This month K-Squad has been rerouted due to political unrest in Zimbabwe. Also, it is gender month so the men are serving together in Lesotho while the women are serving in Swaziland.
Us women are staying at an Adventures in Missions (AIM) base in Nsoko, Swaziland and visit local carepoints in the area to help teach, watch and serve meals to children.
We’ve have now completed our first week of ministry and we have had several discussions about what we have been seeing at our different carepoints. The carepoints have typically been began by gogo’s (local grandmothers) who have seen the need for food in the area and began cooking so children have something to eat. AIM has partnered with over 40 carepoints all throughout Swaziland and help cultivate the carepoints by building playgrounds and raising up shepherds to teach the children.
Many of the children that we encounter are orphans. Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV and AIDS in the world and causes many parents to pass away leaving children to grow up with their grandparents or other relatives. There is about 500,000 children in Swaziland and 350,000 of them are orphans. The king here practices polygamy by having multiple wives and some of the men here also choose to practice it. Our host told us a story about a man who had multiple wives but he and a few of his wives passed away leaving 27 children to one woman.
Four times a week we go to the carepoints to play and love on the children. Some of these children come in the same outfits, not bathed, infections on their bodies and with little bowls to get a meal after school. Everyday they are fed rice and beans from Feed My Starving Children and for many of the children it’s the only meal they get. When making conversation with the children and asking what their favorite food is all of them said either rice and beans or rice and meat. Many of them have never had anything else to eat besides those two options.
During our ministry orientation we were told that we need to stay in groups of three or more when we go out in public in Swaziland. For a person who likes to go out alone I was frustrated because AIM already has a two person policy. One of the first times we had to go to the grocery store one of my teammates was approached by drunk men. A few days into ministry a man came up to a carepoint and our shepherd made him leave. We asked the preschool teacher who he was and she expressed that she tried to rape her down the road last week. This same road is where tons of children as young as three walk to and from school and the carepoints.
When some of the children arrive in their uniforms and others arrive in casual clothing. Many of them come in the same clothes multiples times a week without properly bathing. Many outfits are tattered and ripped and some children don’t have underwear. One of my squadmates bought an outfit for a little girl because for 4 days straight she came in the same clothes that don’t fit her.
I say all of this to be an eye opener to be grateful for all we have. I sat down with a teammate to talk about the small things that we never even think about that these kids go through.
I wake up in a bed…….. some of them don’t own beds
I hop in the shower after I workout………. many of them don’t get the opportunity to bathe
I make breakfast and have quiet time………. many of the children don’t get fed until they get to the carepoint after school
I get on a bus with cushioned seats to get to the carepoint………the children walk miles to get to school and carepoints.
It’s been amazing getting to serve here and even though this seems like a laundry list of problems, these children are so happy and joyful. They love running around and eating their meals without any complaints. To some of them they don’t feel like they’re lacking anything, but looking through an American lense our squad grieves for what they don’t have. They have been a great example of showing us the joy that comes from within without the need of multiple materialistic goods.
“There is within the human heart a tough, fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets things with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns my and mine look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do.” -A.W. Tozer
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:3
UPDATES
MINISTRY: We are working with Adventures in Missions to help serve in carepoints in the town of Nsoko. We help teach, play and feed the children after they come from school.
FUNDRAISING: I am now $2854 left from being fully funded. I am so thankful for every single person who has donated, prayed, shared my journey and sent a word of encouragement. If you feel led to donate you can by clicking on the Donate! button on the funding tab above. Also, thank you to everyone who supported my Orlando timeshare and IHOP fundraisers!
