If someone had told me that I would spend a month of my Race working in a pig pen, I wouldn’t have believed them. Especially since we were at El Shaddai with so many precious children. But sometimes, God calls you to do ministry in completely unexpected places. And I’m really thankful for that because I actually learned a lot through working with pigs.
My typical day would start in the pig pen with about 3 to 4 hours of shoveling poop, cleaning troughs, and scrubbing the pens. Then I would always come back and take a shower, eat lunch, and have some free time for reading or napping. In the afternoon, most people had a buddy to tutor. Since I ended up not having one, I spent my afternoon time in the baby house, with all the kids under preschool age. Afterwards, it would be time for my team to cook dinner, and then we would have our evenings free to have team time, Bible studies, worship, sessions with our squad leaders, etc.
God taught me a lot this month. For starters, I learned that His work can literally be anything – even cleaning up poop in a pig pen. His work is sometimes dirty, gross, and difficult, but always humbling. And sometimes, serving the least of these means cleaning up after pigs. Or helping to castrate some of them so they’ll have healthier meat. Sometimes you’ll get eye infections from having pig poop flung in your face. I also learned that I’d rather love on some babies and risk getting their rashes or ringworm than not show God’s love to them at all. They are His precious children, and they deserve His love as much as anyone else.
My month started off rough spiritually, but God taught me a lot about soaking in His presence and peace. Just because I don’t feel Him doesn’t mean He’s not there. I have to seek His face at all times. Doing that this month showed me God’s presence in new ways. This month has been so great for so many reasons, and I’m so thankful for my time at El Shaddai. God’s presence on that mountain is undeniable, and I believe that the children there are future leaders of their nation. God is going to redeem Swaziland in amazing ways through these children and El Shaddai.
Please pray for El Shaddai – that God will continue to provide everything they need. That He will speak to His children there and guide them to Him. That He will give the staff rest, peace, and joy to continue pouring out their love on the kids. And that whatever impact we had there will remain and continue God’s work after we leave. Thank you for your prayers and support!
