Nsoko, eSwatini is God’s handiwork. Wide rolling plains and fields horizoned by towering mountains. Every child’s feet covered in brown dirt- mine included. The widest sky I’ve ever seen and a sun that turns pink every day around 5 o’clock, transforming our world into a magical golden atmosphere. There’s almost always a breeze, and it’s the sweetest breeze I’ve felt, blowing through my hair and kissing my skin. The Lord wakes me up early every morning and beckons me to go be with Him. This place is peace and rest for my soul.
I’ll tell you a bit of what my life looks like here:
There aren’t many distractions. No wifi, no rushing around. To describe it in short, it’s pretty “chill” here. And I love it. I’ve had a lot of time to just be still. It’s amazing how filled up I am each day, more than I ever was when social media and staying busy took up so much of my time.
Our staple foods at the squad house are boiled eggs, bread, and peanut butter and jelly- things that I’m pretty sure I’ll never want to eat again after we leave. We are so blessed to have bunk beds, running (cold) water (most of the time), and western toilets! The building we’re living in is still being constructed, so there are men here finishing the building every weekday. We hand wash our clothes and hang them to dry, and we are patiently waiting for electricity (which may or may not come while we’re here; high hopes though.)
Tuesday through Friday are ministry days and my team and I go to a Care Point called Joyela. Most days there are over 50 children who come, some who walk miles to get there. Care Points are a safe place for children all throughout the community to come and be with friends, learn, receive a meal, and be cared for by a mother/father-like figure. There are also water spouts at every Care Point for anybody to use, which is a huge blessing to the community with the vast shortage of water here. It’s a really beautiful ministry.
Another thing I’m working on here is bringing to life the vision of a prayer garden at our base. Me and 4 other girls got to come up with a design and have already started clearing out a path and finalizing ideas. I’m so excited to see this little safe haven move from a dream to reality while I’m here, and for it to be a place where future World Racers would find rest for years to come. Another highlight of my time so far was getting to lead worship at a church here in eSwatini! It’s about 30 minutes from me, it’s english speaking, and very diverse. A local missionary here pastors the church; it was a beautiful and simple time of worship.
During my first week here I decided to pursue reading the entire Bible, beginning to end. I may not be done by the time the Race ends, but that’s okay; I’ll keep pursuing it after. I’m almost done with Genesis. I’ve never read the Bible like this before, and the Lord is showing me awesome new things about scripture.
To my friends and family expecting weekly updates: wifi here is extremely difficult to find and get! I am still writing updates weekly, but blogs may be posted later than expected. I’m also working on some picture and video blogs, but the wifi here isn’t strong enough to upload those so it will probably be a few weeks. So sorry- I’m quite literally in the bush of Africa! Just know that I’m alive and thriving.
This adventure with the Lord has been so sweet already.
Much love,
Abigail
