Hard to believe that month 4 of my World Race is already over with… I had heard past racers tell me that it would fly by, but I guess you cannot really believe it for yourself until you get out here on the field and see for yourself.
Our travel day from Mozambique to Swaziland was the shortest travel day we have had on our race so far. Usually we are used to traveling for days to get to our next destination, but this time it was pretty uneventful. We had a nice break in between our month 4 (Mozambique) and month 5 (Swaziland). After month 4, some staff from AIM fly out from the USA and meet you on the field to check in on you and see how things are going. This meant that the best place for our debrief would be back in Nelspruit, South Africa. So, we all left Mozambique and headed back to SA for a short 4 day break. It was much needed and we welcomed it! We spent a few days hanging out with our entire squad, going to worship services, and getting poured into from a couple different speakers. Also, our teams went through team debriefs to check in and see how we were doing with our new teams that received before the start of month 4. So, to sum it all up, it was a great weekend! Kinda bittersweet in one sense though. Our original squad leaders, Joshua and Megan, who started the race with us, stepped down at month 4 so that new squad leaders can be raised up to take our squad around the world for the remaining 7 months. It was hard to see them leave us, but I am so thankful for what they have taught us over the past 4 months on the filed. Now, Nick and Christin are our new leaders! They are going to do great!
After debrief was over, we boarded 2 “Shoppas” aka… taxi vans, and headed for Swaziland! Three teams headed to the southern part of the country and the other three, myself included, headed to the capital city of Mbabane. It was only about a 4 hour van ride, including the boarder crossing, so nothing too exciting compared to most travel days on the World Race. As I rode in the van, I listened to my iPod and just reflected on our crazy month in Mozambique and what the Lord did, and also on our 4 days at debrief.
If I am being honest, Mozambique, was NOT my favorite month on the race. We were all pretty ready for it to end actually. It was just a hard month. It was hot, the mosquitos were horrible, there were 20+ of us crammed into a small space, and a lot of the time our water didn’t work, so it made it hard to get drinking water and that also meant that there was no bathrooms inside. The first couple of days, I was out of commission because I overworked my back in the garden trying to hoe the ground. So, other than Christmas and New Years, Mozambique was not a great month for most of us.
As I rode I thought about what all the month looked like and I prayed that Swaziland would be a better month. One of our all girls teams kept making the joke that Swaziland would be the promise land… It was funny because they are in the bush this month supposedly with not much of anything… So that should tell you how rough Mozambique was for all of us… Anyways… I really connect with music and worship. If there is something that really gets me in the place ready for worship, its music. So I rode, pondered, prayed, and listened to music. Soon we were in Swaziland and started making our way to our ministry. The “shoppa” driver started asking me questions so I put my iPod on pause…
Before long we arrived at our ministry. El Shaddai Childrens Home. We were greeted by LOTS of children and our ministry host, Charmain and her daughter, Chanel. We were taken to our living quarters for the month and it was INCREDBILE! I could in no way prepared myself for what I would see when we pulled up… It was hands down the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life…
We unpacked our stuff and got settled into our rooms and then I headed outside to continue my quiet time with Jesus. There was a huge rock out front so I found my way over to it and set down with my Bible, journal, pen, and iPod. I become so overwhelmed by what I seen in front of me… I began to tear up as I prayed and then I cut my iPod back on where I had paused it at before we arrived at El Shaddai…
There is a song by Third Day called “Mountain of God”. Its lyrics are powerful. When I cut my iPod back on, that was immediately what began to play. The chorus to the song says;
“Even though the journey’s long, and I know the road is hard
Well the one who’s gone before me, He will help me carry on
and after all that i’ve been through, then I realize the truth
that I must go through the valley, to stand upon the MOUNTAIN OF GOD.”
I just set there in awe. I couldn’t say or do anything. I just set and soaked it in. This is my life right now… I am so blessed.
I am excited about our month to come… God has something big in store for us… Sometimes though, we have to go through the valley before we can stand on the mountain tops. Keep praying for big things for our teams, our squad, and the ministries we work along side. Its a long and hard journey, but its worth it.
Love y’all.
P.S. I may or may not have internet much this month, so if you don’t hear much from me over my blog or Facebook, that’s the reason why. I will post more blogs ASAP!
