till they are over. Right now I am in midterm break , go back next Tuesday (not long, but its somethin). Exams start in 3 weeks i think. I'm so excited about visiting the U.S. , it's not that I dont like it here, because I LOVE IT, but you know...just a bit homesick. Swaziland is awesome and I am sooo glad we are here doing what we are doing, but there is no place like home. Especially LOOSYANA. lol.
Please pray for my mom and this little girl, Pepe. She is nine years old and has AIDS. When the medical clinic was here last week , the day she came, they said if she wouldnt't have come that day she would have only had about 72 hours to live. They put her on IV's, but now she's doing really bad agian. She stays with her father, who also has AIDS and does not take care of her. Basically he just lets her lay in bed all day and doesn't even ask if she needs anything like maybe WATER or FOOD. Anyways...my mom has been really sad the past few days , it breaks her heart to see this little girl go through all of this pain. She took her to a government hospital today and they said she also has T.B. When my mom left her there, she kept saying in Siswati "Home , Home". My mom told her it was going to be okay, and she just nodded as if she understood. When these kindof things happen to helpless kids, we often ask ourselves, "Why does God let this happen to them?" , but it breaks His heart, too. We can never understand all of God's ways, and that's what makes Him so great. Just to know that He is in control of everything, even the bad. I hope that one day soon , Pepe will be in heaven with no more pain, and just feel God's loving embrace. So...please pray for my mom to be able to make the right choices in what to do and to have peace through all of this, and also for Pepe, that God will take away all of her pain and if it's His will, heal her. With Christ , all things are possible.
Well...thats all for now. I miss everyone!!!

Pictures.

Well..do i ever have an interesting title?? lol

Hi everyone. I just got back from a track meet at my school, so im a bit sore. I ran the 3000m, 800m, 400m, and 100 by 4 relay. I got 2nd, 1st, and 2nd. But I didnt do so well. I almost fainted after the 3000m. I am just now getting back into running and soccer since my back has been hurt. So it was hard. I have a biology test and a spanish test tommorrow, which i SHOULD be studying for, but what the heck?!? I needed to write a blog. Its more important (to me. lol) Well actually anything would be more important than studying, but i like writting blogs. Even though I barely do. OKAY, so anyways........UM. Last week wednesday, my parents took us all to the Macholweni Carepoint in Manzini with them. We got to play with the children, help with their food and watch my mom be a nurse. They are building a clinic at this carepoint, whiere my mom will mostly be...to give checkups to all the kids from the Manzini carepoints so they dont have to come all the way to Mbabane. There was this one little boy, he's about 9 months...but looks like he's maybe 2 or 3 months. His mom ran off and his older sister ( about my age maybe) who is deaf and mute, is taking care of him. Well trying anyways. My mom said he hadnt been bathed since the mom left and he had scabies all over him. He is the cutest baby I've ever seen in my life. He was VERY malnurished and basically starving. My mom braught some baby formula and made some in a cup. Now most babies that age or size cant even drink out of a cup yet, but BOY when he saw that cup and the milk, we all thought he was going to jump off the table to get to it. My mom braught it close to him and he almost dove in it, he was inhaling that milk like he had never eaten in his life. Tears came to all of our eyes as we watched him drink that milk. Everywhere the cup went, his eyes went. He could have drunk all day if we would have let him. That really touched my heart. I was like "mom, can we please adopt him?" lol. Sadly , that goes on ALOT around here and that is why we're here, to bring hope to these hurting kids. I was so proud of my mom that she gets to be at those carepoints everyday and take care of the sick, hungry kids. SO....yea I just wanted to share that. I'll try to put a picture of him....my dad isnt here and I'm a bit dumb when it comes to computers. :) Charles, Kristen, and Patrick have been doing some friday youth nights. They have gone REALLY well and I'm so thankful they are doing this....alot of teens are coming to the Lord. Some of my friends who get saved, have fallen back into this world though. It makes me feel like a failure almost. My school is soooooooo i dont even know. Lets just say, it is really hard for people who are not grounded in God to push on as a christian or even try. Hopefully that will change soon though. SOme older students have started a bible study a few days a week and we are praying that God shows us what we need to do to reach out to the school. Also Charles and them are doing a Big youth thing in November, called INVASION!! Im really praying that it goes well and ALOT of people come and get touched by God. Please pray for it. Kristen and Charles and Pat are sooo cool, i love them to death. OH.....at the church we go to here, Checkers Community Church, I've been playing guitar/bass with the worship on Sundays. Its scarry, but fun. Its quite a small church, so not that nervous. Nothing like HPC. lol. NOW THAT WOULD BE SCARRY!! aww I miss HPC. So yea....I MISS EVERYONE AND I LOVE YOUUUU!! :) I guess i should go study now. ADIOS AMIGOS!

HEY! Today is our one year in Africa anniversary. YAY!! We just went to Mozambique last week and now school has started......11 more weeks...AHH. I have a lot to write , but there is a youth night going on across the street and im supposed to be there. Kristen and Charles are putting it together ad all my friends are there...yay. I hope they get a touch from God. PLease pray that God reveals himself to them. I need to write more often. Well....we'll arrive in Washington on December 5th and visit my family up north and then work our way down south to good ol' Loosyana!! Im sooo excited, but i still have 13 exams to get through. Wow. Im stressed. My club soccer team won the Trade Fair tournament this past weekend...that was exciting. They put my name in the paper as Gabriddle Rehmeyer. So thas ma new name!! lol. My back is better , so i can run jump and play now. OH BOY!! Thank God. Well.....Ill write more soon. BYEEEEE!!!! I MISS MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!! And my mimi's surgery went well.....please pray that her recovery goes well. Ok now its really Bye i promise!!

Lately....

Hello. Happy 4th of July to all!!! Yesterday we did fire works at the Rodgers house, it was fun because we were some oof the few americans here doing them. So we felt special. All my friends at school today were like, " You Americans , why were you making so much noise last night???" lol. It was funny. I felt so patriotic. I love USA! Anyways.....Im so happy Charles and Kristen are here. They are really cool and have been helping out with the youth group at school. All my friends love them. Also , a bunch of I.B students have started a youth group that meets tuesdays and thursdays. They were surprised at how many people showed up. Its really cool to see people finally starting to stand up. Were planning youth nights and fun things we can do to get people interested , so we can witness to them. Its kindof hard to witness to someone who doesnt believe in anything, and hasn't their whole life. So it will be cool to have some fun ways that we can.....like a youth night with worship, movies, games, pizza, and stuff like that.
Last week we were out for mid term break. We went to Blyde River Canyon in South Africa. (adventura resort) It was soooo BEAUTIFUL!!! We went hiking and (got lost) and played games.....it was just really cool to go somewhere and do something fun as a family. Swaziland can get pretty boring at times. lol. BUt I love it. There were monkeys everywhere, and huge UGLY babboons. We also went horse back riding and shopped in Nelspruit on the way back home. It was fun. NOw were bak in school ..........nooooo.
PORTUGAL VERSES FRANCE TONIGHT!!! I hope Portugal wins!! -guess we'll see. Italy is AWESOME!!! Poor Germans. Sorry. (not) lol.
Anyways.......I do nt have much else to say , except I MISS EVERYONE TERRIBLY!!! Well...hope to see yall soon. Luv ya always!! ~Gabby

Past few months!

The past few months have been okay. We have been in break until second term starts up NEXT WEEK!! How sad. We had a month off. It's getting pretty cold now. Its weird, because it feels like Christmas should be coming up, but obviously it's already passed. Even now when it is not even that cold yet, I feel like I'm about to freeze. So I think I will freeze when it really gets cold, there is no heater. Since my school is high up , it's even colder there and they don't have heaters either. I guess we'll all have to dress up like Eskimos. I didn't think Africa got cold before I came here. lol. Oh yea.....I had been taking guitar lessons at HPC from Kevin Woolsey, before we came here and I've continued to practice. I've always wanted to play guitar in church or lead worship one day or something. Today and a few Sundays ago, I got to play in the worship! I can't quite sing and play at the same time yet, so I just play for now. Roger, is the worship leader , he works for children's cup and is from here. He plays really well and continuously reminds me that we are playing only for God and should not concentrate as much on our playing and instead trust that God will move. He's an awesome man of God and I hope one day I can lead worship like him. I've been listening to a lot of Hillsong ,lately because it reminds me of HPC . I miss it a lot. It's horrible how we don't appreciate things until we don't have them anymore. There is so many things I'm going to appreciate so much more if I come back. Also lately, I've been stressing (hey..What's new? lol) about my future. My mom helped me to realize that I'm basically telling God that He isn't powerful enough to handle my life. I was like...Wow, that is soooo true. When we become Christians, part of our commitment to God is to give Him complete control of our lives and to surrender everything to Him. I have told Him I surrender so many times. I guess.....I'm really finding it hard to COMPLETELY surrender to Him. I know he can and will take care of me and He knows the desires of my heart, but it's hard for me . I think it's because I've basically planned my life out and it sounds good to me, but I haven't included God in it or in my thinking u know? and ofcourse a plan without God in it is totally HOPELESS and not going to work. So....I really want to play soccer in college and I am going top work and practice sooo hard so I can do that, but if that is not what God wants then I really hope I can learn to trust Him enough to know that. He knows what I want , but more than that He knows what I need and what is best for me. And I really want His plan for my life and not my own, I mean who knows....Maybe he'll let me play soccer in college afterall. I hope so. But I just need to trust and not worry. WOW! It's hard. Please pray that I learn to trust God COMPLETELY with everything. I want to be fully devoted to God and His will for my life. What better place is there to be than in His will- afterall?
2 Corinthians 10:13:13 -But we will not boast of authority we do not have. Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God's plan for us, and this plan includes our working there with you.
Romans 8:28- And we know that all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.
Psalms 37:4-6 - Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD;trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Psalms 143:8 - Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go,for to you I lift up my soul.
Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. [a]

So basically.....I really need to trust Him right now and stop planning 3 years ahead...ESPECIALLY by myself. I need to focus on NOW .....I don't even know what is happening tomorrow...Much less 3 years from now. If I focus on the present and seek God in all I do, He will direct me now and forever. HE is so amazing and loving ....And if what I want doesn't harm or push away what God wants me to do, then maybe he'll let me play soccer then, I just need to trust Him.

Anyways, yesterday my team had a game in Manzini against Lady Mcha Chas (or so mething like that) They are the best team in Swaziland (ladies) The field was the nicest field I've ever seen. I was sooo surprised...It actually had GRASS!!! Incredible. We lost 2- 0 . I was very disappointed because I know we could have the potential to be better. You could tell the other team has been practicing together like as a team because they were passing and always knew where the other person was. Us......Well....Only 5 people show up at practice regularly so we don't know how everyone plays or how to work off of each other. The Midfield don't go up to help attack and they don't come back to help defend. I hope I am not the only one who notices this , but of course I don't really know what the coach said at the end of the game anyways. I wish he would tell us what we should be doing and then if we don't do it , he could run us to death so we learn it. Actually I wish everyone would come to practice. But anyways...We did good and tried hard. Thank You Jesus for letting me have a good day and enjoy myself playing. I really miss my team in BR!!!

Oh yea!! An IB student from my school, Waterford, has been staying with us this break. Her name is Candice, she's 19 and from the Bahamas. She is sooo cool. The best thing is , she's a Christian. So it's been really fun to talk to her and she has encouraged me a lot. We've all enjoyed having her with us. (especially Joelle - I think she was about to drive her crazy though lol. ) Thank you Jesus for bringing CAndice into our lives.

We are hopefully coming to visit in December. Please pray that God provides money for plane tickets. We will be itinerating and visiting people. I hope I can see everyone in that month. I really want to . Also please pray for me as I start school next week, so that God can shine through me and others can see Him. Please pray that I continue to trust Him to direct my life. I miss and love everyone sooooo much!!!!
Gabby