My final week in SA

Well, hello there! I know, I've stalled a bit on this post. Apparently, a bad malaria fever thought it was fun to attack me the past week, but here I am, healthy and strong again, thanks to our awesome Healer. :)

Ok, let's cut to the chase. lol.The final week in SA was bittersweet. As much as I loved my experience, I was kinda dying to get back to my warm Ghana. ;) Seriously. Missions is certainly not the most glamorous, luxurious work to do. We always slept late and woke up early dawn to pray. But that's what it's all about. Sacrifice. I made that tough decision to leave behind my comfort and go out there because I'm that concerned about the lives and souls of people I don't even know. And as I felt thankful and fulfilled to have done my assignment in SA/Swaziland those three weeks, I also looked forward to the new chapter of my life. (this lass is a fresh graduate!...I know, I don't look it. lol)

Ministering to some Oosrand senior high learners, focusing on 2 Timothy 2:22

"But flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the name of the Lord from a pure heart."

During one of the love fellowship meetings at Tembisa.

 

Celebrating Denzel's birthdayyy! (guy on the extreme right)

That's our host pastor, Pastor Wesley in the striped shirt and his wife on his right. Such sweet people!

Me with Jayden, Denzel's fiancee. :)

So, the teachers and students of Goede Hoop Primary, one of the schools we consistently ministered at, loved us so much they decided to have a lil thank you/goodbye party for us. These are some of the lovely students dancing to 'Who am I' by Casting Crowns. I  certainly was entertained and happily sang along too. *claps* Oh, they danced so beautifully!

That's one of the teachers presenting some gifts they had packaged for us. Talk about lovely hearts!

This is my precious gift from the teachers. A Bible to make teaching kids about God extra fun! Thank you Goede Hoop Primary!!!

Aquala, the school prefect & her buddy, Mickayla and I.

That's Mickayla teaching me how to play some melodies on their huge xylophones.

See, I'm a fast learner. ;)

Sweet Kayla dropped by when we were decorating placards for our very last Jesus March.

The placards all ready for the march.

I chanced on some of the kids from our host church playing in a park during the march. I miss these kids!

BBQ party at our host pastors house. The steak though. Finger lickin'!

Crystal! Miss her lots.

Before church service on the very last day.

Me with elder Celeste from Potter's House and her son after service. *Goodbye pictures*

Remember Nokwanda from Swaziland? Yurp. It was such a pleasant surprise to see her come over to fellowship with us at Potter's House and go see us off at the airport. :)

Final moments at Potter's House.

At O.R Tambo Int. airport. Leaving was getting real, but I kept my smile anyway. :)

A slice of O.R Tambo Int. airport. It's so huge and beautiful.

Grabbing a bite at Nandos after check in.

 

My almost cleared plate.

Yeah, you guessed right. I couldn't miss taking a snap with the cloth imprinted with the photo of our dear Nelson Mandela. :)

 

 A snap of one of the numerous planes at the airport.

I had a flight to catch but of course, I stopped for a snap. lol We would have been a lil late if we hadn't super hurried our tails from Nandos to get through security. Nandos is right inside the airport but I tell you, it's a long way from there to security. We skipped and ran when we could. lol I was bold to stop and take this snap cos I was done with security and I was literally about to board my flight. Plus, I needed to catch my breath and I loved the view. ;)

I totally enjoyed my 6 hr flight back home. I watched some comedy shows to while away the time, and I conked out while watching Despicable Me 1. Oh well... South African Airways has great service though. :)

Yeah, I got a middle lane seat this time around, but I thoroughly enjoyed the flight all the same. :)

And it's goodbye to SA...till some other time.

I've learned so much from this experience, seriously. Being with the kids from our host church and the schools brings me such joy and I believe God is calling my heart into children's ministry. The way the faces of the kids light up when I'm hanging with them is something of a confirmation for me.
I'm glad I got to speak with all the people I spoke with on this trip. I believe God beautifully designed it all even before I made the decision to GO. And I'm so thankful for being graced with the wisdom and strength in my beginning steps to honor Matthew 28:19,20

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."

I pray that all Christ followers will see the seriousness of this scripture and put their comfort on hold for the greatness of the Kingdom.
I pray all Christ followers see themselves as default missionaries with a task to GO near and far to share the Good News, helping to save souls from the horror of hades and to encourage people in their walk with Jesus.

God needs you on board dear one. What do you say? :) xoxo,
Delali.

Life in Swaziland

Hi guys! Today is all about my experience on missions in Swaziland! :) Yes, I journeyed to the kingdom of Swaziland while in SA! That was during the second week of being on missions. Swaziland is about seven hours away from SA, so it was a pretty long road trip. I'm forever thankful to God for the opportunity to travel all the way to Big bend, Swaziland to hold a camp for the youth there. 

Swaziland was way warmer than Jo'burg, especially during the day time, so I was very happy about that.  We were blessed to stay with a great host family in their cozy home too. :)

This was in the heart of Jo'burg where we had to get our transport to Swaziland.

We passed through Mbabane and Manzini.

Swaziland is pretty much a mountainous place with vast lands in between quite small settlements. The houses are smaller and the streets aren't so busy like in SA. However, you'll find the landscape beautiful if you're crazy about nature like me. hahah

Water was much needed during the long drive there.

I shared the sweet, life giving message of Jesus with a Japanese guy who's lived in SA for a while. He was sitting by me on the bus to Swaziland and it was his first time going there too. It was easy to talk with him. He didn't act weird like how some people can get when you start talking about Jesus. He was receptive and even ended up giving me this SA/Swaziland backpackers guide book to help me around for the rest of my stay. I pray the seed I sowed in his heart thrives and grows by God's grace. :)

Me infront of our host family's house.

One of the meals I had there. Rice with soup and chicken and veggies. The red thingy is beetroot, and I'm a lil embarrassed to say I couldn't eat it. lol We had spinach with one of our meals sometime and I couldn't eat that too. Oh well, you cant blame me. My taste buds were not having it and it was my first time tasting those veggies so...

This was at the 'Life with purpose camp' we held at a church in Mahlabaneni, Swaziland.

We had a lil musical chairs at the camp and it was fun. And yeah, that's me on the left in the grey top. heheh

We were having a discussion on relationships/dating. This was fun too. ;)

Life with purpose camp! Yaaay!!!

Saying the opening prayer at the 'Sermon on Sofa' ministration we had on a Sunday morning at Sisekelo High School.

The students.These were the ones who lived on campus.

Praises and worship time

Dance ministration time. Yeah, I made sure to remove my flats. I didn't want them flying from my feet again. lol My socks alone worked pretty fine.

Deep in worship.

A group snap with the students.

Right after Sisekelo High, we went for church service where we had the camp, and this is Nokwanda and I after service. She's the eldest daughter of the pastor- Ps. Walter. It was he who helped bring together the youth for the camp. It was totally fun hanging out with their family in their home that Sunday evening. We played a game called 'the chocolate game' and it was laughter & eating of chocolate throughout. Saying goodbye to them after all the fun was hard to do. But we did and hurried back to our host family. I really miss them. They've been such a blessing to us, the missionaries. :)

This was the next day, Monday. We were on our way to go visit the wife of the home we stayed in at her workplace to say goodbye before leaving for SA.

She's the lady in the white top. God bless her and her husband for receiving us in their home. Oh, Swaziland fact 101: most of the residents in Big Bend work at 'Ubombo Sugar.' It's apparently one of the biggest sugar producing companies in Swaziland. Big Bend has lots of sugar cane fields around, so it's no shocker.

Don't you just love this? The deep blue sky gives the photo a cool touch, right? Right. I should probably start considering photography as one of my passions. ;)

This shot was on the way back to SA.

That's a billboard featuring the king of Swaziland. It's pretty far back though.

 

This is one of my absolute favorite shots of the landscape in Swaziland.

At the border, about entering back into the cold of SA. lol

The sun setting beautifully when we were nearing Jo'burg.

Good people, thanks for tuning in up till this point. :) May you be inspired to go out there to share Christ with people of different cultures. I'll be back with more. ;)

Have a God-filled weekend! xoxo,

Delali.