Hi everyone!
Well, we arrived in Nsoko, Swaziland Sunday evening after an overnight flight and a 6 hour bus ride. I must say that so far Africa has been nothing like what I expected. I’ll be honest- coming here I was expecting it to be flat and ugly, 5 million degrees, and for me to be covered with bug bites within the first five minutes. I could not have been more wrong- for starters- Swaziland in BEAUTIFUL! I had no idea! It is green and lush with beautiful mountains. And so far the weather has been amazing. The first few days it was pretty overcast, not hot at all. The past few days it has been hotter, but not too bad. And I actually don’t think I have a mosquito bite to date.
But while I have been pleasantly surprised by Swaziland itself, it is our ministry here that I have loved the most. We are partnering with a church and a pastor named Pastor Gift, who has an amazing ministry here in the community. The ministry’s property where we are staying includes a church, a clinic, and a care point. (A care point is a place where the local children can come for lunch every afternoon. The local go-go’s, or grandmothers, prepare the food everyday for the children). Our main ministry has been to visit the several care points that the ministry has throughout the community. We have been visiting a different care point every morning and doing some VBS type activities with the kids, and then afterwards the children are able to eat. Since the place where we are staying is a care point as well, there are always kids around to get to know and love.
I have to say that this is definitely the worst poverty I have ever been exposed too, and often it doesn’t feel real. Around 51% of the population is infected with HIV and it is predicted that the nation will die out by the year 2050. The children wear the same rags for clothes everyday and most of them don’t have shoes. Many of them have yellow eyes and bloated bellies- signs of malnutrition. But they are some of the sweetest kids I have ever met in my entire life. They never whine or complain. I think I have only heart a child cry twice the whole time I have been here. They are just so happy for you to spend time with them, even if you aren’t really doing anything.
Like I said, I was not originally looking forward to Africa (just being honest). But it’s not just the weather and lack of bugs that has made me change my heart. I am going to be in Africa for three months, and I know it is going to get hot, and probably ugly sometimes, and I don’t expect to go three months without a bug bite. But in the week that I have been here, I can already say that I am falling in love with the people. And I know that God has big plans for us in Africa, and I can actually, honestly say I am excited now!
PS- I apologize that this is the only picture I am posting. It took me 45 minutes to upload one pic- yah for super slow internet! I will post more later, promise!
