Make (Ma-gay) Peggy

Make (which means mother- and is how you address a
middle-aged woman or a woman with kids) Peggy is one of the sweetest women I
have ever met. We were introduced
through some missionary friends and I am so grateful to have met her. She lives in a tiny home but has not let that
stop her from making a difference in children's lives. She has taken in 9 children who do not have
families and loves them each as if they are her own. Here in Swaziland, the King does not allow
orphanages so many of these children are left to survive on the streets. Peggy, with her heart of gold, chooses to be
more proactive in fighting for the lives of these children. When I heard about her, I instantly wanted to
find a way to minister to this selfless woman. I went to her home and was greeted with the warmest smile and genuine
hug. As I sat and allowed the kids to
play with my hair, I began questioning how we could be the biggest help to
her. When I told her I had a team of 18
who were willing and ready to come and do whatever they could for her, I think
she began to tear up a little. She said
she always wanted a garden but was just physically unable to start one. I
promised to come back with the team in a few days and she would then have a
garden!

When we arrived with the team, I think we were all concerned
if this was actually going to work. The
field she had was covered in trash and the soil was extremely hard. I was so proud of the team to see them dig in
(literally) and not waste any time. While
most of us were attempting to "make a garden" a few started taking profiles of
the kids so sponsorship could eventually come for their school fees and other
expenses. After about an hour of much
work but not much physical progress, the sky rumbled and the rain came down! We
tried working in the rain for a while (everyone was so determined to finish
this for her) but eventually I made everyone stop because of the
lightning. Swaziland is now considered
the lightning capital of the world. It use to be Tampa but now Tampa is a close
second. And we had met many in the
hospital that had been struck by lightning so I wasn't willing to risk anyone
getting hurt. We jumped in our van, because
there was not enough room her house, and tried to wait it out. We eventually decided to come back another
day because the rain was showing o sign of letting up. 

A few days later, some of us were able to go back. Again we
were greeted with big hugs and children jumping into our arms before we could
even get out of the car. It was a HOT
day but with no rain in sight, we jumped right to work. A few hours later, she had a beautiful garden
of cabbage, lettuce, green peppers, beets, carrots, and cauliflower. For any of you who know me really well, you
know I have two brown thumbs and cannot grow anything (I inherited that from my
Grandma!) but maybe with prayer this garden will flourish and provide food for
these beautiful children. Make Peggy was
delighted and so appreciative you would have thought I just handed her one million
dollars. It warmed my heart that we
could bless this woman. I didn't think
that I would come to Swaziland, Africa and make a garden for but God is so
great the way He orchestrates these things. He knew this woman needed a garden to help feed her many children and He
placed us here to do the labor for her. The Bible uses many analogies about planting seeds and harvesting. We did not just plant vegetables; we planted
Christ's love and that is most important thing anyone could ever plant! Praise
God for giving us the strength to use our hands for His glory! I'm going to post some pictures on here so
you get see the garden from beginning to end. They don't show how beautiful it actually looked when we were finished
but I think it was the greatest garden I have ever seen!