This month we are in Manzini, Swaziland working with AIM (Adventures In Missions). There are 13 of us altogether and we are split up between working at local care points, working with media at the AIM office and doing maintenance.
4 of us are on the maintenance team with the AIM staff and each day is an adventure to say the least. It’s like drawing a wildcard from an uno deck, you never know what the day will hold, how long it will be and where you will end up.
BUT, it has brought a lot on a lot of memories and has challenged us in the area of flexibility.
Here is a sneak peak into a few of the different things we have done:
Loaded a truck full of food boxes and delivered them to another AIM base 2 hours away
Organized a storage unit
Played with kids at a care point
Cleaned out a storage closet at the AIM base
Organized a filing cabinet
Rode in the back of many trucks unaware of where we would actually end up
Did ATL (ask the Lord) ministry where we walked around Manzini trying to start conversations with locals
Sat in a parked car for a few hours at a packing warehouse for a truck to show up to load more food boxes (it never showed up haha)
And it’s only been a week so far.
Even though it is unpredictable and can seem random I trust that the Lord has purpose in it and that the Lord knows what we need.
For instance, this morning we were supposed to leave at 7am to go to the packing warehouse to load another truck and take another trip to the AIM base 2 hours away. As I sat down to read my bible a few minutes before we were supposed to leave I asked the Lord if I could have just a little bit more time with him to read.
Then one of my squad mates walks in to tell me that she just got a call that we would not be taking another trip to the base because of the weather (it had been pouring rain) and that they would come get us later.
The Lord answered my small prayer because he knew that I needed that time with him. Then I prayed again that he would give me the amount of time that he had for me to spend with him today.
Soon it was almost 11:00 and no one had come for us yet.
The Lord knew what I had needed. I needed those uninterrupted hours with him where only 3 other people were home and it was quiet and still.
Then I sat down to each lunch and began to write this blog and then at 12:00 heard a honk at the gate.
They were here. So now I am in a truck on the way to the packing house unsure of what the rest of today will look like.
So, yes, maintenance is unpredictable, but the Lord still continually shows his hand it in all. He still shows his consideration of me in it all. He still shows that he knows me better than I know myself and that he knows what I need and that he will not hold back in providing for me.
In the midst of unsure situations he is sure. In the midst of unpredictability he reminds me of his sovereign hand and perfect oversight.
I love that the Lord is in our midst in whatever we do whether we see it as having significance or not.
He is present in what we define as insignificant and he is at work.
