If there’s one word to describe my time in Eswatini, it would be joyful. And it’s kind of ironic that the name of the care point my team worked at was Joyela.
4/5 days a week, the squad spilt up to go to four local care points. Because of how unsafe the area is, the two boys teams were split amongst the four girls teams, so we had the privilege to work with some of the Othy guys. A care point is a place for kids to go after school to play, get a meal, and learn a little bit about Jesus. And because of all of the hurt in this country, we were usually the only source of love these kids would get.
Most mornings were pretty slow. We’d either have less than five kids there, or none at all. We used that time to intercede for the kids, to pray over the campus, and to clean up the area a little. But then next thing you know, it’s 3:00 and there’s over 80 kids there. First thing they would do when they got there was get a big bowl of rice. And they would bring the exact same container every day. One of us would help the cook by serving 2 big scoops of the rice to each kid. The rest of us could be found in the midst of the chaos of the playground. And then sometimes, we would gather all the kids inside and perform some songs and a Bible story. Some of their favorite games to play with us included “My teddy bear” and “What time is it Mr. Wolf?” It was a risky move initiating a game of “My teddy bear” because you never knew how long it would last (seriously could be an hour of the exact same line over and over and over and over again).
Ministry began to become hard and overwhelming because there was just so much going on. You look to the right and see eight kids on one swing, scared that another kid is going to get smashed. Then to the left is a small fight starting to happen. And then behind you is another kid crying. Let’s add the chickens and dogs running around, eating all of the kid’s food. And for kicks and giggles, I’ll even mention that we’d get a whole herd of pigs just roaming around the playground. There were times when I felt like a rope in a game of tug-of-war because I’d have kids fighting over my hands and arms. And then there’s some climbing on my back and jumping on my lap at the same time, just to get a single drop of any physical love. So then the mind game starts of whether I walk away to collect myself and cool down, or do I push through the hard because I am the only one who gives these kids love? More times than not, I would choose to push through and give all I had, but the Lord was so clearly my source of strength when I was weak. We really were His hands and feet.
For the first couple of weeks, we had a local man visit us at the care point. He went by Advisor and was 22 years old. It seemed like a beautiful opportunity at the start, as he was asking us how to pray and what our faith was. But the more he kept coming, the more suspicious it got. He knew a lot about the Bible, but also was very in touch with the demonic realm. He told us about some of the weird dreams he’d had, how he’s communicated with dead relatives, and how he considered himself God. As he kept coming, we would let the guys talk to him while the girls stayed back with the kids. It was beginning to become pretty unsafe for us as he would come while high and was very open about some of the sexual thoughts he had about some of us. One of our leaders was able to get the drugs from Advisor but unfortunately had some reactions to it, causing some bad allergic reactions. The whole environment changed when he was there, so our host, Welcome, had to have a conversation with him about not coming near the care point anymore. We continue to pray for Advisor wherever he is and hope that the Lord makes Himself known to him in ways that are real and undeniable.
Since our mornings were usually pretty slow, we had the opportunity to do some house visits around the community. Welcome, our host, took Easton, Clay, Maggie and I to visit this man and his son. The man, Mboniseni, had a stroke a year ago, causing the entire left side of his body to become paralyzed and his son, Lungelo, was the only one who cared for him. They lived in a cinder block square smaller than my backyard shed. We were able to speak some words of encouragement to both of them and got to join Lungelo in prayer over his father. While praying, I had a feeling we needed to break Mboniseni’s cane because I had recently read that faith without works is dead. So I invited his son to break the cane while we were praying but unfortunately, we didn’t see any healing. The four of us had the opportunity to visit him again a couple of weeks later and we were able to see some movement in his left hand. While it’s a small start, IT’S A START! The Lord is bringing healing over this man and we were able to see the first signs of it. We continue to pray over Mboniseni and his son for strength and faith in this season.
Our squad had the opportunity to visit a local church called Elohim. That morning at Elohim brought me the most joy I’ve ever experienced in my life. We were the only white people in the building, but you could find all of us dancing with the kids in the back. As you would imagine an African church to be, we had worship for over an hour and a half, and it was so much fun. There was something so beautiful about inviting one of the lonely kids to dance with you and watching them just light up. That building was just radiating with joy.
Swazi truly is a special country, and the Lord is so evidently moving here. As this chapter of my race ends, I sit in awe of how the Lord has worked in my life and in the lives of others. I marvel at the beauty of this land. And thank the Lord for the opportunity to be in Eswatini with the whole squad one last time before being back in the States.
