Happy Monday everyone!
We arrived here in Swaziland (also known as Eswatini) on February 2nd. We jumped right into ministry that Monday the 4th. I will talk more about ministry in a bit.
This month is all-squad month, meaning all 37 of us plus our 3 squad leaders are all together. Living with 40 people is both frustrating and sweet, annoying and life-giving, stressful and exciting.
There are not enough beds for everyone, so the 3 all-girl teams are sleeping in tents outside. The 2 co-Ed teams are sleeping in the bunk beds inside. The guys in one house and the girls in another, so I’m blessed with a bed, and a squadmate is using my tent for the month.
The property has 2 dogs, 4 puppies, lots of chickens, and geckos, and occasionally goats will wonder through our property. It’s beautiful! The flowers and trees are unique and plentiful. They even have mango trees!!!!
Each day of the week, each team is in charge of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as the cleanup. My team, Team Kainoseros, is in charge of Fridays. This past Friday, we made French toast for breakfast and dinner was loaded baked potatoes and chili and lots of toppings options. Lunch is always (7 days a week) Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches and an apple. Our meals were a hit! It was fun cooking together.
For ministry, we are assigned to different types of ministry, so I don’t do ministry with my team this month. We are working with an Adventures in Missions base, who partners with an organization called Children’s Hope Chest here in Swaziland. They have various ministries and “Care-points” in and around Manzini that help the children of the community.
The ministry options include:
Agriculture
Maintenance
Timbali Crafts
Preschool
Discipleship
Social Media
I was assigned to Timbali Crafts with 2 other girls from another team, Macy and Hannah G.
Timbali crafts is a ministry where Swazi women create products and earn money for the products; they are also volunteers at the Care-points, which provide Jesus-centered care through Children’s Hope Chest and Adventures in Missions Swaziland.
I had the opportunity to go to a care point and help cut the fabrics for some products. Grandma, you’d be proud!
We are also in the process of doing an inventory of the products at the Swazi home office of Timbali crafts.
I know God assigned me to this ministry for a specific purpose, so pray for me that I will stay open to whatever He has for me in these next few weeks.
To learn more or to buy products, visit this link:
Timbalicrafts.org
As always, visit
Instagram.com/sharonruns for some photos of my time here.
In courageous faith and for His glory alone,
Sharon
