We have just arrived back home to Swaziland after seven days in South Africa… we went through some fairly intense warfare and just hard stuff, let me explain; in Africa when something goes wrong, or you just have to wait a long time, everybody here says, T.I.A. or “This is Africa”!
Did you see the movie, “Blood Diamond”? This will give you a very good glance into what I am talking about. (It is a disturbing, but an incredible movie) (Michael took this picture on his safari)
On the way down from Swazi to South Africa, it is about a four to five hour drive; (very beautiful, but you never know what might be on the road. Broke down trucks, cows, goats, it’s a fun drive) the car Caleb and I were driving down in, blew up! The engine caught on fire and we were on the side of the rode for more then 4 hours waiting on help… the first thing everybody said when I explained our situation, is “T.I.A.”! Tyler was headed back up from ministering with a team in Jeffery’s Bay South Africa and his bus broke down on the 12 hour ride; he called me and said, “T.I.A”! My wife’s plane broke down, she stood in lines for over 15 hours trying to get another flight over with our 4 year old and two daughters, when she called crying on the phone, I almost said… well you guessed it!
After all the delays and waiting; all the broken down cars, buses and planes. Caleb and I were able to get another car and get to SA. Lisa, Noah and the girls finally arrived at the JO Burg airport, we picked Tyler up at the bus station,
Michael was waiting for us at Alabanza, (our ministry place just outside of Johannesburg), I gathered my family around, rejoiced, and the Lord spoke to me very clearly; He said “Gary, I want you to change the meaning of T.I.A. when you have a blessing, a reason to rejoice, when I have done something great, that is when you say, T.I.A.”! “Teach your kids, the ministry people around you and the locals, that I intend on blessing the people of Africa and when they see me move in miraculous ways, they will say, THIS IS AFRICA’!!!
We are home in Swaziland; it is an amazing, breath taking land with incredible people! Lisa loves our home and yesterday the girls were at the care points teaching about 90 orphans; Emily walked in the door and in tears said, “It was the best day of my life, I was born for this”! T.I.A This is Africa!
