I wanted to give you a look into our days in Swazi!
Everyday we all wake up at different times and cook our own breakfast. I tried to become a morning person the past three months, but I’m still working on that. Ministry didn’t start until 11 so we had the mornings to have quiet time, do laundry, or really anything.
Everyday I pack my pb&j sandwich and an apple and put on a skirt. Women in Swaziland have a very different way of dressing than we do in the states. Wearing skirts down to our ankles was something we all had to get used to. At 11 we all hop in the van and head to ministry. It’s a pretty bumpy ride with dust coming in everywhere. We drop the other teams off and as we pull up to our carepoint we already see the kids running to the van. It’s always the same six or seven kids waiting for us to arrive. Most of them can’t talk English but we’ve found our own ways to communicate.
In the morning, the few kids we have are too young to go to school so we hang out with them on the play ground, teach them tic tac toe in the dirt, and just hold them and spend time with them.
In Swaziland the leader who runs a care point is called a Shepherd. And wow, ours was incredible. He is so on fire for the lord and taught us so much. When we don’t have kids we spend time with him just laughing and talking and getting to know more of his heart. Everyday our shepherd takes us on a house visit or two. We visit the families in the community and usually bring a guitar to sing with them. These are some of my favorite memories here. We sing, dance, laugh a lot, pray together, and just sit in fellowship with each other. It’s such a fun time.
After house visits we come back and the kids from school start showing up. As they come we serve them a plate with two scoops of rice and one scoop of beans. For a lot of them, this is their only meal of the day. It’s a hard part of the day knowing that but it’s also a really joyful part being able to serve them. After we serve food, we just hang out with the kids. Sometimes we help them with math homework, play games, and most of the time dance with them.
Our days were pretty routine but we created some really great relationships in our community with the kids, our shepherd, and the families. Our three months in Swazi were so, so good to us, but went by wayyy to fast. But the Lord showed up in big ways. But wow these kids. They’re something really special. It truly was the best place to end.
I come home SO soon…like three days! A blog about how I feel about it and some things I learned is coming next!
