Everyday goes by faster than the last. I am in shock that we only have four more days of ministry. The note from my Mom encouraged me to reflect on my first few days here and how I felt. It is strange to look back and remember the anxiousness of diving in and loving on God’s children. I have fallen in love with Swaziland and I’m pretty sure I’m coming back. I’ve told a few of my team members that I’m coming back next year and bringing Mason and Ethan.. So start praying! I love the friendliness of the people and the hope of the children. These little kids have barely anything yet they are so joyous and full of hope. I know that when I return home my heart will begin processing all that I have witnessed. As of now, my heart can only continue pouring out. I am beginning to wonder what my purpose is when I go home, while I’m here in Swaziland I know my purpose. It will be interesting to see God’s revealed purpose for me when I return home far away from this place I’ve come so attached to. I have missed home a lot recently especially my best friend. As I they cross my mind, I keep being reminded of something Jill Briscoe told me back in March when I told her about my trip, “Home is Being in the Will of God.” This phrase has run through my mind constantly, and the will of God right now is for me to love on His children and give attention to the forgotten.
So… Here’s a ministry update….There is a little baby at the Care Point that basically is afraid of white people. She cries the majority of the time we try and hold her. Yesterday her siblings were trying to console her and they were exhausted from trying. We had brought a few buckets to the Care Point to help wash hands for our hand-printing, and Whitney suggested we place her in the bucket. She loved sitting on Whitney’s lap in the bucket. It was so cute. Eventually she got scared and went back to her brother. I offered to hold her so the brother could play. The little girl loved sitting in the bucket and being rocked back and forth, it was so so cute. After about an hour of in and out of the bucket, tapping and singing, rocking, and swaying she finally fell asleep. I think she was teething, and I felt so bad for her, but I was happy that I was able to calm her down and sway/sing her to sleep. There was one little baby there that was practically screaming bloody murder, very very pain filled screams. The girl that was holding him kept shaking him to get him to quiet down. Watching someone shake a baby made me really nervous, so I passed my sleeping baby on to Josh and went to “save the day” and help with the situation. I took the little boy and rocked him back and forth, and for about five minutes he would quiet down, and then start screaming and clutching me tightly. I was not able to calm him down, and I relentlessly had to pass him back to his sister so I could help with the hand printing. I hope and pray that the little baby was able to rest. I hope and pray he was relieved from whatever pain he was experiencing.
The rest of day I was involved with the hand prints. Kelsey and I painted hands and Sam stamped the hands onto the canvas. All of their little hand prints were so precious. It is amazing to me how each hand print is unique. That sounds really silly but it was amazed that God knows each of those little hands by name and loves them far more than I can ever love them. It was fun to watch their excitement as we painted their hands. For some of them, this may have been their first experience with paint. They loved the ooey gooey feeling of paint between their fingers. I love art projects and I love children. At one point we were doing a pattern of left to right hand prints and one little girl got overly excited and slapped a nice white upside down hand print down onto the canvas. It was SO cute! It added character to the pattern. It made my heart smile. A few of the little ones loved getting their hands painted so much, that they came by three, four and five times to stamp their personalities onto canvas. I look forward to eventually buying whatever comes of those hand prints. =)
Sorry if I rambled, when they give me an extra chance to blog, I try to take advantage. Thanks all for your continued prayers. God continues to remind me of my purpose here in Swaziland.
~Autumn~
