Bucket showers, hammock sleepovers, a lack of Wi-Fi, cooking on gas stoves, blistering heat, strong women carrying heavy buckets full of water on their heads, laughing children, mud huts, baby goats, salty tap water and 20 American (and one Canadian!) women living under one roof.
These are a few of my favorite African things.
When I thought of Africa before I left for the Race, my mind went immediately to images from National Geographic. I thought of topless women with outrageously large earrings and bright jewelry, men with spears, the things portrayed in National Geographic. We’re all familiar with those photographs, aren’t we? While the images from Nat. Geo are not my reality this month, we are living fairly off the grid.
In previous months, we have only been a short taxi ride to local grocery stores, coffee shops or places to pick up shampoo and conditioner on our days off. This month we are surrounded by stretches of dirt-laden roads, a microbus ride from the grocery store (which ends up seating 25 people in a van designed to seat 12 people), snakes are a common sight, and the stars are clearer than I have ever viewed them (we can even see the Milky Way!)
The heat in Swaziland is out of this world, so at night I cover myself in bug spray and lay in my Eno hammock under a tin roof. Around 6am I am woken by the sounds of rocks being thrown on the tin roof, and chickens crowing as our alarm clock. Roughly 150 children are taken care of at our location. We sleep next to a playground where the kids play. Wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I get ready for some Jillian Michaels work-out action. Typically, we head to our designated care points around 10am and are consumed with the kiddos until 4pm.
At the care points we play games, sing songs, playfully toss them in the air, feed them meals of rice and beans, rub their backs and some of the smaller ones even take naps on our laps. The eyes of these children are so pure, so raw. Their independence at such an early age is mind-boggling to me. It is amazing to see how they look out for one another, they are each other’s family.
Care points provide a safe place to receive food and care from the cooking ladies (called GoGos), and to receive Christian guidance from the care point Shepherd. This is where we also come in, offering love and guidance to kids who need it or have questions about the Lord.
Our first day at the care point, I remember one particular toddler.
At the age of roughly 2 years old this little boy would run as fast as his chubby little legs would allow him. Running full speed he would run into my shins and embrace my calves like he would never let go. He ran with his arms outstretched like it was a sweet homecoming to our arrival.
As crazy as it sounds, a two-year-old African child reminded me so sweetly of the love from our Heavenly Father. No matter the sin, shame, guilt, or gunk that we carry with us, He runs to greet us, still.
Like the little boy, our Father runs to each of us with arms outstretched, running full speed to embrace his sweet children. Not having Wi-Fi, or a cellphone in general, for the last two months has been a huge blessing in disguise. At first I was annoyed that I couldn’t talk to my friends and family. I felt like I was missing out on their lives, but I was actually using this technology to distract myself from the things I needed the Lord to speak truth into.
The Lord has been bringing to my attention areas of my past that have hindered my depth and relationship with him. I locked my shame, my guilt, and gunk into a box and threw away the key leaving all of this in the darkness. I came to find that only when we have the bravery to explore the darkness do we see the infinite power of the light. I wouldn’t dare talk to the Lord about these areas of life, because of the shame it brought to me even thinking about the things of my past. I felt unlovable, unable to belong, isolated and an annoyance towards others.
But what I’ve learned so far on this Race is that no matter the mistakes I’ve made, nor the trouble I’ve caused, my Heavenly Father is running towards me with His arms wide open, embracing me, His beloved daughter.
As Christians we sing about the love of the Father, we talk about the Father’s love, yet many of us don’t know the truth about this love. Living this love out in our lives looks different from you to me. But the truth remains we find our identity within Him, and we walk tall because we know who our Father is and what he sent his Son to do for us. We receive the peace that surpasses all understanding, our light comes from Him.
What would it look like if you were completely known, yet, completely loved?
