"Teacha! Teacha! Teacha Patricia" is what I get to hear every morning during the week, as the little cuties with their accents shout out to me when I walk into the hall where they have breakfast and sing songs before going into their classrooms. I have been here in Africa for over a month now( I arrived on August 19th, 2015 after over 48 hours of traveling due to a flight delay) and every day I still find myself in awe. As I wake up every morning and look outside my window I tell myself, " Wow. I am actually here!" Coming to Africa has always been a dream of mine and I cant thank God enough for calling me here. Change can be scary and leaving your comfort zone can be so difficult but when God calls you and you allow Him to lead you where He needs you, you begin to realize that in the midst of change, God continues to be your constant, never changing, always present, part of you. He has allowed me to grow so much and although I am in a new place and so much has changed over these past years, God is so good! When you truly "Let go and let God" you may experience change and new experiences that can be challenging, but it is the most beautiful experience to watch God work in your life, and to feel His presence in the midst of chaos. This September was not like other Septembers over these past few years. Instead of me going through training for another year in ministry with Spiritual Life, being an Ignite leader for the freshmen or completing the first two weeks of Fall Quarter at La Sierra University again, I find myself here in Africa. I find myself here in Africa being the teacher now, with my own lessons and activities to plan for, gardening, planning different programs for our community, going to various homes for our monthly food distributions, experiencing a new way of living and most of all being able to show the beautiful people here that we love them and that above all, there is a God who loves them. It has been days filled with new experiences, change, growth and a completely different way of living but I love it here. There are many things that I didn't think I would ever be doing or would even ever get the chance to experience. From leading out a Girls Camp, to teaching, to bagging maize, living with no running water for so long, walking the streets of Africa, being able to fetch fresh items from our garden to eat every day, carrying things with my head, experiencing the bumpy dirt roads in Swaziland, playing the role of nurse when the children come to us with cuts or injuries and so much more. Africa has become my home and I am learning so much from this community. I admire the strength of the Gogos( grandmothers) and siblings who have to become the parents of many of the children in Swaziland because of the death of their parents.. Many of them raise up to 8-12 children on their own. I admire the strength of the children so much as well! The children don't even know it, but although I am one of their teachers, I am learning so much from them and they help me to appreciate everything. An education is not easy to obtain here in Africa and school fees can be expensive for many of the families who can't afford it. Not only that, but almost everyone here in Swaziland walk to wherever they need to go. All of our pre-school students in the the three pre-schools that we have need to walk home, to and from school. We even have children that walk up to 40 minutes to arrive to school, whch means that they walk 80 minutes each day of the week to go to school!!! (But yet sometimes we complain about having to walk inside the store, to our car in the parking lot, or at our University campus... MERCY!) These children are only in pre-school and they already face so many challenges to receive an education, but yet they come with the biggest smiles on their faces, ready to learn, sing and play, The most difficult thing about being with the children every day is saying "Goodbye. See you tomorrow" because worry fills my heart as I watch them walk away. The fear of them getting hurt while walking home; some even walking home alone, and not being there for them fills my heart. Every night before I go to bed I keep them in my prayers, asking God to protect them and for me to be there for them as much as I can, showing them that they are loved. Coming here has really tested my faith and I have learned to really place my trust in God. Every month we also have food distributions for the families in which we go out into the community and deliver their monthly food aid to their homes. Those who are closer to our "Welcome Place" center come to pick up their food parcels there. It is heart breaking to see their living conditions and we strive to help them the most that we can. What I love about being able to go out into the community is being able to visit our children who are disabled. I love being able to play with them. Life in Africa with a disability is extremely difficult for them. They don't have resources available to them like we do in America and its heart breaking to see the adults and children who have disabilities that have no one to take care of them. . The month of October has begun and we are busy with prepping for our next food distribution, pre-school graduations which are coming up in November, various other programs and so much more. I don't know what other challenges or new experiences I may face this month or the months to come but I will place my trust in the Lord, who daily gives me the strength that I need. I love the children and their families and I pray that God can continue to guide us and help us, as we do our best to help them. We are hoping to have a back to school clothing distribution soon but we currently are in need of more boys clothing. Please keep us in your prayers, that this may be possible and if you would like to make a donation, for us to be able to purchase clothing for the children, a donation of any amount would be greatly appreciated. We are also hoping to get a youth boys and girls soccer club going. The children love to play soccer and I want to be able to have a program for them in which they can play and have a community that supports each other. If you would like to help or get involved in any way please contact me. Thank you so much for all your love and support. Many blessings! "Staan op genade. Wandel deur geloof. Leef in liefde" (In Afrikaans) "Stand for grace. Walk by faith. Live in love" With love, Patty PS: I miss you Mami, Angel, Jr., Candy, Jaylene, Jayden, Chente, Shaggy, sister-friends, friends and family! Love you all! This little cutie is 10 year old, Sithwa who wasn't expected to live for so long but praise God he is. When we went to go visit him and his family in August we were told that he might have TB but then when we went back this September we got the results and found out that he doesn't have it. Praise God! Please keep him and all the children in your prayers! Many of the children automatically thing that I speak Swati(siSwati) fluently so I am having to learn very quickly. Especially the day in which one of our teachers had to go see a doctor so I taught one of our classes all by myself. God was so good and helped me through it all. (Teaching them Spanish too. lol)
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