Eswatini

When we arrived in Eswatini we stayed at an Adventures in Missions (AIM)  base with part of another squad. This base was in the middle of the bush! Surrounded by mountains, snakes, frogs, lizards and bugs with cell service nowhere to be found. It was beautiful and remote! Couches were replaced with hammocks and uber eats and nice cafes with once a week trips to a nearby gas station after ministry and black coffee in the mornings. Here God really met me as a friend and a father that I could truly depend on. I had almost no contact with the outside world during this month and was reminded of the true power of prayer and of God’s faithfulness and steadfastness. Here I couldn’t hold on to any semblance of being in control of anything going on in the lives of people back home, God reminded me that he held the entire world in his hands and while I may not be able to easily text or call and get updates from family and friends that I love I could still reach them through prayer and I could trust him at his word to be faithful in their lives. I found myself leaning more often on God for things I would normally seek a friend or Google for. Can’t find a specific Bible verse? God, please show me this verse somewhere through reading, memory, or conversation. Frustrated with situations or fears, who else to turn to but the Lord, Missing family or friends back home, pray for them! Through this whole portion of the trip I was challenged to remain present and to press into not being able to be distracted by the outside world. This month really strengthened relationships within the squad and I found so much blessing in being present with and walking with the people in front of me. Every day of ministry we spent at our squad’s carepoint (one of many such ministry locations in the area with a playground, a small kitchen with a fire to cook with, a field for kids to play in and an area for adults to sit outdoors) in the mornings we would do Bible studies with some of the ladies and play with the little kids, in the afternoons many more children would show up after getting off of school. We didn’t often know their stories and often couldn’t have much more than a simple conversation with them due to the language barrier, but we got to simply show them the love of Jesus, whatever that may look like, whether that was playing with them, talking to them and getting to know them, or simply holding a sleeping child and being a safe place for them to take a nap. We would also do a short lesson with them through translation  

, sing some songs and play a

game. These kids were so precious and

 it was so sweet to be able to see the same children day after day. Leaving at the end of our time there was incredibly hard. We had a party at our carepoint on our last day of ministry. It was a very bittersweet day, cherishing moments with the children we had come to love so much over the past month and saying goodbyes to them for the last time. Although we were only with them for a short time I pray that God will continue to remind them of his love for them year round through the care and teaching of the full time staff and that they will grow up knowing the hope and salvation of the Gospel!