Loving Swaziland so much

I am back in Swaziland
and absolutely loving it! I believe so much that God has big things for Swaziland.
The statistics are bad. According to the UN, the Swazi people should completely
die off by the year 2050 because of the AIDS rate here. It is the worst in the world
with about two thirds of the people HIV positive. Missionaries have told us
that Swaziland
is not ready for the harvest because the people are so apathetic to the gospel
and seeds have not been planted as long as they have been in Kenya.
I think that is completely foolish because Ninevah wasn’t ready for the harvest
and God completely brought that sinful city to its knees. God must act fast to
save these people, and I have faith he will. God usually works through
desperate situations and I believe he will do it again.

Last weekend we did an intense time of team building which,
when I’m home I would be happy to explain but anything I type here just
wouldn’t do it justice. Just know that it was one of the hardest things I’ve
done but we are all now alive and well and our team is stronger for surviving.
If you want to know more when I get home just ask about my eco park experience.

Because of visa complications we didn’t leave South
Africa until Thursday, but now my team of 16
is here safe and sound in Swaziland.
This is the group I will be living with next semester and we are starting to
dive into the ministries here. Right now we are staying on a homestead and I am
having a blast. My home has a real grass roof and there are chickens, goats,
and cows in the front yard. As I was my hair behind our house I wave to the
kids on their way to school. I couldn’t be happier. In a few days we might go
to the AIM house in the city but I’m enjoying our time on the homestead while I
can.

There are several different ministries around the city of Manzini
where we are staying. Some are going to the hospital and others are going to a
carepoint which is like an informal day care for orphans. I think I’m going to
spend most of my time in a squatter camp working with the beautiful children
that live there. They are so sweet but most of them are living in intense
abuse. My heart just hurts for them but I also have hope because I know my
savior can comfort them and strengthen them like no other.

Next week we will be spending more time out in ministry and
less time in sessions which I’m excited about but please pray for energy and
strength. Also, please pray for me as I learn the language. I am really bad at learning
languages but I really want to invest here. I am having a hard time remembering
names of the kids because the sounds are so different to me. I would love to
show the kids they are valued and loved and calling them by their names would
be a good start so please pray for that. Please pray for the children who are
abused everyday who live in the squatter camp. They need the perfect Father who
will always take care of them.

Thank you for reading these posts and praying for me. It
means so much to me that so many people love and support me. It is amazing to
see the body of Christ reaching out to Swaziland
through me.

As terms of an update, I posted a few weeks ago about the
day care at Mamelodi and the need for a new building. God is so good. All the
money is raised. I praise God for all who gave and all who prayed. I can barely
wait until Thanksgiving when I can go give the money to the women who pour
their lives out for those kids and tell them their brothers and sisters in America
love them and support them.