After 5 days of traveling through 5 countries and turning one year older, in Zimbabwe, we made it to Swaziland. We are working with team Spectacle so there are 12 of us here. Our ministry, The Nsoko Project is dedicated to bringing care to victims suffering from HIV/AIDS. There are several “care points” throughout Nsoko which have feeding centers, school rooms and places for those suffering to come. In the mornings we are going to different homes in the village to spend time, pray and help with any chores the people might have. All of the homes we are visiting have someone dying of AIDS. In Swaziland half of the population is dying of this disease. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world’s highest known HIV/AIDS prevalence rate. It is estimated that between the year 2030 and 2050, Swaziland will no longer exist due to the rapid destruction of this disease. A few of us went into town to visit one of the local girls in the hospital who was suffering from HIV. It is a shameful disease for these people and she wanted to keep it a secret from her family. The hospital was similar to the village hospital I visited in Mozambique. There were three small beds in a crowded room with the girl we were visiting sharing a room with a lady who was pregnant and one with the flu. The conditions were anything but sanitary and comfort was the last concern for the patients. It is a huge blessing for them to even get to go to a hospital. The pastor that we are working with, Gift, has been a huge blessing to us. He has told us that the average life expectancy here is 30 years old. Most die a long, painful death due to HIV/AIDS. My prayer for this country is for those individuals to be educated and aware of the affects of this disease. The majority of the country is Zionist, a mix of Christianity and ancestor worship. Most of them do not know the Lord and therefore have absolutely no hope. Please join me in remembering Swaziland in your prayers daily. I have never been anywhere that has affected me so much as this dying nation.
