This title has been swirling in my head for months. I knew after just a short time in Swaziland that my heart was crying out for men to show up here. Not just to have male DNA on the soil, but to have men, deep, true, men of God, who know who they are, and who their God is….SHOW UP on behalf of these kids. This is a place where polygamy and witchcraft are common place. Men have complete disrespect for women. Culturally, the men on the mountain will only listen to a married man, not even a single man. They say that single men, no matter what their age, do not understand the urges men have. And women, well, they have so little value, there is nothing they could have to say these men would ever head. So, the nation is dying. (see my blog: Beacon of Hope in a Dying Nation). But even this place, needs men! The family who runs this home is made entirely of women. The husband who came up from South Africa with his wife to establish this safe haven for children, ran off with other women. Instead of being a man and an influence for change, he adapted the mindset of the men here and has taken up polygamy. Unimaginable!
I’ve said this phrase more times than I can count….. ‘At this stage of life, there is not much I need from men, but I need men, to make other men!’ That is one thing I just cannot do. Women just cannot come alongside men and spur them into manhood the way another man can. So where are they? Where are the men for my Swazi Mountain? How about the other mountains of the world? And the valleys? And the cities?
So rise up men of courage.….men of valor, men of strength. Rise up men of purpose, men of honor, men of grace. Defend the weak, Fight for the defenseless, Battle for the hopeless. The war is waged. Take up your sword and your shield and take your place on the battle field. Heed the sound of the war horn, calling men to my Swazi Mountain…. To your mountain…. Someplace in the world.
Would you join me in praying for men to be released from the false prison and cardboard chains that hold them in their places and stop them from leading the charge up the mountain, to release the captives. Would you declare over the men in your life… Rise Up Man of God! Take Your Place on the Mountain!
