What a world to live in. My current reality? The world race. Something so talked about, so anticipated, but never lived out. Until now that is. Ten days ago I arrived to Nsoko, Swaziland. It took three days to get here. We traveled train, bus, plane, even a couple Ubers along the way to end up here. I slept on the bus ride from Johannesburg, South Africa to Swaziland. Oh what a shock it was to wake up in my new home. My squad had to split up for travel day so some of the crew had already been here for a day. They ran up to our bus and told us all about this beautiful place. “We’re going to be having hard boiled eggs and oatmeal for breakfast.” I remember considering that a score. “And peanut butter and jellies everyday for lunch”. God knows how much I love a good pb and j. “We have running water!” What a blessing that I never in a million years expected. I walked into the room that I was to share with 22 other girls and found an empty bunk waiting for me. It was pressed against the wall with a window. In my opinion it was the best spot in the room. I set up my spot. Hung my jewelry on the window bars and taped pictures of my family on the walls. I loved the way the sun woke me up in the morning and the moonlight shone bright enough for me to read at night. I loved that I could store my Bible on the windowsill. I absolutely loved this bunk and honestly it was a huge blessing that it was there even after I was one of the last people to pick where I would sleep. A couple days after I had moved in, I was nestling into bed and my squad mate, Clarissa came up to me to say goodnight. She said something like “I just wanted to say I love you and that I actually had all of my stuff set up in this bunk and was planning on using it. It is the nicest bunk in this room. But I felt like the Lord was telling me that someone else would really love it so I moved all of my stuff. I just thought I should tell you that”. It was so so little but I was baffled in the way that the Lord used her to make me feel so at home. I had thanked the Lord already a ton of times for the spot I had in the room. I couldn’t place why but I was so so grateful for this spot. I thought it was such a blessing that he knew how special it would be to me that He would speak to Clarissa in that way. Since then He has shown me innumerous ways to feel at home here. The green mountains in my backyard remind me of Steamboat in the summertime. Just like at home, you can occasionally hear the train from my bedroom window. Seeing butterflies everyday and remembering to pray for whomever I am with. My ministry here is caring for children and anyone who knows me knows how huge of a blessing that is because I adore children. They are so cuddly here. They just want to hold your hand and sit on your lap and just BE with you. It is so precious. I find myself coming back to that word a lot. There are so many things here that are amazing in their own right as well and don’t necessarily remind me of home. How the sun sets and the world illuminates and then it almost evaporates away. The wild baby’s breath along the dirt roads. New born chicks and baby goats just being their cute little selves all over the place. The locals spontaneous break into song and dance in S’Swati. The abundance of butternut squash in the meals. Everything is such a blessing. Of course there are hard things, too. Spiritual warfare, witch doctors, witnessing hunger and the effects of abuse. Luckily it has been comforting to know that it is not our job to fix anything. We are here to infuse the Lord into everything, and try to plant seeds, but only God can turn that into fruit. It is part of the process to trust that the Lord will use our services to mend everything that is corrupt.
