Hello everyone!
We finished our month of ministry in Eswatini, next we will be going to South Africa where we will be for the remaining 2 months.
I loved serving at care points over this past month! I pray that the relationships we built and time we spent pouring into the kids and adults softened their hearts and drew them closer to the Lord. The last week and a half we were all serving at one care point so at times the kid to adult ratio was low. We were trying to think of new ways to serve and Caleb (a guy on our squad) decided he wanted to turn the land behind the care point to a soccer field. He spent over a week out in the sun chopping the grass and bushes down with a machete. Then everyone started chipping in with pulling weeds and clearing the land to make a field. The kids were so excited they started playing on it before we even had the goals up. On our last day of ministry we completely finished the field!
I got a Swazi name on our last ministry day in Eswatini! A lot of African names were chosen very intentionally for people based off of meanings. Sometimes they give their guests a special Swazi name and I got named Thembeka which means faithful.
Everyone on our team is going to tell their testimony while on this trip, so a couple people per week share. Through this we have all been so encouraged and have grown closer as a team. The vulnerability has also enabled us to love each other much more deeply.
Since the beginning of this trip God has been teaching and regularly reminding me the importance of daily reliance on Him. I was reading Psalm 1 where it says we are a tree planted by streams of water. I felt the Lord calling me to more than just a routine of praying in the morning to fill my cup up and then let it empty through the day and do it again. But he wants us to stay full. To be planted by the stream and constantly be filled.
I am excited to see all the Lord will do in this next chapter in South Africa!
Love you all!!
Alicia
