My month of December was spent in Manzini, Swaziland. My team’s ministry assignment for the month was to spend our mornings at Hope House in town. We would go home for lunch and then walk to a local care point center right behind our house to play with the children. The care points provide meals for the children and a place to play.
Hope House is a hospice care hospital. We would go around in the mornings visiting with people and praying for them. This ministry was great and though I enjoyed spending time with the patients, I would definitely say that my favorite ministry for the month was going to the care point in the afternoons.
Our first day there I noticed this little girl. She was about three years old and had braids in her hair. She had this great big smile and was so loving. She ran up to me and wanted to be picked up. I held her until it came time to eat. When they started to hand out the food, she went over and stood by a little boy. He looked to be about four or five. As they handed out the food, the little boy carried both his bowl and the little girls bowl over to the steps, away from most of the other kids. I found it curious that he was caring for her, so I went over to talk to them. He was very shy, but she sat in my lap right away. I learned that they were siblings. We spent the entire meal just sitting together because he didn’t talk and she didn’t speak english, but we had fun anyway.
This became a daily thing. After a few days, the boy, whom I’ll call Joshua, warmed up to me and we started playing together. When they would first arrive, he would hide and we would play chase. The little girl, whom I will call Rachel, and I would chase after him until meal time. Then we would sit together while they ate and afterwards, we played. Every day, when I got there Rachel would run into my arms. As time passed by, Joshua became more and more outspoken. He spoke english very well. We would talk and play. Play time included lots of laughs, hugs and love.
People on other teams even commented on it, saying that we looked like our own little family. I looked forward everyday to seeing Joshua and Rachel. On our days off, I was sad that I didn’t get to see them that day. This was such a weird thing, because up until then I would not have described myself as a “kids person”. But those afternoons at the care point became the highlight of my days.
I began thinking of those kids even when I wasn’t at the care point. I wanted to be one of the first people there in the afternoons and I was usually one of the last people to leave when it was time to go. Joshua and Rachel had captured my heart and I never wanted to leave them. They were both filled with so much joy and love. We had such fun times together. However, I knew eventually we would have to leave.
As the end of our time in Manzini drew near, I began to dread it. I did not want to leave my little family. My heart actually began to hurt. When people mentioned leaving, I grew sad. The night before our last day of ministry, I sobbed. My heart hurt so badly to be leaving Joshua and Rachel. They had become a part of me and I couldn’t bear the thought of having to let them go. I couldn’t imagine never being able to hold them again. I didn’t like the thought of never being able to see them grow up or protect them or be there for them when they needed someone. The amount of love I had for these children overwhelmed me. Even as I write this, tears come to my eyes again.
This was the first time on the race that it really hurt me to leave a country. It was the first time it broke my heart to leave behind people I had met. Our last day together was sweet. We played, laughed, and cuddled. We took many pictures and sang songs and enjoyed each precious minute. When it came time to leave, I hugged them fiercely. I told them how much I loved them and that I will always be praying for them. As I walked away, my heart broke. I turned to look back and Rachel smiled and took a few steps towards me again. I had to walk away from that precious little girl as tears filled my eyes.
I have never felt that compassionate about a person that was not my family in my life, let alone about two children. It was a completely new feeling for me. As I was struggling through my tears during team time that night, one of my other team mates mentioned that I had prayed for this and how beautiful it was to see God answer that prayer. I was hurting and slightly confused at the time when she said it, but when I thought about it later I realized she was so right. I had asked God to give me compassion for His people, and though this was a little different than what I had in mind, it was indeed an answer to my prayer. I began to thank God for answering my prayer. The next day was an off day to clean our house and pack before we left the next morning. After we had finished, I asked another team mate to go with me to see Joshua and Rachel one more time. I had made a Christmas card for them and I wanted to drop it off. When we got to their house, Rachel smiled and started to come towards me, but Joshua beat her to it. He ran straight into me and clasped his arms around my legs. He thought he wouldn’t see me again and was so excited that I had come to his house. We visited for a few minutes with them and their mother, but the time came again to leave. It was much more rushed good bye, but it was tear-free this time.
That night however, the tears came upon me again. Another team mate saw how heart broken I was and reminded me to be thankful for the time I had with Joshua and Rachel, though it was sad to say goodbye, the Lord still gave me the opportunity to get to hold them and love them. She encouraged me that they felt the love of the Lord most definitely through me and that I can always be praying for them. This was so true. Since then, I have prayed for them often.
Meeting Joshua and Rachel change my life. I feel like my capacity to love God’s people has grown immensely. God opened my eyes to how much I love little children. I asked for compassion and He gave it to me. God is so faithful!
Though the living conditions were a little challenging at times, Swaziland had definitely been my favorite month thus far on the race. I absolutely loved my time here and if possible, I would love to come back again. I will continue to pray for Joshua and Rachel, that they would grow up feeling loved and protected, I pray that they would know the Lord and that His covering would be upon them. I’m excited to see how else God increases the compassion in my heart for His people.
(Joshua*, Rachel*, and I)
*Thank you for all of your prayers and support. If it wasn’t for your support, I never would have had the chance to come to Swaziland or to meet Rachel and Joshua. Now knowing them, I couldn’t imagine not knowing them. I am truly blessed and want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. May God bless you!
