Swaziland – Month III
Hello Friends and Family! I am in Swaziland and month three of the Race has begun! I can’t believe how fast time is flying and yet how slow each day seems. We arrived last Friday and are living at an AIM base in Nsoko. Swaziland was one of the countries that I was most excited about serving in prior to leaving the States. When I read the country’s bio and found out that it had the highest population of AIDs in the world per capita my heart wanted to be here to serve these people. I imaged this country to be very primitive and to stretch me outside of my comfort zones. And it has. Upon arrival I found mouse poop on my bed. Gross. I picked it up before I realized what it was. More gross. There are scorpions. And roaches. And mesquites… thank you, Jesus, for malaria meds. The water in our shower is cold most of the time and shuts off, without fail, every time I put shampoo in my hair. I’ve started turning off the water and counting to thirty out loud with the person in the next shower while praying to Jesus in my heart to turn the water back on at thirty. Sometimes He does. Sometimes I count again. Thankfully, thus far, it has always come back on.
This month’s ministry includes many different things. Most mornings we head out to the field just behind our home and work at clearing it so that in a few weeks several Swazi families will be able to plant crops that will feed them and give them the chance to earn money by selling some of the produce to the local grocery store. My body, after a week of hoeing, has finally adjusted and I can sit down again without turning into an eighty year old woman. After spending the morning in the field, we come in and get cleaned up and have lunch and then we either head to local care points to help feed children that otherwise might not eat, or we go on home visits to pray for and minister to local families. At the end of the day my team and the team that we are serving with gathers together to have dinner by candle light in order to conserve electricity. It is a quiet and simple life. Some days I love being here and some days I long to be at work with C and S, or at Starbucks, or at my parents’ house, or my own home with my roommate. I am learning how blessed I am to see and experience all that I am, and how blessed I am to have a home and family and friends to return to at the end of this journey.
I have limited internet access this month… basically 15 minutes a week (hopefully) so I will probably only be able to update once a week for this month and may not be able to respond to personal emails. Know that each of you is important to me though and that I will respond as soon as I am able. I also found out that for the month of December, because of where we will be, I will not be able to communicate with home at all. I will do my very best to stay in touch this month with blogs and then make contact again in January when I am in the Philippines. Please be praying for every member of the squad I am on and also our families. None of us realized that we would not be able communicate with home at all and since it will be the Christmas season, filled with so many traditions and family gatherings, I know that our families at home and our own hearts would love your prayers.
Love always,
Carrie
