I HAVE LANDED IN AFRICA!
Better yet, SWAZILAND!
As soon as I landed, there was an immediate sense of definition. To finally be in Africa was something I had looked forward to all race. It’s ancestral integrity has always intrigued me and when our four hour bus ride came to an end, we had found our home for the last three months of the race. It’s surrounded by rolling hills that break away from you. They stretch out from like the ocean and fold over like waves. Then breaking up are walls of high climbing rock faces. Each one sketched with trees as they gradually travel far down the land. The sky swallows you whole. It drowns you in its clouds and you find yourself twisted up in the blue sky. At night, it shifts to a portrait of slanted sky, painted by the Milky Way and shooting stars. Yes, Africa is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.
Away from the base here in Swaziland, there is a man and his wife. Two missionaries that have come to Africa with a vision to change the country through prison ministry. Leo, a billowing 6’ 3”, believes that the riders for change sit in prison as redeemable fathers. Jill, eloquent as a story book, guides right next to him, accompanied by the nine cats that live under her rule and protection. With a strong, weathered Dutch accent, we have settled into their home for our first two days of ministry and these are the words I can’t get out of my head yet… “You could wait for a year with a good book.” Leo and Jill have comprised a large bookshelf full of old and new stories from missionaries to English poems. Least to say, I will not be bored nor without book in hand these last three months of the race.
But the reason I wanted to tell you of these two missionaries, even though I have only known them for two days, is that they represent something I think should shake all of our dreams. They are a couple at the ripe age of retirement, but are in Swaziland, Africa. They are a couple that have a nice property of land and home, but are sharing it with 8 greasy men. They are a couple that are investing in a generation that not only precedes them, but doesn’t even hail from the same country. Those choices and sacrifices evidently depict a heart that is not for its own gain, but the revelation of of Jesus Christ.
To be honest, I haven’t been able to ask them many questions yet and I’ll understand more as the time here carries on. But what I do know is that Leo and Jill represent lives that are far removed from the norm. They represent heart and grit. They represent wisdom and subjection. I am so excited for these next three months of my life and I can’t wait to share them with you all. There is a legacy we can leave others through the dedication of our lives to Christ. I hope this short explanation of Africa and of Leo and Jill have been inspiring to you!
-Will 😉
