Swaziland was one of those countries that I knew nothing about and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much out of it. God definitely changed my views on it and it became my favorite country! Granted, I still have China and the Philippines to go to, but so far, Swaziland is my number one!
Swaziland was the month where we did Manistry-the guys had ministry in Mbabane and the girls had ministry in Manzini. For our ministry, we worked with El Shaddai Ministries, an orphanage/school on top of a mountain.
The best part for me about El Shaddai was the kids. I fell in love with them. They were all ages and many of them had been abandoned or had been through great amounts of pain. Every day I would run up to the building where they were having breakfast and see them off to school and then walk some of them back to the orphanage after school. Around 6 p.m. we would have a small devotion time where all of us guys would meet with the kids and tell a short Bible story, sing some songs and play a game. Afterwards, we would talk with them or play with them outside the building we were in.
El Shaddai was great because, despite having small tasks here and there, I tried to center the month around the children and spending as much time with them as possible and I feel like all of them became my brothers or sisters! After reading what I've just typed about this, I realize I cant adequately explain what the kids meant to me or affected me or how great they were. You're just going to have to know that I can't wait to see them again!
The worst part of this month was almost pathetic when it took place. If there was ever a possibility of me getting injured on the Race, I wanted it to be because of something adventurous I had done, or happen in the middle of me saving someone’s life.
Now don’t get too excited because that didn’t happen.
I stepped on a stair wrong and my ankle rolled. No climbing a waterfall and falling off of it to the sharp rocks below. No wrestling a lion and coming away with battle wounds and a lion claw in my hand. No fighting with drug-dealers. Just the wrong position of a step. Lame.
I ended up with a possible hairline fracture(we couldn’t actually tell because the x-ray wasn’t a great quality), a cast on and having to use crutches for 9 days until I became frustrated with my inability to do anything fun at which point I took the cast off and got rid of the crutches. All better!
I have an opportunity to return to Swaziland for long-term volunteer work after the Race is over, so I would appreciate prayer for direction in that. Thank you 🙂
