My first day of organized ministry (09/18/2017) in Nsoko, Swaziland was very different from the rest. I was, at the time, living on an Adventures In Missions (AIM) base and on the first day of ministry my squad and I sat in on an AIM staff meeting where we met our ministry hosts and were told how we would be serving them in the coming weeks. I learned that I was going to be working at a care point with Children’s Hope Chest doing a variety of things including digging trenches and placing tires around playgrounds, teaching small lessons, painting, leading worship, and simply playing with kids.
At the start of this meeting, my team met Lwazi. He was the shepherd of the care point that we would be serving at throughout our time in Swaziland. Lwazi shared his heart with us through his vision for the kids that he takes care of. He also gave us some things that we could be praying over throughout our time there; specifically, he asked us to be praying for the kids that go through life without a father. Of all the requests Lwazi gave, this one stuck out to us the most. We spent the next hour or so in prayer seeking scripture that we could be praying over for Lwazi’s petitions. When my team came together again, we each shared that God had laid Romans 8:15-16 on our hearts. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we at children of God”. We spent some time praying over these words together when we decided to go on a walk.
We walked no more than five minutes down a dirt path when we were swarmed by kids getting out of school. They took us by the hands and started to walk with us. We walked for miles with these kids learning little things about them from time to time when we were able to understand each other despite the language barrier. One thing I learned about a couple of these kids was that they were fatherless. After about an hour and a half of walking, Jess, one of the girls on my team, stopped and said that she felt like we should spend some time in worship. Expecting the kids to continue walking, we stopped on the path and began to sing together, “Good, Good Father”, but the kids did not continue on their way. Instead, they sat. These fatherless children who could hardly understand English sat as we sang these words together:
“Oh, I’ve heard a thousand stories of what they think you’re like
But I’ve heard the tender whispers of love in the dead of night
And you tell me that you’re pleased
And that I’m never alone
You’re a Good, Good Father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am
Oh, and I’ve seen many searching for answers far and wide
But I know we’re all searching
For answers only you provide
‘Cause you know just what we need
Before we say a word
You’re a Good, Good Father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am
’cause you are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways to us
You are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways
You are perfect in all of your ways to us
Oh, it’s love so undeniable
I, I can hardly speak
Peace so unexplainable
I, I can hardly think
As you call me deeper still
Into love, love, love
You’re a Good, Good Father
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am
You’re a Good, Good Father
(you are perfect in all of your ways)
It’s who you are, it’s who you are, it’s who you are
And I’m loved by you
(you are perfect in all of your ways)
It’s who I am, it’s who I am it’s who I am”
These kids that were once restless grew and silent as they listened to the words that we sang. Some of the older ones that knew more English began to mumble along with us, but every child in our midst got a small glimpse of their Heavenly Father that will never stop loving them.
