Swaziland captured my eyes. This country is beautiful. Mountains surround me. Cows graze beside the road. People are waiting for rides. The grass is golden and dry. Bonsai trees with their funky shape tell me I’m in the heart of Africa. This month I lived on top of a mountain. Everyday I looked out at the mountains and river. Each night at 5:15 the sun set with a beautiful pink sun. Each night was a little different but each one took my breath away. I could enjoy those for the rest of my life. Watching the sunset from a mountain top is amazing. The southern stars are bright. We could see the band of stars from the Milky Way. Africa is a beautiful country.
This month we worked at El Shaddai, an orphanage that has rescued children from abuse and neglect. Many of the children came as babies. There are about 40 school children (aged 7-16) and about 25 babies (aged 1-5). Each day we had 4 hours of ministry in the morning. This included manual labor in the garden, working at the baby house, or helping with preschool. I split my time between the babies and the garden. Some days it was great to just sit with a baby on my lap, other days it was great to swing a pickaxe. Every Friday I went into town to grocery shop for the squad. Four women were in charge of food for the month. We had some great meals but it was a lot of work. In the afternoon we spent 2 hours with our buddy. Every racer was paired with one school aged child for the month. We helped with homework and just loved on the kids. My buddy was a 12 year old girl, Gift. She loved to dance and sing. Her laugh is priceless and she is very kind. We played basketball most days and did homework. I was also able to help some 7th graders with their math homework!
Leaving today, I know this is not the last time I will see these faces. I know God will use me in these kids lives in the future. (Not quite sure how He will yet, TBD) Swaziland was my favorite month. It was a combination of wonderful people and a beautiful landscape. I enjoyed living with the entire squad and it was my first experience with an orphanage.
I’m happy to announce that my team will be spending our last month working with an orphanage in Durbin, South Africa. I have always wanted to see an African orphanage and now I get a second month. Yay!
