Hey friends!
First things first— I’m alive! Wow. God is good.
So I know y’all are probably all wondering what in the world we’re doing out here in the African bush. The answer is exactly what you probably expect— a whole lotta loving on kids.
That’s literally all. It’s a dream.
My team walks to a care point for ministry about a mile from the base every Tuesday-Friday. A care point is basically just a one room building with a playground where kids from the homesteads (this is what Swazi communities are called) come and play, get lunch, and learn about the Bible.
At the care points there are shepherds and go-gos. The shepherd is the one in charge of the care point. They are usually young people that the AIM staff has met from the community who they think would be good spiritual leaders. They go into a program where they are taught and discipled really deeply and then they run a care point for up to 2 years. After they are finished with their time as a shepherd, AIM helps them find a more permanent job and/or leadership position within their community. Our shepherds name is Gabi and she is the sweetest human and one of the strongest leaders I’ve met. Wow love her. Then the go-gos are older ladies from the community who come and volunteer their time to cook lunch for the kids.
For lunch every day the kids eat pop and beans. Pop is kind of like mashed potatoes but with corn and it’s SUPER popular in Africa. Every kid gets fed every day and for a lot of them its the only meal that they eat.
When we go to the care point we honestly just love on the kids. We do a lot of sitting and holding babies. We let the older kids braid our hair. We sing and dance and play and try to make their days a little brighter. Sometimes we help sweep the room or clean the kitchen or serve food. Some days we teach the Bible class to the high schoolers. But mostly we love people.
Honestly, my heart is a whole lotta wrecked by these kids. It’s not exactly what you see on tv, but a lot of them are really sick. They have HIV and ring worm and tuberculosis. They wear the same clothes every day. Baby girls come to play in the dirt in dresses without any underwear on. Kids don’t have shoes. They hit each other if you’re holding their hand and reach out to hold another kid’s hand. They’re extremely jealous of each other and really aggressive about that.
It’s really hard sometimes. They’re dirty and they have scabs and their noses run and they sneeze on you and sometimes they pee in their pants and then sit in your lap. You get tired. Sometimes you put them on your shoulders and just run around with them for 20 minutes and then when you can’t go anymore you put one kid down and another one is right behind begging you to do the same with them.
But they’re also really sweet. They giggle and laugh and play. There’s one kid at our care point that we named Charlie (Swazi names are hard ok?) and he scream laughs and its the cutest thing and when they smile you’re immediately reminded that Papas heart is for them. He’s there and He loves them and if I can show them even a tiny sliver of that then it’s worth it and I’m crazy honored to play a role in showing them His heart.
On sundays we go to church about a mile from the base in the other direction. We sing and dance and sweat and praise Jesus because He is soooo good in every part of the world.
Swaziland is a BEAUTIFUL country. Wow. I can’t wait to show y’all pictures. I’ve been holding off because I really wanted to start out being really present but I will take some for y’all. It’s breathtaking.
Also, I say this everywhere I feel like, but Swazis really are the kindest people. They will stop and talk any time. They will yell hello to you from a mile away just to say hello. They’re just open and genuine and kind. Wow. Love them.
This country has a big piece of my heart.
Pray for healing for this country. Pray for strong leadership to raise up this generation of kids without parents. Pray for the body of Christ to come alive and be empowered to stand up and take hold of their authority and take ownership of the ways they can make a difference. Pray for the shepherds leading these care points and for the kids that come there. Pray for aim staff here in Swazi. Pray for all the things. Pray boldly and with a whole lot of faith and I can’t wait to tell you what comes from that.
Love y’all a lot.
Alley
