This blog is a bit of a flashback- this was written by my teammate Hayley right after our first month on the field in Swaziland. These are 5 lessons I think mostly everyone on the squad would say they could relate to. This will be my last Swaziland blog as I have been in Nepal for about a week now. Of course, it is always good to reflect and debrief the things that we have experienced and the ways that God has worked.
5 Lessons:
- I do not need electricity or WiFi to survive. Contrary to popular belief, it is still possible to survive without those two fundamental parts to the first world population. Here in Nsoko, Swaziland our base is under construction so we do not have electricity or wifi. This meant we all very quickly learned how to make our phone batteries last a few days rather than hours. And as for WiFi, there is only one spot that has WiFi that we know of near our base which is a beautiful restaurant called Nisela. But even there the WiFi is very slow and even slower when the whole squad of 45 people decide to go and call their families back home.
- Finding quiet in the chaos. I am an introvert that extroverts pretty well but there is a point when I need to just sit alone in some quiet and recharge. Well, living in a community of 50 people, where there are 20 girls also living in my room, and my home is a construction site no less, that is pretty much impossible to find. So I was afraid I would go crazy and become so depleted with no way of filling up because I don’t have my own space. However, God has taught a lot about how I actually recharge. I love a good conversation with someone, getting to know something about someone that sets them apart. And I have learned that digging into God’s word, figuring out connections from the Old Testament to the New, and God’s unchanging character fills me up to where I am overflowing.
- God is a creator. My favorite thing to do when I feel like I just need to be alone and find some quiet (usually after ministry) is to grab a chair, my book, and bring it outside to feel the breeze, hear the birds, and watch the sunset behind the compound as I read my book.
- How to be happy with nothing. The kids at my ministry are teaching me that. Some show up with dirty clothes, clothes with patched up holes, usually clothes that have clearly been discarded by previous owners. Coming from America where every kid that I knew had an abundance of clean clothes, underware, diapers, they would be rolling up to the playground with their mom, and she’d have the stroller, diaper bag, lunch, snacks, sunscreen, extra change of clothes Incase of an accident, water bottle, juice boxes, sunglasses, hat. You name it, your mom had it for you. But these kids come walking by themselves, some as little as 3 years old. They come walking down the dirt road from maybe a mile or two away, no shoes, and stained clothes that clearly were not theirs first, and carrying their dish to get the rice and beans that is offered everyday at lunch time. First you cannot help but notice their appearance, but then you can’t help but see the biggest, most joy filled smile and sparkling brown eyes you have ever seen coming from these children. Your heart cannot help but reach out to them and your arms follow by picking them up in a hug just to see their smile turn into a laugh of joy and happiness that you have come to play with them today.
- If I were to sum up what I have learned this first month on the filed in one word it would be, less. I can survive and even thrive with less things than the American dream tells me I can, and what I tell myself I can. As long as I replace that less with more God I will always be filled and provided for.
