God moved in Eswatini, so I wrote a blog to remember. I did not have access to post it at the time, so I am posting now. I hope you are encouraged. Enjoy!
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It’s the little things that make ministry special every day: the things God uses to wink at me and remind me just how much He loves me. Those are the things that encourage me to keep going every day. I serve a personal God. The One who created me knows me best, and for that, I am thankful.
What ministry has looked like this week:
Tuesday was a typical ministry day. My team and I left to go to the care point where we played with children for several hours and got to continue building relationships with them. Going into the day the Lord had me fired up and prepared to share the gospel with a woman we met on a house visit the week before. When we got to the care point though, our ministry host, called a Shepherd, told us that the woman was not home so we would not be able to go share with her. This was the first day, though, that the children were at the care point when we got there due to being on Easter break. It was fun to have them greet us and be able to jump right in to playing with them.
Wednesday we showed up to the care point and all was normal, but as I was talking with one of the teenage girls I felt prompted to ask if she knew Jesus or God. She told me that she did not know but wanted to hear, so right then and there, on the playground, I had the opportunity to share the full gospel with her. After lunch she came back up to me asking if we could pray. The two of us sat down to pray when two more girls came up and also wanted to hear the gospel. Even when I was not able to share with the lady I wanted to the day before, the Lord had something even greater in allowing me to share with these girls.
Thursday started off with God winks, not just for me but for the whole team. One of the boys who has been going to ministry with my team loves the little lizards of which are found more than frequently here. He says it just reminds him how creative and awesome God is. As soon as we get into the van for ministry, he finds the tiniest lizard. It was so small that it could almost fit on his fingernail. It was fun to see his face light up like a little child opening a surprise gift.
At the end of the ministry day, there was a girl who showed up with a seven month old baby. She was so excited when I asked if I could hold the baby. It was the sweetest moment for me to hold the child who fell asleep in my arms. I also got to talk with the teenage girls who were hanging out right there as I held the child. I realized that earlier that day I asked the Lord for one of the little girls to come up to me and let me hold her and love on her, but, instead, He brought me a little baby. Upon realizing that the Lord knows the best things for us and never fails to give us those things, my heart was happy.
On our way home from ministry we stopped at the grocery store. As we were about to close the van door and leave the lot, a woman comes up to us selling peanuts. Our team wanted to bless her, so various people bought some off of her. As we drive away, our leader realizes they were boiled peanuts and gasps. She grew up eating boiled peanuts from gas stations and was so touched at the fact that in the middle-of-nowhere Eswatini boiled peanuts were sold to her. That’s the Lord.
On Friday the Lord brought another baby to me. This time the little baby was four months old. Usually we have children ranging from three to thirteen years old, so it felt like a miracle that there was a baby at our care point two days in a row.
Later that day, we got to paint the girls’ nails and tell them just how beautiful they are. While some of us were doing that, the other children got to color on coloring sheets. I think it was a blessing for them to be able to do something fun and different. When we were finished, I got to sit down with the older children as they learned about the Bible and its importance.
Although exhausting every day of ministry is sweet and special in its own way. The Lord is kind in using us to bless His people. Joy comes as we keep watch on where God is moving and how He is blessing us.
