As you all know, God has allowed John and I to go on several mission trips in the past few years. I must admit that I went on this trip to Swaziland not really expecting a lot to happen. I knew God had called John and I to this trip, but my intentions were to learn about how Adventures In Missions conducts mission trips so I could share what I learned with potential Ambassador participants. I wanted the first hand knowledge. Well, God rocked my boat on this trip! Every day I think about what I experienced and what I saw during my three days of ministry in Swaziland. Here is a little background on the country of Swaziland. About 20 years ago, Swazi was a little paradise hidden between South Africa and Mozambique. It was a wealthy country visited often by tourists. Since the ‘80s, Swaziland has taken a drastic downhill turn. It is estimated that if the AIDs epidemic is not controlled in Swaziland that the country will cease to exist by 2050. That was a mind-numbing statistic for me. The government has taken very little action to prevent the spread of AIDs because they do not view it as a disease. So what was our role in a country of such poverty and sickness? To love as Christ loves the Church. As I think about all the orphan children in Swazi tears fill my eyes. All I could do was love these kids and pray that God would raise them up to be the generation that puts an end to the rampant spread of AIDS.
I will never forget what I saw our the last day in Swaziland. Every day the children would walk from the school to the Care Point during their break, bowl in hand, to get their one meal of the day – rice. On this particular day, the children walked to the Care Point with empty bellies and empty bowls and returned to school with empty bellies and empty bowls. There was no one to provide them with food that day. I could not help but become angry. Why was there no food? I learned the food is provided by Children’s Hope Chest but cooked by the Gogos (grandmothers). They did not come to cook that day, so there was no food. As I sit in my house, with the cabinets stocked with more food than I could ever eat on my own, I think about these children with nothing. This is an image I pray God never allows me to forget. I am so blessed and I praise God for allowing me to live in a country where I do not have to worry about where my next meal comes from and if I will have shelter to sleep under. I praise Him that I will never stop loving and sharing His love with those who need it most.
