First, let me apologize for how long it has been since I have had an update on here. The month of April I was in China and although I am not able to post many words or pictures about what I was a part of, just know it was an amazing month and God was moving in wonderful ways.
So, where am I now? After 4 months in Asia I get to spend my last month on the field in a beautiful African country called Swaziland. Don’t feel bad if you can’t immediately identify where it is!
If you want to dust off the ol’ map you’ll find Swaziland is a tiny country in Southern Africa, mostly surrounded by South Africa but parts of its border also touch Mozambique. It’s technically the ‘Kingdom of Swaziland’ and is still ruled and governed by a King.
So, what am I doing this month? Well our entire squad of 27 people is together an orphanage called ‘El Shaddai’. It’s well known in the World Race community and beloved by almost anyone who spends time here. There are 45-50 kids here, all ranging from 3 year olds up until 18 year olds.
My main focus is a leadership transition for the squad. In just three short weeks the three of us in leadership will be heading back to America, so we are training the two new leaders that are stepping into our roles. It’s an interesting adjustment of pouring into the group like normal, but slowly fading into the background so the transition is as smooth as possible when we wave our goodbyes.
On a daily basis most of my mornings actually start with a morning run through the mountains. The orphanage is up on a peak and every morning I wake up to an incredible view of the nearby river valley, and the surrounding mountains. If you are out of your room by 6 AM you can usually catch a beautiful sunrise during your run.
My ministry assignment for the mornings is ‘general labor’. So from 8 AM – 1 PM you can find me cleaning out pig stalls, harvesting crops, collecting food for the livestock or clearing brush and debris.
At 3 PM our ‘buddy time’ begins. I was assigned two buddies for the month, an 11 year old boy named Ayanda and a 13 year old boy named Mike. For the next two hours I valiantly attempt to tutor them and go over school work, while they try and convince me that it is more important for them to go swing on the monkey bars or play card games. We have worked out a nice incentive program that if they do all the school work in time we can spend the last 30 minutes playing games and having fun. They both have big hearts and once you break through the initial barrier they really open up to you.
Every day at 5 PM we help run a ‘chapel’ for the kids, which is really more like a vacation bible school. We split them up into two age groups and I spend 30 minutes with the younger group, usually with 3 boys sitting on my lap trying to keep them quiet long enough to hear the story being shared.
Our meals are all cooked in bulk for 27 people, but for being a missionary in Africa we are eating some really good food. With how dark it gets I also find myself going to bed around 9 PM, which thankfully gives my body enough rest to wake up and do it all again the next day.
So now you have a snapshot of how my life this month looks here in Swaziland! A lot of sunsets and sunrises, beautiful mountains, pigs and harvesting, kids kids and more kids…and a whole lot of God’s love.
Thanks for all the encouragement and support. Please pray I can finish well my last few weeks out here in the field!
