Hello all!! Another week gone…it’s going so quickly-I can’t believe it! I have three more days here in Swaziland and then I’m off to Malaysia. This past week we were pretty busy but there wasn’t as much door-to-door evangelism. Part of it was the crazy Swaziland weather…we always make fun of how the Nebraska weather changes quickly but this is insane! Haha. On Wednesday, it was hot and beautiful—I actually got sun-burned! :) The next day was rainy and cold the entire day—we were living in a cloud! And the exact same thing happened on Sunday. We left for the church we attended this week at about 10:00 and the ¾ mile walk was hot—I was actually sweating by the time we got there. When we were preparing to leave at about 1:00, a storm was rolling in and we got soaked on the way back. It was crazy!! :D

Anyway, ministry this week…on Wednesday we worked here at the base—the boys dug a latrine that is 7.5 feet deep—it’s a massive hole! Lol. I helped clean out a room and scrape walls so it can be painted for a staff room for the base staff. On Thursday it was rainy and such, so we went to visit the government hospital in Mbabane again. God revealed to me that I have a passion for children and people who are hurting and weak. I felt a calling toward some kind of therapy—not sure if it’s physical or emotional (counseling) but I’m pretty excited to see how that plays out. I think part of the reason I’m so soft-hearted toward those who are sick and hurting is because of Jess. I’m seeing more every day just how amazing she is—she has the highest pain tolerance of anyone I know and she never complains. You’re incredible, Jess, and I love you so much!! :D After the hospital, we did a little street evangelism at one of the main shopping areas in the city.

Friday morning was base work again—we scrubbed mold off of the property’s front wall and gate. It was lovely…ha! In the afternoon we went out and were going to do some open-air teaching and evangelizing, but the battery for our sound system died and then it started raining so that kind of flopped. :S But we had an incredible brie (barbeque) with chicken, pork, sausages and wildebeest! The wildebeest was pretty interesting to say the least… :D. Saturday was another hot day—we hosted and helped run a soccer tournament in a near-by town. Our YWAM team got third place…out of 4 teams ha! Desiree and I didn’t play soccer but we were in charge of passing out snacks and drinks. There were probably around 60 or 70 people there. We had 24 loaves of bread and a couple jars of jam so we made jam sandwiches for the players. After we ran out of jam with about 10 loaves left, we also ran out of sliced bread…so we started ripping pieces off. People just kept coming and it felt like the feeding of the 5,000—it was awesome!! Haha. That was a pretty exhausting day but it was tons of fun. :)

Sunday was church day—we went to a church that’s about 6 months old and has about 15 members. They meet in a hut attached to the back of someone’s house. The walls are cardboard and there isn’t enough room inside the hut for everyone so they have a tarp up with about 16 more chairs set up underneath that. It was amazing. I’ll try to get some pictures up sometime soon-I promise!! There was a lot of worship—Africa loves worship. :) Desiree gave a short testimony and then I got to preach! :D I felt like God was telling me to encourage them and give them hope for growth. The scriptures I used were Colossians 1:3-12 and Hebrews 12:1-2. It was actually pretty fun and I bet I’ll get to do it again sometime in the next few weeks. Yesterday was another cold, nasty day and we again scrubbed mold off of the front gate and also in a house that they’re trying to fix up. This property was once amazing…it’s a bummer that it sat for about six years and went to junk. :( Again, I’ll work on taking pictures and getting them up on facebook!

There have definitely been some interesting experiences here in Swaziland—it’s been so good! I’ll be sad to leave here in a couple days but excited to see what else is in store for this adventure! God has continually revealed things to me, both about Himself and about me as well. He is continually working on my trust in Him—He wants to show me His goodness and His intense love for me without me worrying about what’s in store for me. It’s tough but growth is so good! :D Continue to be malleable and allow God to work in and through you!

Love and prayers,
Rachel