Last month, I lived at El Shadai — an orphanage on top of a mountain in Swaziland — with my entire squad. Once a week two teams went on house visits to spend time with locals and bless them with food and a couple supplies — usually a bag of rice, sugar, beans, soup mix, oil, candles and matches.
On one sunny Friday, Team Wildfire took a walk on a dirt path, down a mountain, through tall grass, over a creek and under trees. We followed Manja, a twenty-four-year-old husband and father who works at El Shadai. He takes the same forty-minute trek every morning and every afternoon.
His job consists of many different duties including cleaning up the pig pen, doing construction on the roads leading up the mountain, building fences around the property and much more. Whichever he is doing, he does with a smile across his face and without complaints.
When we arrived at his home, we were greeted by his mother, his wife, his five-month-old son, his sister and his two-year-old niece. His mother unrolled three thatch mats for us to sit on and we fellowshipped. She didn’t speak English so Manja translated the conversation.
We talked to them about his family and realized Manja has been the sole provider for his family since his father passed away. He has seven brothers and sisters; five younger than him who he also helps care for. I held his baby boy and rocked him in my arms as I listened to Manja speak.
“We don’t struggle for much,” he said. “But some nights, we go to bed without food on our stomachs because there isn’t enough for everyone.” His son began crying and I handed him back to Manja. A few of the tears building up in my eyes escaped and ran in a stream down my cheeks. I looked down to hide my face from him but knew I needed to look back into his eyes. I wiped the tears and met his eyes with mine.
What can I do? I asked God.
“Bless him,” He replied. I knew He meant financially.
“How much do I give?” He was quiet. I rested in the knowledge God would make the amount clear to me.
We got up and followed Manja a little ways down a muddy hill to see the home he is building for himself, his wife and son. It was the size of a small bedroom, had a floor of dirt, walls lined with tree branches and stones and packed with mud. We prayed over the home and asked God to consume it with His Holy Spirit.
When we finished praying, one of the guys on my team asked Manja what the two goats by his home were for. He told us they were trying to sell them to make some extra money to provide for the family.
God spoke to me. “Buy the goats,” He said.
“How much are you selling them for?” I asked Manja.
“The small one is 500 rand and the big one is 800.” I began praying for God to give me peace if it was really what He wanted me to do.
Manja walked us halfway back up the mountain towards El Shadai.
“What’s your biggest dream?” I asked him.
“My biggest dream,” he began, “is to be a good husband and a good father and to finish building my home for my family.” Kelsey and I prayed over him one last time, said our goodbyes and watched as he headed back down.
I walked at the back of my team the rest of the way up. I began processing all we had experienced and wasn’t ready to talk about it. I was full of questions and resentment towards myself and the expectations of the lifestyles Americans “must have.”
We need to move out from our parents home, we need to have our own apartment or house close to our jobs, we need to have our own bedrooms, we need to have at least a queen size bed, we need more clothes and a new outfit for every occasion.
I was overwhelmed with the desire to rid of the mindset of always needing more even when I have more than enough. I took my time walking back up and spent some time talking with God. I have so many big dreams for my life. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the only dreams Manja has for his are the things Americans expect for ours.
I was able to send an email to my Pawpaw about Manja’s family through a friend on my squad who went into town the next day. I asked him to share Manja’s story and how God laid it on my heart to buy his goats with my church. Regardless if the email went through or if my church donated, I was going to give him what God had told me to, but I wanted to give my church back home an opportunity to support local families where I’m living.
To buy both goats I needed $108. I withdrew the money, wrote Manja a letter of encouragement and gave it to him the following week. The day after, my friend had received an email from my Pawpaw which said the church had bought the goats.
I am blown away by the way God works and provides in our lives and the people He gives us to bless and to be blessed by. I was overwhelmed with joy for all those who blessed the family who impacted me so deeply. God used me and my church to bless Manja and his family and God used them to bless me — revealing a huge alteration I needed to let God make.
What alteration is God trying to work in your life right now? Is it a love for money? A love for material possessions? A love for brand names and the most expensive of everything? Is it always wanting more even when you have all you need?
I encourage you to spend some time with our Father and ask Him to show you.
