We have officially left swaziland and as I reflect back on my three months of living here, there are so many people that Jesus has placed around me that have truly made my experience what it was! Each person that I have grown to know and love here has made a significant impact on my life and have each taught me what it looks like to be Jesus by simply how they live their life. We all embody Jesus since we were created in his image, and I have loved observing how uniquely Jesus made each person and what characteristics of himself they specifically carry and walk out in so beautifully. Here are a few people I have met here in swaziland, and how I saw Jesus in each of them!
David and Jenna. David and Jenna are the hosts for the world race gap year base here in Nsoko. They both did the race in 2014, got married shortly after that, and both felt called to continue with global missions. Through them, I have learned about hospitality. Just as Jesus was hospitable to those around him, so have David and Jenna been to us. They welcomed us into their home countless time and truly cared for us as though they were our parents while we were here. They spent a couple nights a week at the base building relationships and pouring so much of their truth and wisdom on us. I wish I could list the many ways they blessed us throughout our time in swaziland, but the list would honestly be too long. They both truly went above and beyond so many different times and they are a big reason as to why swaziland felt like such a home.
The kids at maba one. Every single child that went to our carepoint taught me about love. Ever since the first day of ministry, these kids have loved us with everything that they have. If you know me, you know I’m not the biggest kid person. But I can truly say that I left a piece of my heart in swaziland with the children, and that is solely because of the way that they loved and welcomed us each day we showed up for ministry. Children are such a beautiful example of how we are called to love. The Bible even talks about having the mindset of a child when it comes to faith. That is because of the way they blindly love without any conditions. We too are called to love others around us unconditionally, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to witness this walked out so beautifully within our kids at maba one.
Sithulele. Sithulele was the shepherd at maba one, our ministry for the past three months. He is 23 years old and through him I have learned about God’s willingness to fight for us. Just as Jesus would leave the 99 sheep to find the one he lost, sithulele has proven countless times how willing to fight for us he is. I have two examples that will hopefully encapsulate this truth! First, my team wanted to go to manzini (a town two hours away) to go see the kids at our carepoint preform in a singing competition. He could have easily just given us the address, however he arranged everything down to the transportation for us to be able to go just because he knew how badly we wanted to be there. Sithulele was already in manzini when we pulled up to the bus stop and what I saw when we got there is an image I will never forget. I looked out the window of the bus and I see sithulele RUNNING beside the bus trying to keep up with it. He probably ran beside our bus for a good two minutes, knowing we were inside. The bus stop wasn’t the safest area, and sithulele was there to see to it that we were safe and so he could direct us to the singing competition. He even had to leave and miss part of the competition to come and get us since we were arriving late. The next example to show how willing he is to fight for us happened on the last day of ministry. My teammate, emily, has a little two year old boy named petisway at the carepoint that she was best friends with. The day before our last day of ministry, sithulele informed emily that petisway went to live with his mom in manzini, meaning she wasn’t able to say goodbye since he had already left. Sithulele noticed how heartbroken emily was on that Thursday, the day before our last day there. On Friday, we showed up to ministry and sithulele kept telling us that a special guest was coming. About an hour later, petisway and his mom showed up at the carepoint! Sithulele arranged and paid for petisway and his mom to come to the carepoint just so emily was able to see him and say goodbye. He was always willing to go the extra mile for us, and I saw Jesus in his actions on a daily basis!
William. (or Wandile) William is a friend of sithulele’s. He too was a shepherd for three years, and now he works for adventures in missions in manzini. I met william when we hiked the mountain one saturday (we hiked a mountain from swaziland into south africa!!!) I walked down the mountain with him and got to know him pretty well. Despite only talking to him for about an hour or two, I recognized a lot of Jesus’s goodness in him. His heart is pure gold and for the little bit of time I was able to talk to him, he taught me a lot about the kind of person I want to be when I grow up. Gods goodness radiates off of him in everything that he says and does. He simply lives his life honoring Jesus and loving others along the way. One day at the carepoint, we made sithulele call him so that we could all say hello and tell him we miss him! The very next day, william took public transportation from manzini to our carepoint (which took him 5 hours just to get there) just to see us one last time before we left. William is compassionate and very intentional in everything he does. His heart is just simply so good, and I can’t wait to see the impact he will have on this world someday!
The hearts of the people here in swaziland are absolutely so beautiful, and Jesus is so evident within each and every one of them. I am thankful for the many times I saw Jesus through every person I met while here in swaziland!
