Wobbling across the South Africa- Swaziland boarder 🙂
The entrance to El Shaddai Children's Home where we spent the month of October. El Shaddai is located on top of a mountain in the middle of a few mountain ranges in northeast Swaziland, just outside of Mbabane. It was a 45 minute drive up to the top but the views were absolutely incredible.
We spent our mornings working on projects around the property that included painting the exterior of most of the buildings and the roofs, painting murals in the new baby house, collecting debris around the property, and sorting and organizing donations that had been sent to the children's home. Due to a lack of resources, we got creative with the tools we used to complete some of the projects (hense the sticks in the above picture). It turns out that scrapping dirt and grime off the walls to prep them for a new coat of paint was an awesome opportunity to exchange testimonies and laugh about all things that would only happen in Africa.
Sometimes on the Race, people get baptized in awesome places. Lesley chose to make this proclamation in a holy (!) pool on top of a mountain and it was beautiful!
Nothing compares to worshipping the Creator amidst an incredible backdrop that He created! Every morning, the landscape was different and more beautiful than the day before. Towards the end of the month, the weather turned a little more grey and clouds were constantly rolling in over El Shaddai but this gave us countless opportunities to worship INSIDE the clouds.
This girl was hands down the best part of the month. Nokhanya's joy and inquisitive nature were infectious. Her questions about faith and Jesus were thought through and heartfelt and started some pretty incredible conversations. I don't know how many 14 year olds ask questions like "did Jesus want to die or was he forced?" or "Why is it that we can't always feel God's Spirit in us?" and not just accept simple answers but want to discuss and work through it further. The way that Nokhanya worships the Lord through singing and leads others in creating harmonies that brought tears to my eyes on a regular basis was nothing short of incredible and inspiring. Her deeply rooted appreciation for the way that the Lord has provided for her throughout her life has instilled a desire to give back and help people through dentistry. When we were discussing the harder parts of her life and the pain she's gone through, she looked me dead in the eye and said "But its fine Maddie. Life doesn't end here." Yep, she's incredible.
Team Zeal ready to leave the mountains of Swaziland for the beaches of Mozambique!
ALSO: check out this video that my talented squadmate Joe created for El Shaddai. Nokhanya is the one singing in the background 🙂
El Shaddai from Joseph De Leon on Vimeo.
