Swaziland–
-Children’s ministry everyday at care points: Care points are places where kids go after school hours and learn Bible stories and are fed a meal. Sometimes it is the only meal they receive each day. They are able to play with one another and learn more about Jesus. They have someone who is in charge of them who teaches and cares for them; this person is called a Shepherd.
My Shepherds name was Precious. My team and I helped her teach lessons to the kids, play games with them, and helped her with anything that needed she needed. We loved coming alongside her and empowering her in the gifts and talents that God has given her to lead children closer to Christ.
One of my favorite things was sitting in on their singing practices. They would get a group of children from ages 12-20 and they would sing beautiful songs of praise. At the end of the month they would have a singing competition with all the different care points from every village.
-Cooking for the squad
JR FlOSS would help cook dinners for 50 people everyday. Some cooking days would start at noon and end at 6pm! We would have some long days of chopping and peeling and slicing. There were 2 local women who helped us cook meals. Their names were Faith and Dole. They taught us a lot about cooking and whipped us into shape BIG TIME.
-Administration work in AIM base
We helped the AIM staff in Swaziland with practical things and were able to grow relationships with them.
-Everday life
We hungout with people and played volleyball and spent time with one another. It was sweet seeing those people day in and out and building those sweet relationships.
Nepal–
Everyday was so different in Nepal. Definitely something that was different for all of us going into it. The pace was a lot faster and so was the city we lived in for the majority of the time. My team stayed in Kathmandu for the first week and a half, we then ventured to Chitwan (slower pace) and lastly to the Himalyan mountains. All of these places ministry looked different, so here is the breakdown…
Kathmandu-
-Intercession at temples; we visited many buddhist temples and spent a few hours there interceding in prayer
-Elderly Women’s home: here we spent time with the elderly women who no longer had a home or people to watch over them. We sang songs with them and had encouraging conversation
-Womens safe house: we were able to sit in on a class where the teacher was teaching English, handicrafts, and different skills to these women who had been brought out of sex slavery. We shared testimonies with them and encouraged them. (One of my favorite days of ministry)
-Rehabilitation center: we got to visit this Christian rehab center and sing worship songs with a lady who had just gotten there the day before. We spoke truth over her, and prayed with her.
-Children’s Orphanage: we played soccer and shared stories with the children at the orphanage and were able to love on them
-Leprosy Colony: we hiked to the leprosy colony and spent time with the people there and shared the gospel with them. (SO AMAZING)
(Side note: our transportation was mostly public and we would be squished onto buses with way too many people on them. We also walked a ton through the busy streets of Kathmandu)
Chitwan-
Here in Chitwan it was much slower paced than Kathmandu which was a wonderful breath of fresh air. It was only my team and another team that were together here. We stayed in a church for the week and were able to build such an amazing community there.
-House visits: we went from door to door and shared testimonies, sermons, and songs of praise with the locals there. It was so beautiful watching them worship and praise the Lord because they weren’t allowed to do so outside of their home in public.
-Assisting with church preparation for Christmas
Himalayan Mountains-
-Trekking: we trekked for 3 days (1 and a half of the days spent going straight up the mountain with our packs on our back) Once we reached a village we went door to door and shared the gospel. For some this was the first time they had ever heard of Jesus or the gospel at all. The Lord brought many to Him through that trek and opened so many eyes to Him; it was amazing to be His hands in feet in that way. And also just experiencing a lot of what Jesus probably experienced back during his ministry on earth, long days of walking and hiking solely for his name to be spread and for people to come to know Him.
Northeast India–
India has been such a treat. We are experiencing a whole different culture from what we expected coming into India. Here we are staying at Christian college in the dorms.
-Agape (Men Christian Rehab Center): here we visit the men who are recovering from different addictions and we share testimonies, sermons, and we sing praises with them. It has been so amazing growing relationships with them and encouraging them as they are recovering there. We play a lot of ping pong, Carrom, Volleyball, Soccer, and snakes and ladders. (My favorite ministry in India)
-Teaching in Classrooms: a lot of times we are thrown into a random classroom and the teacher gives us the floor to do whatever we want and teach whatever we want to. So this has grown me a lot in coming prepared with a lesson each time because you never know when you will be asked to teach. Also the younger kiddos are very rowdy (but what’s new)
-Church construction: there are lots of Christian churches being built around the town we are staying in. Once a week we will help with the manual labor of carrying bricks and bags of sand to help speed up the building process. (A great workout)
-Saturday VBS: each Saturday we go to a different church in the community and host a VBS for the local children. We sing songs, tell Bible stories, and play games with the children. There is also juice and biscuits we give to them. It is fun getting crazy with the kiddos each Saturday and filling them with truths about Jesus!
-Childrens retreat: (this was a week long retreat we did at the beginning of our stay here in India) We partnered alongside a church from Pennsylvania and hosted around 1,000 kids!! We sang songs and danced and empowered the young children!!!
-Hospital: we helped at the local Christian hospital by folding gauze, making envelopes, made cotton balls (making the nurses lives a little easier) and then we prayed over sick patients and visited them.
(Side note: our transport is shoving 14 people into a small tuk tuk or shoving 24 people into the back of a truck bed or we walk )
Each and every place we have been ministry has looked so different. I have enjoyed the ways the Lord has used my squad and I to bring Kingdom in each place we have traveled to. The Lord has grown us in so many ways! Sorry that this blog is so delayed, hope it allows you to see a little bit more of what our everyday life has looked like! We leave for Guatemala in 6 days!!! Continue to pray for our squad as we make the transition into a whole different part of the world and for comfort as we say goodbye to this beautiful season in India.
