home sweet home

We made it home, and are attempting to recover from jetlag. I have awoken between 4:30 and 5 every morning, wide awake. There's not much to do but give up and get up.

We left Swaziland at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning (Swazi time) and arrived home around noon on Tuesday (Colorado time). That was a total of 36 hours of travel, about 23 of those hours were actually in the air. It's an awful flight (20 hours from Johannesburg, SA to Washington, DC, with a one hour stop in Dakar, in which you can't leave your seat). Thankfully, the movies were working on the way home (wouldn't work on the way there), so we passed the time watching movie upon movie. The goal was to stay awake the 9 hours to Dakar, then upon taking off again, pop a Lunesta and sleep as much as possible the rest of the flight. I did get about 6 hours of sleep, on and off, but Nate didn't sleep much. He was a mess when we got home, and slept most of the day and into the night. He woke at 4 a.m. yesterday, and when I got up at 4:30 today, he was already awake.

As miserable as the flight is, I would do it again tomorrow (well, maybe next week), if I could go back with my family. I was very happy to come home to be with my family again, but heartbroken to leave Swaziland and its people. This trip, I was able to spend more time getting to know many of the Swazis on a personal level, hearing about their lives, telling them about my own. I was confronted with how alike we are. It is easy to see so many differences on the surface level, but when you reach the heart of another person, it is evident that we are no different. Not really. We are all wounded. We are all afraid. We all have hopes. We all have such joy. We all have such sorrow. My Swazi friends just happen to live in a place where the hopelessness can feel insurmountable. They have many, many more things stacked against them. But hope remains.

I was also able to see more of the intricacies of missionary life there. I saw how much Jumbo and Kriek sacrifice. I saw how much there was to do with so few people to do it all. I saw some of the struggles of working within a culture that is not your own. The frustrations of trying to accomplish things within a country with so little accountability. And I saw how rewarding it is to see little successes along the way.

I got to know Scott and Marcia Borg from Adventures in Missions. They joined us in Swaziland from their home in Atlanta. I was so blessed by spending time with them. They are both the type of people that I just want to sit and soak in. Soak in their wisdom, their encouragement, their spirits of peace. I learned a lot from just listening to them. Thank you, Scott and Marcia, for what you do. Thank you for the example you are. Thank you for fighting the good fight with love and grace.

I will end with a few pictures from the trip. I hope to post more in the coming days, but for now, here is a little sample. And to those that supported us financially and prayerfully, THANK YOU. We truly would not have been able to go without you, and I am so grateful.

This little one was at the orphanage. She has no mommy or daddy. She is alone amongst 16 other children in filthy conditions. She melted my heart.

I was so very proud of Nate and all his hard work. The kids loved him and he loved playing with them.

The preschoolers during a VBS lesson. They are placing sad face stickers onto the cross, representing giving their sins to Jesus.

The men meeting with the Chief to discuss the possibility of building a high school on his land.

Bongiwe

Birthday party! Here, the kids are playing with a giant parachute.

A man at the Manzini market carves Micah's name into a mask. This man had an amazing spirit, and we all made sure we bought from him.

The entire team, on our last night together.