First off I would like to apologize for not blogging in a while. Good wifi in Africa has been difficult to come by. Swaziland was an incredible experience filled with wonderful visitors, heartwarming kids, devastating poverty, and abundant hope.
Many of us were blessed this month to have our parents visit us in Swaziland for a “Parent Vision Trip” or PVT for short. During this PVT we were able to show our parents what the Lord is doing in Swaziland, as well as what the Lord has been doing in our own lives over the past year. It lasted 5 wonderful days and we were able to visit different “care points” for needy children. At these care points children would play games, learn bible stories, receive food, and experience the love of God from the people who ran the care point and volunteered at it. I’ve done mission trips with my parents as a kid, but this is one that I will forever cherish as I was able to witness them experience God in new ways. My parents are incredibly servant-hearted and are great with kids, so this ministry seemed to come quite natural to them. They played hard, they prayed hard, and the Lord worked through them. We were also able to go on a safari together were we saw lions, impala, rhinos, and African elephants in the wild!
Swaziland is a beautiful country that has experienced, and is still experiencing, devastating loss due to HIV and AIDS. There are many orphans in the nation and food is scarce. In response to this crisis Adventures in Missions has set up around 35 of these care points to try to meet the needs of the community. Seeing the situation that these children are in, I don’t know how they would survive without the food from these care points.
After PVT we spread out in groups of two or three and spent the rest of our time ministering to specific care points. My teammate Jordan and I worked at a care point/preschool in the city of Manzini. If I could describe the children of Swazi in one word it would be “loving.” Before we could make it through the gate kids were sprinting towards us just to hug and say hello. You could tell that many of these kids were starving for attention- missing one or both parental figures in there lives. Teaching preschool is mostly adorable and hilarious but often times it can be chaotic and frustrating too. Despite the chaos, we bonded with the kids almost immediately and did what we could to bless them.
The Lord taught us much about generosity this month. There are so many physical needs in these communities and it’s not these kids fault for being in this situation. We heard a devotional about the feeding of the 5000 that stressed using what you have to blessed others. I felt the Lord challenging us to love more sacrificially with what he has given us. We were able to buy new clothes and food for the some of the most needy children at our care point.
Overall, Swaziland was a beautiful and challenging month. We made great friends saw the love that God has for these people and how much the Swazi people love him too! If you are reading this please pray for the nation of Swaziland as well as these care points.
