After 1 month of being on the field, I have established somewhat of a consistent daily routine. The sun comes up very early here in Swaziland, so I typically get up about 6:00am. The mornings are quite cold, but sure enough I finally motivate myself to climb out of my tent to begin my morning jog/workout. My jog consist of running to the railroad tracks a bit outside of our compound. It includes dodging livestock (cows, goats, chickens) and having little kids join me while they make their way to school. When I arrive back at the base, I take a very very very cold shower that absolutely takes your breath away. Following cleaning up, I make my way to the common area where I take a scoop of boiled water and mix in some instant coffee. With a cup in hand, I find a seat to begin my morning quiet time. My quiet time starts with a daily Proverb in correlation with the days date (30 Proverbs- 30 days in a month), following that is 5 chapters of Psalms, lastly I turn to the Old Testament as I’m trying to make my way through the entire Bible. Reading my bible early in the morning sets such a great tone for the rest of the day. When I wrap up my reading time, I go into a short session of prayer. Praying for my family, church back home, friends, my team members that I live with, and finishing with myself. Breakfast follows this which consist every morning of a scoop of oatmeal and a couple hard boiled eggs. After breakfast we begin our short trek to our care point (on a children ministry day) which is about a mile away from our compound. When my team and I arrive at our care point we are always met with kids in an all out sprint with the biggest smiles on their face. The mornings at the care point are typically the time to bond with the kids as we play games and just have fun together. While the kids get their bowls of rice and beans for the day at lunch, my team & I routinely go inside the care point to eat a couple PB sandwiches. The afternoon looks a little bit different as we get the opportunity to teach the kids with scripture based lessons, get to praise and worship, and we are soon to be starting home visits as well as small groups.
Only 3 days a week involves children ministry, the weekly schedule looks like this:
Sunday – Church (Goes on for 3-4 hours).
Monday – Men’s discipleship.
Tuesday – Prison Ministry.
Wednesday- Care point (Children Ministry).
Thursday – Care point (Children Ministry).
Friday – Care point (Children Ministry).
Saturday – Sabbath.
When we get back from ministry, we usually have a bit of time before our nightly teaching or team time. I use that bit of time to usually hand wash some of my clothing, or read a book off by myself getting in some good solitude. My goal is to read over 20 books during my time outside of the States. I’ve almost wrapped up my second just being here a few weeks. The sunset starts at about 5:30pm and is completely down by 6:00pm. That took a bit of adjusting. Dinner time is never a specific time, it could be anywhere between 5:00pm-9:00pm. It’s always a big question during the evening on what time dinner will actually be ready, but I think we have all gotten familiar with it. Following any organized time created by the leaders and dinner, I always enjoy walking outside after. When you walk outside the stars are so amazing, I know my words can’t do it justice and trust me I have tried to take a picture (doesn’t work). One of the most beautiful creations of nature I have ever witnessed myself. Before bed I might have a few intentional conversations with teammates, but usually I am back in my tent before 9:00pm.
As I am laying in my tent I always think about back home, and about how much I miss everyone & everything. I’m quickly reminded how essential all this is to be the man God has called me to be. I came here to serve and ultimately help grow the Kingdom by sharing the love of Jesus. But then again, I feel like Jesus wanted me here to break me down and build me up in His image. The thought of reuniting with all you wonderful people back home in Missouri gets me so excited but I have to watch myself because I need to take every bit of this journey in. I’m learning to live in the moment and take it all one day at a time.
Thanks again, for taking the time out of your day to read this blog. Talk soon!
