Treasures in Heaven

Hey everyone! We have completed another full week of ministry here in Manzini, Eswatini. Monday we did marketplace ministry (evangelism), and Tuesday-Friday we were serving at one of the care points. This coming week will be our last full week in Eswatini!

Care Point Ministry

This week our whole squad (18) was at the same care point, so the children had lots of attention this week. 🙂 Some days look like playing constantly with the children—monkey bars, slides, passing the soccer ball, etc. Some days look like holding sacked out children, worn out from the heat.  Since there are so many of us at one care point, we also get to spend time investing in the leaders and enjoy moments with them, which is just as special.

On Friday at 2 pm all 34 care points under Adventures in Missions in Eswatini participated in a prayer hour, each at their respective locations. At our care point, a local pastor came in to lead it alongside the Shepherd of the care point. He gave a quick sermon on prayer, asked for prayer requests, and we all prayed for each prayer request. The prayer hour ended with all the adults surrounding the children with our hands held praying over all the children in the care point. When prayer happens in a group of people here, it is typically not just one person who leads the prayer, but everyone praying out loud all at once. It was a powerful moment and special to see the kids receive what was being prayed over them.

Marketplace Ministry

As we walked through the streets of Manzini this week, we were approached multiple times by people asking us for money. It is very clear that we do not belong, and the reality is that when they see Americans, they see money. On Monday we were asked more than usual for money, so it is just something we navigate and learn how to respond to as we go. One of my teammates and I were able to talk to a woman at her store front, the conversation starting with her just wanting us to purchase something. She kept asking for our money. Without realizing it until we talked about it after, we both had this sense that we shouldn’t just move on from the conversation. We were able to get the conversation centered around Jesus. She said she knew Jesus, so we started asking her more. At one point I asked if she likes to read her Bible and asked her for her favorite verse. She told me it was Psalm 84:11. She knew it in Swati, but I pulled it up on my phone in English and read it aloud.

Psalm 84:11

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

That verse is literally a verse that I have mediated on in the past week, as I have been asking God to reveal His goodness to me. I then asked her if I could share a couple verses with her, and she was more than willing to listen. I shared Psalm 16:2 and Psalm 16:11, and we talked about how we find joy in His Presence. We could just see her face come alive when we talked about the joy of the Lord. As she was asking us to purchase things from her store at first, all I could think about was: We have something so much better than money to offer you. When our conversation became consumed with Jesus, you could tell the switch from her treasure being in money to her treasure and joy being in Jesus. I was a little concerned that she was going to ask us again for money at the end, but when Jesus became the center of the conversation, she was no longer concerned with any money that we could offer her. Her focus switched to the One who is her Provider and Sustainer, which was a beautiful thing to see.

Matthew 6:19-21

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Community – Our Squad

Aside from doing ministry together, we got to have some sweet moments as a squad this week. Monday night we read John 13:1-20 together (Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet), and we washed each other’s feet in pairs. It was such a humbling experience. The Holy Spirit walked me through the experience as if it were Jesus Himself washing my feet, and as I was washing my teammate’s feet, He was teaching me to serve my sister as if serving Jesus. To imagine the God of the Universe humbling Himself to get down in the dirt and wash my feet is so crazy to imagine. But that is exactly the nature of the God who is so deeply in love with us.

Also, as Valentine’s Day was on Tuesday, our leaders and guys of the squad treated us to a special day. They made us pancakes with pink food coloring in the morning. Ben and Mak (our leaders) gave us valentines with sweet notes on them. The guys collectively wrote all the girls handwritten notes of encouragement with a Bible verse they prayed over. For dinner the guys cooked us a wonderful meal and did the dishes as well.

Personal

It has been a really good week but also a really exhausting week. After a certain point of being gone, you get past the “honeymoon stage” of the trip, and I think I’m getting to that point. There’s nothing bad about it, but things get a little harder the more we go on. Part of it is learning how to process things I’m experiencing and things I have experienced before, while still staying present with what God has for me right now. Through this, I know He wants to reveal to me more of who He is, and that is what I want to continually pursue—knowing Jesus.

John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Prayer

I’m asking the Lord to give me a greater revelation of His love, His goodness, and His nearness. The Holy Spirit is guiding me through continually growing in the identity of who God says I am. God is also constantly growing me in dependence on Him and Him alone. I would love it if you joined me in praying over me for these things.

THANK YOU

Thank you all for following along! I’m so grateful for all of your support and for your prayers. It has been a super special experience so far, and I’m looking forward to the next couple months that are to come. I hope you all are doing well back home. I love you all!