Let me preface: in between training camp and launch I had two very vivid dreams back to back about a man….okay okay it was actually about a little boy.
Night one: I was in Africa I could tell by the little African babies around me giggling and playing as the red dirt swirled around them. Some people from my squad were with me in a village. At the village someone told us to find a buddy and partner up. I spent quite a while searching for a little buddy when suddenly I spotted this little boy. He looked to be about 4 years old (little enough for me to pick him up) but he was actually 8 years old. Looking into his deep brown eyes I could see a little boy who was tired, not just a physical tired but an exhaustion and longing for love. Seeing the longing in his eyes, compassion swept over me and I did all I knew to do which was to hold this little boy in a tight embrace for a long time.
Night two: I was back in the same village I was the night before in the midst of a lot of beautiful African children of all ages. I looked around and saw my little friend from the night before. I reached down and picked him up. He looked into my eyes and said you don’t know my name do you? Trying to rack my brain I couldn’t remember his name so I said well actually I don’t remember, can you tell me what your name is? He looked up at me and said my name is Jaymond. Jaymond sat on my lap for a while as I hugged him. As I held him we saw horses galloping in the nearby field. Suddenly a horse leaped over the fence and charged at us. Quickly I ducked to the ground with Jaymond under me as I protected him from the leaping horse.
Confused as to what these dreams meant, I prayed about it and sought after Godly wisdom. There were multiple theories but the common ones were that I would either met this boy or he represented someone in my life and I would be there to love and protect him maybe from things physically or spiritually and maybe from things happening now or things that may happen in his future. I’ve prayed that I would meet Jaymond or a boy like him maybe not with the same name and while I haven’t met “Jaymond” exactly, I have had the opportunity to love and adore many little Jaymonds.
This month I am working with the AIM base in Manzini, Swaziland. I actually am part of the Sports Ministry, where Megan, Ray and I go to the different Care Points and play sports with the kids. There are 33 Care Points in Swaziland and in Manzini alone there are 13. We travel to the same 4 Care Points every week and teach the kids about sports and Jesus. Each Care Point is different and the number of kids varies but the ages are between 3-15. At the Care Point the kids are fed a meal, have a safe place to go to play, the older ones receive discipleship, and sports ministry gets to come in each week to exercise and talk about Jesus with them. When we pull up to each of the Care Points the kids instantly come running to the gate waiting to be hugged, picked up, loved on, and played with. Each of them needs Jesus, love and protection. I’ve been blessed this month to not just have one Jaymond but many Jaymonds.
Here are some pictures of the beautiful boys God placed in my life to love, protect, and nuture.
