Musings from Graceland

SATURDAY SNAPSHOTS FROM SWAZILAND
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Jodi and Marius Deetlefs are relatively new missionaries to Swaziland. Their first year has both been exciting and very trying. Jodi has been suffering from health issues for a few months now and they've even had to leave for treatment in South Africa. This has been very difficult for them as their strong desire is to be in Swaziland ministering to the orphans, widows, and others in desperate need of help. Please pray for them as they go through this very hard time.

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But on top of this hardship has come a huge heap of blessing! When Jodi went in for further medical examinations, it was unexpectedly found out that she was pregnant! As Marius said at his blog, the cyst had a heartbeat! Praise God!!!!

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Below are photos from their first year in Swaziland. Visit their blog at http://mariusdeetlefs.myadventures.org/ to find out more about this amazing ministry God has called them to.

Jodi spends a lot of her time simply loving on the carepoint children...many of them who have lost both parents or if they do have one parent, that parent might be too ill to give much care or be overwhelmed by raising extended family members' children who are now orphaned.

Here's Marius with Musa. The girls and I met Musa when we traveled to Swaziland last year. He's a passionate follower of Jesus who has dedicated his life to discipling the children at carepoints scattered throughout the Manzini area.

Children wearing traditional Swazi cloths most often worn on special days.

This little guy is wearing a traditional animal skin loin cloth.


Many poor Swazi children do not own even one pair of shoes. And if they do own a pair, they were it long after most of us here in America would have thrown them away.

The children's feet were washed in preparation of them receiving new shoes sent from Christians in America.