A few weeks ago my team got to serve at Lubombo Valley Farms, about two hours away from our base in Nsoko, for four days! We had no idea what to expect, other than lots of manual labor, beautiful scenery, and bonding time for us girls! While we were sad to miss a week with our Carepoint kiddos, we were also anticipating a refreshing change of routine. We packed our backpacks and loaded on the van to begin what we would soon realize to be such a blessed time of ministry!
Lubombo Valley Farm is run by missionaries whose goal is to work alongside the local Swazi people, employing them to maintain the farms and harvest the crops, which are then sold in the community. This ministry has allowed for the locals to be empowered, educated and employed- how COOL?! In all of this, the missionaries (Ryan, Anna, Jesse and Macaira) are encouraging the workers with the Gospel and being the hands and feet of Jesus by meeting practical needs in the area. Also, the farm is utilizing aquaponics, which really blew my mind! Rather than crops being planted in soil, they are planted in water, being supported by styrofoam, and the fish in the water are the fertilizer. Because of aquaponics, they are sure to have crops growing at all times; droughts are no longer a fear! This could change so much in the realm of world hunger… man, it gets me so excited! It was such a privilege to see all of this in action and to work with the employees to get even more work done, to harvest even more crops, and to know we weren’t taking away from their job but truly just helping them! Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful ministry.
Each day we would wake up bright and early and be assigned different tasks throughout the day. Our work day was from 7:30am-4pm, with an hour lunch break in the middle. By the end of the week, we had pruned, weeded, trellised, planted, harvested, bundled, tilled, cleaned, and fertilized all over that farm! It was really neat to actually see the fruits of our labor. And y’all, the labor was legit; it felt so good to be exhausted by the end of the day and have sore muscles in the morning! We loved laughing with the employees, getting to know Jesse and Macaira (Ryan and Anna were on sabbatical in the States!), and having time to bond as a team. It also made us gain extra appreciation for Carepoint ministry as we genuinely missed loving on our friends there!
God is so gracious to us for allowing us to serve in such beautiful ways here in Swaziland. Please keep Lubombo Valley Farm in your prayers! The Lord is using it in mighty ways. I pray that this post has encouraged you about the ways the Lord is working across the globe. Now- back to Nsoko for our last weeks here in the Swaz. Where did the time go?! *wipes tears* Let’s do this, Jesus!
