Happy Easter!

I hope everyone who’s reading this had a good Easter. Mine was very nice. Interesting, but nice. We all went out to a rural area called Nsoko. We don’t go there very often because it takes over an hour in the car and it costs too much to take public transportation out there. It was raining very hard that morning (which is very unusual for Swaziland) and when we got to where the service was held, we discovered that all the land we had to walk on was no extremely muddy. It was so funny because here we all are dressed in our Sunday best, walking through mud up to our ankles! It was everywhere and eventually we weren’t worried about the mud on our feet just trying to be careful not to fall, because that would make this situation all the worse. Just another funny memory to take home with me! Anyhow a man named Gary Black has lived here in Swaziland with his family from America for about the last year. He is opening a community sort of thing for the community there. It will consist of a care point, a market for women to work in front, housing for orphans, fields to plant crops also for people to have work and sustain themselves, also fun things like basketball courts and soccer fields. As of right now they only have a couple building. But Easter Sunday they had a big service that was sort of the opening of this community and the blessing of the pastor. They plan to have several of these throughout Swaziland in the future. Andrew Shearman, a pastor from America, who also spoke at the training camp I went to in September came and spoke several times this week. He gave a sermon at the service and it was really good. Just encouraging the Swazi people to become strong Christians who won’t negotiate with hell. Not baby Christians that are lukewarm and only try to look holy on Sundays.

This week we were told that we have something ridiculous like only six weeks left of ministry, and that our last day of ministry will be May 7th. It’s weird to hear that and actually recognized that I’m in the ending times of my time in Swaziland. And to be honest, it makes me very sad. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely looking forward to coming home and seeing all my family and friends, but I am going to really miss the new friends I’ve made here. The Lord has given me such a heart of compassion for the kids I work with at Timbutini. I mean I really really love those kids, I don’t want to have to think of May 7th. I think I’ve actually had a little idea of what it’s like to have your own children and to love them so much with everything you have. I don’t want to leave them.

Please continue to pray for the situation I blogged about last week. It was decided last week that the government would work for two weeks try to negotiate something by this Friday, the 28th and if nothing is resolved the workers will strike again. I believe the factory workers’ pay has been increased by 10% but other Swazis are still concerned that won’t have fixed the problem completely and there still may be strikes. Just pray that the Lord would reign over this situation, and that He would bring peace. But mostly, that His will would be done.