I have been in Swaziland a few weeks now, and God has blessed me tremendously in my time here. Besides the fact we are staying at an orphanage, we have had the opportunity to do many different things around the grounds here. Personally, my main tasks or projects have been:
Teaching an English class everyday for the children going into grade 7
(Wendy, Esihle, Philani, Ruth)
Working with a 2 year old Brian, who they believe has cerebral palsy.
Leading chapel every couple days with my team – doing songs, skits and short stories from the Bible.
Spending time with my “partner” Akeelah in my free time, as well as a little boy Benjamin. He was partnered with our dearly missed squad mate, Kara Turner, who went home for emergency back surgery.
Other ministries that have been going on around the grounds has been helping lay rocks on the road to the orphanage so you can make it up in a vehicle when it rains (which in our stay here so far has been very often), draining and cleaning the duck pond, cutting trees to use to fire to cook over, organizing and running a health clinic, burning an old trash pit to bury and digging a new one, weeding the garden, painting the buildings on the property, participating in church services, and doing fun crafts for the children for Christmas, like building a doll house and soccer goals.
However, on Thursday this week my team and I had the privilege to go with one of the Aunties, Julia, to a church member’s home who lives down the way to pray for their family. As we made the walk down the muddy, slippery road we arrived there to be greeted by the parents and three children. They told us they did have more children, but they were staying with their grandparents because they did not have enough food or money to provide for the whole family.
We started by praying for the family, we then sang a Swazi song, read a few passages from the Bible, presented them with a basket of food and home goods, and then prayed for the family and their needs. They asked us to pray for the children, that they would have the money to pay for all their schooling, as well as for their farming needs. As it is plowing season, their family has no money to purchase seeds or fertilizer in order to plant to provide for the food they need and depend on.
As sad as it was I just couldn’t help but notice the middle child, a teenage boy who was seriously scarred on his face from burns. When we first arrived he kept his distance from us, until he was called over but his mother. Even then, he kept his face turned from us. But I can’t even describe the smile that covered my face just being in his presence.
As shy and stand-offish as he may have been, you could just see the love and joy that radiated from him. As the youngest child, not even a year old, began to cry, he was the first person she reached for. You could just see the love they had for each other. It was beautiful.
As we said our goodbyes and left we asked what had happened to the boys face. Auntie Julia told us that as a baby, a coal from the fire fell on his blanket while he was on the floor and burned him. He was only a few months old, and as the mother was doing things outside she smelled the smoke and heard the screams coming from her young baby. When she found him they were so far from water, that by the time they finally got to it to put the fire out his face was already so badly burned.
One of my teammates asked me if we had prayed healing over him, if I believed God would have been able to heal even wounds so deep, that have been there so long. Of course I said yes, knowing that God could do anything He desired, and told her it was not too late to pray. But then, I began to think more about why God hadn’t healed the boy.
I believe, as the Bible tells us, God can take any situation and use it for His good. While yes, some children may laugh or make fun of him, or some people may see him and look away, God sees his heart and thinks he’s beautiful. God can use that little boy to touch the lives of so many as a witness to Him and His goodness.
People may think that would be a perfect reason to be mad or blame God, but that little boy can tell them about the love he has received from his Heavenly Father. He can tell them how when he and his family had nothing to eat, God provided for them. He can share his joy, love, and laughter with so many, because his God fills him with all those things.
So yes, we prayed for healing. Yes, I believe with my whole heart God could heal that boy’s scarred face, but even more then that I know with my heart that whatever happens in that boy’s life is what God has planned. And it will be good.
So trust in the Lord. Pray without ceasing. And know that God is good always, and His plan is greater than ours. He will use the lowly, the weak, and the broken to accomplish greatness. I look at my life, my past hurts and struggles, and thank Him daily for redeeming me, forgiving me, and calling me here to this place.
All my love,
Bri
