RVC {Open House}

"Be alert servents of the master, cheerfully expectant.

Don't quit in hard times; 

PRAY all the harder.

Help needs Christians;

be INVENTIVE in hospitality" ~Romans 12:12 {MSG}

Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you feel so overwhelmed that you just have to step back and take everything in?  That is essentially how my day started Saturday February 23rd.  We spent all day the previous day going door to door inviting people to the open house at RVC-Swazi, I woke up Saturday morning excited and nervous at the same time.  Would anyone show up? Will we have enough food? What am I going to as part of the medical team? Lots of questions and lots of worries.  Joshua 1:9 was a verse that I had journaled about that morning and it really hit home.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go"

And he sure showed favor on us that day!!!  

Good Morning ~ Glory fog from our window

The line of people waiting to see Dr. John when we arrived

When we woke up we were given our first gift, Glory Fog! Mage (SiSwati for Mother) Karen told us that Glory Fog meant we would be in good favor, it was so pretty this photograph doesn't do it justice.  The fog starts in the valley and then rises as the sun gets higher in the sky.  It was breathtaking to eat breakfast with this as our view. After our breakfast (usually omelets and yogurt, AMAZING) we headed to the RVC-Swazi campus.  When we got there there was already a line of people waiting for Dr. John.  John Holte is one of the members of our team who just so happens to be an ophthalmologist who got a bunch of glasses donated for the community of Swaziland.  On our community walks Friday we made sure to tell the older members of the community that there would be an eye doctor with glasses, I guess they heard us!!! You can read an amazing blog post from John's wife Nancy about how God multiplied time for John that day if you follow this LINK to Nancy's Blog

{I also want to mention that throughout this post there are some photo credits due to Scott Marshall, Mark Bojovic and Nancy Holte.  I spent a lot of the day inside, so a lot of the photos come from these three!!}

Pastor Darin welcoming everyone to RVC

The people of the community listing to Pastor Darin and Mduduzi

So there were a lot of things going on at the open house, here is a list to the best of my recollection!!!

~Eye Clinic with Dr. John

~Medical Clinic {Blood pressure checks, de-worming pills} Nurse Jessie and myself

~Volley Ball

~Soccer

~Jumping Castle

~Games for kids

I hope you enjoy the following Photos!!

Nancy putting eye drops in the eyes of those waiting

Dr John at work

Adjusting glasses on one of our first patients

Pastor Darin with all of the glasses

Such a blessing to see that smile

Checking blood pressures, after I was done Portia (GLA intern) and I would pray for each person.  It was such a blessing to pray over people and to receive their extreme gratitude.

 All the kids that came for the open house!

1 of the jumping castles and the GLA interns

Lizwi and some of the interns leading games for the kids

Just a few kids came out for the fun....

Look at all the people we fed!!

 Volleyball and Soccer

The crowds watching the soccer and volleyball tournaments

The winning team with the Goat they won and our youth pastor Lizwi in the middle

The kiddos greeting team 2 as they arrived

 Another really exciting thing that happened Saturday was that the RVC Team 2 arrived!!! We were finally all together and ONE big team of 30 people!!! It was so nice to have our entire team together with 100% of our luggage and no drama.  The kids had double the people to play with and we were thankful to have to help from them.

Tara jumping in and getting her hair braided

Rachel and I taking time for some self portraits

Iliea with the sweetheart we met at the market Friday

After all the fun and games it was time to get working on preparing the church for the launch on Sunday.  We had lots of food to prepare and a church to clean.  The red clay ground, while its' gorgeous it sure get EVERYWHERE!!! After any even that happens at RVC the GLA interns get the fun task of sweeping and mopping the entire church. Ellie and I thought we'd give them a hand!!!

Rachel grating ginger

Nelly, Jen and Taylor ripping apart raw chicken

 It was so amazing watching everything the Lord did that day.  The people he brought to us, the people who received food and glasses, the ministering we were able to do.  God is so good!!! Stay tuned for future posts!!

LOVE, HUGS and GOD's BLESSINGS! ~Gretch