This month we partnered with a ministry called Hope Rises based out of the states. Our contact, Corine, has such a huge heart for Swaziland it’s ridiculous. She’s a prime example of someone seeing corruption, death, and ugly circumstances and doing something about it. She lives in Tshenini, Swaziland and works there at a farm to make money. She travels to Fontotje, where we stayed at, at least once a week or whenever she doesn’t have to work and pours into the people there in the community. I honestly don’t see how she does it.
The ministry we did consisted of : construction work, plastered and put down concrete floors, had kids bible studies and school lessons, visited a few houses and prayed with the people, preached on Sunday mornings at random churches in the area of Fontotje, and went to the local clinic and prayed for people-in particular Gogo (grandma) Sunday.
But what made this month for me was what God did to my heart at debrief-completely changing it and making my heart more tied to the Lord’s.
So I think coming into the month I had a very open heart to love the people.
But the people in Swaziland are just different.
It’s crazy how each face is so real to me now, every person is so special. It kills me that the majority of the people have or will have HIV. Anywhere from 50-90% of Swazi’s have HIV. That’s why it is said the country will cease to exist in about 40 years.
Raping happens all the time. Men have multiple wives or they just cheat on the one wife they have. Young girls will have sex to watch TV, get food, get a cell phone or anything else they can’t afford.
Spiritually the darkness here is very much sexual, but most of it is just a spirit of tradition or culture. Culture is so strong and important in Swaziland, many can’t decide whether biblical truths are right or if culture and traditions is right.
The women that we worked with at our carepoint had such joy and great servant-hood in cooking our meals, taking us to the market or wherever we needed to go, and doing our laundry.
The children had such joy and amazing smiles despite the situation they may live in-being dirt poor, having no parents, or alcoholic fathers, no money to pay for school or to just have a meal a day, etc. They just need love and hugs and kisses and just people to show they care and that people do love them.
The men here have such servant hearts too in working to get us electricity in the building we stayed in, getting us transportation, and helping us with anything else we needed. Corine told us though that they have low self-esteem. It kills me and breaks my heart how they just believe they are like dirt when they have hearts of gold.
God has to intervene for there to be a change in this country. For politics with the King to be changed, for disease to stop, for deaths with AIDS to end, for raping to end, and for the economy to get better and for people to have jobs and provide for their families. But people have to step up and help too. There is so much hope for this country…please pray for a change.
