We are officially two months in and I am at a total loss for where they went. This week has been amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. Due to the strike in Manzini on Monday, we stayed in Timbutini on Tuesday while the leaders made sure the city was safe to return to for ministry on Thursday. Tuesday is the day that we go to the hospital and then to the squatter camp. As I stayed on the homestead and processed being away from ministry I felt as if I were getting just a taste of what it will be like when I have to leave Swaziland and am not able to be doing the same kind of ministry. I missed Gamedze, the lady I visit at the hospital and I wondered what the kids at the squatter camp were up to. I spent time in prayer for them but it was still so hard to not get to be with them. On Wednesday as we left the children at Pastor Walter’s carepoint I could not even imagine having to say good-bye for the last time. At that moment I realized the importance of embracing every moment I have left here in Swaziland and not letting a single moment slide by that I am not radiating the love of Jesus in. I guess I felt this before but never with such an urgent burning passion. Although I began to feel the heartbreak of leaving Swaziland, I know that God will empower me to be able to handle it with the same strength He has given me the deal with the burdens of poverty and disease that would normally tear my heart to pieces. When I think about all that I have experienced in the last month the only reason I am still functioning emotionally is because of the strength God gives when you put your hope in Him.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:28-31
Though the mere thoughts of the day I have to say good-bye is breaking my heart I know the strength that God will empower me to rely on. I know with confidence that “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Phil. 4:13
