Author on a Mission

In just about seven weeks I will join 30 other Kansans and travel to Swaziland, Africa on my first-ever missions trip. I suppose I could have gotten my feet wet in the pool of such trips by taking one to St. Louis, Chicago, maybe Canada or even Mexico. However, I never felt the hand of the Lord on me to go on a missions trip before. There were always things preventing me from going, most them being my role as a parent and the many needs of my family. But about a year ago, God started working in my heart and tugging me in the direction of Africa.

I have spent a great deal of time over this past year writing my second book about none other than Swaziland, Africa, the birth place of my father. My grandparents were Nazarene missionaries in Swaziland and other parts of South Africa from 1947-1951. The book is written from letters that were sent from my grandmother while in Africa back home to her mother in Oklahoma City. Now, I find myself a mere 63 years later, having outlived my grandparents, yet returning to the very mission where they served.

My husband and I have been attending prep classes for this missions trip each Sunday night for the past 6 weeks. We will continue to do so until we leave for the trip. At these classes we have learned about the country of Swaziland, the people, customs, and needs. We have learned that 42% of all Swazis are HIV/AIDS positive. The average lifespan is now only 36 years of age. Swaziland has the highest HIV/AIDS percentage in the entire world! Oh, how my grandparents would be grieved to hear such news.

However, all is not lost and dark in this wonderful Swaziland. The church of the Nazarene is pressing forward, in conjunction with the King and the Prime Minister, to educate, feed, and restore both spiritual and physical health to the people. And so, our 10 day trip will be a combination of each of those things.

My group will take on a 4-part ministry. First, the construction crew will be building a home for the nurses who work at the Endzingeni Mission. This home will be in memory of my late friend, Diane Garrison who was a volunteer missionary in Africa for several years and who went home to be with Jesus three years ago. Next, a group of education students from MidAmerica Nazarene University, along with two professors and Mike and I will be spending the days in the schools on the mission. We will be setting up a library for the elementary students, teaching lessons on literacy, and showing them how to use technology in the classrooms, as they have recently gotten a new computer lab and don't know how to use the computers. In addition, a group of ladies (myself included) will be doing a ministry with the ladies of Swaziland. This country is a very matriarchal society, and the ladies need much encouragement. Finally, all of the team will be working with local families who have the HIV/AIDS virus. We will be delivering bags of food rations that will last each home for a month and sharing the love of Jesus with those that are physically dying, but alive in Christ.

Truly, as I type all of that, the work sounds daunting and the needs seem endless. However, I am convinced that each moment I spend in Swaziland with the people will be multiplied by the Holy Spirit and used to help many in the years to come. The library we will establish will be the first ever built (as rudimentary as it will be) on that mission! The students will learn to use computers (no internet) and pass along that information to all the students coming through the system thereafter! The home for the nurses will stand for generations. We will share smiles, hugs, and laughter with God's people on the other side of the world. Our work will not be in vain.

If you ask yourself why you are so blessed while others are suffering, you are asking the wrong question. Instead, ask yourself what you are doing to help those who are suffering. The poor and weak you will always have with you, the scriptures say. If you are asking yourself if you should sell everything you have and give to the poor, you are asking the wrong question. Instead, you should ask yourself if God really does own everything you have, would you be willing to lay down your cross, or your possessions for that matter, to serve the Lord and His calling? (Neat thoughts, huh? We learned these from our leader in our prep classes for the trip.)

I find myself unable to sleep tonight as I ponder this upcoming trip. Will I be healthy? Will I get a migraine? Will I be able to stand the 18 hour flight? Will I encounter so much pain and hurt that I am overwhelmed? Will I be moved too far from my comfort zone? Will I miss my children at home too much? Will they be okay while I'm gone? And the list goes on...However, God is reminding me that this trip is not designed to be a vacation. If anything of this sort should happen, it will help me further understand the price that our missionaries regularly pay to worship the Lord on foreign soil.

I am going on this trip because the Lord called me to it. He has not promised sunny, healthy days without lost luggage or cramped quarters. But He has called me, He has provided every penny for me to go, and He will sustain me in every way for this trip. It is His trip, and I am privileged to be a missionary in His service to Swaziland, Africa. Would you pray with me that this trip will be used mightily to help God's people, spread the Love of Christ, and that my life will never be the same after having gone? What a trip it will be!