Saturday November 3, 2018
Month 3. Squad living. Ministry doing. Jesus loving. People meeting. Relationships growing. Praise lifting. Lies fleeing. Love doing.
As I begin my last month in the beautiful Kingdom of Eswatini, I am thoroughly saddened. God has fully changed my heart for this country and the ministry that we are doing here. Upon arrival, I never thought that I would want to return. But, the more time I spend here, the more I could see myself living here. I can’t imagine leaving these children that I continue to grow a deeper love for. I can’t think about leaving our shepherd, who we’ve grown such a great relationship with.
Swaziland for me has been full of peace, stillness and awe of my Father.
Besides the beauty and wonder of the country, there is a heavy need for revival. There is knowledge among the majority of Swazis of who God is. However, they don’t live their lives as if God is their ultimate Provider, Comfort, Peace, Friend, Father, Protector, Savior and King. They are filled with great jealousy; this is seen at every age, but especially at such a young age amongst the children at our carepoint. This quickly leads to violence, as kids hit one another over having turns in games, our attention, being ahead in the lunch line etc.
Teenagers and young adults are quite hopeless regarding life. There are limited jobs here in Swazi, which gives them little to look forward to. Most desire to go to America because they believe it will fix all their problems, mostly pertaining to wealth. However, they truly see no way of obtaining this goal since they can’t find employment here. This hopelessness and lack of employment leads them to using/selling drugs and abusing/selling sex.
There is serious spiritual warfare attacking the country. People turn to the many witch doctors when they’re trouble instead of turning to the Lord. 2,000 Swazi children went “missing” during election season due to sacrifice rituals. This happened while we were here in September. The children at our carepoint didn’t make the long walk to school because it was no longer safe for them. However, this aspect of the country is very much behind the scenes, which makes it easy to forget about or ignore.
Though all of this darkness is true, I am thankful and confident that the Lord has his hand on this country. Please continue to join me in prayer for Swaziland.
