5th – bus ride to where I am staying
God seemed to have made me more extroverted than I’ve ever been. Guess that came with me growing in trust of the Lord. Knowing that God can talk for me if I allow him to eases the pressure of speaking to others big time. Saying that, I feel like I need to close my eyes every time I feel like the Holy Spirit wants me to speak so I don’t mess up because of nerves. I never would imagine me volunteering to speak infront of about 50+ people like I did at training camp without everything already planned in my head before. Sometimes I feel like, where did that come from? The answer of course is God comunicating through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I feel like this isn’t just going to be a mission that I’m going on for Africa, but that God is performing a mission through this mission to bring me closer to him.
When I arrived in where we were staying the night before completing the trip to where I’ll be staying for 1 month in Swaziland, I felt so blessed and grateful to have such great hosts. They truly know God and go out of their way to help you. I love the group I’m in as well. We only have been together for days, but it seems like it is much longer than that.
6th –
We arrived where we are staying and got to play with kids and learn some words in their language by a nice man, whose name translates to “Blessing.” I love how the kids behaved. They symbolized how we should be with God. That like they trust us to help them get across the monkey bars, we should trust God that he has us and won’t let go. That if you want to do something but need help, he’ll always be there to help you so you won’t drown.
Later walking, I saw a cactus. It reminded me of what Christians are. They contain the living water inside of them, which, like the pricks, gives us protection from the evil around us.
7th –
We got to meet the Shapards, who will translate for us and help us know what to do. My carepoint is 5km away. My half of the team went there to check out the place. By check out, I mean play with the kids.
8th –
Me and some others walked 11 km to the Safari (a place with WiFi and food). Was a very nice walk. We needed to pay to use the WiFi if we didn’t get there early enough for the 15 minutes of free WiFi. Someone gave me their phone to text people though. I missed Sarah and my mom the most. I never had it that there wasn’t a way to talk to people, or at least tried. I’ve been messaging everyday even though I knew that no messages would ever go through.
9th –
Went to church and had a new experience. Culture here defiantly has some to do with how they do things here. Was the 1st time I saw what I believed to be an exorcism. They seemed like they were beating it out of them, yelling, “Jesus!” And bopping the person. We had a debreif and decided that as long as their core beliefs were in tack, the cup is clean on the inside. By the inside being clean, so is the outside.
10th
– while walking with some people, we passed some kids on the playground that asked for water. So I waterfalled mine into their mouths. They were so happy and thankful, I love it. How they acted is how we should be thankful for our living water, a gift from God.
– I missed the people back home so much today that I just wanted to hug them. God has put me here for a reason and will help me through. Being away from the people I love so much has given me new understanding of what it may be like to feel distant from God. You feel desperate to talk to him, yet you feel like you can’t for some reason. You know he’s there, yet you don’t know what he’s doing. All you do know is that he cares for you and loves you. You will hear from him in time. Just wait. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, love is patient. After all, if it’s love, it’s truely worth the wait. I love you, Lord. Thank you for giving people in my life that I love so much to miss them.
June 12th
– Did home visits today and we prayed for 2 women and got water for one. They were so grateful. Later that day, we saw a kid on the train tracks, just sitting by himself. We prayed for him, sang songs of praise, and talked to him. We definitely planted and watered seeds. Now for God to grow them in his spirit.
– During worship time, I realized how much like lamps we are. The oil is the living water. It’s what keeps us alive in the Holy Spirit. The fire is the Holy Spirit. And we all attracted to the flame, for it shows us things in the darkness. God, inside us as Christians, is what gives us this light to see our way through dark times as well as help others through hard times.
June 13th
– Painted today since was too windy for the cooks to be at the carepoint, meaning that the kids wouldn’t be there. Was a great experience of fellowship.
June 14th
– We taught kids about David and Goliath and played some games with them. Seeing my team work together was an amazing experience. Unity in Christ is such a powerful thing.
June 17th
– Had Church together instead of going out and I got to teach everyone on the mission trip Sunday School. I taught about what it means to be a child of God. That since we are made in his image, we can do what he does. Our words create, so speak life. We are children of God still and sometimes we forget to be childlike. We need to break the internal chains on our inner child and trust in God in joy, for without joyous love in God, our faith is pointless.
June 18th
– I went to the other carepoint today 1st while people who usually went there shopped for food. The kids were much younger, but their playful spirit were amazing. After lunch, I went to my original carepoint, for they were done shopping. I walked with my team leader, Andrew, and had an awesome conservative about life and God. When I got to my carepoint, there weren’t any kids. The others there just finished making learning tools for the kids to help them learn english (the language of business here).
June 19th
– Went on the home visits today. No one was home on 2 houses we went to. We eventually got to pray for 2 women, one who is getting married soon. To be honest, it started out as a sad day for me, missing home again. So while we walked to the carepoint, I walked ahead of everyone and prayed, talking to God about what/who I missed and asked him for strength because I had completely no motivation at all. He answered. Though I miss them still, I had more motivation to get me through the day. I feel like this mission trip is a great learning experience so I may take this knowledge back to the states.
June 20th
– Went to the carepoint and we taught about how God chooses you even though you don’t deserve it. We played games and went to the playground after. They wanted so much love and I wanted to give it, but I mentally was drained. Talking to someone in my group about my homesickness helped. I’m glad I’m here, I just wish that Sarah, my mom, my sister, and my dad were closer than they are.
June 21st
– Couldn’t go to the carepoint because there was no firewood there. So we started painting another room. There was a lot of silliness and singing and painting. I just love my group.
June 22nd
– We went on a hike on the mountain here. We were led by a runner and he ran a little while everyone else walked…. well everyone but me XD. I talked with him and enjoyed his company. Made me want to do a mountain ultramarathon and use it as a chance to tell people about God and just build relationships so I may be able to disciple the same people later. I love how God shows up in nature and everywhere we go. His creation sure does shout his name.
June 23rd
– Today I taught sunday school a little for 6-12 year olds. Someone came in that wasn’t supposed to. The kids remembered him, so we were like, okay. He just went too deep for the age group and later, the pastor’s wife said that he was trying to do that before and they didn’t want him to because they don’t know where he’s at with the Lord yet. My highlight of the teaching was when I got to teach through action. We were playing a matching game, but then they stranger started saying things and she didn’t understand the game anymore because he turned it into something they didn’t understand yet. I saw her sitting alone so I talked with her. Apparently she’s a grandmother… to kittens XD. They are such great kids. I hope God moves in each and everyone of their lives.
– Went to drop off a person that only was scheduled to be in Africa for a month. I speak for the whole team when I say that we will miss her dearly. After we dropped her off, the people that came had some guy time. We had donuts and went to a street vendor for some amazing chicken. Their “chicken wing” on the menu was the wing and the breast. Think that was the most meat I had in one sitting in a while XD. Later that day, we went to the Safari. I decided that I would pay for WiFi this time, but the page to log into the WiFi never loaded. I tried for an hour. Good thing I can use it next time we go. I was looking forward to talking to my family and girlfriend as well as posting about what’s happened so far in Swaziland. I love all of you back home ?
June 26th
– Tomorrow is the last day at the carepoint before going to South Africa. Kinda sad but I look at it as we taught and cared for them like a parent and now that we let them go, they can do better things than we could do here. Being a believer is like being radioactive. The more time spent with them, the more the other person gets radioactive too. They have more time here than we do to make a greater impact. One thing that happened today that has been on my mind since is that one of the girl children that I don’t normally play with got on my shoulders. The boys I played with usually started hitting her feet. I put her down and she cried. The boys tried to go on me but I wanted to comfort the girl, so I ended up basically throwing the boys to the ground. In some cases, using one hand to push them back and the other to comfort her and let her know that I’m there for her. I hope that the boys got the message that all we should do should be out of love.
I love you all and wish I can stay in contact more! Can’t wait to see what’s ahead in South Africa
