As the machete was let loose, blood streaked across my left arm, squad mates screamed, and I stood there shaking, shocked my hand didn’t just get chopped off!
Last weekend was Ford’s 19th birthday and the team wanted it to be a celebration to remember. There is not a whole lot to do in Swaziland, but we had a few plans in mind. One of our ministries is going to the nearby grocery hub to build relationships and evangelize to some of the locals. In that we’ve had the opportunity to share the gospel over a card game with some mechanics, speak with grocery workers and guards, and give out bibles and food to people there. One particular lady we’ve had the privilege of getting to know makes some of the best muffins I’ve ever tasted. Naturally, we asked if she could make one hundred for Ford’s birthday to spell out on a table “Happy Birthday”. With that, she also insisted on getting him a cake which we were to pick up the day before his birthday.
Now, here is some context for the horrific sentence I wrote earlier. Ford has never gone through the process of killing, plucking, gutting, and cooking a chicken. We thought what a better place for him to do this than in Swaziland. The day before his birthday, we took Ford to catch a chicken (which he named Arnold) and bring it home to kill, cook, and eat which was an exciting and memorable experience for all of us. We prepared a spot, sharpened a machete, sang happy birthday and as I held the chicken down, in one swing Ford took its head off. After cooking Arnold, we realized the only issue was he didn’t taste like chicken, but described by the guys as some of the best Mongolian beef they’ve ever tasted. The following day we woke Ford up at 4 O’clock singing happy birthday and later that morning arranged the 100 muffins on a table to spell out “Happy Birthday” along with presenting the cake, a breakfast for champions.
I’ll admit, this post was a strange one, but I think this gives a better picture as to what a birthday looks like in Africa (at least for my team…)
As my time in Swaziland comes to an end, and we prepare to leave for our next country be on the lookout for pictures, blogs, and other great stuff. Also, I read all comments, so feel free to put a little message for me down there.
Stay tuned…
