My ministry in Swaziland was multi-faceted. I will be writing three short blogs on each aspect of ministry. The Pool Hall, The Care Point, and the Combes.
The Combes
There are moments on the race that you know you wont forget. Often times, these instances are connected to gorgeous scenery or impactful emotions. My moment was all about an individual. His name was Mncedisi Simelane.
In Swaziland, the main mode of public transportation is the Combe. They are small vans that people will drive on specific routes similar to a bus system. One local will drive the van, and another will collect the money. Mncedisi Simelane was one of the money collectors.
The second I jumped in that van, I could tell something was different about him. He just awkwardly smiled at us from the front seat, and I could tell he wanted to talk to us. I awkwardly smiled back, and asked him his name. He told me his name, Mncedisi Simelane. If that name was hard to read, imagine how hard it is to say. Somehow when he said his name it sounded like “Nate” to me, so I ended up calling him that. He was very excited about receiving an American nickname.
He told us that he would take us to our destination and then we would pray. I asked him, “You want to pray?” He laughed, was incredibly embarrassed, and said, “No, I meant pay!” I noticed Nate had a horrible eye infection, and asked if he wanted me to pray as well as pay. Nate excitedly agreed, and I prayed for him, the driver, and Swaziland in general. I never mentioned his eye, because I was afraid it would embarrass him, but I prayed for his health throughout the week. We arrived at our location, paid for our transportation, and was very grateful for the interaction.
There are a ton of combes in the Nsoko area of Swaziland. Despite this, we ended up in Nate’s combe almost every time. We became quick friends. We would talk for a bit, and switch off praying every trip. Nate was a Christian, and went to a nearby church. He was nervous praying around us, but excited to do so. He would often pray in his language, and then we would take a turn praying in English. Nate saved us many times from long walks in the blistering sun. He would offer us free rides from our care point to our housing, and we would later return the kindness with a very generous tip in Swaziland standards. He was slow to accept it, but very grateful. Throughout the month, his eye had healed, and continued to have a lot of very nice conversations.
Before I left the country I got his information, and we all took a picture together. It wasn’t until I left the country that I realized I couldn’t find him on facebook. As it turns out, a racer from the squad that I used to be on prior to training camp had bumped into him a month later. Nate mentioned that he knew me and that he loved world racers. Apparently we made some sort of impact on him. Those relationships are the reason I signed up for the race. I didn’t ask for my life to be changed, which it did. I didn’t ask for amazing life experiences, which I got. I just wanted to impact people on a personal level, and its moments like this that have defined my race.
I am currently $2767 short of my final deadline. If you feel called to, you can make a tax deductible donation above. Thank you so much!
