This month we were based out of Nsoko, Swaziland at the Anchor Center care point. Adventures in Missions partners with an organization called Children’s Hope Chest (they’re doing great things, I recommend looking them up) and has multiple care points throughout Swaziland. Each care point has go-gos (grandmothers), that act as caretakers and cooks for the children that go to the care point, and a shepherd that looks after the kids and holds discipleship classes that the children are expected to attend. Children can come throughout the day and play and they’ll be provided a meal. To be a part of a care point’s reward program, children are expected to be at the care point daily and are expected to attend discipleship class consistently for a few months and then they’ll be enrolled in the reward program that could get them new shoes or school supplies. The staff at each care point works incredibly hard to keep the children safe and fed each day of the week, so that the kids are at least getting one substantial meal a day.
Each team was assigned to a different care point in the surrounding area; Team Shalom received the blessing of being able to love on the people at the Mbutfu care point. Our care point feeds, on average, 70+ children a day ranging from preschool age to secondary school age. In the mornings while primary and secondary school are in session, we got the opportunity to spend time with the younger children and help out with the preschool that was on base.
If you know me at all, you know that one of my heart strings is kids (specifically newborn – 6 years old) so as soon as we hit the base in the morning until the kids left a little after lunch you could typically find me with at least one child in my arms or in my lap. To be honest, I’ll always believe that I benefit more from it than the kids do. Each child is nothing short of incredible. Those beautiful, lovable, silly kids have learned at such a young age that they have to fight for what they want in life. They are born fighters and day in and day out they fight for a little bit more. Many of their clothes are tattered and worn and each set of fingers and toes are covered in dirt. Each snotty nose and dirty face nuzzled up against me filled my heart. For me, if I wasn’t covered in dirt, snot, and other unidentifiable things, I didn’t feel like I loved those kids like I should/could have.
On our final day of ministry I sought after a little boy, who we’ll call “Little Dude” because he was sporting a little blue sweatshirt donning the word “dude”. Little Dude is about 3 or 4 years old, and was completely unfazed by the crowd of white girls traipsing around his home. He didn’t care if I was there or not. I was bound and determined to love on him as much as I could before we left. So I sat myself down next to him in the dirt and listened as he demanded things from me in a language I don’t understand. He’d hand me a stick and motioned for me to dig a hole, and this is how we spent a large chunk of our day prior to lunch.
After lunch he seemed to acknowledge that I wasn’t going to leave him alone and so we shared a stick and spent time drawing things in the dirt. Unsure of whether I should continue to pursue him, I lost sight of him. As I brushed the dirt off my skirt, I heard a small sob coming from behind the building. Little Dude was being mistreated by another child, so without thinking I scooped him up into my arms and babbled to him, pleading for his joy. As his sobbing subsided we exchanged slight smiles and lots of tickles. Before I knew it, he warmed up to me and even when I’d place him on the ground he’d wrap himself in my skirt or grab my hands to make sure that I wouldn’t stray far from him. He pulled me to the playground with him and held my attention for as long as his little body could keep going and then he fell asleep on my lap. Sitting with this beautiful little sleeping boy, my heart swelled with joy knowing the comfort and security he felt in me that he crawled into my lap and allowed himself to fall asleep.
After discipleship class it was time for us to go back to home base and say our final goodbyes to many of the kids. This meant that I had to say goodbye to Little Dude. Being so young, he had absolutely no idea what I was saying to him and sadly my SiSwati is limited to hello, how are you, I’m good, and thank you. So as I bent down to say goodbye I held his hand in mine and said, “I’m going to miss you so much. I wish I didn’t have to go, but it’s time for me to leave. Goodbye.” And as the tears filled my eyes and threatened to fall, I watched as his eyes mirrored mine as if he knew what I had said. Knowing my group was waiting for me to head back, I dropped his hand to stand and leave and as I turned around to walk away he began to cry out to me. Each step I took broke my heart more and more as his sobs filled my ears and had me fighting tears of my own. It was almost as if he understood that I wouldn’t be back. I felt like I was abandoning him, but it was then that God whispered to me, “I’ll never leave him, like I’ve never left you.” And in that moment, I was overcome with peace knowing that Little Dude is in God’s hands and that’s a much safer place to be than in mine.
Each of these beautiful children reminded me of my relationship with God. I came to him in tattered and worn clothes, covered from head to toe in dirt begging for his attention and acceptance. Scooping me up, He harbored no fear that my dirty clothes and hands wouldn’t taint His pure clothes and skin. He wiped the tears from my eyes and tended to the snot dripping from my nose. He held me close and whispered his love to me, pleading for my joy. He held my hand as I approached new situations with skepticism. I found rest in His arms as He allowed me to sleep, secure and comfortable. He watches me at a distance, ready to come running whenever I cry out for Him, when I crave my independence and venture into dangerous territory. When I mess up time and time again, He takes ownership of me without shame or condemnation. Even more incredible is that we never have to compete with others for His attention and no matter how many times or how far we stray from Him, He will never leave us. He loves me more passionately and deeply than I could ever love those precious children that I find in my arms, nuzzled up against my neck. And He loves you with that same love.
My relationship with God challenges me to love others with the same love that He gives me. He challenges me daily to love a little deeper, a little harder, and to give a little more; He asks me to abide in the heartbreak and recognize the beauty of who He is. So I challenge all of you to step out of your comfort zone and to strive to love others as God loves us, unconditionally. God has given us the opportunity, we just need to have the courage to take it.
Please be in prayer with me for the nation of Swaziland and for all of its beautiful people. Swaziland has been in a drought for over a year. They have the highest HIV and AIDS rate in the world at 28%, leading to projections that in a few decades the population of Swaziland will be nonexistent. Also due to their high AIDS rate, 18% of the children are left as orphans. 63% of the population live below the poverty line due to high unemployment rate. Swaziland is a magnificent place, full of beautiful people but they need our prayers desperately.
