Swaziland, LinPoPo, and Zimbabwe

It’s been a long time since I’ve had internet. Or a shower. This is the Africa Trek :) We’ve been to three different locations since I last blogged, so I’ll write a section about each.

Swaziland- A beautiful country. Much work to be done. 1 million people. 600,000 HIV positive. Many of the males are absent in the lives of their families. They often work on sugar cane plantations and rarely come home. The women run the households. There is also somewhat of a missing generation, because a lot of those in their 20s-30s died of AIDS before medication was available. AIDS is not talked about in Swazi society. Neither is sex or anything related. We visited an orphanage where the oldest orphan had two babies of her own. It is very common for teenagers to be sexually active and to have children.

We did several children’s programs. We went to primary schools and also pre-schools. I assumed that children are the same everywhere. I was very wrong. The boys’ faces were angry. Tough. Untrusting. Like they didn’t want anything from you. The girls’ faces were scared and searching. Like they wanted desperately for you to love them. Their faces told tales that children their ages should not have had to experience. They are too young for expressions like that. There were not enough smiles on their dark and precious faces. Yet, as we played with them and spent time with them, we saw their expressions change. They had fun, and they started to become comfortable with us. Once you give one child a high five, about twenty are lined up for the same and the first kid has already snuck back into the line.  It is very difficult to imagine what these children have experienced at such a young age. Deaths of family members. Abuse. Many orphaned. I hate to think about it. But I loved to see their smiles, hear their laughs, and share the love of Jesus with them.

We also did house (hut) visits in Swaziland. We worked with a local missionary (he tried to recruit me to come back to Africa the first time we had a conversation) who distributes food and clothing to the homes. We shared encouraging words and scripture with the people we visited and prayed with them as well. One man, named Sunshine, decided to come to church with us the next day and was able to connect with some church members who will bring him to church every week.  Sunshine asked that we would pray for a better home for him. Another home visit was to four teenage girls who are living on their own because their mother died of AIDS. She stopped taking medication because she felt better. Most Swazi people are not educated about AIDS. We also visited the home of a man and a mentally disabled boy. The conditions in which they lived are unmentionable. The home visits were by far the hardest thing I have done so far on this trek. Meeting people and then walking away without being able to fix their situations is not an easy thing. I can’t get their faces out of my head. 

As you can probably guess, my heart broke for Swaziland. I fell in love with the people and the places there. A lot has changed in Swaziland over the past few years. I saw the hope while experiencing the pain. As more people are educated on AIDS and more missionaries share the gospel, things will change. The church we went to was incredible. These people showed us great kindness and hospitality, and they were filled with the love and power of God. They are working with the local community, and I know they will make a difference.

Pray that God sends more missionaries to Swaziland and that the church in Swaziland is encouraged and motivated to reach out to the community. Pray for the children and the many people with AIDS. Pray for the family structure, which has fallen apart. Pray that children find father figures. 

LinPoPo, South Africa- Very different experience than Swaziland. The region is nestled between the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen, but the place is one of the darkest I have ever witnessed. There are many cults and witch doctors in the area. We visited hospitals, conducted youth services, and visited people’s homes. 

The patients in the hospitals seemed as if they had no hope or emotion. It was very strange to see. We shared the word of God with them, sang for them, and prayed for them. We have to trust God with the rest.

I was given the opportunity to speak at the hospital and at two youth services. God gave both my team members and I the words to say. We have really seen God’s faithfulness in providing us with what we need to minister to people. 

The home visits were really incredible. Massiye, a translator, and I were sent off the first day. We visited the homes of Christians and encouraged them with the word of God. We were expected to have something to say to these people, and we really had to trust God to give us the right Scriptures and the right words. It was great to see how God gave us messages that related to one another. 

The next day, we did more home visits with a larger group of people. We went to the home of one woman, and I asked her if she had heard about Jesus. She said no. I asked her if I could share the word of God with her. She said yes. I shared the entire gospel message from creation to the resurrection with her. She said (through the translator), “I agree that this word is true.” I prayed with her, and she received Christ. The pastor of a local church will stay in contact with her to disciple her. It was really encouraging to see how God had already prepared this woman’s heart to receive the gospel. It had nothing to do with anything I or anyone else on my team could have said, but with the work that God was doing. 

Another personal highlight of mine was visiting the home of a Zionist. I was able to use a lot of my apologetics training to speak with this man about the doctrines of his religion. He was honestly seeking the truth, and he had a lot of questions about the Bible and the doctrines that he had been taught since he was a child. He also wanted to know how he could know which interpretations of Scripture were true. As my team and I shared scripture with him and answered some of his questions, you could see that he was starting to rethink some of the things he had been taught. He is going to stay in contact with the local pastor, and I pray that he will come into a deep relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Zimbabwe- The ride here was a bumpy one. There were a lot of problems with the vehicle, and it took us 8 hours to cross the border. We travelled from 3 a.m. to midnight. I was told around dinner time that I would be speaking the next morning. I learned a lesson about trusting God, because I did not finish the message until the middle of the night. I struggled a lot with finding the right thing to speak on, and I ended up changing my message at about midnight due to the prompting of the Spirit. 

The next morning, Daniel and Daniel and I (Team A.D.D.) ran a school service and a church service. We were all exhausted, and in our weakness, we really saw the power of God. Everything was led by the Holy Spirit, and God spoke through each of us to the school kids and to the church. I was blessed by the message God spoke through my brothers. Because we were so exhausted and felt so unprepared, we knew that everything was coming from God and not from us. So encouraging.

We were able to do some kids’ ministry and another church service here as well. I have been fed many African meals. The people of Zimbabwe are so hospitable. We were given giant portions of maize, and I think everyone found it amusing to watch the girls try to clear our plates. We are operating on African time, which means you get ready and wait. 

I have hardly had the chance to catch my breath, and it is hard to believe that I have been in Africa an entire month. But God is doing amazing things. I am learning a lot about myself and a lot about Africa. 

Please pray for the unity of my team. Pray that we continue to discern and listen to God's voice. Pray for OM Zimbabwe, as they seek to encourage churches and motivate people to become involved in ministry. I am seeing a lot of people who go to church but fail to share the gospel or reach out to the community. I have seen a lot of that in America too, and I know all of us are guilty of doing that at one point or another. Pray for strength and energy for me and my team. It is hard work, and we grow very tired. And please pray for Africa. Pray that the church is encouraged and motivated, and pray that the gospel is spread throughout Africa. Pray that people's hearts are softened and their ears opened to the message of the gospel.

I would write more, but most of you probably did not even get through all that I've written ;) And I don't have a lot of time. I'll save the details and the rest of the stories for when I get back. Thank you all for your prayers. 

Barney would like me to mention him in my blog, because he is from Australia and thinks that makes him important. 

Bye until next time!!!