Sawubona! Sawubona means hello in Siswati, which is what my team and I are learning to speak. We so far only have a couple phrases down, but we are learning more and more everyday 🙂    My team is INCREDIBLE. In the short week that we’ve known each other, we’ve become a family. We love spending time together whether that be playing games, killing bats in the team house (true story), just hanging out, or stargazing at the AMAZING stars. They are 12 daughters and sons of the most High God, whose first agenda is to seek Jesus in all that they do. My leaders are equally...

It’s been about a week since I left home. It feels like its been much longer and much shorter at the same time. I am writing from the airport in Atlanta, where I am drinking my first coffee in a week and paid $6 for a bar of dark chocolate because withdrawal is real and Jesus is good. This week I participated in Passport Training Camp. Training Camp is designed to prepare each participant for everything he/she may face while on the field. We participated in teaching sessions, cultural briefings, and time with our teams and team leaders to help prepare us spiritually, mentally, and physically...

(To preface, yes I write short blogs. I try to only say what needs to be said and nothing more.)   There is satisfaction in my breath as our team is about to close out our time here in Swaziland. The satisfaction has not come about because of a huge work project that has been completed; nor has it come from feeding starving children with my own hands as they look up to me with full mouths and say, “Thank you, Chris.” No, these things are not what bring me satisfaction. What has made this trip feel complete is seeing the growth within the team and learning more about God right...

For the last 2 1/2 months we have been living in Nsoko, Swaziland. For most passerbys the only things that would stand out would be the giraffes and zebra at a game reserve called Nisela, which technically isn’t even in Nsoko. Nsoko is a town hidden by tall sugarcane. The town is know solely for this fact: “the sun is hotter there.”Behind the intense heat, the cool giraffes, and the fields of sugar cane, there is a 5 year old girl named Thembelihle. Sassy, fiery, dramatic, demanding, determined, and sneaky are just a few words that can define this diva of a girl. She is the...

My ministry this morning was a home visit to a woman who lives at the bottom of the mountain; her name is Alexzina.  When we arrived we climbed under the fence to her house. We came with food and soap for her. Alexzina was burned by a fire 4 years ago. She is burned down to the bone. To cover the hole in her leg she wraps it. She walks with a limp, the pain evident of her face as she moves. I noticed that her leg was twice the size of the other one. I can’t imagine being burned to where you can see the bone and survive. She walks with a cane but she can walk! I talked with her through...

We were instructed to pray in the morning, but I didn’t want to pray blindly; I wanted to pray for specifics. My team decided to go on a prayer walk! I walked with one of my team leaders, Jessica. We walked first to the medical clinic and prayed for the people that work there. I felt like a crazy missionary, wearing a long skirt and carrying a bible around the bush of Africa. Haha, I’m sure I was quite a sight. After the clinic, we went into the village area, which was a bunch of wonderful little stone huts strewn across the red dirt. Wild umbrella trees were scattered along the...