Swazi 1000

December sneaked in on us under the cover of a cool mist blanket. Perfect work-weather. A grace blanket, one might say, shielding those who caught a glimpse of the Swaziland sun yesterday.

Mist has a strange way of altering the scenery in an instant. When the cloud descends, one can barely discern vague shapes and distorted silhouettes, and only just recognise the people walking alongside you. The mist gives a sense of protection and envelopment, but sometimes also a sense of isolation.

When the mist lifts, the landscape shifts. Trees emerge from nowhere. Houses and pathways and people appear, and the world takes on a different identity. It starts to make more sense.

Many of us often struggle to make sense of our world, and of what God is busy with, battling to peer through the mist of our emotions and wayward thoughts. Only when the sun comes out, warming our cold hearts with love, can we begin to make sense of the place we find ourselves in …

An important part of the Swazi 1000 outreach is the “in-reach” aspect, where the Lord starts to work in our own hearts when we thought that we were just here to serve Bulembu.

First thing in the mornings we start with devotion times in our work groups. These times are focussed on learning from the life of Timothy, and how God made him a vessel of honour. In our times of prayer, the Lord is also starting to reveal things to individuals about His plan and love for them. In our evening sessions we spend time in praise and worship and receive teachings on subjects like global missions, the emerging leadership generation, God’s call on our lives and other challenging and inspiring themes.

Today, as we worked under the cover of the mist, intense discussions about profound things drifted on the breeze. Newfound friends shared their life stories, on the road to the unity that Jesus longed to see amongst His people.

1 Cor. 13: 12 – 13 (Message) “We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through the mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing Him directly as He knows us. But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation. Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love…”