Keeping It Real

First of all, I want to thank each person that was involved with our 4^th annual Sweets for Swazi on March 5th. It was so humbling to think that so many people came together to support our ministry…when we were not even there!  

Ministry has come with many challenges over the past few months. Satan is NOT happy with what is going on in Swaziland and has tried to discourage us any way he can. It is so easy to focus on the poverty, the constant asking and dependency mentality and the overwhelmingly sad stories that never seem to stop. Personal struggles and processing are real and hard.

I recently heard a preacher share on serving Jesus. His first questions was,

“What can I expect when serving Jesus?“

He shared three things that we can expect…suffering, conflict and hard work.

This really hit home with me and this is my take away…

1. Suffering – Many times we are homesick and feel so guilty for missing important events happening in the lives of those we love and are so far away.
2. Conflict – Never enjoyable but part of the process. Seems like we have had our share in the past few months and this can really be draining on so many levels.
3. Hard work – Ministry is not 9-5. There are often times I wish I could go to work, earn my pay and then come home.

As I stood in the grocery store a few weeks ago, I observed a lady that was buying one roll of toilet paper. Honestly, I have never been on such a low budget that I could only buy one roll at a time. It is eye opening to live in a third world country and still have no idea what life is like for some of the people in which we cross paths. As Americans, we put so much value on material things. I am learning that our Swazi friends don’t even want these material things. Just about every time I have heard a Swazi asked what they are thankful for, the first is always, their life and secondly, they are thankful for their family. They are thankful they have lived to see another day. Death is too common and familiar for many of them. They cherish the time they have with their family and spend a lot of time together.

Speaking of spending time together, we have really enjoyed getting to know our three new care point shepherds (supervisors). We are still overseeing five care points and meet on a weekly basis with our seven shepherds. This past week we were able to take our shepherds and the medical department out for a fun time of team building!

Also, our family has been helping to launch a church in Manzini. Toward the end of last year, we were invited to come to a launch team meeting and we knew that first night that this was an answer to prayer. We have prayed since we moved to Swaziland that God would show us a church that we could be involved in and be part of a community. Through weekly launch team meetings, monthly gatherings and a couples’ bible study on marriage, we feel like we have become part of a family not just a church. The name of the church is Liberty Church Manzini. It is a church plant from Liberty Church in New York City.

Landon and Lane have also become a big part of the church as they are both serving on the production team. Landon has been creating all of the presentations to be shown on the projection screen and Lane has been over the setup of the sound equipment and designing signage for the church. It is great to see them so actively involved.

Thank you to all that are following and/or supporting our journey.

Greg Mullins