Christmas Party? Yes Please!

Wow. How is it that it’s 10pm and I’m still awake?

I thought I would crash the moment we got home from carepoint. It was the most beautiful day but one still long.

Waking up in a daze was hard. I started off anticipating pain and was out of it when all the pain wasn’t there. The enemy crept in as my time with the Lord didn’t feel like enough. Frustration ran in my being and circumstances and conversations around me were aggravating. I started the day lost.

As I gathered my things in preparation for our drive to ministry, I ran out of time to sit with the Lord. We hopped in the car at the time everyone else did. We were about to experience life outside of our base-really for the first time. Our trek began at 9am and didn’t end till 9:50–meaning that I had almost an hour to spend in prayer. I looked out the window, taking in the scenery, while the Lord and I worked through the things inside. He revealed, I repented, He forgave, and on we went.

Pulling up to a new carepoint, we were met by many little ones and the sweetest Gogos. Starting off the day as sue chefs reminded us of ministry in North Carolina, about 2 months ago. Chopping peppers, onions, carrots, cabbage, and probably some things I’m forgetting, gave my team and I a beautiful opportunity to work with our hands, feeling tangibly helpful. We did take a little break, however, due to the effect of the onions🧅. As the Swazi women switched out with some of us, I had the opportunity to play with the tiny people. The smallest gestures (giving gifts of tiny rocks) and the purest games (up top, down low, in the middle, too slow) brought the silliest little giggles. Just by being a presence of peace, the shy ones open up and the bubbly ones make a new friend. After our precious little break, it was time to chop, chop, chop.

After we made good headway with the veggies, my team took our lunch. We sat in an itty bitty closet while we ate our pb&js. Our quick little lunch break came to an end, meaning that we got to go cut potatoes🥔. They were hot and the women of Swazi have hands of steel. After the potatoes salad was ready, we dished up over a hundred meals. Scooping the potatoes was my job and I felt so useful. Sampling the traditional Swazi food was also a fun surprise about our job.

Moving on from chopping and scooping, we headed over to the main room while 100 kids were singing and dancing. It was the Christmas party, meaning that the traditional dances were coming out. These weren’t what I expected, and definitely gave a hard look into the culture. Not necessarily appropriate, my heart broke a little bit as I watched the little ladies being what I would consider paraded.

While seeing more into the culture, I also chatted with many of the kids and some of the adults. I learned just a little bit about each of them and enjoyed every minute of it. I held the sweetest little dude as he wiped his Cheeto fingers on me. He rested in my arms, so content the whole time.

As I held my new friend, it was time to serve the food to all of the kiddos. We got faster and faster as we went. All the kids got high fives and many a hug. We said goodbye and hopped back into the kumbi. Driving home felt faster than driving to the carepoint, as is often the case. The road was so very bumpy and dust flew into the windows and hit my eyes almost the whole time. Still, seeing the massive mountains our God created, being in the tiny country of Swazi, yet in a huge world, just blew my mind. The houses we pasted by were sad but also encouraging. The simplicity is beautiful yet the reality is hard. Still, those red dirt roads have my heart.

After returning home (first making a pit stop at the gas station) we started dinner. Tonight was leftovers, so not much prep. We spent time as a team all gathered around the pila. During dinner was our official team time, and for this we chatted and debriefed our day a bit. Just after that, I had a call with Julia, the sweetest worship coordinator, to talk about how worship is going, and just life in general.

I’m now lying in bed and can’t wait for sleep. Goodnight my friends, my family, and my Jesus:)

I’ll see you all so soon🫡