Friday, July 5, 2013
I
will have been in Nsoko, Swaziland for 2 full months as of Tuesday, which also
happens to mark only 2 weeks before I head back home. I don’t think a few months in another
country gives me claim to say I have served in long-term ministry, but it has
definitely given me a much better perspective of the scope of missions here and
the day in and day out of permanent ministry.
I am currently at a retreat center in South Africa nearly 3 hours
outside of Swaziland. I arrived here
with the interns earlier today for a weekend retreat to take some time away for
rest, recharging, and debriefing of everything we have been experiencing over
the last month. I got to drive a tiny
car all the way down here and we have been calling it the crazy go-cart as it
literally feels like we are driving right on the ground; combine that with fast
speed limits, and a speedometer that reads in kph instead of mph and it really
feels like your “flying” down the road.
Needless to say driving today was exciting. J It was strange to drive
through the modern city of Nelspruit and to be here at a German-run retreat
home with gardens, a pool, delicious food, and hot showers. It also feels so
good to get away and slow down from the tiring and ever-changing pace and
“rhythm” of ministry in Swaziland.
I
had a lot of fun this past week; dancing and singing in SiSwati along with my bhutis
and sisis (brothers and sisters) in a 4-hour church service, finally getting to
play Netball again with many of the locals, and being told that I have mastered
their own card game they call “Casino” after I won 3 rounds in a row
yesterday. It has been a good couple of
weeks in life and ministry here, but it was also quite chaotic and stressful at
times. The rest of the interns reunited
with us 2 weeks ago and we are all spending the rest of our time in Nsoko
helping to host a few more teams this summer.
We had a team of nursing students arrive towards the end of June and
stay for a week. Most of them had been
here before and had come in with a solid plan and agenda for running an eye
clinic at each of the care points and donating lots of glasses and
clothing. They were kind of an
independent group and went on a lot of their home visits and we didn’t actually
interact with them a whole ton. A lot
more of the ministry we conducted as a team of interns was done more behind the
scenes. We taught our own lessons at the
care points, gathered and organized construction material for a team of Swazis
who are building a church, and became a lot more involved in our projects
either in administration, the health clinic, or the community garden. Specifically, I have stepped up a lot more in
my role as a driver and also caring for the garden. It has been exciting to see how the new bean
garden has been growing and how much the main community gardens have been
producing.
This
last week it felt like all I was doing to an extent was driving, driving,
driving. I have been driving the
construction workers out to their church site at 5:30 in the morning on some
days, and been driving the other ministry partners and interns out to a couple
care points each day for discipleship lessons and profiling, as well as driving
some of the locals to a clinic nearby.
We also have had a lot of car issues recently; I have had to change two
flat tires within 3 days and also have had to drive out to different areas in
the community a few times to rescue the other van after its battery has
died. I enjoy driving here but it is
also tiring, especially as our schedule keeps getting disrupted. We had been living in a separate intern house
about 10 km away, but on Monday we moved back into the Anchor Center team
house. I am actually pretty excited
about moving back as it feels much more like home to me and is much more a central
hub for the community here. From our
intern group, though, it has been stressful to feel like we are constantly
moving around and have had a difficult time forming our own community and
rhythm. It has been good to be back
together and I think that living at the Anchor Center and this retreat will
hopefully provide quality space to bond as a group. I know it is good for all of us to get away
as we were all feeling worn and frustrated at times. One of the ways satan often attacks us is by
attacking unity and grace within a team and through weary and grumbling
attitudes. I know I really had a
difficult time with motivation and small frustrations this past week and
noticed that in many of my teammates as well.
I have been praying for a willing heart to serve and notice others in
the small ways and to not allow frustrations to build. I am reminded again and again that I need to
be seeking the Lord first in everything and putting other’s interests before my
own. It’s not about me. My time in Swaziland is not about me. My pursuit of Jesus is not about me. The way I live my life and the center of my
world and thought should not be about me.
It’s a daily battle to choose to acknowledge that and rely on the Lord and
one that I must constantly face. So it
is good to get away; to rest, to rejoice, to have fun, but also to reflect and
pray and continue to offer praise for the blessings and talents the Lord has
given me. At the end of each day I want
to abide in what I have been given and strive to be diligent so that I may say
“Lord, you trusted me with 5 talents; see I have gained 5 talents more.”
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