Sawubona!

Hey Friends & Family!

Sawubona from Swaziland! I have been living in Eswatini for about a week now and I am absolutely loving it here!

Eswatini, formally known as the Kingdom of Eswatini or Swaziland, is a small country within the South East part of South Africa and shares a border with Mozambique. Swazi is known for its beautiful flatland scenery surrounded by the Lubombo Mountains. The people are marked by a vibrant culture and a love of music. Sadly, Eswatini has also been reported to have one of the worlds highest rate of HIV/AIDS. Many Swati people are in denial of their HIV status or do not get tested or receive treatment because of the ramifications culturally. This epidemic has left many children orphaned or to be raised by grandparents.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic along with demanding agricultural jobs that require the parents to rise as early as 3 am to walk to the fields and arrive home as late at 8pm leave the children to care for themselves and their younger siblings. The community saw the great need for children to have a safe place to go to play and get a meal- thus, care points were created!

Each care point has a shepherd who is responsible for the discipleship of the kids and teaches them about the Bible! As a squad, we have gotten the opportunity to partner with these shepherds in sharing the Gospel with the children. Three teams are sent to three different care points in the surrounding area where they get to play games with the kids, love on the babies, and encourage members of the surrounding community!

Alternatively, I have had the special opportunity to be apart of a small team of four that partners with a local clinic! This week, the three other girls and I worked filling prescriptions, counting pills, and pour medicinal syrups. Tuesdays and Thursdays we will begin aiding outreaches that will provide free medical care to care points and their communities! I am so excited to see how the Lord works over our time here and I feel so incredibly blessed to be serving in this capacity! It has been my dream and my desire for quite some time to receive a degree in medicine so that I can serve both my community and the nations and volunteering at this clinic is just the beginning!

Here in Swaziland there is no service and WiFi, when you can find, it is not free and it is weak, so I apologize in advance for infrequent updates! I ask that all of you following along will continue to pray for the health and safety of my squad! Additionally, pray for the hearts of the Swati people to be open to hearing the Gospel and receiving the love of Christ!

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” – Matthew 5:8

Grace & Peace,

Maggie Claire Richardson