Sawubona (hello in Swati) ;D I’m in Swaziland and have been for the past week. This is definitely more “Africa” than South Africa was but it’s still pretty modern. We’re staying at the small YWAM base located in the capital Mbabane. The base is actually a homestead that’s located on top of a mountain—with an awesome view of the city!! It’s gorgeous. The base has only been here for about 3 months so things are still being worked on…no internet access…until a few days after we leave anyway..!! :S (oh well. :)) There’s no shower—yay for bucket showers!! Ha! And there’s no hot water—we have to boil water for showers, etc. I’d say it’s a little like camping—I’m sleeping on the floor and there are multiple bugs that like to find their way into our sleeping area…I don’t really appreciate that… ;D. But even though the living conditions are a bit rough, we’ve had some wonderful experiences.

We’ve been staying pretty busy doing ministry every day. Each day we’ve done at least a little bit of door-to-door evangelism. We’ve talked to and encouraged quite a few people and it’s actually been so encouraging for me as well. The team has seen some amazing things done through us with God’s power—we’ve had about 10 salvations, one blind man could see and a lame man was healed as well. It’s so awesome when those miracles happen because it’s definite confirmation that God is working through us and stirring in people’s hearts. Besides door to door ministry we’ve performed a few dramas—one at an elementary school’s morning assembly, two at a couple of different churches and one for a group of people we were working with on Saturday. Dramas are almost a necessity here in Africa…they think it’s pretty lame if you aren’t performing some kind of song, dance or skit so those are always fun. :D
On Thursday the team went to an area to do some door-to-door evangelism and we ended up driving on a horribly bumpy dirt road for about 15 minutes to the middle of nowhere and hiking about 45 minutes up a mountain to a tiny one-room church where we then proceeded to clean up the inside of the church and dig away grass from the building in a 3 foot radius around the church—I was wearing a skirt. Ha! After cleaning up around the church, we discovered that about 12 people were going to gather for a church service that we ended up leading. Needless to say, it was an interesting day…and we’re going back next Thursday!

Even though I’m not in lectures, God is still speaking to me and I’m still learning—maybe even more than I was during lectures. For example, I’ve decided that it’s totally worth it to give everything to God—my family, future, life, etc, so I surrender it daily to Him. I still have to do it daily and some days are harder than others, but I know that if I give Him control, He won’t let me fall. Another thing that God revealed to me today was in Proverbs 13:25 and Psalm 36:8. Both of these verses talk about how God provides continuous food and water for those who trust in Him—we’ll never hunger or thirst if we continue to seek Him and take from those reservoirs. But the only way to stay nourished is if we take from it freely. I have issues with this concept because I always feel like I have to be doing something—I have to be reading my Bible or praying or asking for forgiveness, etc. I don’t feel like I deserve to have that without doing anything for God in return, but that’s exactly how it is. God just wants us—He wants our devotion, our surrender, our time, our love, but we can’t do anything that’s of value to Him. I hope that makes sense…it does in my head anyway. :D I just have such a hard time wrapping my head around it. Mark 10:15 says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it.” Kids love getting gifts and they receive without guilt or remorse—they don’t feel like they have to give something back-they just joyfully receive. So basically if I don’t learn how to simply accept what God has given me, I’m missing out. If I’m always trying to give back, I’m missing out on the joy and the gifts that God has for me. Like I said, I’m still finding things that I need to work on. :)

Today is our free day so I’m trying to get all of my internet stuff done for the week…you can probably expect another blog about this time next week. I hope this updates you a little on what’s going on with me…I’m having a blast and learning so much—especially how blessed I really am. Today I went into a home where 6 women were raising 2 babies…the house was one room and it was smaller than my bedroom. There was basically a dresser, a tv, a couple of benches and a bed—we’ve all been extremely blessed.

I hope your week is going great, you’ll hear from me soon… :D

Love, Rachel