Final week in Eswatini

Hello again everyone, I apologize for it being longer than usual but I have not had my phone for a little while. I’ll backtrack and start with the Saturday we spent at our other team’s carepoint/daycare. This was a special treat for my team because we had never gotten a chance to see their carepoint because it was much farther away than mine was. Immediately when I stepped off the bus, a young boy around six years old took my hand and never let it go until we left. It was quite cute. He even wanted me to carry him around halfway through and I did, even though he wasn’t as small as most of the three and four year olds that I was used to holding. After we got back I prepared for my first sermon ever. I had some inspiration from a sermon that was given way back when I was around six years old. This was a kids sermon in my grandparent’s church and my grandpa Partlow helped out with the sermon that day. I never forgot about the teaching that day and was able to put my own spin on it for my squad. So there I was, Bible in hand, in front of my squad, walking around in my Purdue T-shirt and Crocs giving my first sermon. The Lord spoke through me well and I was glad that I could preach his word in the best way that I could. I then went to church the next day and was asked to preach along with two other guys on my squad, Wesley and Sam. So then I got to do it again… but not in my Crocs this time. So in between the last time you read my blog and this time, I went from having never given a sermon to having given two. It’s incredible how the Lord works, He’s truly amazing. Then after the weekend, we spent the last couple days at our carepoints before saying goodbye to them. It was not a very fun day when we had to say goodbye, but I am thankful I got to meet all the amazing people that are working together to make that carepoint possible and I am thankful I got to meet all those kids and be a light for God for them. We then moved on to a retreat called Awakening where many staff members came from America to meet up with us and had teachings and praised God for a couple days. Eswatini is the main base for Adventures in Missions in Africa and we actually were here with two other squads that were out on the field. They were gap year squads, which means they’re people ranging from ages 17-20 who are out on the field for nine months and visit four different countries. It was cool to meet other people who were on fire for God and share our stories about how we saw the Lord work. One part about these couple days where we’re all together was that we led worship. We were sent a survey asking if we had any musical ability. I of course said no because I do not know how to play any instruments well, and the only one I knew I little bit was not available to us (piano). But of course, my name still managed to make it on the list of people who signed up. I went to the worship meeting on the first day and they couldn’t find what I had signed up for (because I didn’t sign up), but clearly God wanted me there anyways. I was put in one of the four worship groups and I somehow ended up playing the Kahone. For those of you who don’t know what that is (because I was in the same boat, I didn’t know what it was until a couple days ago either) it is a drum that you sit on and play by hitting it with your hands. Depending on where you hit the Kahone, the drumming makes different noises. So here I am in front of 100 people sitting on this Kahone having never played it before about to lead worship, which I have also never done before. The Lord truly worked through me as I started playing and singing. I felt as if I’d played the Kahone my whole life and it was truly amazing to get to praise God in that way with over 100 different people who love him too. It made my heart smile. We are now leaving Eswatini and flying to Jeffrey’s Bay in South Africa. Eswatini was amazing and I’m excited to see how the Lord will work in South Africa. Until next time folks.