After finally arriving at El Shaddai, we all settled into
our rooms and got a few hours of sleep before waking up for church. Church was
really great. It is held in a building right here on the property and is made
up of the children that live here at the orphanage and a few folks from the
local community.
As we walked in, we were greeted with the beautiful sound
of the children singing. Several of them were leading the worship and had some
of the most wonderful voices I have heard. A tradition of the church is for the
girls to sit on one side and the boys on the other. No one really knows why
they do this but tradition is tradition. After taking our seats, the nearby
children took no time getting into our laps! Each one just wanted to be loved.
El Shaddai is located about 30 KM outside of Mbabane, the
capital of Swaziland. It is up on top of a mountain with very little around it
besides other mountains. El Shaddai was founded around 10 years ago and has an
orphanage and preschool. They also helped to open the only school within over
10 KM. Many students have to walk over an hour over mountains to get to the
school each day. There are over 35 kids living at the orphanage ranging from 2
years old to late teens.
This month we are working in several areas. Since we have
three teams here, we rotate between the different ministries. The first is the
Baby House which is a house that holds children under 6 years old. Second is
the preschool that goes from 9 am to 12 pm each day. Third is helping teach at
the school. Fourth is assisting at the clinic. Fifth is tutoring the students
after school. Sixth is aiding the staff with cooking and cleaning in the orphanage
kitchen. And finally, seventh is working on construction projects for the
orphanage.
I have been spending most of my time on the construction
project which is digging a 4×4 meter hole that needs to be 3 meters deep. It
will be used for a septic tank for the children’s dorms. We are almost done
with it. We just need to straighten up the walls and go a little deeper.
Jessie has been helping out with many of the different
ministries. She has helped shovel dirt with the construction crew, helped clean
the kitchen, held babies at the baby house, and aided in the preschool. She has
also be very busy helping make sure all 20 of us World Racers have food to eat
at each meal!
On our off day, I joined some guys and climbed a nearby
mountain! The view from the top of the mountain was incredible! I can’t believe
we are in Africa. It looks more like Ireland than what I thought Africa would
look like! But God is just that creative!
This is going to be a great month! We really miss you all
and apologize for the limited communication. We have had very little internet
availability these last two months, but hopefully Asia will allow us to be more
connected!
We would love to hear what is going on in your lives!
