Swaziland never stops amazing me!!!! So for about a week and a half, we’ve had these amazing mountains behind our house that I could never imagine seeing the top of. But on Saturday, we did just that thing!! We left the Anchor Center at 9 AM and were ready to conquer this hike! It took us an hour to get to the base of the mountain and then 2 hours to climb it. Our leader was a sweet, local girl named Paulet, who was 15 years old, along with her cousin Carl and her brother John, both at least under 10 years old. Although they are all very young, I trusted them with my life that day. They know Nsoko like the back of their hands. Paulet’s Godmother lives on top of the mountain, so she goes up there about once a month to visit! On our way to the mountain, I realized I left my inhaler back home, so I was a little worried, but I kept trudging on. We got lost a few times going up, but through a lot of pain, breaks, water, sweat, we made it! What a stinkin’ view! At launch, before we left for our trip, AiM prayed over these key necklaces that said different words on them and mine was strong. Whenever I felt weak going up this mountain, I just grabbed on tight to my key and knew that the Lord will give me strength through my weakness. We started at an elevation of 550 ft, and ended up at around 2,000 ft. Also technically we hopped over the border of South Africa because the mountains are the border (whoops!!) 🙂 So we walked to her Godmother’s house and she wasn’t anywhere to be found, so we just did what good Americans do and took pictures of the view and ate some PB & J’s. Paulet really wanted to see her Godmother, so she asked around to her neighbors and heard that she was at a party near the school they had on top of this mountain. So we walked towards the school and ended up walking on this long dirt road, confused where this party would be at or how much longer or what even it was for. We come up to this open field of many american pick-up trucks to our left, and to our right, a fire pit, many locals sitting down talking, and a giant wall made up of at least 10 ft tall branches in a circular shape. Our group was very confused and didn’t know anyone there. Also everyone was staring at us because a group of american women just crashed their party!! So Paulet ends up asking one of the men that comes up to us if her Godmother was anywhere to be found. A lot of confusing conversations with locals later, we found her!! She was so sweet and was super happy to see Paulet and the guests she brought along! So during the search to find her Godmother, we’ve been hearing chanting inside that giant circle of branches. You can see through the branches a little and see that there’s a ton of people dancing inside. Most of our group’s first reaction was “Uhhh…I don’t know about this” or “Maybe we should leave, I don’t want to intrude,” but they were super inviting!! A man told us that he really wanted us to come into the circle and enjoy the party, and one of the biggest things we’ve learned from AiM is that we want to be culturally appropriate and not offend anyone. So we said sure!! and headed into one of the coolest things I have ever experienced!!! It turned out to be a Heritage Day for a Swazi tribe! It happens once a year, and it turns out that we came on that one day (wow, that’s God!!!) There was probably over 200 people there for this celebration and they were in all different types of attire like fancy tribal dresses, casual wear, and then animal fur, especially the chief of the tribe who’s outfit was all made of leopard skin! They sang many songs and some did dances in the middle to honor their chief, and they all were super excited to see us there! We eventually had to say goodbye and they sent us on our way with some amazing African food!! It took us 2 hours to go back down the mountain (pro tip: don’t wear chacos to hike a mountain because you’ll fall down at least 4 or 5 times, rip your toenail and hurt your achilles tendon :)) I’m all good though because God was with my the whole way. One of the best feelings was walking away from the mountain that wrecked our bodies and singing A’int No Mountain High on top of our lungs. Eventually, on our hour walk back from the base of the mountain to our home, I was walking by myself reflecting on the past amazing 8 hours. Best day of my life. I love the Lord and all the blessings He is giving me. I was able to just pray out loud to Him which is one of the best ways I like to pray. Just having a conversation with my pal Jesus. I’m so thankful that He showed me the meaning to my key I was given. I know that He gave me strength to conquer that mountain physically and mentally. Being in Swaziland with barely any internet for a month and being able to connect with the people around me and the Lord has been the best month of my life. I’ve heard the Lord speak to me in so many ways that I never would have if I was still caught up in all my unhealthy habits that I had at home. I love being able to clearly see my growth with Him and His love just pouring out on me and my squadmates. I can’t believe in only a few days I will be saying goodbye to this beautiful country and heading to my next. I know the experience in Lesotho will be just as amazing, and goodbyes will have to be something I get used to, but this month has truly been an unforgettable experience!
Please pray for my squamates and I as we say our goodbyes and some of us our still sick, so pray for health physically and mentally! Pray for safe travels and for each team as we will be ending all squad month and living with a host family and 1 other team in our next house! Going from 50 people to about 15 will be much different, so just pray that goes well. I’m so incredibly thankful for all the support and prayers that I’m receiving from my supports so just thank you for that!!
Much love
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Also!!! I’m super in need of support!! I still need around $4,000 to be fully funded by the end of December, which is only 3 months away! Please pray for me because I can’t really fund myself out here on the field, so just pray that the money will come so I can have peace!!
I’m posting this currently in South Africa at our debrief! It’s just for us to take a break from ministry and evaluate what we’ve learned in our month in Swazi! Monday we leave for Lesotho! Yay!! 🙂
