We are officially on week 2 in the country of eSwatini in Africa! Leaving Guatemala was not easy in the slightest. Over our last 3 weeks, the friendships, culture & language exponentially grew on me making it more difficult than expected to say our goodbyes. But… Africa was a sweet hello in my eyes.
We can flush toilet paper! Our entire squad lives & does ministry together! We have a 1.5 hour drive to & from ministry every day which is a great place to spend with God! There’s a highway nearby to go on a run every morning so I don’t have to break my ankles on the rocky dirt roads! I see an abundance of cows & goats every day! There isn’t much of a language barrier! I get to be around dancing children everyday! The people here are loving & have admirable style! A Brian McKnight song played multiple times during our van rides the first few days that made me feel right at home! I just love it here!
In comparison to our recent ministry experience, it looks a lot different here. Our schedule leaves a lot of time to spend in solitude with the Lord, time in community with our squad as a whole & in constant prayer.
MONDAY
After my morning run & breakfast, we start off our week in the town of Manzini doing ATL (ask the Lord). After splitting into our 2 teams, we walk around town praying & asking the Lord to highlight people to talk to, pray with & evangelize to. This could also include intercession & worship amongst our squad in the park which may bring people in to question what we are doing. We grab lunch in town together & get the opportunity to hop on wifi for a minute to catch up with life back home, post blogs & update supporters with our fundraising info. After lunch, we all go to the grocery store to shop for the week. Certain people on our squad have adopted the duty to organize our weekly meals & do the shopping while the rest of us shop for our personal snacks & toiletries! After, we head back to our beautiful homestead, put groceries away, cook dinner & have team time. For team time, we split into our 2 teams & spend time with one another being led by our team leader in debriefing our days, worship, prayer, feedback, teachings, activities, games & whatever it is that the team needs to be filled up & revived for the next day! Team time is a crucial aspect of our trip as a whole. It is a way to check in daily with one another in a small group setting in a real & honest way so that we can go on & live in harmony with a heart to serve one another & the ministries we are partnered with. Then… my favorite time… BEDTIME :)!!
TUESDAY – FRIDAY
Run. Breakfast. We get picked up by our ministry host in the van & head to one of eSwatini’s Adventures in Missions care points. We are currently serving at 1 of the 32 care points in this country that is 1.5 hours from our homestead. It’s a longer drive than the usual but this care point specifically is one that hasn’t received extra hands on a regular basis since before Covid. It’s evident in the eyes of the kids & the constant “thank you’s” from the care point director that more life around this area has been a blessing. We get to prayer walk the grounds of this village, share the gospel & love on anyone we pass along the road. The morning also includes sharing a devotional as a whole amongst our squad & care point leaders. Whenever there’s a gap, we hang out & eat our peanut butter jelly sandwich with chips & a piece of fruit before the kids start popping up. Some younger kids who aren’t in school will start walking over earlier than the remaining to play. And then all of a sudden… there’s 150-200 kids bouncing around. Most will run up to us, grab our hands & start skipping to the playground, some need some extra love & want to be picked up for a potential nap on your chest, others will line up to be swung around in circles by their arms, some start taking your hair down to play with it & touch all your bracelets & others start the dance circle. This goes on for about a 2 hours before the kids hear that the big pot of manna pack (rice/oatmeal substance) is ready. They all run as fast as they can with their brothers & sisters to pray the most beautiful prayer songs I have ever heard in my life. (If you’re interested in hearing it, please email or text me & I will get that to you because I can’t even explain in words what it sounds like.) They line up as fast as they can with their bowls & the serving begins. The remaining time is spent eating a meal together, one where some see as their last meal until the next day they come to the care point. We say our “see you tomorrow, we love you’s!!!” & get about 50 hugs before heading back home for dinner, team time & bed! But don’t forget the trail of kids running behind our van on the way out!!
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
We have an entire weekend to go on an adventure like the safari, hike or other nearby attractions & take time to rest. It’s also optional to go into town ok the weekend to get wifi but i’m so pooped by the weekend that I enjoy staying around our homestead & continuing to live off the grid! I almost forgot to mention that our homestead is on a plot of land with a nice area to have a fire or bbq & a pool so we are very very very fortunate for the space we have to use over the 6 weeks we are here!
Excited for more!
Love always,
P
I soooo wish I could be there with you all! We spent a week at that homestead two years ago sharing ministry with our squad. It truly is such a beautiful place and so fun to be involved with the kids at the care point. It is quite a system of feeding the kids…and the same thing happens every day at 32 locations!!
Dear God, please continue to provide guidance for Payton. Help her develop deeper connections with her teammates and squadmates. In Jesus’ name, amen