Today God provided bananas.
Backstory:
We started our ministry in Swaziland on Tuesday (9/17). This looks like us racers dispersing in our teams to different care points located between Nsoko and Matata. Each ranging from an 5 minute walk away to an hour walk away to a 30 minute bus ride away.
What are care points you may ask??
Care points are a safe location where young children (babies and toddlers) to high school students can come throughout the day for a meal and a place to stay until it’s time for them to go home.
We typically stay from 11 AM to 4 PM. Our job as missionaries is to share the love of Christ with the kids by simply loving on them. This can look different foreach person. Some examples are: helping them learn to do the monkey bars, cleaning up trash off of their playground so they have a safe place to play, singing and dancing with them, playing games with them, holding them and letting them play in your arms. Many of the children don’t get held often or are given much attention at home (if they have one) so our role is to love them and simply be Jesus to them!
Jumping forward to today:
Wednesday (9/18) At the care point the children are fed on meal. They’re Manna Packs (aka a lot of rice). For many this is the only meal they’ll get for the day. Today when we arrived at the care point, we recieved word from the Gogo’s, the cooks (volunteers from the community), that there was no fire wood at the care point. No fire wood means no food because that is the only way they can cook the rice. Two of my teammates, Cece and Elena, along with our shepherd, Cebile, went to a homestead to look for firewood while the rest of our team and I stayed at the care point to be with the children. Elena, Cece and Cebile came back with plenty of firewood to cook food for the day!! Not only did the Lord provide a man with an axe to get firewood to cook the children’s food today… He ALSO surprised the care point with bananas! After many children had eaten their rice for the day, a truck pulled up to the care point and dropped off five buckets of bananas!!
When we arrived at the care point, we didn’t think the children were going to eat that day, but the Lord not only provided food for that day, but a special treat as well! These children were selfless making sure everyone had plenty, one young boy even offered me his only banana. Although, I still urged him to keep it for himself.
The Lord reminded me today that He always goes the extra mile for us! Sometimes when we need it the most and sometimes when we need it the least!
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty leftover to share with others. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
