Well this month we are in Swaziland! After 2 flights and a layover in Doha, Katar, feeling sick, eating Thanksgiving Dinner in a restaurant attached to a gas station, border crossing at 11pm, sleeping in a bus stuck in the mud on the side of a mountain 3 miles from our destination from 2am-5am, walking 45 min up the mountain road, we made it! From my bed in Kathmandu, Nepal to my bed in Swaziland it took us 40 hours. I thought Africa was going to be hot but we are definitely not in that part of the continent. We live at El Shaddai Children’s home, which is located on the top of a mountain somewhere in Swaziland. The children’s home serves many orphans and also other children with tough family situations. It is usually around 70 degrees with a fog that rolls in the evening and it rains at night. We have been blessed with a little house with a hot trickling shower, toilet, and drinking water on tap from the mountain springs. I wake up to a beautiful view of mountains every morning.
Our ministry this month runs the whole spectrum. Our day starts at 8am and we are doing something until 5:30 with a lunch and a break in the middle. We have the entire squad this month doing many different things. Some are teaching English, working in a clinic, baby care, and many other fun “classes and activities” planned through out the day. There is also a huge amount of manual labor jobs to be a part of. So far I have helped with digging a trash pit, cleaning out a goose pond, repairing a lawnmower, and co-leading a boy’s bible study. Every night we have a short chapel service for the children. We are paired up with a child to intentionally hangout with in our free time. I have been paired up with an awesome 6-year-old named David. The owner of El Shaddai has adopted him, but they live on the grounds and he is just another kid amongst the group.
Everyone always says Africa is awesome and now I know why. It has been different than all the other countries. The children are amazing. They all run up to you wanting to be held and just loved on. They will just come up to anyone and sit on their laps. The church service was amazing. I really enjoyed it. The children are such good singers and dancers. I of course had no idea what they were singing but their language is so cool to listen to. I went to the baby house on the first day and the kids attacked me! I am pretty sure at one point I was holding one baby while another I wore as a hat. The kids are so full of joy, smiles, and energy. After about 20 minutes I needed a break. The little twins Faith and Hope are so cute. I am not sure how old they are but they are very independent.
When I was picking up a shovel to put it away after digging for the day I saw a little snake a foot or so away from my hand. I asked Deb, “What do black mamba’s look like?” She replied, “ I think they’re brown.” Well the snake I saw was brown so I thought we ought to kill it since it was near where we work and the kids are. It went behind a rock so I used the shovel to get it out. I tried killing it but it was hard to get to. So I used a pitchfork to bring it out and Deb took a shovel and killed it. Come to find out, if bit by a black mamba you have to have anti-venom made by the venom of the snake that bit you and it must be done within 45 minutes, or you die. It’s safe to say God protected us and that this was an exciting day! Apparently down in the valley behind where we live there is a snake that has been eating people’s cows. I sure would like to see that snake from a distance! They have found it’s skins and I think they said it was over 15 feet long and 10 inches in diameter.
I can’t believe that this is the start of month 6 and how we are coming up on the halfway point of the race. God has really been digging up things in my life and revealing so many things that I need to work through. Every time I think I understand something I am humbled into learning more and relearning what I thought I knew. It has been a hard process and I am continually struggling, but I know God will bring me through my misunderstandings and lead me to His truth. In the end, Love is the Mission. To know Christ’s love and to share it with everyone we come in contact with. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 basically says that nothing we do matters unless it is done with love. Keeping the focus on love is sometimes hard with our selfish desires and our sinful nature, but when you can truly love everything else falls into place. God is Love.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray for El Shaddai and the workers and children that live here. Please pray for all of us to meet our final financial deadlines at the end of this month. Please pray for me to be able to overcome the daily struggles I encounter on the race. I would also like prayer for God to reveal what He wants me to do after the race. Worries often creep in of my future plans and take my focus off of what is placed in front of me.
In case I don’t get to Internet again, have a great time celebrating the birth of our Savior and time with family. Enjoy the Snow? This is already weird not seeing any especially at this time of year.
In Christ’s Love, David
