One of my favorite songs to sing whenever we do children’s ministry goes like this…
“My God is SO big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do.
My God is SO big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do.
The mountains are His. The rivers are His. The stars are his handy work too.
The mountains are His. The rivers are His. The stars are his handy work too.
My God is SO big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do, FOR YOU!”
This month this song has been my anthem. This month I have seen God be big, strong and mighty. I have seen God move mountains and do the impossible for the ones he loves. I have also needed a reminder of who God is and what he is capable of. Especially during a month where things just seem so unjust, I needed a reminder that my God is SO big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do!
This month we have been living in Nsoko, Swaziland. It is all squad month again so all 35 of us are back in the same house doing life together again. It has been fun to see the growth in our squad from month 2 (our last all squad month) to month 7. God has certainly done some big things in us. The area that we live is rural Swaziland and the people here are very poor.
Here is part of an email that I sent to my parents shortly after arriving in Swaziland….
“I’m not gonna lie… Seeing little children walk 7 kilometers in the heat to go to school and get one solid meal a day only to walk the 7 kilometers back to a broken home life is heartbreaking.
Seeing children who don’t have adequate clothing is heart-wrenching.
Seeing people and animals starving because there is not enough food is absolutely deplorable.
Talking to kids about their parents passing away or fathers running away is a tough reality to swallow.
Knowing that a good majority of the kids I see are living in a child-headed home is hard to comprehend.
The reality of people’s life here is hard!!!! It has a way of just smacking you in the face and you can’t ignore it.
Here are some statistics….
•the life expectancy is 49 years old (THAT IS SO YOUNG!!!!)
•45% of the population is confirmed HIV/AIDS positive. (Those are only the people who have gone in for testing).
•by 2050 the nation of Swaziland will not exist if the death rate continues in the way that it is. (According to the UN)
•the country has been in a severe drought for the past 3 years. (It looks like a barren wasteland out here)
•the King just declared last week that Swaziland is officially in a state of National Emergency because of the drought and HIV/AIDS
That’s hard stuff to hear. That’s hard life to live. That’s hard life to see!!!”
This is all true. It is hard living. It is hard life. And so much of it all seems so unjust! So unfair! Yet, I am reminded of the song that we sing to children…. Our God is So big, so strong and so mighty. I have needed to remind myself of this every single day. Every time I am reminded of the injustice, I am reminded of my Jesus. It doesn’t make all the hard stuff go away, but it does is give hope. It gives hope that God is still in control and it reminds me that I serve a just God and one day Justice will be served.
I find it interesting that in times of desperation and depravity is when I often see Jesus show off the most.
As previously stated, Swaziland is in a severe drought. Everywhere you look things are dying because there is no water. So, as a squad we dedicated ourself to prayer. We wanted to see not only physical rain but spiritual rain. So we prayed. And we prayed. And we prayed. We prayed for a solid week and a half. All 35 of us. And guess what….
IT RAINED!!!!!!!!!!!
It rained for several days and in that rain there was life and growth brought to the land. Where the was once only dirt for a soccer field there was vegetation. Where there was once death there was now life.
It was so encouraging to see! To know that God heard our prayers and answered them!!
“Our God is SO big, SO Strong and So mighty, there’s NOTHING my God cannot do. FOR YOU!!”
I pray this song gets stuck in your heart. May you be reminded of the grandeur of our King and the unstoppable God that we serve!!!
