Last month I was literally in the middle of nowhere Swaziland, Nsoko! I worked at 10 different care points where we would just play with kids for a little while and share a short message before lunch. After lunch I would usually go to local houses in the village and get to fellowship with the locals via translators. We would always pray with them before leaving and try and share a passage from the Bible. I loved visiting the local houses as you never quite know what to expect. In one instance the first thing the “Gogo” (Grandma) said was “Have you ever been beaten?” Not the most welcoming introduction I’ve received but the translators said she was joking so I played it off saying “Definitely on occasions….”
Every house visit I did in Nsoko for the entire month only consisted of Gogo’s and children. Unfortunately there are very few men in the area as many live in the city for work and never come see their wives or children. That is… in the small chance that they are married. A wife in Swaziland can easily cost 18 cows and go up to 25 cows depending (My female teammates were offered cows often). Many men fail in their responsibility as men and never officially marry or stay true to take ownership of the situation. This is a portion of the reasons why Nsoko is believed to have a population with %60 AIDS. Not good by any standards, especially in relation to Christian Morals.
Most everyone I came in contact with claims to be a Christian, but just as in the U.S., taking a deeper look proves drastically different. From my understanding, going to a Jericho or Zionist church would look something like dressing up in robes, dancing around a pole, and if you use the Word of God you take the passage completely out of context and embellish on one or two sentences. One example I heard was “Man does not live on bread alone” (Math 4:4). This would be in reference to “Ah we can have more than one wife.”
Many more stories and ministries occurred in this small town (Gas Station, Store & Post Office) on the corner of the highway. There were always so many kids around, needing attention, and even some that had only been raised by ministry teams for years. We lived at a care point run by AIM but that also partnered with “Children’s Hope Chest Ministries” and a specific church from back home. It is great to see so many people and organizations working together to expand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am constantly reconstructing my knowledge of the Gospel and increasing my faith in Him who conquered death.
Last month I also gave away my guitar that really wasn’t mine to give, but by the grace of God he used it to provide a story that is still coming to a close that commenced in Malaysia three months back. Hopefully my next blog will be able to sum up God’s provision, answer to prayer and amazing grace in my life in Malaysia and now Swaziland. Muzi, who has my guitar now, is a very talented man who could bust out any African tune effortlessly. I know he will continue to bring glory to God with his amazing voice and guitar more than I ever would.
I’m currently in Maputo, Mozambique! Yes, we made it safely as always. This month our squad is split between Mozambique and Botswana. I am working with Beacon of Hope and the boy’s ministry here in Maputo. Today I hauled water for 2hrs and cut the grass with a bush knife. It appears to be a laborious month serving alongside these boys in their lives. We will be teaching Bible, English and Science as they only go to public school for 4 hours in the afternoon. We will also have a fair like festival for the kids this coming weekend.
I get back in the U.S. July 31st and would love to see you come late August/ early September to share more stories.
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for Swaziland!
- Pray that the Nsoko community will be able to have a good discernment of the truth.
- Pray for structure, peace, and ownership in the families.
- Pray for Mozambique!
- Pray for us to be effective in ministering to the locals and children at the boy’s home this month
- Praise God we made it to Mozambique, visas were a success, and all transportation to Mozambique and Botswana went smoothly.
- Praise God for all the times in my life I’ve had running water, can put my toilet paper in the toilet, eat something other than rice, and that I have time and ability to read the Living Word of God. Praise God. (Psalm 150)
A zebra just walked in the restaurant at the National park Nisela just 20km from where we lived.
Where you go if you need passport copies for visas outside the embassy.
We blew a fuse on the way to Swazi…45 min stop
Me and some of the local boys.
