This blog was written on October 5th. Right now my squad is in South Africa for our month one debrief. I hope you enjoy reading!
A quick look into my life this past week. Our team, along with one other, was asked to travel to a farm and help out. We loaded up in a van and headed down a pothole filled road for about an hour. Once we arrive we set our things down and met our lovely hosts. Jesse and Macaira King are a young couple from the Cincinnati Ohio area. They are temporarily running the farm for another missionary couple who are currently on furlough. Lumbordo Valley Farms is part of an organization started by the couple on furlough called, One Heart Africa. The farm teaches the community about environmental sustainability and employs locals, teaching each them farming techniques such as composting, aquaponics, and water circulation. Our role at this farm is to work along the employees, encourage them, and to finish up some larger projects that require more hands.
The first day we arrived Liz, Colleen, Lexi, and I helped a worker named Lucky (he was the thirteenth kid in his family hence the name “Lucky 13” )with building an enclosure for two geese that would be delivered the next day. We set up a fence and got to talk with Lucky a lot. One thing that I have been learning about Africa is that they are on their own time schedule. Nothing is based around time and therefore projects are not done to the time efficiency standard that is second nature to us Americans. It took us about two hours to finish half of the fence, which is a project that could have been done in half an hour. At first I was a little frustrated because I felt like I wasn’t being a help, but since being there I’ve learned that relationships are not only valued here (as they should be everywhere), but they are priority. The next day we were asked to build the geese a small pond in theri pin. We used shovels and pickaxes to break up the tough african dirt and dug out a small ditch. Then Jesse brought us a tarp to fill the hole, then we placed cinder blocks down to keep it weighed down. At lunchtime the geese were delivered and they went straight into their pond. After our lunch break (and a quick nap) Liz and I helped a worker named Safiso with his spinach patches. We fertilized the dirt with compost, planted spinach, and pruned the existing ones. Later in the day Liz and I made our group of fifteen dinner (yes mom I have been cooking here, actually a lot, and I’m quite enjoying it). We then had time to hang out with our hosts and play games at their house.
The next day started out with a laugh. While we were doing devotions in the morning the whole team hears the geese honking and our host Jesse yelling at them. The geese apparently did not have their wings clipped and decided to fly out of their pin and into the fields. They eventually got them back to their pin and a worker clipped their wings but it definitely entertained everyone and set the mood for the day. Liz and I continued to work on the spinach all day and got to know Safiso even more. He is a believer so we got to have good conversation about all sorts of things and joke around with each other while we worked. All throughout the day clouds were coming and going foreshadowing the coming storm. That night us girls that were in tents moved our belongings inside and set up camp in the living room. Strong African winds blew and the sky poured down rain all throughout the night.
^Liz and I with our friend Safiso
We woke up on Thursday morning to the sound of rain hitting the tin roof. Our host Jesse came in and announced that today was a free day due to the rain. The workers do not come in if it is raining and there really is not much work that can be done in the rain. It was a blessing in more ways than one. We got a restful day filled with sleeping in, baking, and our fill of movies. The farm also desperately needed rain not only to water the existing crops but to fill up the well system that can keep the farm running for weeks at a time. God bless the rains down in Africa, am I right? We also had the joy of watching the “chicken challenge.” Three of our girls chopped the heads off of chickens and it proved to be great entertainment for the afternoon. I would have joined but there were not enough chickens for us all to partake, maybe next time lol.
Friday, unfortunately, was our very last day working at the Lumbordo valley farms. We woke up ready to work after our relaxing rainy day off. We spent the morning harvesting spinach and making 30 bundles of it to send off a care point. The farm donates spinach and extra cabbage to this care point every week. We then loaded up into cars and drove to the care point. Once there we got to meet the kids and eventually passed out the produce we had brought. It was very rewarding to have prepared the soil for, planted, watered, and harvested the spinach that we were now giving away. I would very much like to do something similar to that one day. After the care point we said our goodbyes to the hosts and hit the road heading back to Nsoko. This past week was filled with the unexpected in the best possible way.
While being at the farm I learned some valuable things:
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Your feet can get so unbelievably dirty and yet still get tan at the same time
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African time is different from what we are used to, but is not bad by any means
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Rainy days with 15 girls in one small home means lots of laughter
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How to plant and prune spinach
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Swazi people like fermented sour milk, we do not. So be sure to check your labels on food!
Prayer Requests: First off thank you for being so patient as a full month has gone by without updates from me. We live on an unfinished base that has no power. There is an opportunity to buy wifi only once a week and most of the time it doesn’t connect. All this being said I am now able to post this because I have finally found working wifi, hooray!
I am very happy to say that my team has been prospering together. We are learning so much about one another and would consider ourselves friends over teammates any time of the day. Please pray for continued bonding so that we can eliminate distractions around us and focus on being examples of the Lord together. Our ministry is going well and we have been able to start teaching bibles lessons twice a week to our kids. Please pray for their hearts that they would come to know the Lord on a relational level that would transform their hearts and impact their communities for the better. Our main host couple, David and Jenna Towns, had their second baby boy this past week! Praise the Lord for this sweet time in their lives. As for me personally I would appreciate prayer for boldness in sharing the gospel. I may have a big opportunity coming up to minister to a church/community that is corrupt with darkness. Please pray that this opportunity is presented and that myself and the group I am with will be obedient to the Lord and step out into trust. The Lord has been laying these people on my heart and I hope to share with them the eternal hope that faith in the Lord brings.
