Swazi you had me at Sanibonali (hello). Man this country has a special place in my heart. Seriously, God probably just laughs at me. This place is not what I was expecting at all. After last month I figured that it was going to be quite a bit like Mozambique since Swazi is so close to it. So naturally after last month I was anticipating a lot of sweat and a lot of mud in Swaziland. Of course I was wrong. This place is stunning. Literally every morning I get to wake up to the breath-taking mountaintops, a beautiful breeze, and bustling city (which the H-town girl in me loves).
AIM has a base out here in Manzini, so this month our team is doing ministry with them. AIM partners with Children’s Hope Chest to provide Care points around the city of Manzini for the sweet kiddos. A care point is basically a safe space for the kids to come play, get some food, and learn about Jesus after school.
There are three teams from our Squad working in Manzini this month, and we are all spread out helping in different departments at the AIM office and at the care points. I got assigned to do manual labor, which honestly sounds like it would suck, but I have actually had way more fun than I should with a shovel and rake in hand. The manual labor team I work with is bomb. We go to different care points around the city and cut grass, fill holes, paint buildings, or work in the gardens. After we do all the hard work, we then usually get some time to play and hang out with the precious little ones.
Man these last two months God has been working so much on my heart. He has been humbling me beyond measure, and showing me how much He loves me. He has also been reminding me that I am here to serve Him, and that can look like a number of things, from just simply loving on the people around me to cutting grass with a joyful heart. God super is cool, even though the race can be hard and tiring, the peace He has given me about being half way around the world shows that this is exactly where He wants me. I can’t wait to continue to grow and be rooted in Him.
PS – sorry this blog is picture-less – gotta love african wifi but check out Facebook for pictures! Thanks y’all!
