Hi friends, family, and supporters!
I am currently at debrief after my first month in Swaziland. I am staying in a cute little hostel in Nelspruit, South Africa. The whole squad is taking time to rest, reflect, and reset our minds for the next few months.
Next stop Lesotho!
But before I start off on a new adventure, I wanted to tell you what I can about my first month of World Race Gap Year.
We left Georgia by taking a bus to Washington DC where we then flew to Qatar. After a few hours layover in Qatar, where we got to walk around and explore life in the Middle East, we took another flight to Johannesburg South Africa. Finally, we crowded onto vans and drove 5-7 more hours to Nsoko, Swaziland.
The designated girl bedrooms filled up quickly, so my teammates and 6 other girls moved into the multipurpose room a few hundred feet away from the main building. It was spacious and quiet. The boys tented outside. We spent our free times in the evenings, playing games in the common room or having worship sessions.
Our ministry for the month consisted of visiting care points around the area and doing whatever the care point leader, or Shepherd, asked us to do. We were assigned to Mabantaneni 2 care point with Shepherd Mtobisi. The care point had recently put up a new playground for the kids, but it was not a safe environment yet. Glass and rocks were everywhere and there was no fence to protect them. My team cleared the ground under and around the playground as well as spending most of our time digging trenches around the playground so we could burry big tractor tires to make a sort of fence for the kids. Digging was hard. At some points, we were pick axing through solid rock. But on our second to last day, we completed the fence! All other ministry time was spent feeding, teaching, or playing with the children.
When we arrived in Swaziland, almost all of us felt something unsteady in the spirit. We were at war. Many squad-mates were experiencing nightmares, manifestations, or feelings from the evil one. All we knew to do was pray. We spend multiple nights in deep intercession for the people of Swaziland as well as for our squad. We could see and feel the Lord and His angels fighting on our behalf. One undeniable victory we witnessed was a thunderstorm. Swaziland had been in a drought for 2 years and one night after worship it rained. Not just a little rain, but sheets of rain falling from the sky accompanied by the most beautiful lighting you’ve ever seen. The weekend before we left Nsoko, the devil left. The guys on our squad did a prayer walk around the property, casting out the devil and Christ prevailed. I honestly have never felt more at peace than that night.
The next morning, I woke up an went outside to find 3 of the guys sleeping on our front step. I come to find out every guy on the squad slept at a different doorway to the girls’ rooms. Some slept; others stayed awake and prayed ALL NIGHT LONG! Just a little time to brag on the guys on my squad: They’re stinkin’ amazing!!!!!
On one of our off days we took a day trip to Manzini, a larger town in the area. We got to get some actual coffee and shop in an open market. I bought some cute jewelry and a painting. In the market, and honestly the whole trip, it was a common occurrence for men to walk up to you and ask you to marry them. It’s always an awkward experience, and for a while I thought it was rather funny. But it breaks my heart that they are willing to put themselves out there to leave everything they know to just get the chance to come to America. As they proposed to me and the other girls on my squad, I lift them up in prayers.
My team grew a lot too. Honestly, we didn’t get along so well for the majority of the month. We are all so different and since it was “all squad month” we sought out friends who were similar to us rather than pouring into our team. But growth is happening. Throughout the whole month, God kept showing me that I can fully trust Him and my team. I feel as if my team has tumbled down a hill, hitting many rocks and trees along the way. As one of my teammates put in during our team debrief, “we hit rock bottom so now the only direction we can go is up.” It seems harsh, but it is so true. I see us now, starting to climb the new mountain ahead of us hand in hand. It was a hard fall, but the new climb is going to be so beautiful. I am learning to trust and love my team as they are with me, and I can’t wait for the months to come!!!
Thank you so much for your love and support! Prayers are always appreciated!
PS: While writing this I’m sitting on a lawn chair at our hostel and a monkey just walked by, no big deal….
