I’m back with an update! Connection in Africa is just not the same, so posting anything takes more effort than normal. We are in our second African country and I can’t wait to tell you more about this one at the end of October. Until then, here are some facts and fun memories from our month in eSwatini. 

Location: Manzini, eSwatini

Arrival: September 5

Departure: September 30

Days: 25

Team: All Squad Month! There are 16 of us. 

Living conditions: Picture this. A tiny house with two bunkbed-filled bedrooms. A small living room (a chair and a two-seat couch). One bathroom. A kitchen the size of a closet. (The guys had a separate house but we had the only kitchen.) Now put 16 people there. Twelve girls sharing that bathroom. Cooking meals for 16 people in that little kitchen. Everyone trying to pack lunch and get ready for the day and make breakfast and coffee at the same time. Can you imagine the chaos? 
Thankfully the house was on a lot of land and that allowed us to spread out to some degree. Many of us tented which was a game-changer. We eventually settled into a good rhythm and learned to deal with the annoyances of living in such close quarters. 

Weather: Hot and sunny during the day, but cool and breezy at night. Perfect conditions for sleeping in a tent. I know this isn’t weather related, but something notable was the absolutely beautiful sky. The sunrises, sunsets, stars, the moon always had me stopping in my tracks in admiration. 

Ministry: There are Care Points scattered across this small country where kids can come for a meal everyday and other things like discipleship, school support, and Bible teaching. My group went to a Care Point where the leadership was difficult to work with, so that affected our day to day ministry. We did enjoy the hours we had with the kids and did Bible lessons, skits, dancing, singing and games. 

Fun Fact: The Kingdom of eSwatini is one of the only absolute monarchy’s left in the world. The country is ruled by King Mswati who has 15 wives, each of whom lives in her own palace. His father, the former King, had 70 wives and near 1,000 children. Hearing about this blew my mind and just felt like we had stepped back in time. 

Lesson Learned: Living with the same people for what has now been 9 full months is not easy. Everyone is completely comfortable around each other and we all have our things that get on other peoples nerves. Put us in a tight space and inevitably, the annoyances are magnified. Per usual in unideal situations, there were some valuable lessons learned. One of those was the reminder from John 13:34-35 where Jesus says: 
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It’s a simple and clear command that cannot be ignored. We can talk and talk and tell and tell of the good news of the gospel, but our actions must align with what we are saying. How can you go out and love people you don’t know when you can’t even love those you are surrounded by daily? More often than not, the people you are stuck with are the hardest people to love: that could be your family, your coworkers, your church family, or a group you are traveling the world with for the year. Whoever it is and even if it is HARD, Jesus requires it of us, so we must continue to love despite differences, preferences, annoyances, and hurt feelings. And in these verses, he even gives us a reason why we should love — this is how we stand out. Loving the hard people isn’t in our nature so doing it sets us apart from the rest of the world and is a clear sign that we are followers of Christ. 

Memorable Day: During this month, there was the opportunity for parents to visit. One night in particular was really special, and that was when the parents (about half of the group had parents come) came to our tiny house to see what our living situation was like and spend time with the whole squad. We did squad introductions that included lots of laughs and inside jokes, Q&A, pizza for dinner and good time getting to meet the parents of those we’ve spent this year with. Lemme tell ya, genetics are STRONG. Overall, it was just so cool to see our people with their people. Thankful for that night. 

Best Food: We cooked for ourselves this month, so we didn’t get the chance to taste much authentic food in this country. One day though, some of the ladies at a care point made us something called “fat cakes.” The dough was made from flour, brown sugar, and water then a ball of dough was dropped into hot oil. When cooked, they were similar to donuts in taste and texture, but are more of a sphere in shape. They were very tasty, and watching them make them was a fun experience!

Well, this concludes my summary of country number eight! By the time we are done, we will have visited/lived in/served in ten countries over the course of this year. The end is in sight, but still out of reach. Please pray for us to stay present and persevere in the last two months but also for peace and dependence on the Lord as we approach the finish and make plans for our next stage of life. As always, thank you for reading these posts, for praying faithfully and for being a support to me in this year. I’ll be back before long with a Lesotho recap!