When our squad arrived in Swaziland eight months ago my faith was so shallow. I had no actual relationship with Christ, no prayer life, and no scriptural knowledge. My perception of what mission work was going to look like the next nine months was completely altered during Swaziland. It wasn’t going to be based off of how many churches and houses we built, or how many water filters we instal in rural villages. It was going to be about the hope we delivered to people and the love we could share with one another. The Worldrace is just as much a discipleship program as it is a mission trip.
One of the first things I noticed in Swaziland was how barren it was. I would stand out front of our compound where we were living and for miles in every direction all I saw was orange dirt and failing farms. Swaziland hadn’t received more than a few inches of rain a year for the last 10 or so years. The country was essentially starving, care points had popped up all over the country where children could come for a free hot meal donated from feed my starving children. Most of these children only ate once a day and would spend all day at these care points while there parents struggled to make money. Here they would have a community of peers and would be discipled by the care point shepherds. everyone wanted prayer for rain.
There was more going on in this struggling country than just drought though. They’re was a heaviness of some sort and more often than not you could feel it’s presence lurking in shadows. Squad-mates and myself included would see figures at night hidden from the darkness. Many of us were gripped with night terrors and sleep paralysis. For the first time in my life I was being subjected to demonic forces and it was terrifying.
With the heaviness and spiritual attacks happening every night my squad was still thriving. We were becoming a strong community that was more Spirit lead than any church I’ve ever stepped foot in back home. Instead of shuttering in fear from these night terrors people were praying over each other. The coolest part about this was these squad mates who were stronger in faith knew that they carried authority. Since the Holy Spirit lives in us we have the authority to directly command demonic forces to leave in Jesus’ name. We have the authority to pray for healing and we have the authority to pray for miracles.
Just a few weeks into the race I was beginning to understand how much bigger all of this was then I ever could have imagined back home. My eyes were for the first time being opened to the power of prayer and how much you can do and receive from Christ with faith in him. It wasn’t just me coming to this realization it was the majority of the squad and we were putting this knowledge into action. In the three and a half weeks in Swaziland my squad and I witnessed dozens of healings and miracles.
One of the main focuses on the race is to help the community you’re placed in to the best of your ability. Like I said earlier everyone wanted prayer for rain, so that’s what we did. We prayed for rain several times a day sometimes in groups and sometimes to ourselves. It had been 7 months without a drop of rain and then it just dumped. Not once but off and on for the last week and a half we were there. There was one night in particular when it wasn’t letting up. The bolts of lightning were like nothing I had ever seen before. People were just sitting out in the rain and watching these magnificent bolts of lightning leap from horizon line to horizon line. It didn’t just stop when we left either.
This is a photo from a different gap year squad who visited Swaziland in mid February for a weekend while they were doing ministry in South Africa.
We had a night in Swaziland where over 20 healings occurred from life long disabilities to minor dings and illnesses. My back was healed and I haven’t had any pain since then. Before the race I had weekly appointments with the chiropractor in the attempts to straighten my spine out in my neck and mid back area. I remember the doctor comparing my X-rays to a 65 year old women’s back after she had been in a severe car accident.
The craziest experience from Swaziland was one of the last nights we were actually there. Our leadership team had left early that Friday to go and get our debrief and other things set up for us when it was finally time to leave that Monday morning. The squad spent that Saturday in Manzini Swaziland’s capital for an adventure day. When we returned to rural Nsoko where we had been staying the entire time we were in Swaziland, you couldn’t help but shake this feeling of darkness over the compound. Shortly after returning our water and electricity went out leaving us pretty much living in the Stone Age. People were frustrated and on edge and there was a lot of arguing going on as to what we were supposed to do about cooking and power.
All the guys on our squad decided to have a meeting that night to talk about the men’s community we wanted to have for the next eight months of the race. The meeting started off pretty service level and we ended up getting distracted for about 10 minutes having to deal with a situation inside that I don’t quite remember. This is where it gets really interesting. I remember looking over at one of the guys while some of the others were inside, and asking him if he saw the figure lurking in the shadow just outside the circle of guys too. He answered yes, except he saw 3. He explained that he didn’t know how to react and that he was frightened. He stated that he knew we weren’t alone as well. That’s when two other guys spoke up as well and said they felt the heaviness of something in the area with us.
Once all the guys returned to the group we shared the concern that something supernatural and evil was here with us. We came to the conclusion we needed to pray over the compound and let whatever was manifesting itself here needed to go. So all the guys started to walk the perimeter of the compound praying that the Lord would keep his hand over this place. This is when one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen happened and it still blows me away to even think about today.
All the guys had linked arms while walking the perimeter. Out of nowhere Sam who was to my left completely freezes and tenses up and won’t take another step. He just about crushed my hand in his he was so tense. The whole chain of men come to a stop confused as to what’s happening. All Sam can say completely frozen in not fear but awe is that he sees a white shadow. HE SAW A FRICKEN ANGEL GUYS! Throughout scripture people have the same type of reaction when they see one. Sometimes even falling flat on their faces.
More people started to join in on the walk and another group started to worship. People were praying over each other and finally finding peace on the compound. As the night was coming to and end and morning was approaching the Nsoko base finally felt safe.
Swaziland opened my eyes to the spiritual warfare we almost never see in the first world. I was shown that there is in fact demonic forces that will try in whatever way to stop us from invoking the kingdom of God. However they don’t have any real power over us because we have the authority to cast them out in Jesus name.
