My ministry in Swaziland was multi-faceted. I will be writing three short blogs on each aspect of ministry. The Pool Hall, The Care Point, and the Combes.
The Care Point
In Swaziland, many people live not only day to day, but meal to meal. This doesn’t exclude kids. I saw hundreds of children who have no idea where their next meal is coming from. Many parents get drunk off of a homemade alcohol made from local trees. Loving homes are extremely rare. Dreams and hope are not an aspect of daily life. Children don’t expect to ever leave the Nsoko area. They don’t expect anything.
A care point is a gated area where kids of all ages are guaranteed three things. Every day, kids can go to a care point and get a meal, safety, and attention. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my team would walk three miles down a dirt road to go to our care point. We would spend the last half mile silently praying for the day, and listening to worship music. On most days, before we could even make the final bend, kids would run down the road screaming and jumping into our arms.
Most of our days were spent playing with the kids, or holding the little ones as they slept. We saw many things. Some kids were very malnourished. Many of them were desperate for attention and would demand to be picked up, which we tried very hard to avoid as to not show favoritism amongst the kids. Some things I saw I cant even explain. I saw several children’s eyes roll into the back of their heads, and they would begin uncontrollably flailing on the ground like animals. I would attempt to approach them but before I could get to them they would completely go back to normal, and prance off as if nothing happened. The local pastors equate this with the effects of witchcraft. All I could do was pray for them from a distance.
On average, 50 kids would show up to this particular care point. With so many kids, it was difficult to create genuine relationships, but one child in particular touched my heart.
His name was Tando. He was often seen wearing a Spider-Man shirt and no shoes. I have never heard a more contagious laugh as this kid. If he laughed, I was too. Even writing this now, it makes me smile. Another thing you should know about Tando is that he is VERY ticklish. So of course I would sneak up on him and tickle him whenever I saw an oppertunity. However, he caught onto this by the end of the first week. Therefore, Tando quickly decided to stand at the other side of the care point and taunt me from afar. He would laugh and dance, and I would begin to walk his direction, and he would run before I even had a chance to catch him. This became our game for the month. It got to the point that he would run away laughing when I looked in his general direction. This was fun, but I did miss hanging out with my new friend like I did the first week.
On the last day, I showed up, and there was Tando in his Spider-Man shirt. Taunting me from afar once again. And older kid, who had been watching us over the course of the month decided he would help me. He walked up behind Tando and chased him back in my general direction. With the help of the older kid, I was finally able to catch Tando. I tickled him and he laughed until he couldn’t laugh anymore. Tando had been caught. I had won the game, and thus his affection. Tando held onto my hand the rest of the day. From that point on we were inseparable. We sat on the floor and I let him put stickers all over me. I couldn’t save these kids from poverty, or hunger, or their home situations. But for one day, I made Tando feel loved and important. He gave me that same gift.
