I have officially left South Africa and made my way to Swaziland for month 6. After having a great second month in South Africa working alongside Manna Church in White River, South Africa. It is good to be back on the move with the design and intent of the World Race. Our travel day was the shortest yet, but turned out to be such an obstacle. We were supposed to be picked up at 10am to travel to Swaziland for a 4-hour bus ride. The bus ended up breaking down on the way to pick us up, and ended up picking us up at 6pm for a 7.5-hour bus ride. We arrived to our ministry destination at 12:30am on Saturday November 29, 2013, where we were welcomed to Nsoko!
This month I am living with 3 all girl teams, we are all doing the same ministry but on different days. We are living on a “homestead” of an AIM base in Swaziland, in a team house. This house has 3 bathroom stalls, 4 showers, 2 bedrooms with bunk beds and a “living room” with plastic chairs and tables. There is also a clinic, church, playground, community gardens, and pastor’s house. The property here is so beautiful and what I imagined Africa to be, we are living in the middle of nowhere. We do have running water and electricity, but they work when they want to. Mountains and God’s beauty of His creation surround this property.
Ministry this month involves quite a few different areas. It all evolves around serving the surrounding community through home visits, visits to the 10 centers around us (where children are fed and learn about Jesus), gardening in the community garden on the property where we live, and harvesting. Home visits involve visiting our neighbors in their homes to pray and read scripture over them. We live at the anchor center, which is the main care point center. When we visit other centers we teach Bible stories to kids there and hang out with them. Gardening involves weeding and clearing plots of land for more area to plant. Harvesting is gathering food from local gardens to distribute to the nearby centers to feed the children.
After just 2 days of ministry, the Lord has given me a love for His people and children here. This has involved holding children, to gardening, to interacting with the kids on afternoon runs. Yes you heard correctly, I have a teammate who has started training me to run (this is for you Madisson, Lindsay Collins and Dobner, and Meaghan). I made a goal to run 20 minutes straight by leaving here December 19th but I have already met this and ran 30 minutes straight. So when I get home I will need a running or slow jogger to go with me. He has given me a heart to understand the simplicity of the lifestyle here and I see His love and goodness for their lives. I am excited to see what He has for this month and know His plans are great, I am just His vessel!
