Today was a good day because we did an assembly at a school. We did a skit about Noah's ark, several students gave their testimonies (our MVNU and SNU students), and we sang a song in siSwati as well as several English kids' VBS songs. We taught the kids "The Hokie Pokie" and "Double Double This This." (a hand game). After the assembly we got to hang out with the kids a lot and play "Double This" and take pictures. We blew up balloon animals and left them with their headmaster to hand out.
When we were done, we headed over to Echo and Harry's house to help with the Luke Commission. I helped organize reading glasses and perscription glasses. It was fun because I got to hang out with Madie, Robbie, Katie, Diane, and Andrew from SNU. We separated the glasses churches bring in and send. Many of them are old and out of date. Some are too big to fit into their cases, and some are scratched up or just not in good condition. We had to separate the usable ones from the bad ones. We had a lot of fun laughing at all the ridiculous old 70's and 80's style glasses people had sent. We tried many of them on. It was a great bonding time.
For lunch today we had a traditional Swazi meal. We had mealy-meal, which is kind of like a more bland version of grits. It is a cheap staple food in Swaziland. Then we had a soy dish mixed with potatoes, carrots, and pieces of green beens. It was kind of like beef stew. Then a side dish was this mix of garden vegetables that tasted like the center of an egg roll. It was pretty good.
We walked up to the house of one of the lady's on the Luke Commission. She had kids, but they lived with her mom and she only saw them on the weekends. The house was a small concrete room with a bed in the center, and kitchen supplies on a small table against one wall. Her clothes were hanging on some nails on the walls. I spotted a tub in the floor by the kitchen stuff which has a cup of tootebrushes in it. The house had no electricity. This place was the woman's livlihood. This was everything she had. There were bathrooms nearby on a path. She gave up seeing her kids every day, and risked staying alone to work with the Luke Commission to help the people of Swaziland. She gave up everything to help her country. To help those infected with HIV/AIDS.
We have been dealing a lot in our devotions at night about giving our lives for the cause of Christ. Joe keeps posing the question, "What will you risk for the gospel?" This is the question he asked yesterday in his message at church. I thought to myself as I saw where this woman was living, the sacrifice she is making for Christ. Katelyn (a student from SNU) verbalized this thought. What can I do for the cause of Christ? What does surrendering completely to God look like in my life? What is he asking of me? I need to go after the answer to this question. Not what can God do for me? or how to make sure I am doing God's will so my life goes better, but what does God want to do with my life? How does he want to use me to prosper his kingdom? I hope I never stop asking this question.
Today after we helped the Luke Commission we hung around the VanderWal's house (Echo and Harry) and a bunch of us (not including me) played soccer. I watched. Me and Diane had a great time talking and watching and cheering for everyone. The two of us along with Kelsie sang old 90's songs and quoted youtube videos. We had a ball. A bunch of us played Ninja Tag and other games like that later on. We finally went inside for dinner, which was another delicious dish make of rice, and broccoli, and chicken. For dessert we had lemon cake which was super moist and to-die-for. I had vanilla ice cream. The ice cream in Swaziland is the best I've ever had. Also, Amy made us two different kinds of cookies today which were oh-so-good! I think everything is better in Africa. After dinner Claire and I sang worship songs acapella, which was therapy for me after the battle I had been having with my voice and such. I think everyone enjoyed the music.
In devotions tonight Joe had us do intercessory prayer for those we have met in Africa, as God laid it on our hearts. There are just so many people to pray for. The people of Swaziland and their desperate situation--obviously. Then there's SIFE, The Luke Commission, the church we went to yesterday who are building a new building. the drivers (the guys that have driven us around this whole time)-Mongi, Sponiso, and Ceizeway. Just prayer that these people will continue to do good work and will find strength in God to carry on their tasks. Also, the Task Force and the Nazarene Church in general. I don't ever want to forget to pray for my brothers and sisters of Swaziland. As I'm wrapping it up, I just have a couple more things to include.
First of all--the African stars and sky in general is GORGEOUS. I've never seen such a pretty sky in my life. God's creation is breathtaking. Also, while we were sorting through glasses today, I thought of my home church and how we've collected glasses for missions. I never knew what they did before this trip. I got to see first hand where the eyeglasses go. That was really cool for me. It also made me miss my church. I can't wait to get back and see everyone. I think that's all I have for today. Today was a lot of laughs. I'm proud of myself for not complaining an for not letting things get to me that normally get me down. God's definitely been with me and helped me to have a good attitude. (except for yesterday evening).Until Then,
Holly Peffer
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