Living on the Edge

I have just returned from my second visit to New Hope Centre in Bethany, Swaziland. I am so amazed at the growth and progress of the home with regard to buildings, livestock, and educational facilities. It didn’t seem like the same place I had visited just two years ago.

And the kids—all 40 of them have grown and matured and are more delightful than ever. These are kids whose parents died of AIDS and there was no one left to care for them. They came to New Hope Centre and began to thrive. They dance ballet, they sing in four-part harmony, they play the drums, they compete at swimming and other sports, they excel at their classes, they worship God, they lead Bible studies for their siblings at the home, and they exhibit leadership in leading camps for other children in Swaziland who have not had their advantages. They are truly amazing children.

This time Wendy, my daughter, went with me to share the adventure. I am so glad she did. Now we have so much to talk about. Wendy’s only request was that she get to see some African animals. After all, what is a trip to Africa without seeing lions and giraffes and elephants? And we did! We saw them all including a crocodile, monkeys, zebras, wart hogs, wildebeests, ostriches, lions, a giraffe, hippos, and so much more. Swaziland is a treasure trove of wildlife and when you get off the main roads and back into the country just a little bit, it is beautiful. There are mountains and deep grasslands and trees. It wasn’t quite the same as the high valleys of Montana, but it did cause me to think of my childhood home.

Our job at New Hope was to interview 24 kids to get their stories. These stories will become the basis for a book called 24 Extraordinary Children, and extraordinary they are. They are also chosen . . . blessed . . . endowed with talent . . . loved. They are, in short, just great kids. Our interview process took most of our time with the children, but we got to share a Shabbat meal with them on Friday evening, early morning devotions each day, and we went to church on Sunday with them. We heard them singing early in the morning and late in the evening.

Getting to and from Swaziland from the west coast of America is a daunting task. We left LA about midnight and flew all night to JFK in New York. After a couple of hours there (during which I managed to drop my passport and had to pray, retrace my steps, and finally was able to retrieve it) we boarded a jumbo jet headed for Johannesburg. That’s roughly a 15-hour trip and much of the trip happens at night (again). When we landed in South Africa, we still had a ways to go. We climbed on a tiny jet to fly 500 miles over the mountains to land in Manzini in the Kingdom of Swaziland. It took about an hour. Of course, there was a lost bag—mine—and before we left the airport, we had to make sure it was tracked down and would be on the plane in the morning. It was late when we left the tiny Matsapha airport and went to a grocery store to get supplies for the week. Then down through the dark we drove and at last climbed the mountain that is home to New Hope Centre. We were quickly surrounded by children who greeted us with joy.

How thrilling to hear the shofar blow at 6 A.M. in the morning to awaken the children. Then there is a padding of feet as the children go to the washhouse to bathe and get ready for the day. And always there is music, singing and recorded music, and sometimes both at once. By 8 A.M. the kids are in the tabernacle to greet the day with praise. First they sing and then they kneel on the hard concrete floor to pray and finally they find a scrap of cardboard to sit on on the floor while they hear a devotion led by one of the children. Then they memorize the verse for the day. At 9 A.M. the kids are off to class to study for most of the day. Teatime is at 11, and lunch served one to two hours later. There is playtime after school, then an evening meal and a time when they can watch a DVD or some other restful activity. Bedtime comes early at about 9 P.M. and by 10, it is very quiet.

And now to the work at hand. I will begin to figure out what this book should be. I would appreciate your prayers and interest as I go forward with this project. I feel called to do this book and I need God’s help in putting it together.

I came away from this trip with a renewed faith and a determination to live the rest of my life on the edge. I’m not going to play safe anymore. Time is short and there is much to be done for the kingdom of heaven. I keep thinking of the phrase, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates uttered it at his heresy trial that was held for encouraging his students to challenge the accepted beliefs of the time. He wanted them to think for themselves. Socrates believed that without examining life, there is no point in living. He died for his beliefs. That’s living on the edge. I wonder what we could do if we all decided to move just a little closer to the “edge” of our life and live with just a little more faith and courage.