Swaziland was full of three things:
1.
Helping clean up the team home where we lived
and the land around it (a.k.a. lots of weeding).
Helping clean up the team home where we lived
and the land around it (a.k.a. lots of weeding).
2.
Visiting Gogos (grandmothers) at home and
praying for them.
Visiting Gogos (grandmothers) at home and
praying for them.
3.
And going to Centers to teach a lesson and play
with the kids there.
And going to Centers to teach a lesson and play
with the kids there.
One of our big projects working around the team house was to
weed the compost garden right outside of it.
Now, I say weeding… But it was more like de-foresting. Underneath weeds that were my height or
taller (pictured below) was a dying bean garden and our job was to unearth said garden. It was dirty exhausting work, but extremely
rewarding. You could see the fruits of
your labor and how much had been done.
Plus, when it was finished, we had a beautiful and flourishing bean
garden!
weed the compost garden right outside of it.
Now, I say weeding… But it was more like de-foresting. Underneath weeds that were my height or
taller (pictured below) was a dying bean garden and our job was to unearth said garden. It was dirty exhausting work, but extremely
rewarding. You could see the fruits of
your labor and how much had been done.
Plus, when it was finished, we had a beautiful and flourishing bean
garden!
Another thing we got to do while in Swazi was visit Gogos at
home and pray for them. We would go and
sit with different families and ask them questions. We would spend as much time as we could with
them and then we would pray for them.
One Gogo we would visit as often as we could was Gogo Flora (second picture below). Gogo Flora lived on our running loop, so we
saw her regularly. Even if we didn’t
stop by, she would wave to us as we passed.
Gogo Flora would talk to us for as long as we would let her. She was taking care of her nine grandkids
because all of her kids had already passed.
Also on her homestead were puppies, chicks, kittens and
great-grandkids. We even got to name the
newest, youngest one while we were there!!
home and pray for them. We would go and
sit with different families and ask them questions. We would spend as much time as we could with
them and then we would pray for them.
One Gogo we would visit as often as we could was Gogo Flora (second picture below). Gogo Flora lived on our running loop, so we
saw her regularly. Even if we didn’t
stop by, she would wave to us as we passed.
Gogo Flora would talk to us for as long as we would let her. She was taking care of her nine grandkids
because all of her kids had already passed.
Also on her homestead were puppies, chicks, kittens and
great-grandkids. We even got to name the
newest, youngest one while we were there!!
The highlight of Swazi for me, though, was going to the Centers
to teach lessons and play with kids. We
had a ton of fun teaching the kids and playing with them!! Every day during the week that we went out,
we would go to a new Care Point and teach a whole new set of kids. Below are some pics of us goofing off with some of the kids
at different Care Points!
to teach lessons and play with kids. We
had a ton of fun teaching the kids and playing with them!! Every day during the week that we went out,
we would go to a new Care Point and teach a whole new set of kids. Below are some pics of us goofing off with some of the kids
at different Care Points!
The little boy I am holding in the picture stole all
of our hearts. He was sweet, quiet and
in need of love. The second time we
visited his Care Point he came running up to me, grabbed my hand and started
jumping. I picked him up and tickled
him, laughed with him and told him how much he was loved. When I finished whispering to him words of
encouragement he would never understand, I snuggled in close with him and
kissed him on the cheek. In response, he
looked up at me with round eyes… and kissed me back! This sweet moment with a boy whose name I
still don’t know will stay with me for a long time.
of our hearts. He was sweet, quiet and
in need of love. The second time we
visited his Care Point he came running up to me, grabbed my hand and started
jumping. I picked him up and tickled
him, laughed with him and told him how much he was loved. When I finished whispering to him words of
encouragement he would never understand, I snuggled in close with him and
kissed him on the cheek. In response, he
looked up at me with round eyes… and kissed me back! This sweet moment with a boy whose name I
still don’t know will stay with me for a long time.
Until next time…
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from South Africa!!
**Thank you Paige Burlew, Ashlie Gosnell, Emily Schwartz and
Mary Timaeus for letting me steal your pictures to use!!
Mary Timaeus for letting me steal your pictures to use!!
