Swaziland is a country I’ve been excited to visit since Day 1 of the Race – squad mates of mine have been here before, friends have visited and all have gushed about the love that pours out of this country. And with a lot of talk and anticipation, I’ve been able to prepare myself for the month in Swaziland – or so I thought.
I prepared myself to meet all the staff at the Adventures in Missions Base located in the city of Manzini.
I prepared myself for a month staying at the nice house inhabited by Racer’s past, clad with a full kitchen and running water.
I prepared myself to learn (and occasionally butcher) the Siswati greetings in hopes to insert myself into the culture.
I prepared myself for (frequent) visits to the Corner Bakery, home of WiFi and cheap Bran Muffins, experience the sweet taste of the Curry Houses’ Butter Chicken and try Nando’s, South Africa’s hottest chicken joint (we do a lot of eating).
With all these preparations and expectations, God has been humbling me through sweet surprises that I never could have prepared myself for:
I didn’t prepare myself for ministry spent not with my new team or with my squad but with only one other teammate.
I didn’t prepare myself for days spent as a preschool teacher, being sent home with homework to complete.
I didn’t prepare myself for the joy that 32 preschoolers can provide.
This month, we are working with the AIM Base and a few of the 40 care points they have spread throughout Swaziland. A care point is essentially an AIM-based center where kids of Swaziland are discipled to, given an education and guaranteed a meal every day. We visit the same care point every day in order to help the teachers teach and build relationships with the same kids throughout the month.
Myself and one other teammate spend our days at Mangwaneni Care Point Preschool. Every morning we are greeted by 30 jubilant kids running down the dirt road to give us a hug and spend the day helping them learn English, write their numbers and color within the lines. We sing songs about the birds Peter and Paul, play a LOT of follow the leader and pledge of allegiance to the Bible. We receive new (albeit painful) hairdos, give ample piggy back rides and serve as human jungle gyms.
Most importantly, we are able to love these kids and, despite what their life at home looks like, we are able to spend four hours a day showing them the beautiful love God has for each and every one of them.
As Swaziland has the world’s highest AIDS rate, we walk around with the knowledge that a good portion of our students have HIV. We’ve walked through the village and seen the extreme poverty these students are come home to every day. And on one occasion, we’ve had to dispose of a dead rat in the classroom (I won’t include details for those with a soft stomach but I will say it manifested into the most disgusting and funniest ministry moments I’ve had on the Race thus far).
It’s not a pretty job. It presents a harsh reality of how fortunate I am – a reality I wasn’t necessarily prepared to face. I go to sleep exhausted every night and wake up with sore muscles from the weight in little children I’d carried the day before. But every time they hug me and call me “Teacher,” I thank God for this beautiful surprise I never could have prepared myself for.
