I first came to Swaziland in January while on the World Race. Out of all the places we went to on the Race, Swazi was probably the poorest place I saw. It seems like the poverty here is greater, hope is lost, and everywhere you turn you see a need. After having my heart broken for this place back in January, I was excited to return to help bring the hope of Jesus to this place. Being back here has been incredible. The Lord has showing me so much about His goodness and His grace, and I love the people in this community. As much as I love being here, my primary ministry is my girls I am co-leading. I am here to help them walk through all they are seeing and experiencing, but my heart still breaks for this country.
Here are a few ways you can be praying for Swazi:
Pray for Hope:
Hunger is everywhere. Most of the people in this community only receive one meal a day (sometimes not even that). The “care points” we have been working at are places where anyone can come and receive one meal every day usually consisting of rice; but for some people, it is too far to walk, or they are too sick to get themselves there. Most of the people in this community rely on the government to distribute food every few months, but a lot of the time the food comes late, if at all.
Work in Swazi is very hard to find. This past week we witnessed a protest in some sugarcane fields located right across the road from us. Men marched down the street into the fields and set them on fire. For most of the morning we could see a cloud of smoke and path of fire running through the fields. This protest was held because the land owners had purchased machines to replace the jobs of these men. Jobs are extremely limited here, and now people need to fight for the ones they once had.
Children need to be loved. A few nights ago we had a young girl, 14 years old, who showed up in our window. I recognized her from one of our care points that was almost two miles away. She had walked alone in the dark with no shoes on the dirt roads. 
Her father is in the hospital and his girlfriend had kicked this young girl out of the house with none of her things. Now she was at our house, with nothing, and over 7 months pregnant after getting raped by her uncle. She has been staying with Pastor Gift and we will hopefully be able to get her into some sort of halfway house where she can be taken care of and receive counseling. It is great that we have been able to help this girl, but sadly, this is a common story. There are a lot of children in this community in abusive homes, girls gettingpregnant extremely young (usually because of rape), and a huge lack of parents due to sickness related to HIV/AIDS.
There is so much need in this place and at times it can feel extremely overwhelming. I know I am only here for three short months, but I know that this is what the Lord has called me too, and I want to bring His hope. Please pray for the people of Swaziland and for our role in being here. Pray that we would bring the light of Christ into every place that we go, and that the people here would have hope in knowing that they have a Father in Heaven who loves them.
Romans 8: 38-39
” For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
