Who would have thought that when we came to Swaziland that we’d be on a mountaintop, being awed every single time we look out the window or walk out the door. Our first month in Africa is not at all what I was expecting – especially with hot showers, comfy bunks, yummy meals (no ugali yet), and water that you can drink straight from the tap.
Nonetheless, this is AFRICA! Month 5 finds us at El Shaddai Children’s Home on a mountaintop in Swaziland. We’ve been harvesting maize, painting the walls of the new baby house (to make room for 20 more children), helping with homework, taking walks up nearby peaks, and playing with kids throughout the day. Charmain and Kailje have about 80 children in their care – 15 at the baby house, 40 or so elementary school-aged kids, and about twenty more down at the high school dormitory (about 20 minutes away by car). Many of these children have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse. Most of them were orphaned by AIDS. God brought Charmain and Kailje to this mountaintop in Swaziland 12 years ago from South Africa to care for the orphans and widows. El Shaddai is run completely by faith and Charmain and Kailje could tell you story after story of how God has provided them with what they need at just the right time.
One of my favorite things this month has been spending hours and hours playing with the kids at the Baby House. As soon as you approach the gate, the little ones come running up to you with their hands stretched out. “I want to go your shoulders,” they say over and over again until you finally give in and swing them up onto your shoulders for the hundredth time.
Though they call this the Baby House, don’t let the name fool you. Most of these little guys and gals are far from being babies. It’s been incredible to discover how much these little kids can do on their own – everything from setting up their plastic chairs and tables for meals to resolving little conflicts that might be going on among them. I’ve also learned some things about how resilient little kids are during these last few weeks at the Baby House. Just yesterday I accidentally dropped a couple of them on their heads (oops!!!) and they still came out giggling and asking to be thrown around some more.
Far from simply being a playmate for the kids at El Shaddai, I learned early on that truly loving these children means more than doing anything to put smiles on their faces. My first week with them quickly showed me how important it is to discipline kids and that I knew little to nothing about how to do it. But the more I get to know these children, the more I long to see them grow up into mighty men and women of God. Though my attempts to “teach them the way they should go” have been rather feeble, I’m trusting that God will continue to bring people into their lives to help mold them into the people He’s made for them to be.
It’s been really cool this past week to see a shift in our relationships with the kids here. Tabi and Lindsey took the opportunity to share their testimonies openly with the older kids at chapel time and opened the door for honest questions any of the kids might have about their faith. I’ve also had a few chances to go a little deeper in conversation with a couple of the girls this past week.
Our time here at El Shaddai is almost over though it seems like we’ve barely begun.
