I am very appreciative of your grace with
me as you awaited this update. It's been a long time coming and is only
arriving now thanks to my dear teammate who allowed me to use her laptop. My
current country of residence does not allow for easy internet access, thus
contact with me and the other side of the world will be limited.

            The
past two weeks have been spent settling into my new home in the country of
Swaziland. That's right; God has placed me in a new location, with a new team,
and many new opportunities. I will get to that shortly, but before I dive into
describing my new found joy here I will bring you some closure with last
semester.

            Jeffreys
Bay, South Africa was the scene of my extensive training. For four months my
entire root system was challenged. Through hard and necessary discipleship,
both group and one on one, I was encouraged to get back to the basics of my
faith and search for what I knew and separate that from what I'd been told. I'm
now in a place where I can call on Christ for my truth, and not from my own
prideful knowledge. It's been a rude awakening, but a completely refreshing
one. These insights have been the result of much more than just the
conversation and reading that has taken place. Thanks to my ministry at Love A
Child, the team of 50some Christ's I walked alongside, and the amazing support
system I have in my family back home I am finally realizing the truth of love.
I journey through this love daily and find it impossible to describe through
words, much less typed words. I pray that my actions will assist in this
seemingly difficult task.

            Unfortunately,
none of you will be able to witness these actions first hand yet, but it is my
hope that the people of Swaziland will see love, or rather Christ, in me and
that will be relayed into eternity for all to experience.

"For I have a
great sense of obligation to people in our culture and to people in other
cultures, to the educated and uneducated alike." Romans 1:14

Paul's words perfectly express my heart
coming into this semester. Our team of 18 arrived on Swazi soil January 7. Most
of us had just a fragment of familiarity with the country, knowing only some of
its history and present day circumstances. Even now, after half a month, I am
still taking in the wealth of information that comes with understanding the
culture. I encourage all of you to research the Kingdom of Swaziland (you read
it right, it's still a monarchy) in your spare time to give you a glimpse of
the desperation here. One thing that you won't find in textbooks and on
websites is the spiritual condition of the people here. If we're just
scratching the surface, the entire country is found to be saved. They all know
the love of Christ and believe in his saving grace, but end up pouring it into
their cultural tradition. Knowing the truth that no one can serve God and
another, we have a goal of separating people from their idols to they may
experience the Lord full force as he desires. Our team of disciples are working
towards building close relationships so that we may disciple the "Christians"
and speak to them about what saved really means and the life that it entails.

            The
Lord has been so gracious in providing opportunities for this goal to become a
reality. There have been around 10 ministries presented in the area and we hope
to discover more. Some of the main sites include the hospital, youth center,
men's prison, disability/rehabilitation center, and several care points. We've
been testing the waters at each of the ministries both as a team and
individually so that we will be sure where the Lord wants us to be. I myself
have found a special interest in volunteering at the Hope House, a care center
for the terminally ill. It is a collection of houses where the patient and a
care person, generally a family member, will stay until desired. There are 4
nurses overseeing the 20some patients, as well as the main nurse and "head
honcho" of the show, Sister Elsa from India. The need for the Lord and his hope
in the place is evident with the severity of the illnesses. After only visiting
3 days I am astounded with the ways God is already moving there and I'm very
excited to be a part of the continued process. My role has mostly consisted of
visiting with the patients themselves and sometimes with their families if they
are blessed enough to have someone staying with them. The language barrier has
made things move a little slower, but I have already formed fruitful
relationships with several of the patients. If you are keeping me in your
prayers please remember to mention boldness for me as most days are spent with
the usual "knocking on the door inviting myself into people's lives" drill. Of
course things will get easier as relationships are formed, but as most of you
can understand it is quite awkward at the beginning. Also pray for Sister Elsa,
the Indian Mother Theresa, and her strength day to day.

            We
are required to do at least 40 hours of ministry each week so I still have
plenty of opportunities to explore. I'm drawn to the youth center ministry as well
as the care points. I'll be sure to give a more extensive description of all my
ministries as soon as the ball gets rolling, or as soon as the internet decides
to allow me.

            I'm
pretty sure that marks the end of the time you took reading this lengthy update.
Thanks for taking an interest in the bigger picture. I continually pray for you
and the country of Canada.

- Your fellow Disciple.

Here is my new address if anyone wants to
send me some love through means of the mail:

Julie Anderson

Care of Gail Antosh

PO Box 5526

Mbabane, Swaziland

AFRICA

• Make sure AFRICA is bold or else it will be sent to
  Switzerland.