The New is Here! 6/25/2014

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

We realize that this Scripture is referring to new believers in Christ.  However, upon reading it this week, we definitely relate to the latter part of the verse…the old has gone, the new is here. You can say that again! Everything is new to us in Swaziland: new culture, new town, new apartment, new car, new job, etc.

We are so thankful to friends here that have helped us along the way. We feel as if we know nothing and have to ask for everything. The smallest task may take all day, but we are constantly reminded that God is faithful and He never changes.

We would like to share a few “differences” we are experiencing: 

• We knew upon arrival that we drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. What we did not realize is that the blinker control is on the right side of the steering wheel and the wiper control is on the left (opposite from the States). We have made many turns with our wipers on and no turn signal! Oops.

• We use the metric system in Swaziland. We are trying to get used to looking at the speedometer indicating that we are going 120! This is in kilometers per hour and is equivalent to 74 miles per hour.

• We use rand and/or emalangeni as currency in Swaziland. The first time we got gas on our way into town, the bill was 993.02! Thank the Lord the exchange rate is around 10 and was only about $93 in U.S. dollars.   This is going to take some getting used to! Everything seems sooooo expensive at first glance and then we remember to divide by 10!  

We are gradually being introduced to our six new carepoints and we are excited to make new relationships. The kids and gogos are such a blessing and we are amazed at how God is working in Swaziland.

We are sure there are many differences still to be discovered. We are thankful God has allowed us to be here and thankful to our support team that is making it possible.

Thanks for following our journey to Swaziland. Thank you, Jesus, for making us a new creation in you; the old has gone, the new is here! Please use us for your glory!

Greg and Michelle