On Monday, P-Squad departed Nelspruit to head to our ministry sites in Swaziland. Our transportation came in the form of three buses and two trailers. Originally, the plan was to split up and take the teams to the three different ministry bases. But, as I’ve recently discovered, things in Africa rarely go according to schedule.
The drivers didn’t want to separate and so our three hour drive ended up being twelve hours instead. The bright spot in all this was that were able to accompany two of our teams to El-Shaddai in the mountains of Swaziland.
El-Shaddai is an orphanage perched high on a rocky hilltop. It is surrounded by mountains and valleys, with a winding river in the distance. Only in movies have I seen a sight as amazing as this. It’s beauty rivals the landscapes of New Zealand and the Lord of the Rings films. In pictures it looks like a backdrop…scenery too perfect to be real.
I love that the Lord has created such places in the world for us to stand back and just enjoy.
“And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good…” –Genesis 1:31a
I will be completely honest and say that I was pretty bummed that El-Shaddai isn’t our ministry site. But, I am thankful that I was able to be there, hang out with a few kids and enjoy the amazing view.
After dropping off the teams, the rest of us split up with two groups heading to Nsoko and our group headed towards Manzini.
Around 9pm we finally arrived at our host home in Moenini, which is located just outside Manzini, Swaziland. It is a nice place with 4 hostel-type bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a shower. I was so exhausted when we arrived, that I slept on the ground outside while our leaders worked out details with our contact.
Travel days are strange for me. In some ways, they are my favorite, because I have always enjoyed the excitement of going somewhere new. It’s also fun when you have the whole squad with you so that you can hang out with all of your friends.
In other ways, travel days can be really frustrating. The initial excitement wears off pretty quick when you realize you’ve been in a cramped bus for the last twelve hours. You’re tired, but there is no headrest and not really anywhere to stretch out your body. And you love your friends, but you’re ready to take out the next person who starts to sing Taylor Swift.
I think that travel days are great for exposing our current limits and exposing areas of the heart that need more work. I remind myself that the Lord has place me in the perfect place for growth.
Travel day is an opportunity to grow in patience when three hours unexpectedly becomes twelve. It’s an opportunity to be selfless when you are the only person on the bus with a few ounces of water left in your Nalgene. It’s an opportunity to love your neighbor when they want to discuss the meaning of life, and all you want to do is sleep.
Did I make the most of these opportunities? Sometimes, and sometimes not. But if I got it right everytime, there is no reason for me to be here. Hopefully I’m making progress in the right direction.
“…but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
-Philippians 2:3b-11
View from El Shaddai
Swazi landscape
Our hostel in Moenini, Swaziland
