To my future self

Picture by Ken Roosenberg

I recently read an article from a blog that I follow, that suggested that each of us should write a letter to our future self.  I thought at first that the idea was a bit crazy, but the thought kept coming back to me so I decided to give it a try.  It wasn't long until I was writing as fast as I could.  The thoughts and ideas of my life reflections just kept flowing.  So I am suggesting that all of you give it a try, but I suggest one more step.  After doing this, spend some time talking to God and thanking him for your full life.  

            Below is my letter to my future self in the year 2020.  I hope it gets you thinking too.

           

To my future self, Ken 2020

Hi Ken,

            Well, it’s currently Thanksgiving week in 2012 and by now it should be that time of year in 2020.  I hope you are still around to read this letter, but after all, none of us knows if we will even be around tomorrow.  God never makes any promises about that, so hopefully you have learned to live life in the moment and cherish each and every day as if it were your last.  You have said many times that you wish we could all learn that from the Swazi people.  They only worry about today, because they know God took care of them yesterday, and they know he will take care of them today, and tomorrow, and so on.

            Hopefully your parents are still living and in good health, but I know that would make them 91-92 years old.  That may not be the case.  If one or both of them are gone I know that you miss them a lot but I am sure God helped you during this difficult time.  You will always feel a void when they are gone, but I know you are so grateful to them for making you the person that you are today.  You were very lucky to have such great parents and you owe your strong Christian foundation to both of them.

            So you turn 67 this year.  That just doesn’t seem possible.  I know it sounds cliché, but where did time go?  It seems like such a short time ago that you were looking up the aisle of the church, anxiously and nervously waiting for your beautiful bride Janine, to come through those doors at the back of the church.  Do you still remember that feeling like I do?  Do you remember the tears of joy flowing down your cheeks like a never-ending river?  Does your memory still allow you to repeat the vows that you both memorized to say to each other?  I still remember them, but I am only 59 years old.  You’re an old fart of 67!  Sorry, I had to just put in that little dig.  I know each year we have more aches and pains, but hopefully you and Janine are still in good health.  I hope you are spending quality time together and still following God’s plan for your life together.  I also hope that you have continued to tell her what a wonderful mother she has been to your children.

            As I write this you will soon be celebrating 40 years of marriage in 2013.  How did that go?  Did you take time to do the special things that you thought about or did you let time slip away and forget to do them?  I hope you didn’t let this opportunity slip away.  You two have a special bond and a relationship that few get to experience.  I hope you showed her just how important this marriage has been and will continue to be for all of your lives.  Not many men can say that they are married to the best mother, the best wife, the best lover, and most importantly your best friend in life.  You, my friend, have truly been blessed by God in this marriage!

            Speaking of your special lives together, how are the kids and grand-kids?  I hope life has been kind to all of them.  I hope both Kim and Jeff and Mark and Sarah have continued their great lives together.  I hope you have told all four of them how proud you are of them as individuals and as couples.  They are all great parents.  I know you and Janine have worried a lot about them over the years and their walk with the Lord.  Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:25-27 and then verse 34.  Here they are;

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

            Some things you just need to leave in God’s hands and trust him that he will take care of them.  Anyway I am sure they are all fine.  Wow, I just thought of something.  Rachel will be 16 this year!  Annabelle and Maggie will be 15, and Collin will be 12.  That is enough to knock you on your butt isn’t it?  The three girls would be old enough now.  Have you been able to convince them and their parents to let them go on a mission trip with you and Janine?  You know it would be one of the best experiences in their lives.  Hopefully that has happened, but if not, don’t give up!  Life-changing experiences are few and far between.  They’ll thank you for it later.

            I know you have been feeling called to do more and more for the people of Swaziland.  I hope God is using you to the fullest.  I know you struggle with when is doing enough, enough.  I hope you and Janine as well as New Hope Church have continued to build relationships in Swaziland.  You just never know when one of those people or families that you have helped, will turn out to be some of those who changed the course of Swaziland for the better.  Maybe if you are retired now, you two could spend a few months at a time there, helping to make a difference on the ground.  I hope both of your health permits that.  If not I am sure that God will show you other ways to make that difference.

            Here is one last thing about Swaziland.  I hope you two, as well as New Hope Church and AIM keep one thing as a priority in everything that you do there.  Always remember that it is all about teaching them to take care of themselves, how to support themselves, and about sharing the love of Christ with them so they too can pass this on to their children and grandchildren.

            Here are two very important lessons from the year 2012 that I hope you remembered.  Remember the classes that Becky Bruckner taught on the Spiritual Disciplines?  Even though you were disappointed in yourself that you did not dig into this deep enough and long enough at the time of the classes, I hope you realize that this is what your walk with the Lord is all about.  Finally after all of your 59 years of life, someone taught you what is really necessary to build your bond, your friendship, and relationship with Jesus.  Thanks be to God, for leading Becky to teach this to you and Janine.  I hope it truly has made a difference and that the two of you are practicing these important disciplines both together and individually for it will strengthen your walk with the Lord.  The other important thing was the class that Becky Bruckner taught on spiritual warfare.  Don’t ever forget (Satan wouldn’t let you anyway), that the closer your walk comes with God, the more Satan will attack you.  When this happens, call on Jesus for help and he will provide you with the full armor of God. 

            Well, that’s it for now from 2020.  I know that God has given you and Janine a full and wonderful life up until now and I am sure that will continue throughout your life.  I know you two have been blessed with the best kids and their great spouses, and four awesome grandchildren, all of whom you are both very, very proud.  We all want to live a long and healthy life, but I know if today was your last day, that you are at peace with it all and confident in your walk with the Lord.  Don’t get me wrong, I know that you will always have more work to do between you and God, but I am happy with where you are with him in 2012 and I can only assume that your relationship has continued to flourish. 

God bless you and your family,

Ken Roosenberg of 2020

Reflections

Picture by Jamie Sharbono

Is that all there is?

As I am sitting here writing this article, it’s the week of Thanksgiving and God is speaking to me in so many ways right now.  Wow, how time flies!  Have you taken the time to do any reflecting on 2012 yet (as we sometimes do), or will the holidays come and go and leave your head still spinning.  Whether you have taken the time for some reflection or not, let’s do it together now.

            I can’t speak for you so I can only share my own experience, but I am sure there will be some similarities.  The year 2012 (like many years if we are really honest), was a year with many ups and downs like a roller coaster, but also of times that stopped me in my tracks for a while.  It began as many years do, with me soul-searching and looking for God’s plan for the coming year and giving him thanks for all of our many, many blessings.  It began with excitement of all of the unknown possibilities.  In hindsight, I now know that I should have fastened my seat belt a little tighter for the ride ahead.

            At the end of April, after 8 years of employment, I lost probably one of the best jobs of my life.  I was devastated.  I took it very hard.  Why God, at this point in my life, did this have to happen?  For the next 5 months I worked very, very hard at finding a new job, while continuing to talk to God to find out what his plan is for this next phase of my life.  God and I are still working that part out, but he has also opened the window to my current position at Home Depot, of which I am eternally grateful.

            During my 5 month sabbatical, I considered not going to Swaziland, since I did not have a job.  Wow, was I glad that God still wanted me to go!  I won’t go into all of that now, since many of you have already heard me talk about teaching the Swazi’s how to build an Earth Bag Home and about the awesome relationships that continue to grow between the Swazi’s and many of us at New Hope Church.  I just thank God for that experience.

            By now you have figured out that losing my job was one of the experiences that stopped me in my tracks, but the other one even hit me harder and it’s something that all of us take for granted.  You may have heard us talk about a young woman that we met in Swaziland by the name of Sbongile.  While were there in June we met her and her young 10 month-old son.  Like most people there, they struggle to make ends meet and struggle to have enough food, but they both appeared to be in good spirits and looked pretty healthy.  A few months later we learned that her 10 month-old son had died from the lack of clean water.  Clean water!!  Are you kidding me?  We also later found out that although there was a well nearby where they usually got their drinking water from, it had dried up during the drought.  She had to resort to giving her baby water from the river, and his immature immune system could not handle it.  I know this happens in many places throughout the world, but it’s somehow different when it happens to someone you know.  In the U.S. we just don’t think about that happening.  Think about it!  We use clean drinking water to flush our toilets how many times a day?  I am feeling called to do something about clean water for them, but I am not sure in what direction currently.

            Anyway, these were the two times when I was stopped in my tracks.  I have used the time off to work on my relationship with God, but we don’t have to have times like that to want to build our relationship with our Creator.  Now would be a great time to start and it begins with reflecting about the past (not dwelling on it), but more importantly opening ourselves up to listening for the gentle nuggings of the Holy Spirit.  Commit to finding time each day for solitude.  After all, how can the Holy Spirit talk to any of us with all of the noise and business of our lives?  I have committed to allowing daily time for dialogue with my Lord.  I am turning off the cell phone and staying away from the computer and TV, and allowing time to just shut up and listen.

            Let me give you two exercises to focus on and let’s see how you talk with God and how God talks to you.

1.      Think about this and then talk to God about it.  What if you woke up this morning with only the things and the people around you, that you thanked God for yesterday?

2.      I got this idea from one of the participants of The World Race that they wrote on their blog (if you are not sure what this is, check it out sometime at www.theworldrace.org ).  Consider writing a letter to your future self.  Okay, I know it sounds a little crazy, but please try it.  You can write it to your five-year future self or ten-year future self, or whatever you choose.  I think it will surprise you just how clarifying this can be and how it get’s you talking to God about his plan for your life.  If you’d like, feel free to share this experience with me.  I’d love to talk to you about it.  I’ll be posting mine soon on my blog at www.god-inspired2.blogspot.com.

It’s 2013.  Where will your path lead you this year?  Will you continue on the path of just going through life with one day no different than the next, or will you take time to ask, “Is this all there is?  What is your plan, oh God, and how do I fit into it?”  God expects each of us to make a difference in our world.  How will you respond?

People of Faith. Really??

Picture by Ken Roosenberg

              First, let me start by saying that I am not pointing fingers at any one or any group.  I remember the old saying that says “If you point a finger, be careful.  There are three fingers pointing back at you”.  There is a lot of self-reflection going on here.  I only ask you to consider doing the same.

            This thought keeps coming back to me again and again, so I can’t help but believe that God wants me to write about it.  I can only speak from my own experience, but I know from conversations over the last year with my friends and co-workers that I have discovered something pretty disturbing.  When I ask many of these people if they have a favorite scripture that comforts them or gives them encouragement or strength, most struggle to think of anything.  I hear, “Well, um, let’s see.  Um, well, I know there is one, but I can’t remember it right now.”  Or, “It’s on the tip of my tongue.  It will come to me sooner or later.” 

            Really?  What is that saying about us and our faith?  For a long period of time in my life I was the same way.  I said I was a Christian.  I believed I was a Christian, but in hindsight it was just talk.  I was fooling myself.  I was a Christian on the surface, but there was no depth to my faith.  I had little Bible knowledge.  I had never taken the time to read much of the Bible.  I only knew what had been told to me or discussed in a Sunday school class.  I did not attend any Bible study group and to be completely honest, the idea of being part of a Bible study group did not interest me at all.  I thought it would be a bore.  It wasn’t until we started attending New Hope Church and were invited by Wil and Velma Sauder that I even considered it.  When Janine said she thought it would be a good idea for us to go and study and meet some new people, all I could think of was “Yuck!  How boring would that be?”  Well, I was completely wrong and once I got over the uneasy feelings I had (probably brought about by my lack of depth in my faith) I really started to enjoy it.  Well, that is a subject maybe for a later date.

            While in Swaziland this same topic kept coming into my mind and here is why that happened.  Every trip that our teams have made to Swaziland, one of the things that we feel is very, very important is to do home visits to the church members of the Nsoko Anchor Center Church that we help sponsor, but also to do home visits to some of the poor un-churched people of the Nsoko area.  Now here is what I find thoroughly amazing.  When we make these home visits we spend a lot of time asking questions, mostly through translators.  We also take time to pray with them too, but almost 100% of the time someone in our group asks if there is a particular Bible passage that is important to them or a favorite of theirs.  In all of the home visits that I have been a part of, not once did the person that we were visiting even hesitate to come up with an answer.  They always with a smile said that they do have a favorite passage and gave it to us to look up in Bible and read it to them.  Wow!  In what seems like the middle of nowhere, in desolate and many times dismal surroundings, at a homestead where most of them do not even own a Bible, they have a favorite passage that brings strength and encouragement, and joy to them.  Double Wow!! 

            What on earth does that say about many of us?  Maybe in our lavish life styles, where most of really want for nothing, we have lost or really never found that true joy of knowing the Lord.  We never know the strength that can be found in scriptures from thousands of years ago that still are very, very powerful and meaningful today.

            Some people may say “What do you mean lavish life styles?  I am just an average Joe.  We struggle every month to make ends meet.”  Many of you have heard me say this, but I will say it again, and I mean no disrespect to those that are struggling to make ends meet.  I also mean no disrespect to those who are poor in our country, but compared to Swaziland and the severe poverty that exists along with the entire HIV/AIDS epidemic, we really don’t quite understand.  Whatever the situation we are in or whatever financial hardship we are facing, do we go to Christ first for the answer?  Do we look to the scriptures for our strength?  Do we only go to God when we have problems or do we look at the things that we do have reason to be grateful for and give him thanks daily for them?

            I think we could all learn some lessons from the struggling poor of Swaziland.  It’s time that we look for strength and encouragement in the scriptures.  We need to spend more time reading God’s word.  We need to give thanks for where we are and for the many things that we can be grateful for in our lives.  You don’t have to do it alone.  There are many, many Focus Groups (New Hope Bible study groups) that can help and will help in your journey.  Remember, whether we publicly admit it or not, we are all basically in the same boat.  In a small group setting, we tend to be more open and honest and can help each other find our way.

            I want to share a line that I actually heard from a comedian, and I honestly can’t remember his name, but here was the point and it relates to the fact that no matter where you are with your walk with the Lord, we all need to spend more time reading His Word.  The comedian was acting out a conversation between God and a person who had died and was hoping to get into heaven.  God was asking them a series of questions, but the real stumbling block was the last question.  God said “So lastly, what did you think of my book?’  Wow!  What would we really say to the creator of the universe?  How would we answer that question? 

I guess I better get reading again!

P.S.  Favorite passages change from time to time depending on what’s going on in my life.  Currently  God has put Joshua 1:9 on my mind and in my heart and it says, “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Swazi relationships beyond desription

  Picture of our teammates and some of our Swazi teammates on the 

  May 31st - June 15th 2012 trip

   Picture by Ken Roosenberg

           Where do I even begin?  It is so difficult to describe to all of you, the importance of the joint relationships and the actual relationships that have been and are continuing to develop between our New Hope Church, here in Lower Paxton Township, and the people of the Nsoko Anchor Center Church in Swaziland.  Let me at least try to explain what has and what is being nurtured with our brothers and sisters in the struggling nation, almost 9,000 miles away.

            It is so much more that just all of the funds that have been raised and used to further God’s kingdom here on earth.  In a year’s time, these people see many visitors who come through on mission trips, young and old, who are touched by these Swazis lives.  The first difference starts right there.  They see them once and then they are gone, and in most cases, never to be heard from or to return again.  In the case of our church, a number of us have returned several times, and in the case of Wil Sauder, after the August trip, he will have been there with them four times!  I cannot explain the excitement in their eyes and faces, and in some cases the hugs that are shared when they realize who has returned.  This alone is so significant.  They truly feel a connection with many of us.  They really know that New Hope Church cares for them.

            Another really cool thing about God’s plan for our two communities is the way that relationships develop between the people of The Nsoko Anchor Center and adults and children from our church that have never gone to Swaziland and may never be able to go.  A great example of that would be this year’s Vacation Bible School mission project.  Hopefully you are already aware of this great accomplishment, mainly from the kids who attended the Vacation Bible School, if not, follow along and I will summarize it for you.  The goal was to be able to provide school fees, school shoes, and school uniforms for five elementary-aged school children for a year.  In Swaziland uniforms and shoes are required, and to most kids shoes would be a big deal anyway.  It costs about $100 U.S. dollars to send an elementary-aged child to school for a year, so our kids were trying to raise $500 for five kids.  God sure blessed this part of the mission relationship!  The kids dug deep and more than met the challenge.  After it was all said and done, they raised enough money to send 26 children to school for a year!  Over $2600 was raised and sent to be used for some of the kids at the Nsoko Anchor Center!  God is truly good!!

            Relationships continue to go much deeper.  Pastor Vern has now gone for the last two years with our teams.  He has been teaching classes for church leaders.  These people are starving for God’s Word, starving to know how they need to live their lives, and just how they plug into his God’s church.  Even though Vern is just one man, one pastor teaching these people, I cannot even begin to explain how significant this is in their lives.  Let me share the example of Gogo Alvena (gogo means grandmother in Siswati) and just how important not only Vern’s classes are to her, but how important the church and our Savior are to her.

                                                                       Picture by Ken Roosenberg

            On a typical Wednesday during our visit there in Nsoko, here is how Alvena’s day would be laid out.  Before I begin let me also say that Alvena is 62 years old!  She would awaken, probably by a rooster crowing, around 5am.  She would start her day by mixing the batter together and heating the oil to fry a fairly large batch of Fat Cakes.  Fat Cakes are very similar to fausnaughts. This would take her about an hour or so.  Then she would pack them up in a two gallon bucket with a lid and begin her walk in the dim morning light to the Anchor Center. 

Our team all had to meet at the Center by 7am to begin our day on the Earth Bag Home, which we and the Swazis were building.  Alvena was always there before 7am waiting patiently for all of us to arrive.  We would hold a morning meeting with all of the work crew each day and also say a prayer before we started.  On the first work day of our trip, Alvena let us have the morning meeting first and then we prayed before getting down to work.  On all of the following days, if Wil or I attempted to have the meeting first, Alvena would shout out in her limited English, “Prayer, prayer”!  It didn’t take us long to get our priorities straight.  Anyway, Alvena worked very hard, shoveling dirt and concrete non-stop from about 7am until 9:30am, when we stopped for a mid-morning break.  That is when she would sell us her Fat Cakes.  We always made sure to buy enough for everyone that was working and on most days we bought her out.  This is the way that she made her living for her and her family.  (It’s hard to believe that at roughly 12 ½ cents each you can make a living for your family).

Alvena then would work very hard, still shoveling dirt and cement from about 9:45am until noon when we would stop for about a 30-45 minute lunch.  After lunch she would be back at shoveling from about 12:45 until 2pm (she wouldn’t let any of us or them even give her a short break).  At precisely 2pm she would stop work, load any empty wheelbarrow with any tools, which needed to be locked up over night, and wheel it about 500 yards to the secure building.

From 2pm until 5pm or so, Alvena would sit in Pastor Vern’s classes.  She listened very attentively as well as participated regularly with questions and discussion.  She talked every day about how much she enjoyed his teachings and his times of questions and answers, even when many times they were way off the topic.

From roughly 5pm until 6pm Alvena would sit on the small sidewalk in front of the Anchor Center, patiently waiting for the Wednesday evening church service.  The church service lasted from roughly 6pm until about 8:15pm.  Immediately after church she would begin her walk home in the pitch dark (this time of year it is pitch dark around 5:15pm).  She would arrive at home probably near 9pm.  The next day she would do it all over again with the only difference being that church services did not happen again until Sunday.  What a trooper!  What a saint!  I couldn’t help thinking about what a bunch of whining, whimpering people most Americans would be if we had to keep this kind of schedule.  God bless you, Alvena.

                                         Picture of the church tent donated by New Hope Church

                                                               Picture by Ken Roosenberg

Lastly I want to try to explain the feelings of gratitude that all of the members of the Nsoko Church have for all of us at New Hope Church.  The large tent that our church purchased last fall is getting a lot of good use, but also showing a lot of wear.  As I mentioned, they have services on Wednesdays and Sundays.  The tent is full most of the time and they struggle to have enough chairs for the services.  On the first Sunday there, Pastor Bheki gave us all credit for providing the tent and the sound system to them.  The applause and cheers were overwhelming.  They are so appreciative for all that we have done so far.  They really need a more permanent church building, a place where they will have plenty of room for children and adults and a place where they can actually develop a kid’s ministry.  Currently the children sit in the front of the service and they sat in there for the entire service which last between 2 and 2 ½ hours.  They are so well behaved, but they cannot be getting much out of the sermons that are meant for adults and to be sitting that long in one place is hard to keep their attention span.  I hope and pray that maybe we at New Hope Church can find it in our hearts and in our wallets to build them a real church within the next year or so.  It would mean so much to them and it would continue to build our relationship with them and to help further God’s kingdom here on earth.

James 1:27 says, “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.”  At New Hope we have begun to help the struggling poor of Swaziland.  There is not enough money in the world to fix the problems there.  Although it takes money to do many things, it is really not about the money.  It is all about the relationships we are developing and the love of Christ that we are bringing to these people.  How can we put a value on that?

Break My Heart Lord

Picture by Becky Bruckner

 

“Break my heart Lord”

            Just what exactly does this statement mean?  As I am righting this article, our church is about half-way through the sermon series and Max Lucado book, Out Live Your Life.  By the time you are reading this article, we all should be done with that series.

            What did you think?  Did any of your reading and the questions following the readings, slap you in the face?  Did any of it cause a stirring of emotions?  Did you feel a wake-up call?

            Many of you have heard me talk about my experiences in Swaziland and how deeply God has touched my heart and soul for these struggling people, but your passion, your calling, does not have to be in Swaziland.  What thoughts is God stirring within you?  What tugs at your heart strings?

            Max Lucado said, “We cannot repay the debt that we owe Christ, but that doesn’t mean we don’t try.”  The same thing holds true for world hunger, for clothing the poor, for providing housing for the poor, for being friends to the friendless, for providing hope to the hopeless, and for reaching out to the lonely.  Many times the world’s troubles look so huge that it seems impossible for us to make a difference, but that doesn’t mean we should not try.  We can’t fix it all but we can do one thing at a time, help one individual at a time and they will see the love of God through us.  Max says, “The task is big, but so is the opportunity.”  Stop and dwell on that sentence for a while!  Pray about it.  How can you make a difference?

            Jess Mengal (our New Hope Church missionary to India) told me about something one of her professors had said.  This is not an exact quote but it goes something like this.  Someone had told him that they have been praying and waiting their whole life for God to show them what he has planned for them, and still had not received an answer.  They wanted to know how you know when to wait on God versus taking action.  He answered them by saying that you can keep praying for God’s direction in your life, and while you’re waiting on that response, you can look at the many ways that God is working throughout the world and find a way to plug into that work.  What a wonderful way to answer that person.  I think that holds true for all of us.  We need to wake up and get involved.  We need to stop going through our days, our weeks, our months, and our years just plugging along, without taking the time to look at what is going on in our world.  How can we turn a blind eye?  How can we not want to do our part to make even a little difference in the lives of even a few people?

            Just before going to Africa, I had a prayer that I said regularly to God.  It went like this: My Lord, my God.  What do you expect of me?  I cannot support and save all of the suffering people in today’s world. It is so overwhelming.  Sometimes Lord, instead of doing something, I do nothing.  Where do I begin?  How can I help?  What are you calling me to do?  Is the suffering of your people throughout the world, just too big of a problem for me to do anything about?  Well, God answered that prayer during and after my trip and now I am forever devoted to the Swazi people.  Try it!  Pray it and mean it!  Be open and patient for a response.

            Break my heart Lord.  This thought came from another great book that I am reading called The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns.  Richard believes that we should pray this with some regularity.  From this book I have this prayer: God, please break my heart for ________. (In my prayer it is the people of Swaziland, but you can fill in your own blank).   When God breaks my heart for these people, it becomes personal, as if it was my own child or family member.  As times passes I could naturally become distant or not engaged, and their plight is not as personal.  If God breaks my heart again and again for them, it now becomes very personal again.

 We beg of you, break our hearts Lord, that we might do great works for all hurting people.

What does this head and foot board have to do with Swaziland?

Picture by Ken Roosenberg

God put an awesome idea on my heart for Swaziland. I call it my "Craigslist for Swaziland" project. Look at this head and foot board in the picture above. It was quite used, but in pretty good condition and is all solid wood. It had some scuffs that were easily touched up with Old English furniture polish. This was set out on garbage pick up day by someone in our neighborhood who lives about 2 blocks away. I saw it on the way to work and decided to pick it up and bring it home to try to sell to raise funds for Swaziland. It was a full size, not a queen or king size that many prefer now, but I figured it was worth a try. Again, it took only about 5 minutes to use the touch up on the scuff marks and then I posted it on our local Craigslist. Within two days I had a young couple who were very interested in this item, as they were newly weds and just getting started in life together and were on limited funds. I was able to sell it for $55.00! It was a win-win situation. This item did not go to the landfill in the garbage truck, and it was re-purposed so that someone else will get good use of it, and I had $55.00 to go to our Swaziland fund.

Well I have been doing this now for about 8 months and have raised a little over $5,000 for Swaziland. I have sold other people's discarded materials, as well as Janine and I have gone through our house and looked for items that we no longer use or no longer need. I find this totally amazing. Everyone could do this! We all have items we either no longer need, no longer want, or items that we like but could give them up to be sold to raise funds for the struggling people of Swaziland. 

Come on! Give it a try! You can do it or if you live near Harrisburg and have some items that you would like for me to try and sell, email me at sewnwood@verizon.net and let me know what you have and send pictures if possible.Thanks be to God for putting this idea on my heart and I pray that he will do the same with others. 

Together we can help make a difference. I realize that I cannot fix the problems in Swaziland. I cannot solve the many, many issues there. I can do something though. I am going to steal a line from a Steven Curtis Chapman song. I am "changing the world, one little heart beat at a time". God bless the orphans of Swaziland!

Picture and video of our 1st shipping container of supplies to Swaziland

Picture by Jumbo & Kriek Gerber, provided by Scott Borg

As many of you know, on December 15, 2010, New Hope Church sent our 1st shipping container of much needed supplies to the people of Swaziland, Africa. I have been trying for several months now to get some pictures of the distribution of these supplies, so our church members can see how their gifts have helped. We are now starting to get some of these pictures. 

I want to give a special thanks to Jumbo and Kriek Gerber for taking many of these pictures, and to both Jumbo and Scott Borg for passing them along. I know this has been very difficult for several reasons. One. because their schedules have been extremely busy with other groups visiting Swaziland, and secondly because trying to email pictures form Swaziland is a job in itself. The internet in Swaziland is very limited and sporadic and the bandwidth is very, very small. When our group was in Swaziland last October, it took almost two hours of trying to send back three pictures to our church. Again I want to thank them for these pictures, and thank all of the missionaries who helped in the distribution of these supplies.

Through the experience of us "Swazi Six", God has opened our eyes and our hearts for the struggling people of Swaziland. He has also allowed us to share our experiences in a way that has touched the hearts of many of our congregation and our friends outside of New Hope Church. It brings tears of joy to my eyes when I see the smiles on these faces as they get their new outfits, many of who are getting underclothes for the first time in their lives. God has truly blessed us in being able to provide these much needed clothes and other supplies. I hope this is just the beginning of a long and lasting relationship with the people in Swaziland. Last year their were six of us that went on the trip. This year there are 14 going (21 actually wanted to go, but that is too large for one trip). I am sure they will come back and share their stories, and hopefully inspire a whole  other group for the following trip. God is good!!

I welcome you to visit the following link to a my first attempt at putting together a video with music, showing some of the clothing distribution. The music is one of my absolute favorite songs and describes the mission that each and everyone of is called to do for God. Click on the link below to view our video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EviqLDHP7X0

My path too, is uncertain

Picture by Bgrace

 I have recently started reading an awesome book call "A Hole In Our Gospel", by Richard Sterns, president of World Vision, U.S. If you have not read this, it needs to go on your "to do" list. It is phenomenal, and I have only read the first 50 pages. It will make you really think, and it will make you uncomfortable. 

God got my attention in Swaziland and just like Richard Sterns, God is speaking to me loudly and firmly asking, "Ken, are you willing to be open to my will on your life"? Unconditionally?

Wow! Unconditionally? It's easy to say, "God I have a job to preform, a mortgage to pay, and a  retirement future to fund. I can do a lot of things to further your kingdom here on earth, but unconditionally? Are you kidding me? Are you serious? We have just remodeled our kitchen. We have finally gotten the house to the point where we love it! I have a great workshop. I have found a way to raise funds for Swaziland that could involve many of our New Hope members. Isn't that enough of a challenge for me for now? What more can you expect of me?"

There it is again! That word! Unconditionally! Just like Richard Sterns in his book, I too can feel myself relating to the rich, young man in Matthew chapter 19 verses 16-22. Don't get me wrong. By American standards I am not rich. I am just an average, middle income American, but by Swaziland standards I am filthy rich! I don't want to be like the rich young man that Jesus talked about, who went away sad, because he could not or would not follow Jesus unconditionally.

Jesus expects a lot of each of us. He expected a lot of his disciples. How will I answer him? Will I keep offering up excuses and walk away sad? Wow! I know that he never said following him would be easy, I just didn't realize that it would be this hard at times.

Lord Jesus, I pray that I will keep sorting things out. I pray that I will heed your calling in my life, whatever and wherever that takes me. I ask your help in giving me clarity to understand exactly what you are calling me to do. I pray for your patience as I work to realign my life to your pattern for me.

God is the ultimate artist

Wow! Just in case you missed one of the most awesome sunrises ever, I  took this picture for you. This was taken the first week of January at about 7am. When I started to drive out of our development I saw this off in a distance and immediately turned around, went back home, dashed in and got the camera and then quickly looked for the best place to snap a quick picture. In the past I have tried to do this and kept driving, trying to get the best place to get a good view, only to find that I had missed the moment now that I was finally ready.

Picture by Ken Roosenberg

God gives us great opportunities, not only when it comes to picture taking, put in other daily experiences. Sometimes the opportunities are only available to us in a limited time period. If we hesitate we will find that we too have missed the moment or the opportunity to experience something great.

We need to learn to let loose of the feeling that we are in charge and that we are in control of our schedules and our lives. We need to learn to trust God and act and respond to him in his time. Next time your plans seem to be unraveling or your day is just not going according to your plan, take a moment to stop whatever you are doing. Try to take the opportunity to see that maybe, just maybe God is trying to reach you and has a better plan at this moment. Maybe it is a moment where someone else needs your help. Trust God! Open yourself to his calling. You too may just be ready to experience something awesome!

My Thanksgiving thoughts and prayer

Picture by Ken Roosenberg

There is nothing better than being a Grandpa! These are two of my grandchildren, Rachel on the left and Annabelle on the right. We have been together Friday and today. We just got back from going to their favorite place for breakfast, Panera Bread. I wish we lived closer, but it could be a lot further than 3 1/4 hours away. Thanks be to God that we are not that far from any of our kids and grand-kids.

Thank you Lord for showing me some of the real important things in life. You have blessed me so richly with good friends and a wonderful family. I have so many things to be thankful for and here are just a few of them.

I am thankful that Janine and I and all of our children and grandchildren and all of our extended family members have  good homes, good jobs, and do not have to worry about housing or where we will get food or water. I am thankful for my life changing trip to Swaziland, Africa and for all the missionaries that we met. I am thankful for all of the children and adults that I met in Swaziland. My heart aches for these people. I pray Lord, that you will keep the people safe and that you provide for their needs. I pray that more people from the U.S. will want to get involved, either personally traveling there to help, or financially supporting the efforts in Swaziland. I pray that with all of the hardships and obstacles that there are in Swaziland, that the missionaries there on the ground be able to keep their upbeat  positive attitudes. I pray that the young adults that are either training to be part of a Discipleship team or those that are already part of one of these teams, continue to see the positive roll model positions that they are filling. Their mentoring, and counseling, and teaching your word, is so very important. They and these children are the future of Swaziland. I pray that you will financially reward these Discipleship team members, so they can continue to do this important work without struggling to provide food and shelter for themselves. I pray that more of us will want to personally travel to Swaziland but for many different reasons. They need people who are willing to help train the the Swazi's to build adequate housing, people to teach and train young adults to fill key roles, and they need people who are willing to teach Swazi's basic hygiene. They could also use help from people who have medical training and skills. I pray that many will feel your call.

I could go on and on forever. You have given me so many things to be grateful for and blessings beyond belief. You are the awesome God!

God's most amazing ambassador In Swaziland

All three pictures by Bgrace

Let me introduce you to one of the most amazing and inspirational men I have ever met. His name is Musa. He is one of seven young adults that are members of the Discipleship Team in Swaziland. These Discipleship Team members teach, mentor, and counsel the young children that come to many of the Care Centers in the Manzini area.

Musa is breaking tradition in his culture. Men typically do not do the things that he is doing. Taking time to teach the young children and working with children is something that women do but not men. Also taking time to make in-home visits to talk to families about AIDS prevention, including talking to them about the use of condoms is something that is just not done in Swaziland. He also talks to couples about how important it is to only have one spouse which is contrary to the common practice of polygamy.

The pictures above are just a few of the pictures taken at the Sunday morning church service that we attended in Manzini. Musa lead the service. He is so energetic and inspirational. Musa sang and danced throughout the service. The service was about 2 1/2 hours long of which about 2 hours of it was singing. It was one of the best services I have ever attended in my entire life.

I had the pleasure of talking one on one with Musa one afternoon. He shared with me that initially the children were apprehensive in talking openly with a young man. Now that they have found how sincere he is and how much he wants to help them work through their problems, and how God is using him to teach them about Jesus, they have found him to be a true friend. Swazi children face many, many problems. Many times they are sexually abused by family members. They need more role models like Musa. He is a true leader and he leads by example of how a true child of God should be living.

My prayer is that God will guide and protect Musa as he steps out of the role that is typical of a Swazi male and leads his people and especially the children in the way that God wants us to live. I pray that he will always keep his amazing smile and positive outlook in a country that has so many issues to deal with. I feel honored and it was a real privilege meeting Musa and getting to share the Swazi church service with him. I look forward to seeing him again in the near future and may God bless him and everything that he does.

Somandla's story and the miracle of the Holy Spirit

Picture by Bgrace

Somandla’s story

On Wednesday October 6^th we did an in home visit where the three children were living in the home, but have no parents left alive. Their father died for AIDS several years ago, and the mother was killed earlier this year by a drunk driver while she was walking home that day. The Children are a boy that is 16, and two girls that are 14 and 12 years old.

As we got to the home we were invited to come inside which was unusual as most Swazi’s do not let strangers in. Little did I know that this was just the beginning of an unusual visit for me. As I waited to go inside some of the rest of our group had started to take off their shoes before entering. As I got to the door, Scott Borg from AIM said that it would not be necessary. I did it anyway, but for a different reason. As I was about to enter, I know I actually felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in that home. I have never, ever felt as close to Jesus as I did at that moment.

As we all took our seats in the room, Pastor Walter introduced us to the children. He also introduced us to their cousin who had just moved in with them and she was doing the cooking for the family. He took the time to ask each of the children about their school work. All three of them are excellent students. I felt myself instantly drawn to the boy who is named Somandla. Somandla’s grades the previous year and put him at the top of his class and entitled him to go this year to one of the best schools in the country. I was so happy for him, but then my heart sunk! He told us that he was no longer attending school since he had no parents to pay for his schooling and none of the three children have a way to make an income. The government is paying for the girls for the rest of their school years, but they do not do that for boys. They believe that the boy can go out and find a job and try to support the family and pay for his own school. Unlike America where all children are entitled to an education, that is not true in Swaziland. First and second grades are paid for by the government, but all others are not. They have laddered school fees that more expensive as the child moves up in grades. They have to pay these schools fees, book fees, and all students are required to have school uniforms. It is all very costly.

I was dumbfounded! Here is a boy who was at the top of his class and he could not go to school! How could this be? It was not fair! Hadn’t these children suffered enough by losing their parents? Before we left, we all took turns praying for this family, but I still felt this eating me alive! As we left the home and were walking back the path, I asked Pastor Walter how much money was owed for Somandla’s school fees. He pulled out a crumpled up invoice for $2675 Rand that Somandla had given him. I did some quick calculations in my head a determined that was about $385. Just then I remembered that I had four $100 bills folded up in my wallet, hidden behind my driver’s license, that I was saving for a woodworking show in January. Suddenly that woodworking show did not seem so important. I do not know why I had this money with me. I had emptied out my wallet before leaving home, removing all credit cards but one, and everything else I thought. I now believe this was all part of God’s greater plan. I took out the bills, unfolded them, and gave them to Pastor Walter and asked to pay for Somandla’s fees and use any left over for food for the family.

Also as part of this special school that Somandla was attending he had to travel a long distance by walking and then taking a bus. This is very expensive too. Our entire team took up a collection and managed to put together enough money to pay his transportation roughly through January.

I know there are probably thousands of kids in the same situation as far as not having enough money for school. I know I could not do this for everyone, and the solution is not just to throw money at the situation, but I was not doing that. I saw potential in a young man that is the top of his class. Maybe, just maybe, he can be part of the solution in Swaziland.

This day was a day beyond my wildest dreams! As I mentioned earlier, as we gathered inside this modest home, the Holy Spirit was dwelling among us. God touched my heart in a big, big way that day, but he also did so much more than that. He actually reached deep down inside me and touched my soul and I have been forever changed.

Just about two weeks ago I received an update from Scott Borg form AIM. He says and I quote; “Just to let you know you gave the money just in time. It took us about a week to get it all worked out and in that time he was kicked out for non-payment, but he is back in school now. He brought his report card to Pastor Walter and he was the #1 student among 300 students. This was a great investment.”

God, you are an awesome God! Thank you for using me as your instrument to help Somandla. Once again you have blessed me beyond all understanding.

God has blessed me beyond belief!

Picture by Bgrace

Picture by Bgrace

Picture by Bgrace

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world. Amen Lord, Amen!

I still have to pinch myself occasionally. I still cannot believe that I traveled almost 9000 miles away from home and visited this struggling country of Swaziland. I know I have said this many times, but all of these children are so special and so beautiful. It literally tears me up looking at some of these photos and to remember how easy it was to connect to these children even though we did not speak the same language. Every day I wish I could return right now. They need so much love, so much help, so much training. Most of them have no parents to show them the right way. They need clothes, they need food (more than one meal a day), they need shoes, they need guidance, and they need love, love, and more love. I have more than enough love to share. I just need to find out how to do that, how to fit this in my life. I continue to pray, dear Lord, for your guidance, and for your plan for me. It is hard to be patient, and to wait for your answers, but I will keep trying.

In Psalms 5 verse 3 in the NIV version of the Bible its says;

3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

Yes Lord, I anxiously await your call.

Dear Lord, I do not understand

Picture by Ken Roosenberg

If you click on this picture to enlarge it and look closely over the top of the window opening on the left side of this crumbling building, and you will see the green leaves on the small tree behind the building. Look even harder (you may even need a magnifying glass to see this) and you will see a clearing in the distance over the top of that tree. Near that clearing is the elementary school for this area. From where I was standing taking this picture the pastor estimated that the school is about 3.5 miles away as the crow flies, and even longer by the dirt road. The children from this area walk to this school every morning and back home everyday! The terrain is terrible. I cannot imagine making this trek even once let alone every single day, and the road is very rough, mainly large rocks with a little dirt.

There is no way that most of us Americans would make this trip even once. Most of us would just quit, yet these kids from 1st grade through 7th grade do it daily. Dear Lord, I do not understand why life has to be so hard for some people and so easy for others? Why do some have plenty, and others are lucky if they get one meal a day and have more than one outfit to wear all year long? How can a King and his staff live the life of extravagance and stand by why the general public is struggling to find safe drinking water, struggling to get one basic, basic meal each day, and are dying of AIDS? Why have things gotten so bad in Swaziland and the rest of the world has not stood up and taken a stand to help them? I have so many questions and so little answers. I do not blame you dear Lord, I blame the rest of the world.

Again I pray and wait silently for you to let me know how I fit into this solutions for these people. I will continue to work on getting the 20' shipping container ready to go and await your unfolding vision in my life.

Can you even imagine?

Picture by Ken Roosenberg

This is a picture of the second Care Point that we visited on the first day, near the Mancini area. On the flight over, one of my concerns is how we would deal with the language barrier and how well would I connect with the little children. I think I am a pretty great grandfather to my grandchildren, but would the little children of Swaziland feel that way too?

Well both worries were dealt with quickly and at the same time. It is amazing how quickly the barriers come down and what a hero you are when you show up with a couple of brand new soccer balls. We could hardly get them pumped up fast enough. This Care Point is one of the most developed ones in the Mancini area. It is amazing the difference between a Care Point that is not sponsored by a church and one that has been sponsored by a church for several years. (more on that in a future writing)

Look closely at the picture above. The children are fortunate enough that the church that is sponsoring this Care Point has come to Swaziland with a team that not only built them an awesome playground, but also built and installed soccer goals and nets. In the picture above they had been running hard and one of the kids made a shot on goal and missed so that is why they are looking behind the net at their teammate that is retrieving the ball.

These kids are unbelievably good at soccer. They run hard and play hard. They run at lightening speed, but look closer and you will see that they are all barefoot. That is especially amazing and mind-boggling when you look at the actual surface of the soccer field. I took notice of the surface of the field as I was taking my last soccer picture. I just had to capture a closeup of the field. Are you ready? Are you sure? Remeber they are running hard and playing hard. Here goes!

Picture by Ken Roosenberg

Even with my calloused feet I could never handle this! I would be crying like a baby. About an hour later I had a little boy sitting on my lap. He just wanted someone to love him and hold him and hug him. I sat with him for a while and after a short period of time we had connected so well that I decided to tickle his foot to get him to laugh. Wow! It was like tickling hardened asphalt. Never in my wildest dreams could I ever have pictured a foot so hard and calloused, and this was a boy that was just over 4 years old. It seemed like it would have taken a life time to get that hard.

Once I got home, one of my biggest concerns and something that I pray about regularly is that I do not want to lose this feeling I have for the Swazi children. I do not want my emotions to soften, or worse yet, deaden after time passes. I know after losing our last dog after 14 years of fun times, that initially I was an emotional mess, as we are were, but after time passes the pain eases, and after a year or so  you still have the memories, but the pain has gone and is nearly forgotten. Dear God, please God, do not let that happen to me with these Swazi children. I already long to go back to Swaziland. I have so many images burnt into my mind. I am feeling a strong call to help anyway and every way that I can. I pray daily dear Lord, that you show me what you are calling me to do. Am I to help out here in the U.S. doing everything possible to raise awareness, to raise funds, and to collect materials for future containers? Am I to travel in some manner addressing other groups and churches to raise awareness? Am I actually being called to be a hands on person on the ground in Swaziland to help the people,to help the children, to help the Swazi Discipleship teams in a three month at a time mission trip? Am I being called to even longer mission trips, possibly two years at a time? Janine is interested in helping the children of Swaziland too. What is your call for us as a couple? How does all of this fit into my work life? I love my job, it's the best job I have ever had, but with the work load that has been put upon me in the last two years since we cut staff more than 60%, I do not know how to even begin to make this work. I need some clarity from you. Help me give up control to you and quit trying to solve all of this by myself. Help me put me faith and trust in you, Lord. Please dear Lord, show me your direction in my life. You have blessed me and my family so richly and I feel like I need to start giving back more than I already am doing.

Dear Lord, as you know I tend to be a take charge person and I am also the type of person that wants to identify a problem and then solve it and then move on to the next issue. In Swaziland that is not possible! The problems, which are many, have no easy solutions, and they will take  many, many years of hard work to even turn the things in the right direction and get them heading towards sustainability. As I sat quietly this morning, praying and meditating, I heard the voice that you put inside my head today. I actually heard the words, "Be still and know that I am God!" Thank you Lord. To often even when I think I am being quiet and meditating, I still have so many thoughts or back ground noises going on that I really could not hear you when you try to reach me. Help me know how to shut up and listen, and to free my mind 100% as I quietly wait for your answers.