We live in a hut…

Once upon a time….
We live in Africa.
This is like no other African experience.
We live in the bush.
We live in a hut.
Like seriously a real hut.
The roof is made of straw.
But, I am freaking thankful for it.

We have an outhouse.
I don’t recommend looking down inside of it….
But if you do….
bless your soul.
That is an experience I would never wish upon anyone.
Aside from raccoons….
My new fear has become falling into that hole.
It is unrighteous.
But, I am freaking thankful.

We don’t have running water….
We get water from this big ol’ metal tank called a jojo.
Without running water….
We clearly don’t have showers.
So, we draw water… take it to this little outdoor room and wash ourselves.
We like to call it a bucket shower.
It’s not ideal…
But, I am freaking thankful.

We drink instant coffee.
If you know me….
I love me some Starbucks.
I love me some any kind of real coffee.
So, down to my freaking caffeine addiction….
I am stretched.
But, I am thankful.

We are 20 miles from the city….
Out in the middle of no where.
To get groceries, we walk two miles….
Catch a Kombi (15 passenger van used for local transportation)
and cram in with a bunch of awesome locals….
And get dropped at the bus station.
No, it’s not a comfortable air conditioned drive listening to the Civil Wars….
But, I am thankful.

We are eating a bunch of African staples.
Rice. Beans. Pasta.
Tom Cruise (we can’t pronounce his Swazi name….) sells us veggies for super cheap.
We are thankful for those veggies to throw into our rice concoctions.
It is not the ideal meals that the typical American may enjoy on a daily basis….
But, I am thankful.

Worship among our team consists of us sitting on the concrete floor
listening to worship songs on my computer.
No, it’s not with huge sound systems and a full band….
But, we are thankful.

We are thankful because in our short time here so far
We have become aware of just how blessed we are.
When we want to complain about living in a hut we remember
driving down the road and seeing the slums with our own two eyes.
We have realized that most of Swaziland would be thrilled to live in a place
like what we have been blessed in this summer.

We are thankful for the strange bathroom we have been blessed with because….
we have seen multiple people using the bathroom on the side of the road because
they have nowhere else to go.

We are thankful for our big jojo filled with water
because we see women walking down the streets with buckets of water
walking miles and miles back to their homes because they have no water nearby.

We are thankful for our instant coffee because
we have been blessed with a stove to heat water on for this instant coffee
when we peer out at our neighbor making a fire to heat her water.

We are thankful for the kumbi as we zoom by all the people walking miles and
miles
who can’t afford the bus ticket for less than one USD.

We are thankful for the computer that blasts worship music
As we notice that even some of the richest in this community don’t even own a
computer.

Three days in and we are already wrecked.
We will never be the same again.
We have laughed and cried.
Screamed out prayers and whispered them.
Walked a ton and rested even more.
We have held babies and loved on grandmas.
In just three days we have seen a side of the Lords face that we have never
seen before.

We are safe and blessed beyond what we can explain.
Thanks for the prayers and for all the financial support.
Internet is scarce but we are in good hands.
Blogs coming as soon as they can!
Love y’all.