Everything you need to know about month 3!

Hello from Swaziland! It’s hard to believe we have officially been in Swazi for a whole week. As I prepared for the race, Swaziland was one of the countries I felt drawn to the most. I had no idea why especially since I knew very little about it. Now that I’m here, I am starting to understand why. Swazi is amazing. It has some of the most beautiful landscape and amazing people. The children here are as beautiful as the landscape. I’m slowly falling in love with this place and can already tell God is going to do something big in me here this month.
           
Here is everything you need to know about month 3:

 

1. We are in Manzini, Swaziland this month working with Adventures in Missions Swaziland. Swaziland is breathtaking and working with an Adventures in Missions base feels like home.
2. We are partnered with Team Genesis this month. In just a week, our teams have meshed so well together. They are such a fun group of people to work with.  Jo (team Genesis’ team leader) and I have very similar ways of leading our teams.
3. We are so blessed to have our own house this month with Team Genesis. We have beds and can unpack for the first time on the race! We also have two full bathrooms, a kitchen, and awesome living space. We don’t have a washer and dryer so back to hand washing clothes. We also don’t have Internet at the house so we are using Internet café’s when we can. Overall, we are beyond grateful for our accommodations this month.
4. We have 2 main ministries this month.
   1. Care Points: Care points are a safe place for area kids from age 2 all the way to high school. Volunteers provide a warm meal, some education for kids to prepare for grade 1, and discipleship. Most of all, care points are place that kids can be kids and leave their responsibilities at home.
      1. A few times a week, we will divide into 4 groups among the 4 city care points to help with teaching and discipleship.
      2. We are also helping with the Care Point Christmas Parties. We help cook the meal, play with the kids, facilitate games, and help pass out gifts at the end.
      3. On Monday, we packed 2,880 candy bags for the Christmas parties. Each child receives a bag with cookies, chips, a sucker, and 3 taffy candies.
   2. Hope House: Several times a week we are visiting Hope House to pray for patients there. Hope House is a palliative care facility. Their goal is to improve the overall quality of life for their patients. Many patients have HIV/Aids, paralysis, and strokes. Our time so far has been hard but also very encouraging. I’m excited to build relationships with the patients at Hope House.

I’m so excited to see what God has in store for me in this beautiful place. In just one week, Swaziland has already stolen my heart. Please continue to pray for my team and myself this month.  Is there anything else you want to know about this month?  Watch for more blogs coming soon!
 
Heart and Soul,
Kristi