The beginning

In November we launched our commitment to the Lesibovu CarePoint. That meant that as a community (not just local, but anyone, anywhere can be part of our connection to this CarePoint) we were committing to a 5-7 year relationship with the people of Lesibovu. That agreement means we will visit annually, invest relationally and financially into the area, to enable them to be more self-sufficient at the end of that time, while also sharing that God's love for us all was the factor that bound us together.

For months prior to our trip, most of the team was able to participate in a great book study ("Follow Me: A Call to Die" by David Platt). This book was such a challenging study and many evenings we were left a bit speechless after watching the videos that went along with it. To hear that evangelizing by praying "the sinner's prayer" with people to accept Christ and "invite him into (your) heart" wasn't necessarily right was hard to take. We realized that really, we should be witnessing through our lives and sharing that accepting Christ means asking Him to change us and enable us to be willing to give everything up for Him, even (especially) our lives. We also have to be willing to apply that to our current, pretty comfortable, Christian lives and it has been eye-opening and life-changing. Denying ourselves and our pursuit of temporary pleasure/wealth/comfort to find fulfillment only in Jesus - That isn't the definition of being a Christian that most of us grew up with. It rocked many of us to the core, I think. Our study of the Word and discussion time shaped our view of the upcoming trip and enabled us to see it as not just a cool short-term ministry opportunity, but a time to really give, to share without regret or hesitation, and to apply it to our lives here in middle-class, comfy America. We also are grateful to take advantage of more local opportunities to serve and witness and share our lives. This was not just about Africa. It was about changing our thinking and way of life in every area.
 I think that I speak for everyone when I say I don't think we are the same people as we were before the study. I think of what we learned and the teaching we heard, and know that many conversations in our home have stemmed from that  book. How we live now that we truly see the Truth that this life is not our own is something we are still working on.

We also met regularly to pray, plan, and grow closer as a team. That time was so valuable as we learned more about each other, our gifts and struggles, and the way God was working in each life to prepare us for traveling to serve others. I am so thankful for the dedication of each person who committed not to just go out of the country for 10 days, but to daily seek God's will for his/her life, and how Swaziland factored into that.

Having never led a team on a trip, and since most of us hadn't even been on any missions trip, the experience was very much a learning process. I am so grateful that we had patient team members, experienced missionaries in Ken and Marilyn, and that God blessed us with cooperative spirits through it all.