A couple of weeks ago, I along with five of my teammates were invited to the house of some of our friends that we have made in Swaziland. The oldest girl is 19 and lives with her 10 siblings; the youngest being about 4 or 5. A week before, we met them while we were walking to the general store and they were walking to the well to pump water for their family. (Side note: They carry heavy buckets full of water on their heads for long distances and it’s very impressive.) They invited us to come watch a movie at their house so we planned to go the next week.
So, I found myself waking with them to their house that is only about half the size of my home in the states. It houses all 11 children, their mother, and their grandmother. As we walked up, their mother and grandmother were washing clothes outside and they greeted us warmly. We went inside and sat down as the younger children crowded around the small TV. They put in a VHS and we watched a “scary” movie made awhile ago in Nigeria.
As we watched the movie, the three oldest girls began to prepare sandwiches of bread and polony (bologna) for us along with juice. Here in Swaziland, it is very typical to offer guests a meal when they visit and to refuse it is considered very offensive and rude. As the older girls offered us the meal, I noticed that none of them took any. They had bought this food specifically for our visit and I knew they would not be eating that well after we left. I could tell that the food was considered a luxury to them as well. The fact that they thought so much of us to buy food special for our visit was so humbling. I came here to serve yet these wonderful people were serving me. They truly reminded me what it’s like to give even with nothing and of 2 Corinthians 9:6 which says, “Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
