They call me teacha and I love them. Every day I spend five hours with nine five and six year olds who are now forever engrained in my heart and mind. They call me teacha. Never have I once considered teaching- God bless those with patience to teach. Seriously, thank you. Yet being “teacha” for just one month has blessed me beyond belief. Just to clarify- I am not the sole teacha. I work at a carepoint (preschool) under a phenomenal woman of God named Treasure- and honestly being in her presence is a treasure itself. Her kind heart, gentle spirit and wild humor inspire me every...

    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.    ...

Throughout this trip I’ve seen many sides of Africa. I see the hunger and poverty every day. I see it when a two year old baby is the size of a six month old. I see it when a child’s diaper is really just a plastic bag. I see it when the rice is gone at the carepoint and children fight over burnt scrapings on the bottom of the pot. I see it when kids stomachs are huge not because they have enough food but because they are literally starving. I see it in the faces of crippled people on the sidewalk begging for money and love. And I see it while doing paperwork for the sponsored...

I know, crazy, right? What missionary ever says they feel anything but adoration for children? But it’s true. I’ve never loved kids. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy them from time to time, but I’ve never had the passion for them that so many around me seem to feel. This all changed at Hope House, where a seven year old stole my heart. Siyabonga is a young man of very few words, but the love he shows towards all of us is phenomenal. His caregiver told me the other day that I was like his mother. Like. His. Mother. In what world am I qualified enough to be a stand in...

Something that has been prominent on my heart this week is Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”   In my previous mission trips to Africa, I was never much of a baby-holder. I always connected more with the older, teenage girls and shared life with them.   Almost every day this week, God placed a baby girl in my arms. My ministry team is working with AIM administration, going to all the different care points around Manzini and collecting information for the children’s...

Sawubona! (This means hello in Siswati!) Since we have officially been in Africa for 5 whole days now, I thought I would write a blog and update everyone on how my trip is going. We arrived in Swaziland on Monday evening and drove to the building that we will all call home for the next two months. There is a small living area, kitchen, and three very small bedrooms. There are 23 of us living in our home with 2 small port a pottys that smell like elephant poop and one bathroom that we use for cold bucket showers. We wash our clothes and dishes in wash buckets outside and hang the clothes on...