During ministry this month, all of Lsquad partnered with Adventures in Missions Swaziland.
the Lsquad gals, plus our ministry host Morgan and Bongani.
Ministry looked like serving at CarePoints, the farm, writing lesson plans for the shepherd program, and maintenance crew. Myself, Steph, and Kendell were chosen to work at one care point, Mkhombokati.
Peep, this is Steph and Kendell… and Bengyyy 🙂
We were told that our first week of ministry we would not be going to the care points, but instead working with Morgan our ministry host at her home. Naturally I was disappointed, because I wanted to maximize every second I could with the kids to make this “big impact” that I crafted up in my head. AKA fill the void I have been having due to not finding purpose in nursing.
Oof God had different plans.
When ministry week began, Morgan told us that there was a large donation for the care point to put together school kits for all of the high schoolers and preschoolers, and our job was to help her to organize and shop for the supplies. No problem… 200 kids later, and SO MANY: crayons, colored pencils, rubbers (erasers), notebooks, shoe polish, pencils, pens, and sharpeners. We found everything that we needed, and then some.
While we created our own human assembly line (see below) to package all the kids, I asked Morgan about the donor and when they would distribute the supplies to the kids.
I found out that the donor was from a local church in Salt Lake City Utah, a church I am very familiar with actually. Small world!!! We were also told that a special meal would be provided for the kids when they received the gifts, and that we would be at the care point next week for the party. Link for full video.(https://youtu.be/ywwzcGILi6Y).
The details. The small details that I could have overlooked and skipped past to try and jump right into the deep end of “my big impact”. If we would have just arrived the day that they were handing out the supplies I would have missed so much.
I would have missed the reminder of how important financial support is in all of this; it is actually the catalyst to all of it. The donations from this church, is just one example of a domino effect of care points that have been built, children being sponsored, playgrounds being built, and special meals being served.
I would have missed the intentional time we were able to spend with our host Morgan, and with Nomcebo, Precious, Bengy (Mpendulo), and Zakes (Spyloez) who served at the care point. The relationships would not have been built if we would have just jumped into the “big impact”.
I would have missed all the laughs, jumping, hugs, ridiculousness with the kids.
I would have missed seeing the resilience that the cooks have every day serving hundreds of kids, not just during a special meal.
God slowed me down, and gave me the chance to see the details; to see the MANY MANY human souls in the impact of this unified assembly line for Christ.
It reminds me of the scripture that talks about the body of the church. Paul is speaking to the Corinth church, reemphasizing the pure fact that we are all apart of one journey, and if one is not doing their job the the whole system functions at a lower capacity. Jesus is the ONE that empowers each of us to carry out our call of service in the kingdom, in this body.
The donations from this church could be the eyes.
Adventures in Missions Swaziland could be the hands.
Myself, Kendell, and Steph could be the feet.
The children could be the ears.
All of it, to build and unify the body of the church, and to glorify His name.
“ And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowered them all in everyone” 1 Corinthians 12:5
So Swazi, you taught me that the small details are the BIG IMPACT, they in fact make it all that much more meaningful.
Now my question for you is what is God asking YOU to do/give/share to partner with the unity of the body?
Answer in comments!! I wanna hear, and would love to pray for you guys in that!
xoxo
d
Thanks for sharing and thanks for serving the Mkhombokati carepoint well!
INCREDIBLE!! I admire your willingness to submit to serving wherever the Lord needs you, and it seems like it was a beautiful fit with this crew. I’m so proud of you!
I love your call to action, to examine what I, personally, and each of your readers can be doing to make an impact. It’s nice to reflect on how God has continually increased our capacity to make an impact – via time, money, talents, and serving. With each increase in ability and capacity comes its challenges, and huge blessings as well. In the end, I feel like I’ve gotten way more than I’ve given. The more I have given, the more I keep getting… truly we cannot out-give God no matter what we do! God is all about everyone receiving the blessings He wants to give us!