My dear readers, month 3 of this 11 month adventure is upon us. I'm so glad I get to share it with you! 🙂
this month we are in a teeny tiny country that you may have heard of before now-Swaziland. (Never mind that the first time I heard the name of this country, I thought it was a theme park.) here's some trivia about Swazi (as we like to call it.)
Swazi is the last remaining monarchy in Africa, and one of the few remaining in the whole world.
Their king has 14 wives; his father had 70 wives and more than 1,000 grandchildren.
Swazi has the highest HIV percentage in the world; 48.9%
Electricity is "pay-as-you-go"-our group didn't realize this until the power went out on us. fortunately, there's a friendly system that will beep loudly and obnoxiously to let you know when you are close to running out. when the beeper went off between 2 and 4 in the morning a couple nights ago, we weren't sure what it was. but now we have seen the light (quite literally, Praise Jesus.)
Really, though, our group has been SO blessed as far as accomodations this month. Here's what our living situation looks like:
we have a whole house to ourselves, owned by AIM.
we each get our own bunk bed.
we have a TOASTER in the kitchen-and it works!!
we have a real toilet that flushes-AND toilet paper.
we have a bathtub. a freaking BATHTUB. with HOT water. I mean, come on. (with 13 people in one house, the hot water runs out if we aren't careful, but we're learning how to conserve.)
we live right up the street from a church, AND a cafe, AND a grocery store-literally a five to ten minute walk away.
these accomodations are downright ritzy as far as the World Race goes, which we are completely aware of. we feel very blessed.
here's a look into our ministry days:
the first day of ministry, we got to pack 3,000 bags of candy in preparation for carepoint Christmas parties.
let me break this down for you:
a Carepoint is a location where children in the community come to learn about Jesus. they get a meal, they sing songs, they have lessons, they have free play, they do games, and then they go home. there are two kinds of Carepoints; RURAL Carepoints, and CITY Carepoints.
they have Christmas parties in November because by the time December rolls around, it's too hot. (remember, the seasons are opposite from us.) the Christmas parties entail singing, dancing, playing games with the mulungus(that would be us), eating a huge midday meal, and getting a cabbage(yes, a cabbage) and a bag of candy to take home.
so, we spent a good chunk of our day with these candy bags, and finished them all in one day!
the rest of our ministry here so far has been split between two places- Hope House, and the rural carepoints.
Hope House is actually a cluster of small houses(by small, I mean akin to studio apartments). People will go there for various health reasons. some go to get well, and others go there to die well. Each person has a live-in caretaker. the facility also has a full-time nursing staff. whether they are there for hospice or recovery, they are well looked-after and well loved.
We've been going to Hope House to pray with people and build relationships with them. Swaziland is actually a very spiritual country-most people will tell you that they believe in Jesus and have no problems letting you pray for them.
some mornings, we'll come away from Hope House actually having been ministered TO-the faith that some of the residents display is so encouraging. one woman told my team that her husband left her, right before bursting into hysterical laughter. "oh dear…well, that's terrible. I'm sorry." I tried to empathize with her. she replied, still laughing, "God is my savior! I need no man!" another resident there, a man named Errol, is one of the most passionate believers I've ever met. He talks about the goodness of God, His faithfulness, His care, and His love.He has an incredible testimony. He's also paralyzed from the neck down(all except for his arms, which have recently gained mobility.)
The African people we've met are so full of faith. it reminds me of the verse, "God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs to the kingdom…" it is an incredible blessing to encounter them.
after we leave Hope House in the mornings, we'll come home for about and hour, and then we'll head to a rural carepoint for a Christmas party.
The thing about "rural" carepoints is, they really are rural. you drive to the middle of nowhere and then travel about ten miles north up a dirt road on a mountain and wonder how the heck these drivers know where they're going. but once they get there, you meet some beautiful kids.
City carepoints are different from rural Carepoints-they are more of a classroom setting. our two teams have been breaking off into groups of three to four people, and assisting in a sort of "teacher-aide" position. so far, I've only spent one day at a city Carepoint, but this is what a day there looks like:
the children arrive in the morning and have a lesson. (most of them have the entirety of Psalm 100 memorized, the pledge of allegiance to the Christian flag, the bible, AND the Swazi flag, as well as some other Psalms, and of course, their country's national anthem, all of which can be recited off the top of their heads.) they have a small break for snack and playtime(playtime=running around an empty field or pretending to be hairdressers, with the Americans as their very lucky clients). they reconvene for more school and go home at two, but most of them come back to play at the carepoint.
This is our last month in Africa, and as I see the time drawing to a close, I'm grieving it. this place, these people, they feel like home to me. I don't know what God has in store, but I'm fairly certain I'll be back. Southern Africa has stolen my heart a hundred times over.
So, what's next? well, thanks to God's provision via my VERY generous supporters (SHOUT OUT TO FIRST CHRISTIAN PRAISE CHAPEL!!!) I am going to ASIA!!! please be in prayer for me and my team as we head into month FOUR of this trip!
thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey. whether by prayers or financial support, this would not be possible without you. thank you for sharing the adventure with me.
-Anna
