We have been here in Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, for three full weeks now and our life here looks very different than it did in South Africa. We live in two houses on a homestead in the city of Manzini. We have no Wi-Fi and basically no cell service, so God is growing us in our dependency on him rather than technology. Our house has no air conditioning, but we do have a pool to cool off in, praise the Lord. Even though life is far different here than in the West or Jeffery’s Bay, its simplicity still has so much beauty.
For ministry, we get to work at two care points. For those of you who sponsor a Compassion child or a kid through World Vision, these care points are very similar to the places those children go to receive food and discipleship. The kids at these care points are sponsored through
Adventures in Missions, and at the care point, they receive food, a place to play, and medical care when needed. Some of the care points with more funding are even able to have preschools or extra classes like computer skills. For this post, I wanted to show you my typical schedule during the week, so here it goes.
6:45 – My alarm goes off, and I get up to wash my face and brush my teeth in a bathroom shared between 8 girls. Then, I get dressed in a skirt or dress because women here wear skirts, not pants. (At least at work or other professional spaces)
7:00 – I get my Bible and Journal to spend time with the Lord before eating breakfast. For a little while, I was reading in Isaiah, but right now, I am going through 1 Samuel.
8:45 – We walk about 10 minutes down a dirt road to the tar road, where we wait for a van called a kumbi to pick us up and drive us to our care points. All 16 of us squeeze into the van, and someone usually has to sit on the floor.
9:30 – On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I go to the Thulwane care point, and we typically spend the first 30-45 minutes playing with the kids. When I go to the Mpholi care point, it takes about an hour to get there, so we don’t arrive until around 10:30
10:00 – For Thulwane, we have a devotion with the shepherds who run the care point and the cooks who help there. One person will pray, and then our team or the people working at the care point will sing a song. I love it when They sing their songs in Siswati; it is so beautiful. Then, someone shares a passage of scripture and what they learned from it, another person prays out, and we discuss what we will be doing that day. We do the same thing at Mpholi on Thursdays and Fridays. We just start a little later in the day.
10:30 – Oftentimes, this time before lunch is spent either building relationships with kids or doing odd jobs around the care point, like getting water to cook with, picking up trash, or gardening. The kids will eat breakfast around this time and then go to preschool. Breakfast is sour porridge, which is sort of like cream of wheat but with a sour taste and sugar sprinkled on top. If we are doing random jobs, we typically finish before lunch, so then we will play with the kids for a while.
12:00—We break for lunch. There is an empty classroom at both care points where we put our stuff and eat lunch so we aren’t eating in front of the kids. Every day, we eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fruit (apples or oranges) and share a few bags of chips. After eating, we nap on the floor or rest.
1:00 – By this time, the kids have finished preschool and are making spiced rice with lentils for lunch. We play with them more, and some of the younger kids fall asleep in our arms after lunch.
2:00 – This is when the primary school kids start showing up. Two sweet girls have become my friends. They come to find me when they show up at the care point, and we spend the rest of the afternoon together.
3:00—The kids all gather together, and on some days, we do a Bible story skit for them or help them practice a Christmas song for them to perform as a video to send back to their sponsors in America. Here, they call the sponsors Special Friends. After the skit and practice, the kids pray and then go outside to dish up. They get more rice and lentils.
3:30—After the kids eat or put their food away to take home to their families, we hang out and play more. Some days, though, I will hang out with the shepherds and talk with them. Our conversations often revolve around asking questions about each other’s cultures. At Mpholi, we get picked up at this time, so we can be at the Thulwane care point in time to pick them up.
4:30—The Kumbi comes to pick us up. The kids walk us all the way to the van, hug us, say “I love you,” and then wave goodbye as we drive down the bumpy dirt road.
5:00—We arrive home. One day a week, I have my turn to help cook, and on that day, I start cooking as soon as I get home. But on days I don’t cook, my afternoons look different every day. Sometimes, I read books like Surprised by Joy or Kisses from Katie. Sometimes, I shower. Sometimes, I sit around and talk to people, or sometimes, I go swimming in the pool.
7:00—Dinner is usually ready between 6 and 7. Some classics we have been eating are chicken noodle soup, corn chowder, hamburger helper, chicken and rice, stir fry, or any variation of pasta with sauce. Some of our best conversations as a squad happen over dinner, so I look forward to this time.
7:30—Team time. Every team time consists of feedback, announcements, and then some sort of activity together. Once a week, we study the book of Esther, and on other nights, we play a game together or chat to check in with one another and see how we are all doing.
9:00—Once team time is over, I get ready for the next day. I throw away any trash from lunch that day and wash my plastic sandwich bag to reuse it. Then, I make my sandwich and put my fruit in the bag with it. I make sure my bag is packed with everything I need for the next day. Then, I brush my teeth and go to bed.
That is a typical day here in Swaziland. I am so grateful to be here doing this, and I am sad that our time here is coming to an end. In one week, we travel home to the U.S. for a few days of final debrief before heading home to our families for the holidays. After 14 months of being on the field I will finally be home for a while. I don’t know how long exactly. Maybe a few months, or maybe forever. I will be an assistant at the preschool where I worked before I left for the Race. I am excited to work with kids in America again and to see my friends and co-workers there, too. Also, in other news, I am fully funded! Praise the Lord! God has provided for this trip, and I can’t wait to see how he will provide for me in the future. He is so faithful.
