Hi Everyone!
It has been awhile but with no internet there’s not much I can do.
Our flight from China went great! We had a layover in Qatar that was supposed to be 1 hour but it turned into an 18 hour layover due to a cancelled flight. The Qatar Airline (I highly recommend flying Qatar Airlines, their service is wonderful.) provided us a 5 star hotel and food voucher. It was great! We all were able to get really good naps and walk around Doha. Some had the chance to go to the Islamic Art Museum. Doha is a beautiful city! It’s one of those perfect vacation places that hardly anyone knows about. I loved the culture there and wish we could have stayed longer. I’m so thankful God gave us some extra time to rest because little did I know that Swaziland is a huge battlefield for spiritual warfare. (More on this in my next post)
We arrived at El Shaddai orphanage while it was dark so we pretty made dinner and went to bed. We soon realized that the rats liked to chew up our stuff and eat vitamins and bar soap. And of course if you happen to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night you might see a rat run between your legs on your way in.
El Shaddai has over 60 kids from the age of 2-19. I was able to read some of the kids history and my heart broke reading over and over about them being neglected, abandoned, raped and abused. These kids were brought here because no one loved them enough to care for them.
We got up the next morning to a beautiful view mountains and mountains. My favorite. We all met in the chapel and we were given our work assignment for the month and also our buddies. My buddies are Philani (14) and Fana (7). They both are such a joy to hang out with and tutor.
My job assignment was general labor. Some others were teaching at the primary school, some were teaching the few homeschooled kids, some were in office work and clinic. For general labor we cleaned out 20 pig pens almost every day. It was very gross and smelly. But we made it fun. After the first week I went shopping and found rubber boots. Best. Purchase. Yet. We also harvested a field of beans and hacked down weeds and plants in the pig pasture. It’s hard work, but it’s rewarding to see progress in our work.
Our day looked like this-
7am Breakfast- The 3 teams on the squad all take turns making meals. Which was awesome because we had a mix of American, Korean and British food! 8am-1pm- We work at our assignments. 1-3pm- Lunch and rest/team time. 3-5pm- Tutor and play with our buddies and the other kids. 5pm-Chapel, which we took turn leading. 6:30pm- Dinner and off for the evening. Sometimes we would build a bonfire and have worship.
Saturday and Sundays were our days off. Except that at church we shared 2 testimonies and one of us preaches every week. I was able to teach on Hebrews 12:1-2 (Yep, a Barakel summer verse. Used my tribe talks notes. 🙂 about running the race God marked for us while throwing off any sin that entangles us.
Since we are surrounded by mountains there are lots of hiking trails. Which made me really excited! 🙂 We went hiking several times with the kids and on our days off. It was so relaxing for me and the view is always worth the sweats getting to the summit. I was also able to sleep out under the stars a few times. Saw several shooting stars and even though I didn’t sleep very well on the rock it was worth it because every time I woke up I’d see all the stars.
During our last weekend at El Shaddai we got all the kids white t-shirts and did a color run with them. It was a blast!
I also had the opportunity to visit the “Baby House.” It’s where all the younger kids live. When they are 7 or 8 years old they come live at El Shaddai. The little ones are so precious and it was a joy to be able to love on them.
We are in South Africa now for a few days of rest and one on ones. We will also be going on a Safari on Saturday. I’m pretty excited for that. On Sunday we will be heading into Lesotho for month 6. This month will be another all squad month! I don’t know what we’re doing yet, but I will to let you all know asap. I do know that WR has never been to this ministry before.
One of my squad mates made a video of our month in Swaziland.-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6hj_zdxk7E&feature=share
In my next post I will share more on my personal struggle and growth.
