Hello from Jeffrey’s Bay!

Hello friends! It’s been so long! I’ve felt so bad for not writing to y’all in a while! Between writer’s block and my computer dying it was hard to keep you all updated. We made it to Jbay last Saturday, and we’ve been getting settled into our new teams and ministries. (More of that to come!) But I still wanted to give you a summary of what happened in our time in Eswatini, so here it is!

Care Point Ministry

Care points are a safe place for kids to come after school, get a warm meal, and receive care before going back to their homes. Each of our teams had different care points to go to. The goal was to love the kids and help the Gogos (Grandmas) and Bomage (Mothers) with cooking. We did just that for a few days, and then we were tasked specifically to help the Ngungwane Care Point! The whole squad came together and served that community. While we were there, we wanted to do something special for the care point, so with Caleb having the initial idea and all the drive, we came together and created a soccer field! The teamwork displayed was amazing to see, but even more amazing were the smiles of the kids while playing in that field. Also, our team got to participate on a video project to raise money for a water pump for the care point! You can still partner with us by donating here:  https://donorsee.com/project/17735 It was a blessing to have built relationships with the kids and the staff that we will forever hold near.

Home Visits

Another really cool way we got to minister to people was through home visits. The shepherds (leaders) of the care points would choose a homestead that they felt had physical and spiritual needs. This helped show the families

The care point staff really values their community, and they like to show that through home visits. Walking miles to visit families shows that we care about them and their children. The care points aren’t just an outreach that provides food and community for the children; they also support their whole families.

The first home visit we did really popped the bubble that we live in as Americans. We walked three miles round trip which was crazy seeing how far children, some as young as five, are walking every day to get home. All seven of us carried multiple bags of rice to leave at the homestead, which is a piece of land that has multiple homes. They usually house multiple generations of families all together in one homestead. When we got there, the family welcomed us inside their home and had us sit down. We were surprised by how welcoming they were because, unlike American culture, the people there are interruptible. Spending time bringing food and love to families that don’t have much made us realize how much we take things for granted and how fortunate we are to have the things and opportunities we do.

While we were there, we got to read them some bible verses and had conversations with the children, parents, and grandparents. This really strengthened our ability to evangelize, pray for others, and maintain a conversation that shows people we genuinely care. The grandparents asked us to pray over them and their health. All of us prayed together at the same time. It was a sweet representation of how vast God is, experiencing the fact that He could hear so many of us at the same time and in two different languages. After that, we left and made our way back to the care point. These experiences taught many of us that as we live for Jesus, we should also be living to seek out the lost sheep, going to places we never would have gone before to reach those who need to be reached. If God would leave the ninety-nine sheep to find the one, then we should too.

The purpose of the home visits is to show the children and families that there is a community around them that cares. By visiting the families, the shepherds of the care points are able to show that they have a good place for the kids to come to in order to gain community and build relationships. Through gaining influence in the kids’ lives and in the lives of the families, doors are opened to sharing the Gospel!

Ask the Lord (ATL) Days

Each week throughout our time in Eswatini we got to participate in ATL days. ATL is short for Ask the Lord. We went into the city of Manzini and were able to evangelize, showing the love of Jesus to each person we came in contact with. Each team in our squad would split up and walk the streets according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We would start our time by praying over the city and asking the Lord where He wants us to go and who He wants us to talk to. It was an awesome experience each time we went into town. The people of Eswatini are extremely friendly, and we got to have lots of great conversations.

Throughout our time in the city of Manzini, we got to learn more about the character of God. It is a special realization that God does not need us to complete His work; He wants to use us. What an honor it is to partner with God in ushering in the kingdom of heaven here on earth. God gave us such a heart of compassion for the people of Manzini. It gave us a small glimpse of the heart of compassion that He unconditionally has toward us. Through ATL ministry, we have been able to see more of who God is, more of how He sees us, and more of how He sees those around us.

Through evangelizing as teams, we also got to learn a lot about each other. We got to see the different gifts and strengths in our teammates. With that, we were able to encourage and build each other up, strengthening and edifying the Church. As we practiced listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, we encouraged each other to follow His leading and to be bold in what He was asking us to do.

We had lots of special interactions with the people here, and we want to highlight a couple of them.

We came in contact with several people who knew Jesus but had a skewed view of who He really is. With one guy, we were able to have a conversation with him about Jesus, and it led to praying over him. We asked him if there was anything he was struggling with that we could pray over him for. This is when he brought up to us that he couldn’t say his struggles out loud or even bring them to God because he didn’t want any evil spirits to take him captive. He was afraid of the spiritual realm and believed there is a separation between him and God because of it. We were able to point him to the truth that Jesus defeated darkness, and he has nothing to fear because death no longer has power in his life. We spoke the truth over him that the Spirit of God, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, dwells on the inside of him. Fear of the spiritual realm no longer has a hold on him. It was so cool to see his face light up when he realized this truth that was unclear to him before.

We also met a lot of people in Manzini who had a very strong relationship with Jesus. We went in with the mindset of bringing people to Jesus, and we got to do just that. However, on several occasions, we got to interact with people who were encouraging us and sharing their wisdom with us. It was special to come in contact with people across the world who have the same love for the same God. Ministry can be draining at times; coming across people who spoke life into us was a gift from God that inspired us to keep going. We loved our time doing ministry in Manzini, and we each have moments that we will cherish forever.

Thank you so much for y’alls support and prayers!

Love, Alisha