Hey, everyone!
My squad is currently on debrief for the week here in a Nelspruit, South Africa. It has been such a blessed time of rest, fun, and laughter. Back at the compound in Swaziland, we don’t have any electricity or WiFi, so phones are often dead or useless. Therefore, I haven’t been able to upload any blog posts or YouTube videos! BUMMER! But hopefully this one will upload as I sit in the WiFi room of our hostel. The goal of this post is to share all about the ministry we are doing in Swaziland, as well as a little update about life here in the bush of Africa.
Every Tuesday we work at the compound. The compound is brand new and we are the first squad to be living there, which is super dope! We spend tuesdays painting or doing construction outside. It’s specoso to know that the work we are doing will benefit so many future world race squads!
Wednesday-Friday we work from about 9:30 until 3:30 at a CarePoint. CarePoints are designated areas established by Adventures in Missions where the youth of that area can come for their meal for the day, as well as to be taught about the Lord and to be loved on. The ages of the children range from less than 1 year old all the way to 21 years old. We have about 50 kids at our CarePoint. Most of them only have one parent or have been orphaned and are living with relatives due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic here. They have all been exposed to the gospel and choose to come to the CarePoints to learn more about Jesus, but they don’t typically receive Christlike love in their homes. That’s why our main focus is to love on them, get to know them, laugh with them, and care for them. We have formulated strong bonds with them, as well as with the Shepard of our CarePoint. His name is Sithoulele. He is a young Swazi man who is employed through AIM as a leader of the CarePoint! Pretty cool. In the coming weeks, we will be cultivating a garden so that the kids can have more food available throughout the day aside from their one meal of rice and beans. We will also be doing home visits in which we go to some of the kids’ homes in order to know them more, share Jesus with their families and be an encouragement to them. We will also be taking on leadership of the lessons that the kids receive about Jesus! We are so excited to get creative with the way we pour truth into their hearts.
Initially at ministry I felt discouraged and sort of bummed out. I babysit a ton at home and it felt like I was just doing that again here. And in a nation with so much voodoo and brokenness, even in some of the churches, I felt we could be of better use somewhere else. But, let me tell you… God has totally shifted my perspective and confirmed that He wants us with the children. If these kids can feel the love of Christ day after day, who am I to assume the work is useless? We work not for immediate reward but for LOVE. Jesus is Love Himself and I know He is using us to be His hands and feet in this community.
Aside from our scheduled ministry, many of us have been taking opportunities to evangelize at the grocery store and restaurant in our area. That has been a really special way to remind ourselves that ministry is everywhere and God is always at work, even in our times of rest.
Ultimately, I am absolutely loving our time in Swaziland. I have appreciated being distraction-free, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by beautiful mountains, sunsets and stars. I absolutely adore my squad and find myself constantly laughing, talking, singing, or listening to others doing those things in the distance! It’s such a blessing. God has been revealing so much to me through His Word. We hammock, play music, write, work out, cook… it’s such a relaxed life and I love that we have settled in. I am truly content and full of joy being here! Praise God for that!
Thank you SO MUCH for covering me and my squad in prayer. I have no doubt in my mind that that’s the reason things are going the way they are. Please continue praying for contentment, health, safety, and for this to be a season of complete surrender and humility. I would love to hear about how I can pray for YOU! I also love hearing abour things that are going on back home, so feel free to text me some of your random life updates. May God BLESS you!
Until next time,
Anna 🙂
