Our last week in Manzini

We just finished our last week here in manzini eSwatini.. WOW.. I say that word a lot but I am constantly in awe of everything happening around me.
Sunday we were taken to a local market for our adventure day… it was so fun and special to get to experience their culture here and shop around and get some things for family and friends… we grabbed lunch their as well and they did have WiFi butttt a running factor when we do get WiFi is that it’s basically nonexistent even when you have it… so it takes us maybe 20 plus minutes to try to get a blog to post or to get anything to post on social media… trying to contact our family and friends has been super tough this past week for sure…that day felt so weird in so many ways.. when we were leaving it was starting to rain and storm and we are in the van waiting on two more girls on the squad and all of a sudden this huge loud bang cracks so loud and we see a flash of light… the two girls we were waiting for come sprinting to the van and we are all in shock trying to process what just happened, my first thought was “Omgsh was that a bomb Or something” we realized very quickly that lightning had struck right behind us… I haven’t ever had lightning strike near me before, so if you have you know how intense it is!!! We were like that’s our cue to leave!! I’ve experienced rainstorms/thunderstormsbut let me tell you… there is something about an African rainstorm/thunderstorm!!! They are no joke and so intense!

The next day was SUCH a special day… so I’ve told you guys before how on Mondays we go out into the community and outreach and shop for our groceries.. we call it our ATL (Ask The Lord) day.. we actually got to go to a new place that no squad has ever been to before.. it was a home and school for kids with special needs.. we did a LOT of yard work and cleaning.. to just try to encourage and help however we could! They were so happy and excited and appreciative for everything we did for them!! That was probably one of the sweatiest and hardest we have worked being here as far as manual labor goes.. because working in the field at our care point we had many days/weeks to try and accomplish our goal… this place we only had a couple hours and that was it so we all put 110% effort into our time there.. I hope other squads get to go there in the future because of how special and sweet it was and felt for me..I hope others can have that same opportunity! They split us up into different groups, there were 8 of us on yard work (I was in this group) there were 2 on washing windows, 2 on cleaning and organizing the school, 2 on cleaning and organizing the garage, then 4 people on the garden! It was awesome I love spending time with the kids here but there’s something about manual labor for someone that just hits so different! The before and after picture in my mind is SO good! I can’t explain it but seeing the ear to ear smiles on the Gogo’s (grandmother) and Make’s (mother) faces brought me so much joy!

We did go to town after to get our groceries and once we got them and had some time waiting to be picked up me and a few squad mates like to grab a vanilla ice cream cone from the pick and pay store we shop at and it’s honestly the best vanilla ice cream cone I’ve ever had… it tastes almost like a birthday cake I’ve cream or something… so good.. I also don’t know if it’s so good because it’s so cold and so refreshing because it’s so hot here and even when you get a “cold” beverage or “cold” water it’s really room temperature.. but whichever it is I am so thankful for it and I will miss it! Anyways… we got our ice cream cones and are sitting enjoying them at these little cafe tables outside the store and it starts down pouring…. It was a full on African rainstorm/thunderstorm…. So since the day before with the lightning was so intense I decided to take a quick little video of me enjoying my ice cream in the storm and I kid you not…. Lightning strikes right by us….. I screamed so loud and was so scared and I have it all on video… so I’ll be sure to try and share that with you if you would like to get a good laugh in!

We did have quite a few of us fall sick our last week here…and there was just a lot of heaviness and we feel like a lot of spiritual attacks on our squad… but Wednesday we all went back to our separate care points as our teams.. it was so sweet to get to say goodbye to our care point.. because they had all 3 teams going to DBS’s (Dadbodsquad) teams care point the last two weeks on certain days so we were all together as a squad.. but it was so nice to get to go with my team the dandelions to our care point and get one last day with our kids.. I can’t remember if I told you guys yet but our care point had the most kids out of all 3 care points, we have 200+ kids… So our last day we played non stop… we sang and danced and took a lot of pictures.. they love taking pictures they say shoot me shoot me (they mean take my picture lol) and then immediately want you to show them it and they will look at it and Smile so Big and say shoot me again! We brought some fingernail polish and painted a bunch of the girls toes for them.. it was just a very full active fun sweet day! We usually get picked up anywhere between 3-3:30… we were so busy having fun we didn’t realize it was 4:30 and we have no way of contacting our squad leaders or the bus to see where they are but we all were like.. “they have to get us eventually..maybe the bus broke down again..” I have some reallyyy great pictures and videos of our little Jerry rigged bus… which did break down a few times… and honestly I’m not sure how it was still trucking it.. that bus has been through a lot for sure… Also the roads here aren’t roads they are like dirt four wheeler trails… but you are in a vehicle so it’s BUCK… I did get car sick many times.. but I would do it all again it was so worth it to get to our care points and kids! Anyways after saying all that.. we weren’t worried and continued to play a fun dancing game with the kids! Then before we know it our shepherd Bongi was like okay it’s time to close and go home.. it’s 5:15.. we have had a FULL day and are exhausted… the kids are all starting to walk home.. bongi got ahold of someone who got a hold of our leaders and they said our bus had in fact broken down and that another bus was coming!! But our care point was closed and we had to walk to the big main road so about 10 miles is how far the main road was and we were already exhausted but we were like alright.. let’s go! So we take off with Bongi and this walk isn’t like on a straight flat road it’s the dirt four wheeler trails with many many hills… we are about a little over a mile in and there’s a huge hill and we are just hiking at this point and sweating.. I was for sure sunburnt and crispy because by like 4 my sunscreen had lost its effectiveness and the sun is beating down and all of a sudden here comes the other bus flying over the top of the hill and he flys past us and we were like wait… was that Calvin (he’s a local taxi driver we would have to hire when our bus broke down) and we see him slam on his breaks and he goes all the way to the bottom of the hill and gets turned around and flys up to pick us up! So we got extremely lucky to not have to walk the full distance to the main road! I think I would have for sure been army crawling by the 5th mile.. so we were SO GRATEFUL!
So I can’t remember if I told you guys that one of my squad mates got her phone stolen last week on our ATL day… but when we get home we find out another squad mates phone from another team got stolen at their care point that day so it wasn’t as awesome of a day for other teams.. but I will say.. both Nikki and Andrew (my squad mates who had their phones stolen) were SO encouraging in how they both carried themselves and still had smiles on their faces in their phones being taken.. sure they were bummed and that’s awful no one wants to go through that but they had such a positive attitude towards the whole situation and that was and has been really encouraging to me in so many ways! Thursday we all go as a whole squad to DBS’s teams care point… at this point 3 of our squad mates are home sick.. I was feeling a little off but didn’t think too much into it and on our way to the care point it hits me… I am sick.. so I was down for the count and about noon Lucy was actually getting picked up to head to town to get some things done and offers to take me home so I take her up on the offer and as soon as I get home I get very sick in the bathroom… it was NOT fun.. I still felt sick the rest of that night but by the next day I was on my way back to feeling better! So I was sad I did have to miss out on a day of ministry.. but I did get to go to our last day of ministry on Friday!

So it’s traditional for the Gogo’s to cook a meal for you as a way of thanking you and everything.. So many of you know I’ve been a vegetarian for the past maybe almost 8 years or something… but coming into this trip I didn’t want it to be a “thing” for me..I didn’t want to have to always worry what can I eat or have to Always have my squad try to accommodate me or have my mind worried or whatever over any of it… so it was I think our first day getting to training camp and our dinner was literally a ham sandwich and chips… so it was then I was like alright God.. I give this to you and prayed to not get sick or anything and just carry me through the mental process of it all.. so I ate the ham sandwich and was completely fine.. I’ve had meat every day since and besides one little hiccup with some sausage… I thank God that I haven’t had any issues! I loved during training camp for our meals there was a new meat every time and my squad mates would always want to see my reaction and what I thought.. so when we had burgers everyone was like okay Kayla we have to see your face and what you think about the burger… it was incredible… I’ve been asked multiple times “Are you going back vegetarian when you get home?” My favorite was when I was at our Traditional Brie cookout send away and it’s traditional they don’t use utensils so I was eating my first steak since being a vegetarian.. so I’m holding this steak with my bare hands digging in and Nikki says “Are you going back to being a vegetarian when you get home?” I took a big bite out of my steak and smiled and didn’t speak any words the whole meal because of how good it was.. so as of now my answer is NO.. I do not plan to dive back into being a vegetarian when I get back home..also I may be 29 but I feel like I’m just now experiencing the taste of everything.. like chick fil A… how did I not know how good the spicy chicken sandwich is?!? Anyways… the Gogo’s had a chicken with his little feet tied up and a bag around him to his neck laying in a wheelbarrow with a machete next to it….. I was like ohhhh okay… so are they about to kill the chicken to cook for us? So  back story.. they let their chickens, cows, goats etc. just roam at free will here and if they wonder off they go and bring them back but that was something I had to overcome… my fear of chickens and birds… I will say I am still very scared of them and will scream if one comes at me but I feel way more at ease and relaxed and comfortable with them near me and don’t have a problem with them unless they attack me.. So a lot of us were trying to prepare ourselves for what was coming… I personally didn’t watch it because that’s just not my thing I don’t want to see anything like that.. it makes me sad and everything and I was still not 100% better from the day before… but they killed the chicken and cooked it for us and also made us maize bread.. which was kind of like corn bread.. but it was delicious! I personally didn’t partake in the chicken it was all just a bit much for me to process and my stomach was still at about a 60/100 but a lot of people said it was fresh.. some people liked it some people didn’t but we were extremely grateful and thanked the Gogo’s multiple times because it was so special and kind for them to do something like that for us! I’ve noticed we all have so many different gifts and talents being on the mission trip with my squad and we all have different ways we can serve others and thank others and help others… it’s so beautiful to see how other cultures do things and how when it all comes down to it… we are all alike in so many ways even tho we are different in so many ways and that’s so beautiful to me! I do know our squad can definitely use some prayers as we go into our debrief this next week and prepare ourselves for these next two months in Jeffery’s bay!

I am so sorry for my late post this week and that my blog is kind of all over the place this time… we haven’t had WiFi to post our stuff and contact our family and friends like we usually do so I appreciate you guys being patient with me and following along with our Journey!!! I am so thankful for all the love and support from everyone!!! I want to leave you with some verses for the week…

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach Gods throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Psalm 23:1-6 “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in your presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”