It’s crazy to me that the amount of days that have passed since I was living in Swaziland is nearly the same as the amount of days left until I return home.
I’ve been reflecting a lot the past few weeks about my time in Swaziland, and as I look back in remembrance, I have to admit that 30-day-stretch-that-seemed-endless in the wild, untouched bush of Africa, was in reality one of my favorite months of the Race so far. God did a lot of healing in my tired, troubled, barely-hanging-on heart that month, and I learned a lot about what it looks like to blindly trust the Lord in the face of having absolutely nowhere else to turn.
Swazi, you were tough, but not impossible. You were hot, but you still brought refreshment to my exhausted body. You were full of laughter, and tears, grace and forgiveness, redemption, and wonder. Thanks for the memories. Here are 50 things about living in Swaziland that made my heart feel truly alive.
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1.) The unforgettable, all-consuming, all-penetrating red Swazi dust.
2.) The moment my new team, and two other all-girls’ teams, stepped off the van into our small community of Nsoko, and realized that we would be living in the bush for the next 4 weeks.
3.) The breathtaking wall of mountains that lay directly in front of our door.
4.) The playground we lived next to, with painted tractor tires all around it, and murals of hundreds of tiny handprints covering the walls.
5.) The veritable sea of flying insects we experienced, not without some trauma, on our first night in the team house. They came from every direction, some crawling, some hopping, some flying, some scuttling, some creeping, some the size of a small rodent. Thus is life in the wilderness of Africa. Eventually, they became routine, just like everything else on the Race does. Adaptability is a gift, friends.
6.) The inescapable rush of just knowing, deep down, somehow, that this was going to be restorative month with the Lord. Thank goodness it was, my soul needed it desperately.
7.) The first night I walked outside to look at the night sky and all but collapsed under the dizzying weight of what it’s like to witness the starry heavens over rural Africa. This changed my life as I knew it.
8.) The sweltering heat of autumn in the southern part of Africa. Now that I’m freezing my behind off in Chile, I can’t tell you how much I miss those sweaty days in the sun.
9.) Being elected onto the grocery shopping and meal-planning team for 20 girls. This taught me much and I now have the unique skill set to shop, plan, and prepare food for 20 humans on under $5 USD per day per person. So, there’s that.
10.) The precious memory of the first time I watched a sunset in Swaziland. Our team house was located next to a big field that looked out at the distant mountains, behind which the sun set ferociously every single night. It soon became routine to sit out on a log, cup of rooibos tea in hand, with Steph or Ali, every night to watch those life-changing sunsets. The entire sky was ablaze with violent red light and it was captivating to say the least.
11.) The constant shouts and screams from the care point kids at the play ground next door. Another thing the Race teaches you is how to find peace in the midst of consistent chaos and noise.
12.) Sweet Hendrika, my amazing teammate, let me use her hammock every single night to sleep in. So for the entire month, I slept like a baby, softly swayed to sleep outside in the cool night air. This romanced my heart like nothing else.
13.) Our special new alarm: waking at 6am to the sounds of rocks being thrown on our tin roof by the care point kids. No time like the present to go spend QT with the Lord, eh? Especially when your spirit is grumbling against those kids for waking you up 😉
14.) The night all three of our teams had a worship night under the stars with our host family at the playground. I sat on the top of the slide, stared up at the sky and I heard God’s voice, Do you feel my love through the stars? I brought you to them so you could know the depth of my love for you.
15.) Several nights throughout the month, we would spend hours worshipping outside and rain-dancing, lifting shouts of praise and petition up to the Lord: “Please, God, send the rain this country so desperately needs!” Swazi was in the middle of a multi-year draught, one that had caused much death and economic trouble for the country. We knew God had a heart for this nation, and we ceaselessly prayed for rain….
16.) ….Then one night, God sent the rain we had been praying for. I fell asleep in the hammock to the sound and smell of heavy rain pounding on the tin roof above my head and it was the most soothing lullaby I’ve ever heard. God’s fulfilled promises are the most beautiful lullabies.
17.) Spending each night in the hammocks, sharing stories and testimonies with my new team, for the first week.
18.) So. Many. Cups. Of. Tea.
19.) Picking up the guitar and rediscovering my love for playing music. I wrote 2 new songs for the first time in years. Change is happening in this tired soul.
20.) One afternoon, my team went to a far-away care point to help with profiling new kids. Hendrika and I were on “open lap duty,” and two little ones, not much older than 18-24 months crawled onto our laps. They soon fell asleep. It was the hottest day of our time in Swaziland, and it didn’t take long for these poor babes to begin pouring sweat during their naps. Their bodies radiated the most intense heat I’ve ever experienced, and soon, unavoidably, our sweat was heavily mingling with theirs. Still, they slept on. We took water from our flasks and rubbed it all over their backs and heads to try to keep them cool. They slept for hours, and it was one of those moments that is incredibly tender but also intensely amusing and we kept laughing and crying and laughing, close to hysteria with love and sorrow for these precious little ones.
21.) When you’re trying to ease a stubbornly sleepy child to her nap time in your arms to keep her from falling asleep standing up, or in the dirt, and your heart starts spitting out the words to Blackbird by the Beatles, and it works. You don’t know where it came from, but you’re thankful it did.
22.) Playing soccer with the little boys as they laughed giddily at my floor-length skirt. #missionarylifeinAfrica. I’m sure I looked absolutely ridiculous, but hey, I still scored a few goals on them. 😉
23.) Being touched by so many dirty hands throughout each day, for hours on end, and somehow finding peace in the midst of it. (That somehow, by the way, is strictly the Lord. There’s no other explanation.)
24.) The gift of being the loving arms so many of them have never had, but so desperately desire.
25.) Playing imitation games like Simon Says and Do Like I Do for hours on end.
26.) Watching my new team step up, go hard, and LOVE these kids with sacrificial abandon was so beautiful. I love these women deeply.
27.) This one time.. we hiked that mountain in our Swazi backyard.. but once we got to the top, found out we were suddenly back in South Africa. #borderprobs
28.) The subtle incredulity of drinking well-water in the bush of Africa, knowing with sheer joy and wonder that the entire community around this well has clean water. This is such a rare gift.
29.) Reading SO many books that month. I think I read 5.
30.) The piercing realization of finding out that I was, without a doubt, going to miss my best friend’s wedding. I spent the moment of that realization staring at a zebra, oddly enough. I was at the only cafe with wifi in the area, and the wifi only lasted for 15 minutes, and half the time never worked anyway. This cafe was at a game reserve, and they had a zebra enclosure on their property. I had left the table to “get some air,” suddenly, and found myself pounding the sidewalk pell-mell to the zebra gate. Hands clutching the rock wall, I stared at the red ground, eyes filling to the brim with hot, heavy tears. God. I trust you. If I don’t trust you now, I’ll be beyond the point of ever coming back to you. I trust you. I don’t understand. But you are good. Oh, you are good. Cushion my heart, God. I trust you….. Fun fact, that same zebra later bit me. Turd.
31.) The inescapable desert wind, and how it immediately caked your entire body in red dirt.
32.) Trying to scrub all the red dirt out of every nook and cranny of your body later, with the help of just a bucket shower. Harder than you’d expect, trust me.
33.) Team house Fitness Marshall mornings. If you’ve never heard of Fitness Marshall, I’m URGING you: please stop reading this and go directly to youtube and look it up. I promise. You won’t be sorry. Especially when you picture 20 some girls trying to do it in perfect sync at a time in one room. You can thank me for this later.
34.) The night I stayed awake all night with Seeks and Jesse to pray about our international travel the next day. Seeks and I struggle heavily with flight anxiety, and so we thought what better way to prepare for 30 hours of flight time than in prayer every hour on the hour. This helped immensely.
35.) Preaching a Good Friday service to Froila. She was a beautiful elderly woman who lived about a 10 minutes’ walk from our care point. She had difficulty walking, and so she hadn’t left her home in a very long time. The one thing she missed more than all else, was to worship with the body of Christ at church on Sunday mornings. So, on Good Friday, we brought church to her. Guitars, bibles, “sunday’s best” in tow, all of us hiked over to her house and spent the afternoon putting on a church service for her. I will cherish this memory for my entire life, being able to preach the sermon was such an incredible honour.
36.) For the entire 24 hour period before Easter morning, our teams spent the time in a 24 hour worship stint. My slot was at 3AM on Easter Sunday, and I’ll never forget the beauty of sitting in the dark common room, using my phone as lamp-light, reading the Psalms and crying in awe and wonder at the sacrificial love of my Father’s heart. He is risen, indeed.
37.) Easter Sunday, we were invited to our host’s home for brunch, worship and fellowship. They live on a beautiful property and we had such a fun time reuniting with fellow ex-pats and celebrating the global community of Christ on that day.
38.) The night Claudia stole Ali and I outside and offered the position of squad content leaders to both of us. Still honored by this, and I have loved the position immensely! Thanks, Claudia. <3
39.) Chasing chickens. #lifeinAfrica
40.) On one of the nights soon before God sent the rain, He sent a preliminary country-wide lightning storm. We stood on the play structure and watched the entire night sky light up at different intervals all around us. There were at least 7 simultaneous lightning storms happening around us in all different directions. It was CRAZY beautiful and breathtaking and unlike anything I have ever seen.
41.) Hitching rides to the store in the back of strange pick-up trucks, because that’s just what you do in Africa.
42.) Making the scintillating discovery of chocolate chip flavoured yogurt. Big fan. 10/10 would recommend.
43.)The time Seeks’ and I bonded over our food-industry pasts and found a bottle of bleach tucked in the back corner of the closet. We poured that stuff over EVERYTHING, and instituted a faithful, trusty, “bleach bucket” diluted only, of course, with cold water, because hot water dissolves the bleach. #Onceaserveralwaysaserver.
44.) Running 6am miles along a high-way in the Swazi bush and thinking, “What… is… my… life…”
45.) Sunday morning worship in Africa. It’s as mind-blowing as it sounds.
46.) The immense gift of not having any reliable wifi for three hours in every direction. Off the grid is best, guys. I promise.
47.) Running through a sprinkler, fully clothed, one afternoon with Ali and Taylor after we had spent several hours painting someone’s garage, inhaling straight toxic, lead-based paint fumes for several hours. Water never felt so good.
48.) The simple joy of an ice cream bar on a hot, sweaty, dusty day.
49.) Fitting 20 girls into the back of one pick-up truck.
50.) The sporadic, endless team house dance parties that would happen at any time, all hours of the day and night. Loved living life with ALL of those women. <3
Thanks for reading!
