This is a brief summary of a day in the life here in Nsoko, Swaziland. Keep in mind I am a sarcastic individual but none of what is written below is made up. this is pretty much how life has been going here everyday for all of us.
Chickens squawking, Goats baaing back and forth, the sound of the local children playing on the jungle gym by my tent.
I sit up and look at my watch, 6:56 AM. Half awake I slip back into the same light blue Rusty boardshorts and white Nekton T-shirt I’ve worn to ministry the last three days. I unzip my tent half standing half stumbling out of it onto the dusty orange clay that covers all of Swaziland. I’m up, next step coffee.
After slipping on my flip-flops caked in a shell of the Swazi clay I begin what should be a 20 second walk to coffee.
However It’s all squad month so being stopped by some early bird yahoo who finds it important to share with everyone that Pixars original Cars 2 is their favorite movie of all time is inevitable. After exchanging the universal its to early for this crap grunt with the other normal people I pass by I make it to the kitchen.
Jacobs freeze dried Columbian coffee, what the astronauts drink.
Time for corn flakes.
Bounce around books of the Bible for 45 minutes trying to decipher exactly what every verse means.
Second cup of coffee and standing around because theres not many ways to pass the time here.
Franticly find a buddy to briskly walk to the out houses at the far end of the property.
Walk not so briskly back for recovery purposes contemplating if two cups of astronaut coffee will be necessary tomorrow.
Sit in a hammock.
Look at watch, 10:38 AM. I wonder if my ride to the ministry care point will be here before 11AM today.
A Nissan Frontier pulls up minutes later.
We do our best to safely and comfortably fit 10 people in the bed and 5 in the cab.
Drive way to fast. Almost loose a teammate or two cutting a turn at 60 kilometers per hour.
Drop off the first team at their care point thanking God for the gift of some extra leg room. Continue the bumpy ride for another 10 or so minutes to my teams care point.
Grab the shovel and pick axe that made for a seat in the bed of the truck.
Continue to dig trenches around the jungle gym. The goal this month is to make the play grounds safer by fencing them in with old tractor tires.
Break apart rocks with the pick axe. The ground in Swaziland is very rocky and unforgiving.
Everyone has blisters.
Look at my watch 12:58 PM, the care points shepherd releases us for lunch and some time to play with the preschoolers before returning to the trenches.
Pound a single warm tuna fish sandwich.
Get frustrated peeling an orange.
Accidentally drop orange.
Piss!
Eat orange anyway.
Kick the football around with the joyful kids. I’m getting good at this soccer stuff.
Time to rip these blisters open.
Wait just kidding time to serve the children the rice and beans that have been cooking all morning. The kids come to the care points to learn about God and receive a free meal 5 days a week.
For some this is the only meal they receive each day.
Thats enough digging for today.
Call roll for the shepherd. Horribly butcher every Childs name excluding Jimmy, Gugu, and Baby.
Go back outside to kick the ball around.
Look at my watch 4:08 PM, shouldn’t our ride be here by now.
Ride pulls up minutes later. Repeat the game of Tetris we played this morning in the bed of the truck.
Enjoy another bumpy ride home after a hard days work.
Everyone is excited to talk about how God moved in there lives today.
Lounge around the property till dinner at 6:45-7:30.
Someone prays over the group.
Amen.
Everyone lines up and takes a fair portion of the potato, ground beef, cheese, tomato, and frito casserole. Its honestly so much better than it sounds.
Find a buddy to take the trash bags to the fire pit by the out house we talked about earlier.
It’s dark.
Have your selected buddy look out for local kids that want to pick through our trash while you try to light it with the three matches left in the box.
Stand there triumphantly as you watch the flaming trash destroy the Ozone layer.
Walk back to the common area to hangout for a bit before bed.
Brushing my teeth one of the dudes push the bathroom door open to pee.
Say goodnight to the 50 people hanging out in the living room sized common area.
Crawl back into my tent.
Remove the crusty sweaty outfit that will be worn a fifth time tomorrow.
Pray.
Sleep.
