Ministry outline for Eswatini!
Hi everyone! It’s been a while, I wanted to say that we have all made it safely to Eswatini and have been doing ministry for about a week now. Life in Eswatini is very slow. Our daily ministry doesn’t start until 10 a.m. So we have lots of time to spend reading the word or exercising in the morning. Lots of time is spent sitting in a hammock reading a good book. This place is vastly different from the other countries we have been to. The closest grocery store is an hour walk or a 10 minute
kumbi ride that takes 45 minutes to pick you up. I am not complaining though, with the extra time we have, we are able to spend quality time with one another before we say our final goodbyes to each other in 2.5 months. Eswatini is a remarkable place to grow with God as well as spend time with our squad. I’ve been told “you can’t run from the Lord here” this place forces you to work through the things you want to run from. The growth I have seen in myself and my squad mates this year has been incredible. My mindset has changed from victimizing myself to knowing that God has purpose in everything we go through. Yesterday we found out that our Parent Vision Trip has been cancelled due to travel restrictions. This trip is where our parents can come see us on the field and join in on the work we have been doing. My mother was able to make this trip a possibility for her, which is something I thought was out of the question. However, in the end it was not the plan for her to be here with me. Which hurts but I know that something good will come out of this. It has been hard to see the silver lining but I know that the Lord is infinitely smarter than I am and that this situation happened for a reason. So now that y’all know more about the situation here in Eswatini, I will go into a week in our life.
Our ministry days are Tuesday-Friday as well as Sundays-
Tuesday- Friday: We go to our care point. We were selected to have the care point that is on the same plot of land as our team house. We are on this plot of land almost always. Ministry at the care point looks like playing with kids ages 5-17. We walk to the care point at 10 a.m. Someday we have to be the cooks, the children eat the same meal everyday. For some students this is the only meal they may get for the day. We also get the privilege to go to house visits. Last week we were able to go to the house of an older man and his nephew. We brought our bibles and shared the gospel with them, we got to pray with them and for them as well. It was such an amazing experience. With our team being the team that stays the closest to base, we also have the responsibility of cooking meals for the squad Monday- Friday. We switch off with this responsibility and everyday 2 of us leave the care point early to do this job. We get to be a part of a bible study on Wednesday mornings with the staff at the base. We are studying Daniel and we have gone into so much depth, I have learned so much. On Wednesdays, we have been able to go to the local soccer field with our care point shepherd and support the high school students that we don’t get to minister to often. They do their Swazi cheers and dances and we watch in amazement. These are some of my favorite days. On Thursdays, we get to do inventory at the clinic besides our house. The clinic is free for the locals to use. We are so grateful to get to help out there in anyway we can. Sundays we go to Elohim Church. It is a mile walk to get there, but so worth it because the joy and the love they have for Jesus is amazing. We were told that most people in Eswatini say they are christians but still believe in deep rooted traditions. Such as ancestral worship and child sacrifices. Hearing of these things break my heart, but that just shows the need this place has to know the true gospel. We have ben told Elohim is a great church but there are many around that teach these sort of terrible traditions as part of the christian belief system.
Saturdays and Mondays: Saturdays we get an adventure day. Yet, in the middle of the African bush, there isn’t much we can do. I will let you know of some of the adventures we have been on as we explore more of this country. Mondays are our sabbath day, we spend most of our time with the Lord and being taught by our leaders.
Leave any questions in the comment section below and I will try to get back to you ASAP! Just know wifi is VERY limited here.
Life is truly beautiful in this country with these people! I love every minute of it, even though the dirt gets caked onto us. I don’t mind showering 3+ times a day because it means I was out experiencing the beauty that so many people get to call home. Love you all so much and can’t wait to see you guys soon!
Special Announcement: That is exactly the post I was going to share about 2 hours before we got the news that we would start traveling back the America. I still have yet to figure out my feelings in the middle of this mess. but as soon as I do, I will be making a post to tell everything i have learned and how we got to this point. Z squad is coming home becuase of concerns with borders and the Corona Virus… Everything I said up there is still so true. We are heartbroken but I know God has a purpose in the middle of this sadness we are feeling. I still love you all and I’ll see you sooner than expected haha!
