You may be wondering by now what exactly a day of ministry at the carepoint looks like for us! While every day is different, here are some key points:
- During our time there, our main focus is to play, sit with, talk with, and/or rest with the kids and love on them by just being present. We also help with serving food at mealtime in the afternoon and organize kids and materials as needed. Once a week we help shepherd the kids into a church building/multipurpose room for a short devotional – which when we’re there is given in English and siSwati!
- Some of what we do is play on the playground, run around the grounds/play soccer and frisbee, start dance circles (we’ve introduced them to the cha cha slide, the Macarena and the church clap!), let our hair get braided, talk about things like favorite colors/school subjects, or even just be a pillow for kids to take a nap on!
- When possible, we also do prayer walks and house visits in the surrounding community before the kids come to the carepoint – but since the kids are out of school for the majority of our time here (they’re on term break through the middle of May), they’re normally already at the carepoint as soon as we get there!
- English is taught in schools throughout Swaziland, so the kids all have some level of shared communication with us, which is really cool. In that way the communication barrier is actually significantly less than it was in Guatemala!
- With the older, high school-age kids you can have a full, serious conversation because many of them are fluent in English (or close to it). Though I will add that this past week I even talked with some younger kids (like 7, 8, 9 years old) who had very good English as well!
- A lot of the kids also love to teach us siSwati words (and laugh at us when we inevitably say them wrong, but it is what it is – I don’t think any of us are quite used to the clicks and more guttural sounds that are common in siSwati!).
- There’s a dress code for us girls while serving at the carepoints: we have to wear long skirts (calf or ankle length is required). Personally I think it’s a lot of fun – though it is hard to play on the playground in a skirt sometimes! 😆
- I actually got to have a conversation with an older girl at the carepoint who asked why we always wear long skirts. Our answer was that the ministry requires it – and she responded, “Oh, I thought it was out of respect for God!” Well, that too in a sense 😁
- Kids here have religious education classes in school, and many will share that they go to church – they often know the Bible but may lack New Testament knowledge (i.e., that there is grace, not just law). Because of that there are not many who have a real, full relationship with Jesus, though some definitely do and have encouraged our squad with their faith! We get to have conversations with them about the Gospel, the Bible, Jesus, church, prayer, and their own personal faith.
The longer we’re here, the deeper the connections we’ve been able to make with these kids, and the more the Lord has been giving me greater compassion for them as His kids. It’s become a blessing to spend time with them and love on them every day – and it’s crazy to think we only get to do so for two more weeks!
