***This blog post was written last week but I’m just now able to post***
This week has been filled with some of the sweetest moments since embarking on this trip. The people who the Lord has surrounded me with in community are some of the most God-fearing, loving, servant leaders I have met since deciding to follow Jesus. To be in a group that is constantly pouring into each other, serving one another, pushing each other to serve the Lord in new ways, and seeking Him in every minute of the day has been so encouraging to watch. Earlier this week on Monday, we were walking along the streets of Manzini asking the Lord to lead us to encounters with others so that we could share His love with them. As we were walking, we came across a clothing store that has the cutest clothes. As we were looking around, I reached inside my bag to grab my phone which was nowhere to be found. We quickly discovered that it had at some point been pickpocketed. My team’s response to immediately leave the store, retrace our steps, remind me of scripture, and comfort me was exactly what I needed, and it was so sweet to see the Lord meeting me not only with community, but with an abundance of peace in that moment. After this, my squad lead had the idea to buy us all ice cream in a way of just serving us where we were despite the circumstances around us. This week, the Lord has highlighted servitude to me by allowing my teammates, the locals, and myself to joyfully serve one another through the love of Christ.
During ministry this week, I have seen our team continue to work on our project of building a soccer field at our care point. From what was once a field of tall grass, weeds, and strong roots, is slowly turning into a functional soccer field for the kids to play on after they get out of school. The team has been working on it whether it is 90 degrees or pouring rain. While this happens, a handful of us get to love on the kids who we have had the privilege of building up some great relationships with. On Tuesday, there was a little girl at the care point who had hurt her finger. One of my teammates had noticed this and ran to get our first aid kit to bandage it up. After the girl saw the bandage on her finger, she began to start crying and within seconds, my teammate had the idea to take another bandage and place it around her own finger so that they would be matching. After this, the girl stayed at her side for the rest of the day.
Tracing back to Monday night, the same night that I had lost my phone, I was walking around outside of our house barefoot since my flip flops broke one day after tripping over a rock. I began walking towards a friend to talk when I stepped on a thorn branch. Also, it turns out that the thorn branches here not only have very big thorns but also emit a chemical that makes it feel like bee stings. I began walking back towards my house when I was greeted by three of my squad mates who quickly began to clean the wounds of my foot and removing seven thorns. By no coincidence, not twenty minutes later, as a squad, we were told we were going to be cleaning each other’s feet, just as Jesus did with the disciples. In a moment that I was feeling a lot of pain throughout my foot, the Lord met me and sent His people to wash my feet and have me wash theirs.
Wednesday, the women who are on staff at the care point wanted to show us what authentic Swazi food looked like. We tried some Swazi corn bread, which is not like the corn bread we are used to in America but is so delicious. We had a conversation the week prior about different traditional foods both in America and in Eswatini and from that conversation, they decided they wanted to introduce us to their corn bread.
Later on in the day, the older kids who attended the care point came with guava fruits. These kids walk down a long road to get to the care point and along the way, there are trees that have these fruits attached to them. My team has not seen these trees and we have no idea what a good fruit would look like, but the kids do. The very next day after they brought them for the first time, they decided they wanted to bring some for a few of us on the team. They began to hand them out to a few teammates so that we would be able to try them too! The Lord’s heart is that we serve one another despite what we have and to do it joyfully, and that is what I have been able to witness throughout this whole week.
On Valentine’s Day, the men on our squad (and Mack) wanted to treat us and Mack. We woke up to pink pancakes with sprinkles, had cards written to each of us, had a little candy valentine, and a special cooked meal. To top off the day, I was supposed to be on dish duty this day, but the men decided that they were going to do it instead. I was able to have a fresh perspective on the idea of love from that day. Love through Christ doesn’t need to come from a significant other, it can come from a friend, which, when stewarded well, can be just as sweet. Also, there are a few people on our team that are talented at giving massages, which is also a very pleasant way that they were serving others this week.
On Thursday, I wore my hair down, which sounds like it’s not a big deal, BUT since my hair is thick and long, this means that the girls at the care point naturally wanted to put little braids in my hair. Truly, this act was what inspired this post about ways that we have been serving and have been served this week. The girls that were braiding my hair are not yet at an age that their English is the best, the older girls are typically able to hold a conversation, but the younger girls typically show their love through hugs, holding hands, singing, dancing, and hair braiding. What started as one girl braiding my hair, turned into 5 girls all grabbing portions of my hair and putting small braids everywhere. They had no reason to do this, but yet they did it as a way to both have fun and to serve.
Later that night, we were able to have a night of worship where we were able to just minister to the heart of the Lord with song, pray for everyone at home, pray for the country of Eswatini, and pray for each other. The Lord was present, and I truly believe that this night was a night of intercession.
Saturday, as I am writing this, is our sabbath. In the morning, a couple of friends and I made pancakes for the group, a little breakfast in bed for the roommates that were just waking up. Later on, one of our friends came out with a little nail kit and began to clean anyone’s nails who wanted it.
Being without my phone this week has been refreshing, I have been able to see things that are so much more important in life, like how to serve one another in new ways and how the Lord uses people’s gifts to minister to His heart. His heart is for us. Once you go without things that become normal, we begin to find joy in the everyday things. There is so much to be thankful for and so many ways the Lord longs to serve us through one another. It has been so sweet to see how the Lord’s love has met us exactly where we are and has given exceedingly and abundantly more than we need, just because He loves to give to us.
