So, let me start off by saying that for ministry on Monday, Jordan and I prepared by hand drawing what felt like one thousand coloring sheets with a rainbow and the Bible verse “when I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature (Genesis 9:16). Then we did a skit about Noah and the ark. During the first few I days felt like we were bringing more chaos than order and the things that we were doing weren’t really bringing lasting fruit. But everyday that we walked into that preschool we were celebrated by Zanele, the teacher.
Facts about life with Zanele: She hugs each of us at least thirty times a morning and calls us sissy.
My soul sister.
Each day that we were in that classroom I knew what we were doing was fruitful because of her joy.
The crazy morning of navigating around excited children rolled into a restful afternoon of reading. After a little while I threw my book up and went outside. It’s only a little hard to focus on reading when there are a hundred kids right outside the door asking for you to come play outside.
*Pro tip: Always go outside to play when all you want is to take a nap.*
So I started talking to a sweet ten year old (whose name I cannot pronounce, let alone spell, sorry). After some chatting she looked right up at me with her big beautiful brown eyes and asked if I would walk her home.
Duh. Yes.
So I gathered up a few friends and we walked. I had no idea how far we were about to walk or what direction we were going in. When we asked how many kilometers away her house was all she said was “many”.
So we walked and walked hand in hand with the sweet sisters in the heat of the day until our mouths were dry and clothes were sweaty. About three miles each way.
Down a long dirt road walking away from the mountains we came upon her home, which was near a bunch of other small homes and she invited us in. We met her mother, Rejoice, and a few of her siblings. We got the opportunity to talk to her about her life and her struggles which made me feel honored that she would share such intimate parts of her life with us. Five strangers. We got the privilege of praying over her, her house, and her four kids. We got to do an actual accidental house visit. We spent time with Rejoice and encouraged her to not to lose hope in the Lord and remind her how He loves to give gifts to His children.
He sees her. He sees her needs. She is not forgotten in His eyes. And what a gift it was to tell and pray this truth over her.
He sees the sparrows, y’all. He provides for them. And the beauty of this is that we are worth so much more to Him than birds. He takes good care of His children and I believe this with all of my heart. And I pray that our confidence in this truth will make her confident. (Luke 12:7)
One of my favorite quotes is by a guy named Ram Dass and he says, “We’re all just walking each other home.”
And today I said yes to just that. We all say yes it to it, whether we’re fully aware of it or not.
All of the love my people.
Emma
PRAYER REQUESTS: The squad is about to pick up and leave Swaziland. It’s gonna be a weird transition and some more hard goodbyes.
PS It rained!!! Not just drizzle, but hard good rain and we have been celebrating all day long with loud music and dancing.
