Eswatini

God has planned out every step, allow the Holy Spirit to lead you.

Placed in the heart of Eswatini, we sat at the feet of the one who created it all. We had the privilege of camping in a garden, where every tree, flower and animal reflects God’s Glory. The two weeks we spent at Umdoni allowed us to rest, process what happened in Mozambique and savour everything God has done in and through our lives.

We worked on the land where we learnt to farm sustainably, plant trees, create vegetable gardens, grow algae to feed chickens, physically plant seeds and prepare the harvest, all while the Lord worked in each one of us at a tremendous speed, with so much gentleness.

Working alongside the locals taught us so much about the Swazi culture. It is captivating and filled with joy and peace, that can only come from the Lord.

God’s presence is so evident in this small country. Our days started with work on the farm and ended with a Veritas module 2 course which opened our eyes to unlocking more of the bible and understanding what it really meant for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and how He is the ultimate High Priest and the Perfect Sacrifice.

There is something different about the way Swati people worship God.

We had bible study sessions with the Swatis and together we worshipped the Lord with only a few words, this was such a powerful experience! It taught us that gratitude is at the heart of worship.

We learned that gratitude positions us to come before the Lord with simplicity and confidence, even when we feel that we have nothing to offer – it doesn’t matter, because we can’t add to Him anyway. Even when we are so tired that we don’t have words to express ourselves, it’s okay… we can just give thanks. The Lord delights in our worship despite our emptiness or exhaustion. He values our surrender and complete obedience.

We treasured this experience because it helped us realise that we don’t need a big church with lots of lights, or a whole band to worship the Lord. All we need is the presence of the Lord and if we enter His presence with gratitude, God will do the rest. We saw the Holy Spirit move in a variety of ways, some of which were new to us.

Walking in God’s creation is really like witnessing a thousand miracles in front of your eyes.

While hiking up the mountain, the local walking with us said that the only way to journey up the mountain is to take it step by step. Handing every step over to the Lord is the only way you are going to reach the top of the mountain and when you are at the top, you will look down and see where the Lord has taken you.

Here’s what some of our team members had to say about our time in Eswatini:

Cayla said,

“If God wants to speak to people, you just need to be willing to be a vessel and go. God loves to speak to His children and it does not have to be in a church or at a ministry point, it could be at a simple local market… this is where we met a lovely lady.

God knew she was going to be there and knew we were willing to speak to her. The Lord spoke into her life and opened so many doors not only in her life but in ours too as we learnt to trust the Holy Spirit and if the Holy Spirit wants to move, you give Him a way to move. The Holy Spirit protects us but the Lord revealed to me, that he has placed the Holy Spirit in our hands as a weapon, as if we have fire in our hands and it’s our responsibility to use this weapon to ignite others.”

Henco expressed the following about our hike,

“Eswatini, this is a place where kindness meets reality. I really enjoyed this ministry point – the beautiful mountains that surround you while we worked and the intentional conversations with the locals were all so encouraging!

On the morning of the 6th of April, we had the opportunity to go on a short hike, led by one of the locals, and as we set off, we caught golden hour at its best! With high expectations and the warm morning sun on us, we marched. Besides submerging yourself in nature and the physical aspect of a hike, the company during the hike can really bless the adventure.“

Hele said,

“The Lord has been busy preparing the soil of my heart throughout the past two months, He started plucking out the weeds in my heart here in Eswatini. All the weeds that prevent me from growing into who He made me to be, and how He used my team in a gentle way, the locals and the beautiful Swazi culture to do that.”

The Lord is so gentle with His children and placing us in Eswatini was such a blessing. To see God’s beauty in so many different ways that we have never experienced before and to see that everyone who follows the Lord, is part of the body of Christ. There are not just the Christians in your community, but everywhere. Like the mountain that we hiked, the Lord has our steps planned out, so we can freely follow Him.