J Squad lived in the bush of Swaziland for two months. It’s still hard to describe our time there, and I struggle to believe I was ever in Africa. It is still so surreal. Guatemala is close to the States, and it’s relatively common for people to travel to Europe, but living in a tent in Southern Africa for two months isn’t standard practice. As I look back and process everything that was included in life there, I wanted to share some stories of how God moved. A big way I saw God move was through answered prayers. He hears us and is so kind to us.
“Who Is Jesus?”
Our primary ministry in Swazi was going to care points. A care point is an area of land owned by Adventures in Missions where the community’s children come to play and receive a meal. Many children’s parents start work early in the morning and don’t come home until late at night. Because of this, it’s common for kids to be left home alone from a young age or expected to take care of their younger siblings. The children grow up without parental figures and without receiving love. Hearing some of the stories of the older kids is heartbreaking. The kids live dark lives that they think are normal, and the care points offer them a source of light, life, and peace.
Being at care points is really special, but it was also exhausting. We would play with kids all day in the hot African sun without much of a break. One day, as we were driving to the care point, I was really tired from playing tag all week. As we exited the van, I said a short prayer: “God, somehow let me be able to sit down today.” Within a few minutes of being there, Titi, one of the older girls, started a conversation with me. After talking for a few minutes, she very plainly asked, “Who is Jesus?” I got to sit with Titi most of the day and talk with her about Jesus. I had the opportunity to share the gospel with her and ask her what she thought about Jesus. We had a sweet conversation, and then she ran away to play with some of the other kids.
I am grateful for the conversation Titi and I had. After Titi ran away, I realized God answered my single-sentence prayer from that morning. God met me where I was and saw my heart. Though physically tired, my heart was still to love the kids. While much of our time at the care points was spent playing with the kids, there were sweet moments of planting seeds into the hearts of the next generation.
The St. Lucia Market
Our Swazi visas were only valid for a month, so we had to go to South Africa to renew our visas. We drove to St. Lucia to spend the weekend going to the beach and spending time together. We weren’t tasked with doing ministry like we are during the week, but life is ministry. We can always talk and pray with people we meet, encourage believers, share the gospel with unbelievers, and pray as we walk.
One day, as we walked through the small local market, I thought, “I would like to talk with someone here.” We had been at the market for a while and walked through the entire thing several times. I had no money on me, but the women persisted in asking me to buy something from them. I assumed no vendors wanted to talk with me and were most interested in selling their products. I’ll admit that I was wrong, and I was wrong to assume that.
As we walked through the market, my heart broke for the women there. Their main source of income comes from their small shop, and they depend on selling to tourists to feed their families. As I looked, the women would say, “Please buy something. If you don’t buy from me, I don’t have money for food. I can’t feed my family.” Some may say that they were utilizing a guilt tactic to get more sales, but what they said was true. Having visited homes and talked with families, it’s the reality of life for the people. I heard from one of my squad mates that a mother of two children at their care point died from starvation overnight. She put her kids before herself, and it cost her her life. If her kids eating meant that she didn’t, she would go hungry. For them to say these things, they are not trying to manipulate you into buying something; they are telling you the truth about their circumstances.
As I said, I was walking through the market with an empty wallet, tears in my eyes, and an aching heart. When one woman asked me to buy something, I told her I had no money. I expected her to stop talking and move on to something else when I told her this. But she didn’t. I had no money and wasn’t a paying customer, but she stood beside me and started a conversation. We talked about her and her son. She told me the meaning of her name and her students at Sunday school. We talked for a while and ended our time in prayer together.
Similar to the story with Titi, afterward, I saw that God had answered my prayer. I didn’t know that I prayed to talk with someone, but I thought about wanting to talk with someone at the market. God hears even our thoughts and grants us the desires of our hearts. In Matthew 12, Jesus healed a man before the Pharisees, and it says, “Jesus knew their thoughts….” We do not need to speak things for them to be made known because our thoughts are already known. God knew my thoughts at that moment and knew what to do with them, just like how Jesus knew the Pharisees’ thoughts and how to respond. David wrote in Psalms, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). God knew my desire to talk with someone, and he granted it to me. Walking away from that moment, I was amazed by God’s goodness and kindness in answering the prayer I didn’t know I had prayed.
God Came On A Safari With Us!
During Parent Vision Trip, we went on a safari with our parents. At the beginning of the safari, my friend Gracie and I prayed to see a lion, two giraffes, three elephants, and a rhino. We were a short way into the safari when we saw two giraffes. We prayed to see two giraffes, and there they were, right in front of us. We admired the giraffes for a while and then realized there were four giraffes. There were two giraffes closer to us and more visible, but also two more behind some trees and a bit harder to spot. When we saw the second set of giraffes, we talked about how God doubled what we had prayed for. He answered our prayer, abundantly provided, and fulfilled our desires.
We continued our safari and discovered a group of rhinos napping in a mud pit. We prayed to see a singular rhino and saw a large group of them. We enjoyed watching them roll and sleep in the mud as they tried to get cool. Again, God answered our prayer to see a rhino and provided more than what we prayed for. He allowed us to marvel at more of his creation than we expected to see.
First the giraffes, then the rhinos, and now on to the lions. As I mentioned, we started our safari praying to see a lion. Lions are a bit more challenging to find on safaris, especially during the time of day we were looking for them. During the day, lions look for a bush in tall grass to provide them with shade to lie in. We were driving along the two-track, hoping to get lucky, and stumble across a lion close enough to the path to spot. Our driver suddenly hit the brakes and backed away from a male lion that popped his head up directly next to the track. There were many bushes the lion could have been in, but there he was, right next to us. Thank you, God, for placing that lion there and answering our prayer.
We watched the lion in awe when he stood up and started walking down the path in front of the buggy. He walked to the next closest bush down the path where his brother lay in the shade. We prayed to see a lion, which God provided. We were even more amazed when, yet again, God provided even more than we asked for.
To give some perspective, this safari was two hours long and at a small animal reserve in Eswatini. A few weeks later, as we prepared to return to the States, we went on a six-hour safari at Kruger National Park. Kruger is one of the world’s largest national parks and larger than the country of Spain. People will spend entire days looking for lions and not find them, but we saw two at a much smaller park when the chances were low. We prayed to see a lion, and God’s kindness allowed us to see two.
Once again, amazed at a God who cares to answer our prayers, we searched for elephants. We had to explore more to find the elephants, but we found them. We didn’t get a chance to count them because the herd male was becoming aggressive and territorial, so we had to leave. While we didn’t have time to count the elephants, I can confidently tell you there were more than three. Again, God answered our prayers by abundantly providing.
On a different safari, the squad trip to Kruger, someone on my team prayed that we would see something our guide had never seen before. We were on our way out of the park when we quickly came to a stop. A bright green chameleon was making his way across the road. Not only that, but a long green snake was hunting the chameleon. Let me tell you honestly, I enjoyed the chameleon, but I didn’t appreciate the snake showing up to the party. Luckily the snake didn’t strike the chameleon and eat it, or I think I would have thrown up over the side of the buggy. We drove away from that animal encounter and asked our guide if he had seen something like that before. He told us that was the first time and a unique sighting. I didn’t find out until after the safari that someone prayed to see something our guide hadn’t seen before, but it was cool to hear how God answered their prayer.
God answers our prayers and goes with us wherever we are and whatever we are doing. We went on a safari and saw God answer what one might call ‘silly prayers,’ but he answered them abundantly. He is a God of abundance who loves us, hears us, and answers our prayers.
PaRtY pArTy PaRtY!
As our time at Joyela Care Point came close to the end, we wanted to celebrate the children we spent two months loving and being loved by. My ministry team posted on Instagram asking for donations to throw them a party. As we asked for donations, we prayed that God would provide the funds for us to do this. We prayed for God to reach the hearts of our friends and families and lead them to give cheerfully. God did just that. We saw God provide ABUNDANTLY for his children. Waking up in the morning to several hundred dollars of donations was amazing. All there was to do was thank God and give him the glory. My entire team was blown away by the generosity of people and God’s providence.
I learned through this how deep the Father’s love is for his children. He wanted his children to be celebrated and feel loved. If it wasn’t his will for the party to happen, the funding wouldn’t have come, and the door would have been closed. We loved those children so much and sobbed when we left, but God loves them more than we could imagine and will never leave them. God has a heart for his children, and he loves them dearly.
I want to say thank you to everyone who donated. God worked through you and showed his love to his children through every dollar donated. Thank you. Your generosity moved me and allowed the kids to feel loved and celebrated on our last day with them. I cannot express enough the blessing that each donation brought.
