Hello (sanibonani in Swazi) from the southern hemisphere, friends! Our squad has officially made it to Swaziland, or Eswatini – a small, landlocked country in the south of Africa surrounded by the counties of South Africa and Mozambique. It’s a very green, mountainous land with under 2 million inhabitants, and it’s the last absolute monarchy in Africa. We’re starting ministry here on Tuesday after spending Monday learning our way around town!
How did we get all the way to this location, you may ask? Let me briefly explain to you our 3-day “travel day” schedule… 😆
WEDNESDAY
- headed to the airport in Guatemala City around 8pm
- after chilling at the airport for awhile, our flight departed at 1:30am
THURSDAY
- our flight from Guatemala landed in Houston at 5am
- we had several hours to spend in the airport – which was mostly spent getting food and sleeping on chairs and the floor 😂
- our next flight left around 12pm
- our flight from Houston landed in Newark around 5pm
- got food and wandered around until boarding for our final flight, which left at 10pm
FRIDAY
- stayed on the plane pretty much all day for a grand total of 14.25 hours!
- on the plus side: we all got sleep and two meals
- finally landed in Johannesburg around 6:30pm
- got picked up at the airport around 8pm by AIM staff and went to a guest house for the night
SATURDAY
- repacked our things, got in the van and drove for 6 hours
- we had one stop for food at a rest stop/nature park where we got to see ostriches and water buffaloes, and one stop for the border crossing into Swaziland
Thus, we finally made it to the AIM Eswatini base around 3pm on Saturday! Nearly 60 hours of travel total and some major sleep deprivation (at least for me since I do not have the gift of sleeping anywhere at any time… yet, anyway 😂), but we made it! The past couple days have been a time of transition: learning our way around, making schedules, and adjusting to the whole squad being together all the time. There are already many things that I’m noticing are different here – the next 3 months will be interesting for sure! I’m trusting that the Lord has a good plan for all that’s to come.
Salani kahle (bye) for now!
Prayer Requests!
– continued health and safety for everyone
– quick, healthy transitions to this new country and culture
– unity, peace and understanding on our squad as we head into all-squad month!
– willing hearts and minds to learn and serve well here – from the start of our time to the end
Woah, I loved hearing about the details of your travels! You have officially passed me on the longest flight now, congratulations! Praying for a smooth transition and blessing over your ministry. Love you so much
Haha thank you! I’m just grateful I got to sleep on some of those flights 😆 and thank you so much for your prayers!! ❤️
Praying for restored sleep 😴 and strength with wisdom for the journey ahead. Praying for protection for your teams health with guidance for the most effective ways to promote the gospel with the deepest impact 🙏🏼
May you feel the strength of knowing your loved and missed as you miss you r family.
Blessings Terri
Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement ❤️❤️
praying for safety and good health. I need a visual maps of where you have been, and where you are at. Thanks Linda
Thank you so much! A visual of the travels is a good idea 😊
Prayers for your health and safety. May God give you all you need to complete your mission there.
Hopefully you will get more rest than you have been getting! May god give you strength and wisdom to spread his word. Know your friends and family are praying for you…..
Thank you so much!! After this first week it’s clear that we have a lot to learn but also that the Lord is already at work here and in us. ❤️
Hi Bekah, am so glad you made it go Africa safely. Now you know how a 14-15 hr. flight seems like! That is my typical flight time to Manila whenever I go! I pray you are in the best of health and will
continue to be! Please take care and God bless!
Those long flights are crazy – I’m glad I got to experience it, but I don’t know if I’d want to do that all the time haha 😅😆 thank you for your prayers!! ❤️
So glad to hear you made it!
Yes, I’m sure this is quite an adjustment to your new ministry site and living conditions! Each place will have some amazing aspects and also some things you won’t like about it….that old ‘mixed with good and evil’ that we’ve had to deal with since Adam & Eve took of the fruit. I’m excited to hear all the things and experiences from eSwatini!