One of our friends from the states, Abby Waldrep, recently contacted us and asked if we could answer some questions about missions for a project she is working on. I asked her if it would be alright with her if I shared the questions (and answers) with y’all. I have edited some of the answers. As you can see she has some great questions! Pretty impressed with this girl!
1. What have some of the hardships and struggles been living in the mission field?
Of course, the struggles might be different for every person, certainly my girls have had different struggles than I have, but I will just answer for me. The hardship of missing family and friends is at the top of the list. Although God has provided a new ‘family’ of sorts here, and lots of new friends, you can imagine how hard it is sometimes to miss your Mom, or sisters, or cousins. Or those friends that have been your friends for so many years that they seem like family. It gets tough sometimes, but we are so thankful for Facebook and Skype and What’s App and all those things that allow us to feel a little more involved in our families’ lives. Missionaries not too long ago didn’t have that luxury and we are so thankful!
2. What do you wish you would have known before you moved over seas to be better prepared?
Hmm. I wish I would have tried to develop my skills as a ‘teacher’ before I came. Not a SCHOOL teacher (although, that would have been good too, since we are homeschooling!), but a Bible teacher. I have always just said that was not my ‘gift’, and just not done it. There were always others who had that ‘gift’ that would take on that role. But here….you have to be ready and willing to step into that role as a leader in a ministry. There is a group of ladies that I meet with every Wednesday and I long to be able to communicate the love of God and scriptures to them in an interesting way….working on it, just haven’t had enough practice.
Maybe the main idea of this is that of course God uses us where he has ‘gifted’ us, and wants us to use those specific talents, but we need to be ready and willing (not only on the mission field) to stretch and grow and do things that glorify him that maybe fall outside of what we feel we are good at.
3. What does your daily routine consist of?
This is really a hard one to answer because almost every day is different, especially depending on the season of the year. Our ‘job’ changes a lot. I’ll see if I can explain.
This ‘season’ is the time when we are doing Christmas Parties for each carepoint. We have to do them early because the kids’ school year ends early in December and the summer break starts. So many kids leave to go and visit parents or grandparents during this time that we want to ‘catch’ them before they leave. For the Christmas Party they get a special meal (Rice, Beef, Chicken, beet salad, cole slaw, potato salad), and a small gift. They usually perform songs and skits of the Christmas story, or Jesus’ life. We have a jump castle and it is just kind of a fun day to play and eat meat (which they don’t get very often)! This year we were also able to send each child home with a giant cabbage!! Sounds crazy for that to be a good Christmas present, but it is such a big deal for them to be able to provide some food for their family. Even the teeny tiny kids carry that big ole cabbage!
This is also the time of year when all of the preschools from the care points are having ‘graduation’!! The graduates get to wear a cap and gown, get a certificate and a special meal. They usually do a special performance for their parents, too. Last year, one of the care points had the kids do ‘ballroom dancing’!
So in the mornings the girls and I start school and usually we get done early afternoon. Some afternoons we are out at carepoints doing parties, sometimes we take kids to the clinic, or deliver food to a family who is in need for some reason. (We call these ‘home visits’.)
And then there is homework, and karate and art lessons! Katie has done swimming team in the past, and Ellie is wanting to take guitar lessons, too.
The girls like to play with other kids in our neighborhood in the afternoons if we are home. There are families from Malawi, Egypt, Portugal, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Ghana. They ride bikes and scooters, and raid the neighborhood trees of whatever fruit is in season. Right now it is litchi season. We also have mulberry trees, mangos, papayas and lemons. (They DO ask the owners before stealing their fruit!) Landon and Lane Mullins are in our neighborhood now, as well as two other families who are on staff with AIM, so it is nice to have a ‘community’ within our community!
Evenings are pretty typical. Homework, dinner, maybe some TV. We don’t have real “TV” but we have a TV and DVD player and watch movies or series like: Gilligan’s Island, Andy Griffith, Flipper, Brady Bunch, Little House on the Prairie, etc.
4. If you tell a person about Jesus and they say they accept him, but really don’t care about what you have to say. What can you do to help them really come to know God and let him be the Lord of their life?
That is something we really deal with a lot here. Almost anyone in Swaziland, if you asked them, would say they are a ‘christian’ and believe in Jesus. (Kind of like in the South!). There are lots of churches here and most everyone would say they ‘go to church’ somewhere. The problem is like you said, really coming to KNOW God and that they need faith in Jesus alone for their salvation.
At the care points, our Swazi staff’s goal is to teach the kids the true meaning of following Christ and disciple them in a way so that they learn the basics of scripture memorization, prayer and Bible study. Our desire is for these kids to teach their friends and families and so spread the TRUE gospel of Christ. Also, we try to be a good example, to live a life that is different and hopefully would cause others to want to know what is the reason for the hope that we have.
5. With living in Swaziland how has God touched or changed your life?
Well, I certainly have had to depend on Him more than ever before. I have become much more aware of the Holy Spirit and his relationship and role in my life. I am more convicted than ever that God wants us to care for widows and orphans and wants us to be available to love on people for Him.
