Another week another blog!! We’re currently in our third week in Swazi!!! Wild, this last week another World Race semester squad joined us girls at the base were staying at! It’s been so fun having 12 new people around into get to know!!
This week we followed our typical ministry schedule through Thursday. Then on Friday of this week we actually got to go into the city of manzini. The Adventures In Missions staff have a day of meetings and prayer walks through the city and we were invited to be apart of that! While in manzini, we got to reunite with the rest of our Squad which
so sweet!! Then on Saturday we got to go on a safari for our adventure day!! This was also a while away so we had a long weekend but such a sweet one!
Recently Iv been working through expectations and disappointments with the Lord, of what we imagined swazi to be vs what it is. Ministry at carepoints isn’t where I would choose to be. But it’s provided space for letting the Lord actually redefine what ministry is. So often we read about Jesus life, but rarely do we see Jesus refer to going to ministry or having a good or successful ministry experience. Rather He just lives His life in loving God and other people. He lives His life as ministry. It is easy to idolize the idea of ministry, how it should or shouldn’t look, and while it’s not bad to think through ministry details and have vision we must not let our vision for what ministry looks like creep into a place of idolization. Because in this place we put the Lord in a box without even realizing it! As I began working through this, the Lord reminded me so gently that the call is to Love God and then love His people. Not of my own mustering but out of an overflow of love. What is love? Love is a person, love is a man and His name is Jesus. An overflow of love must come from knowing love, we get to know love by locking eyes with Jesus and letting His love minister to me and that’s what overflows. A simple but awing reality to be reminded of.
From this, I was reminded by my sweet squad leader that it’s not a bad thing that I don’t find myself absolutely loving care point ministry. That is why we have the body, because God did create some of us to thrive in this ministry setting, for it to fully fill us and bring abundance of joy to our hearts! But it’s ok that that is not me, there is nothing to feel ashamed about.
So it’s been so so sweet to see the Lord grow my dependency on Him in this area! I get to still show up and choose to submit to where the Lord has me right now – which is at care points. And I get to see the splendor of watching the Lord grow my love for the kids here and bring so much joy from this place even though it’s not where I’d choose to be. It has been challenging at times yes, but what a gift to fall into the arms of the father in these moments. To press in deeper into the Lord and grow my dependency on Him in many ways in Swazi – including ministry. Iv seen Jesus working in my heart a lot here and it’s been hard yet it’s been so beautiful. So thank you Jesus for helping me and taking me deeper into dependency on you, for to know you better is everything.
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