March 1st, 2014
Hello friends!
It's March already?! Total craziness. It's so strange. Life here is so slow paced, yet my time here is flying by! Before I know it I'll be boarding a plane, headed back to the states. I try to savor every moment I have here. Treating it like the precious gift that it is.
First off, I am so beyond thankful for Jesus. For his relentless pursuit of me. For his never ending, unfailing love. That he choses to use me. Me?! Because he certainly doesn't need to...his glory is proclaimed in the stars every night, in the surrounding mountains. Yet, he choses to put the dream of Africa in a young girls heart at the age of eleven years old. Giving her this unspeakable passion for his precious orphans there. Then he brings me here. I will be forever grateful.
On Monday this past week, the day was an amazing adventure from the moment I woke up. We all packed onto the bus and took the three hour drive into South Africa. We spent the better half of the day at one of the most incredible beaches I've ever been to in my life. St. Lucia, South Africa. It was like a dream. Never mind all the warnings of hippos, sharks, and crocodiles. I was getting in those huge waves of the Indian Ocean!
It was beyond amazing. I was laughing so extremely hard from the pure joy of it all. Jesus made me feel like I was a little girl, splashing around in the waves with him...I'm pretty sure heaven will have a place like that there. I prayed that it will anyways. "To him who is able to do more than we could ever ask of imagine" and "He stores up good for those who love him" were two Bible verses that were on my mind all day long. Because that's exactly how I felt about that day. It was better than everything I ever could have imagined.
On Tuesday we started ministry back up here in Nsoko. Aka, the middle of no where, literally the bush of Africa. It felt like we had come home. :) My ministry team of myself and three others, were told to wake up especially early, and to be ready to go out into the fields to help harvest. Harvest what, we had no idea... Early Tuesday morning came and gone, and no one had arrived to pick us up...three hours later we found out that the harvesting had already been completed, and that they didn't need us anymore. Welcome to Africa. :)
Skipping ahead to Friday, it was such an extraordinary great day. From the moment I woke up. The sun was shining, as it does every morning beginning at around 4am, and I just got to spend some amazing time with Jesus, before most of the rest of the house was awake. I even had a cup of coffee, and washed my hair! What more could a girl ask for?!
Later that morning we headed out to a care point that was new for us. The kids were all preschool aged, so we got to spend lots of time just hanging out and being with them. Loving on them, praying over them. But then, this adorable beyond words little girl, about one year old caught my attention. She was young. Really young. Usually if there are babies around that young they belong to the gogo's. But after some researching I found out that she wasn't a daughter of a Gogo, but instead came with one of the other kids there. But the oldest kid there that morning couldn't have been over the age of six...a lot of these children walk miles and miles to get to these care points. For what may be their only meal that day. At two year olds?
She was so dirty. Dried and crusty snot was all under her nose, and lots of other unknown dirty spots splashed across her face. She had so much dirt layered on her tiny hands. She wore nothing more than a raggedy tee shirt, that wouldn't be fit enough for a baby doll back in the states. I took out my water bottle and washed her face, then her hands. She had so much dirt on them, that it was like her hands were completely covered in red clay mud. I cleaned out her nails, best I could, and fixed some braids in the hair.
But what do you do after that? I still have no idea who cares for her, who makes sure that she gets fed, and bathed, and protected...who will hold her when she crys, or any of the number of other things a one year old baby girl needs...But God knows, and he loves that baby girl. He has a good plan for her life. So I pour out prayers for her. Wouldn't you please join me? Because the truth is, her story isn't all that different from a multitude of others that I see and hear about every. Single. Day here... After holding her for awhile her eyes starting getting droopy, so I rocked her to sleep. Because today, God had provided me to love her, to care for her, to snuggle her tight for a while while she slept...
We are currently back in our routine of visiting three care points, three times of going out to spend time visiting gogo's, and three work projects per week. But don't for a second think that anything is remotely the same old, same old. Everyday is a new adventure, and anything can happen. It's different every time we go on a home visit, every time we go to a care point, and pretty much every work project. Add in the excitement of chickens in our kitchen, almost being caught directly in a stampede of donkeys (thanks Garrett), or the consistent interruptions of little Timbaleaka, aka "no pants Nancy".
Life here gets a little crazy sometimes. Like worshiping out under the vast blanket of Swazi stars, up on the containers in our back yard. (now that I think about it, just getting up on the containers is a little crazy in of itself). Or playing night kick ball, with nothing but the light of our headlamps. Watching Snele, our ministry partner, get out of the vehicle and making the cows get off of the road (you don't wanna know his method). Then, you can just go outside and watch Garrett chase some goats...I feel like there are so many more crazy things that happen all around me, all the time, but honestly, I've just come to accept them as my new everyday life.
I am so blessed. Thank for again for all of your prayers. I wouldn't be where I am without them. God is good. I love you all!
Love your Swazi girl, Brookie.
P.s. Happy, happy, happy birthday to the two best men in my life. My daddy, and my little brother. Have some ice cream for me! I love you both! :)
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