Happy New Year!
Well, it’s the beginning of month 5 of the race. Month 4 was a weird one for me, lots of ups and downs, but He is forever faithful to show His hand as long as you’re paying attention. So yeah, it was a rough month, but I learned a lot about myself and about my Father during it. We were doing ministry at a children’s home in the mountains of Swaziland called El Shaddai. El Shaddai ministers to 51 beautiful orphaned, abandoned, and unwanted children. My squad mates and I were each paired with one or two “buddies”—the children that would be our main focus. I was paired with Fana, a little 7 year old boy who stole my heart, and Thembelihle, a 12 year old boy who was a handful at times…I also quickly found that African names are not my strong point. Anyways, we were each paired with a buddy who would become our focus child for the month. We noticed something pretty quickly: a lot of these kids did not want much to do with us. To them, we were just one more group they were forced to live with for a month and then never see again. So, the first few weeks were hard. A lot of us would go to find our buddies, only to discover that they’d been hiding and running away from us all day long. It hurt, but it also gave us the opportunity to love and pursue like Father loves and pursues us. We run, we hide, we betray and hurt Him, but He never stops giving us His love, He never stops desiring to build a relationship with His children. So, we took it as an opportunity to portray His love for us, and He began to move. We started a bible study exclusively with the older guys and girls at the home, and it was a bit of a breakthrough. They still were not much responsive to us, but at least we had a platform to talk to them from and that they were willingly coming to. Soon, they were coming to us with questions—hard questions. Questions about life and the character of our Creator. Through those questions, relationships began to develop. They were no longer running away or hiding, but seeking us out. We left yesterday and it was one of the hardest things for everyone—staying and leaving. Love never fails guys, and it can penetrate even the most broken of hearts.
Christmas day was one of the best days of this past month. It was hard being away from family, very hard, but thankfully I have the best squad ever and there’s no one else I would have rather spent Christmas with. I woke up to a myriad of cards and chocolate, and it was wonderful. Christmas morning we had the opportunity to sit with our buddies as they received and opened their gifts. On top of the gifts they received from El Shaddai, we were able to each give them a gift, along with a new bath towel and a bit of candy. The looks on their faces as they were given their quaint pile of gifts was nothing short of precious. They were so happy and so content with so little. I sat with Fana as he was opening his gifts, and it broke my heart when he decided to give one of his gifts, a little toy truck, to one of the younger boys who hadn’t received as many. It was at that point that I started thanking God for this Christmas. I didn’t have gifts to open, I didn’t have my family around me, but having a relationship with Him brings all the joy I would ever need, and He blessed me by being able to bring it to these kids. I didn’t hear a single complaint from any of the kids over how many gifts they had received. They were content and overjoyed with what they were given, and it was beautiful. Father continues to reveal Himself every day to me. I continue to learn more and more the character of our God, and through that, I learn more and more about who He has made me to be and what He want’s me to grow in. We have a good good Father, who never fails to to continue to redeem me, day by day.
Now, we begin month 5. We will be switching locations from the picturesque mountains to the streets of Manzini. My team, along with another team from our squad, will be staying in Manzini and working in care points in the area. I’m not to sure what care points look like yet, but I’ve heard that they are basically a safe place for kids to come and hang out and receive care during the day. I’m so excited to see what God will do in and through me, my team, and my squad this next month. Thank you all again for the prayers, they help more than you know, and mean so much!
Love ya guys,
Will
