I am in love with Swaziland. We are currently in Nsoko, Swaziland, and I am continually in awe that the Lord has given me the desires of my heart to love on children, pray for those who are struggling to have hope in the midst of desperation, and that I am in Africa for the second time in my life. Every morning I wake up feeling like I am living in a dream.
I wanted to share some stories with you in which the Lord has used people here to challenge me.
After ministry, a young beautiful African girl showed up to the care point in which we have lived at this month. She invited my friend to visit her home and she asked me to join her to visit her homestead. Walking through the bushes and past other homesteads, which consists of several huts for families to stay in, we managed to walk to her one room hut. The room had a mattress on the floor and piles of books next to it as she is an avid reader. She ushered us into her room to sit on her bed and brought out delicious peanuts for us to share with her. As we talked with her, we found out she was eighteen years old and has a precious one year old baby boy. She desires to become a nurse so that she can help all of those suffering in Swaziland (it has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the entire world). While sitting on the mattress in her one bedroom hut, she continued talking about how she desires to not only take care of the sick but she also wants to fight for those who are poor as it breaks her heart to see poverty. We were in her one bedroom hut while she was saying this! It was incredibly surreal. It convicted me of my heart as I am sometimes stingy with my finances. It reminded me of Proverbs 11:25, “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes other will himself be refreshed.” I can’t wait to see how the Lord prospers her and allows her to serve those throughout Swaziland as she grows older.
Running down the dirt road with mountains surrounding me and the grass, I saw an older woman up ahead. The woman who was in her mid sixties appeared to be struggling as she carried what must have been about 100 pounds of sticks above her head. Stopping to talk to her, I found out she hadn’t eaten in a while and was trying to take the sticks to a school a few minutes down the road so she could sell it to buy food for herself. Trying to help, I realized how heavy the sticks were; I gave up fairly quickly. I told her I’d get some men to help from our group and she was so excited. Running back to the house, I woke up the men to come with me to help this beautiful woman. On the way back I see my friend who was coming back from a run and asked her if she had seen the lady. My friend told me that she had just carried all of the sticks on her back to where the woman asked. She told me she prayed for strength the entire time to be able to carry them. Now, why hadn’t I thought of that?
It reminds me of the story of David and Goliath when David, a shepherd boy said he was going to defeat Goliath, a nine foot Phillistine so that the Israelites would be saved. David said in confidence “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this Phillistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the land of the Philistine,” as a response to Saul who called him just a boy and said he couldn’t defeat Goliath. After, without any armor he said to Goliath that he came against him in the name of the Lord and had defeated Goliath.
What giants are in your way that seem to be impossible? Anything is possible in the name of the Lord if He is calling you to do it.
Walking with the ministry translator to a local hut, we find a sweet older woman Flora sitting outside of her home using a rock to crack open nuts for her family to eat. She is a ‘go-go,’ or grandmother to many. Her seven children passed away and she takes care of her grandchildren as well as other orphans in the area. She has asthma, diabetes, shooting pain throughout her body, and she cannot walk very far. She knows the bible inside and out more than most people I have ever met and was continually praising the Lord the entire time we were able to talk to her. She made the statement wishing to have the heart of Job.
Job was a man who was blameless before the Lord and was very blessed with a large number of animals, servants, and family. The Lord allowed Satan to test Job’s faith by taking away his material possessions, family, and health to see if Job would still remain faithful and blameless. After Job’s first test of his servants being killed, his sheep being burned, camels being taken away, and his house collapsed killing his sons and daughters, Job responded in complete trust. He said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1:20.
This woman lost so much yet still was praising the Lord. She has taught me having the heart of Job, to praise and trust the Lord in incredible difficult circumstances.
Six years ago, I saw videos of African children at Campbell University. My heart would start beating fast and I knew the Lord gave me a desire to work with those children. I wanted to be a doctor for children in Africa. Or I wanted to teach so children in Africa could read the bible on their own when missionaries left. Or I wanted to start an orphanage in Africa. Two years later a little third grader told me that I should go to Africa and help the children there. One year later I had the opportunity to spend three months in South Africa working at an orphanage loving abandoned new born babies to one year olds. Four years later, I wake up every morning to the dirt roads, herds of cows blocking me while on a run through the African bush with umbrella trees, children with the most beautiful smiles I’ve ever seen running around the compound, and I get to hear the stories of so many Swazi people as we are able to pray for and encourage them. I feel as though I am living in a dream every moment of each day. The Lord is always faithful to plant desires in your heart that are to glorify Him and to fulfill those plans. Trust Him. It has been an interesting journey getting to this point. I have been impatient. I desire to be back one day. However, I know He will always fulfill the work that He has started and bring it to completion. He is faithful!
Thank you for reading my blog and supporting me on this journey. I have learned so much from the Lord that I cannot wait to use throughout my life and to share with everyone.
Prayer Requests Please!
- Please pray for Swaziland as a whole. The country suffers from extreme poverty, the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world, and a severe drought.
- Please pray for the strongholds of alcoholism, hopelessness, apathy, and man’s passivity to be broken.
- Please pray for me as I return to the States on July 31st to be able to adjust quickly to life back in America, to find a job, a place to live, and personal finances to get started.
