This month Spades (my team) and 5 Multiplied are living together as we partner with the AIM base In Manzini, Swaziland. The landscape surrounding Manzini (right) reminds me of the Shenandoah Valley (left). I’m not sure if was because of that, having to slice bread, or something else but I started a list of some of the things I’m used to doing at home that I’ve also done here.
- Preparing food for large groups of people. This month it meant helping figure out how much food 13 women will eat. It helps that I’m used to preparing large amounts of food for my family. Tessa’s meal planning skills also helped a lot with making sure everyone was fed.
- Sorting and cooking beans: Apparently, most people on Spades and 5 Multiplied are used to just opening a can.
- Cooking rice on a stovetop. Even with not everyone eating rice, we still go through quite a bit. On some days some people have had rice for all 3 meals. All in all, it’s added up to the consumption of 10kg of rice in 15 days.
- Slicing bread: 11 days, 23 loaves, approximately 440 slices. Thanks, mom for making bread at home. (Also, the bit of loaf that was left when I got to Lesotho last month was greatly enjoyed by my teammates and a few others.)
- Sweeping multiple times daily and mopping often throughout the week
- Coordinating showers and sharing 2 bathrooms with my family
- Good handwriting skills: All those hours working through the handwriting books really paid off this month when I had to help the teacher with creating homework for the preschoolers to learn their names, letters, and numbers. As I sat there making dotted figures for them to trace, I was very thankful that my mom was so concerned about good handwriting skills.
- Reading fast but still retaining information: I picked up 2 books one week from other people. I knew I would have to return both by the end of the following week but moved my personal reading deadline up when others asked to read them after me.
- Knowledge of the Bible: There have been several times this month when people have asked me about different passages or themes in the Bible. Coolest thing about that has two parts. 1) In sharing what I do know, I’ve started realizing how much I still don’t know which is really awesome because it means I can still learn so much. The Bible never really grows old; it’s always new and fresh. 2) Seeing their excitement over some verse they just discovered, has reawakened a sense of wonder in my own study the Bible.
- Ability to retain information: Sometimes I get referred to as a living encyclopedia which is kinda ironic because sometimes I would say that of my dad but not always as a positive thing.
- Attention to detail: Sometimes I don’t even think about the fact that I notice something until someone else points it out. It came in handy this month as I helped make sure we had enough bread, rice and beans. I also paid attention to the configuration of the license plates here which led to some fun interaction with Ally, Jess L. and Kasie.
- Sense of direction: It didn’t take too long to figure out how to get around Manzini. It helped that our first day here our hosts had us do a scavenger hunt to find things throughout the city.
- Praying on the hour, every hour: this comes from a challenge my pastor back home once issued to spend 1 minute every hour in prayer by setting alarms to go off every hour. The first day in the preschool, the kids were playing with my watch and turned on the hourly beep. At first I was annoyed but then I decided to use that beep as a reminder to pray.
My patch of grass: One day I decided I was tired of the city and needed a little countryside. That night I watched a lightning storm from this spot. It felt so good to feel the grass under my feet. A few days later, I took advantage of the grass again and just laid there watching the clouds drift by in the sky. I strategically positioned myself in the spot where I saw the least amount of roof and clothesline. Since then, I have spent several hours there stretching, reading, journaling, watching clouds, and talking with God. Back home, there’s a certain overlook on Skyline Drive and a specific spot in the woods surrounding my house where I like to do the same things.
