Being here in
Swaziland has been great. We have been having lots of training classes learning about how to cook our food, how to stay as safe as possible and lots of other very important information. Every evening we have a worship service and a speaker. Most of this time is spent in prayer and it is wonderful.
The other night while we were in prayer, we were all praying about what we are going to be doing over this next year. As I was speaking to the Lord, I felt like he was laying on my heart the phrase “I have not forgotten my children.” I was feeling like that was going to be what he wanted me to show to all the people we are going to be ministering to.
Well, the next morning when I woke up I started looking for scripture related to this phrase and 1 John chapter 3 was one that spoke of God’s love. Later in the day my team and I went into town to use the internet and go to the market. After searching for a bit we found the cultural market and began to look around. We walked through the vendors selling fabric, then the food section and finally the crafts. Once everyone had made their purchases, one of the girls said that she wanted to go back to the fabric section.
I happened to stop at the first vendor where two ladies were standing. The first lady was younger and said how she would love to travel to the “land of milk and honey.” The other lady was a little older and started asking me questions about why we were in Swazi. I told her that we were missionaries trying to tell people about the Lord and also helping serve people with physical needs they may have. After I said this she asked me “Well then what can you do for someone like me. I am very poor, my husband is dead and I need help. I am suffering.” I really did not know what to say.
The first thing that popped into my head was to tell her that I would pray for her. She said that she would like that, and I asked if she believed in God. This lady then told me that she did, but it is very hard to even pray to God because she feels as though the Lord has forgotten her. She suffers so and feels as though God is not helping her. The words she spoke floored me because that was exactly what the Lord had spoken to me.
Immediately I told her that God has not forgotten her. He sees her need. He knows her tears, and He weeps when she weeps. God’s heart breaks for her, and I suggested she read 1 John chapter3. After that my leader and I prayed for her and her family, and when we were done, her eyes were filled with tears and she could not speak. It broke my heart. I know that God loves this woman and cares for her. I just pray that she knows that without a doubt. God is there even in our suffering, and although we can not always know what he is doing, He is working it all out for his good.
This is the message I hope to share with the people of the world. God has not forgotten his children. He loves them. We are His heart. I pray that the Lord will show me how to share this with others and to show them that He cares. “Are not 5 sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed the very hairs on your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more that many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7). Please pray for our nations. They need to know they are loved and not forgotten.
