Sometimes I wonder if I’m going to wake up and find out this is all a dream,
but instead I step through a creaky wooden door into paradise.
Cold, brisk morning air rushes over the mountain peaks and down into the valley, pulling my heart with it into the stunning scene that lies below. Green hills tumble into a blue stream which cut through purple mountains that reach into the pink clouds hiding a rising yellow sun.
This is our new backyard.
There is something incredibly spiritual about being on top of a mountain.
Last month, Mama claimed it was because we were closer to God, and I think she may be right.
My heart feels the presence of the Lord here- the radiance of his glory, the power of his majesty, the beauty of his grace, and the extent of his sovereignty.
Clearly Charmaine, our white South-African host, felt the same.
In 2001 this is where God told her to lay the foundations of a home for the orphaned children of Swaziland.
Swaziland has the highest population of AIDs in the world with 72% testing positive, and 62% of the children dying from the disease before the age of two. As a result of the negative growth rate, the population is projected to die out within the next forty years.
When God called Charmaine over from South Africa to build an Swazi orphanage, she wandered the country for months waiting to hear God’s voice as to where. It was here, on the top of this mountain, miles from civilization and accessible only by foot, that God told her to begin to build. He said not to ask anyone for money, but instead trust that he would provide.
And provide, He did.
Every time finances were needed He would send someone with the exact amount that was required.
Today, sixty-five children live with Charmaine’s family in the El Shaddai home with an additional twenty high schoolers at a home at the bottom of the mountain.
Ninety percent of the children in the home are orphaned as a result of the HIV virus, the other ten percent are from neglecting and abusive homes.
Day after day, God provides for these children and blesses Charmaine’s faith.
The children never go without and many are even able to go to college or trade school.
The children never go without and many are even able to go to college or trade school.
This month my team is living with two other teams in three spacious dormitory homes on the El Shaddai property. We have our own beds, hot showers, washing machines, a kitchen to ourselves, and a stunning view everywhere the eye turns.
During the week we are refurbishing the walls of the boys’ home while they are at school, digging foundations, watching over the babies, tutoring the children after their classes, and putting on a Bible program for them in the evenings.
In our free time, groups of us pick a mountain peak to conquer and then come back home to hot chocolate, warm blankets, and comfy couches.
Literally, I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect month.
The Spirit of God hovers all over this mountain,
and we get to sit under the waterfall of his favor and catch the torrents of his blessings.
and we get to sit under the waterfall of his favor and catch the torrents of his blessings.
