Hello Everyone!

I hope you all are doing well! I’m excited to share with you all a little about our second week of life in Eswatini! It’s such a blessing to be able to keep in touch with you all, and also share what is going on in Africa!

This week was a little different than what most weeks will be like here. Me and one of my other squad mates stayed at the Adventures In Missions office here for two of our 4 care point ministry days and wrote lessons for the AIM staff members. These ranged anywhere from Work Ethics to Financial Planning. We both really enjoyed researching and compiling information. In addition, before our evangelism time in town on Monday, we had a staff meeting where I got the privilege to prepare a 20ish minute devotional. Through working in these ways, at the care point and fellowshipping with my team, God has been reminding me of the importance and value of building up the Body of Christ. I did not leave on this mission trip thinking that would be a large part of our ministry, but I’ve gotten the opportunity this past week to delve into the way God intends for us to encourage other believers in their faith.

Throughout this trip, I’ve experienced many times where I have specifically seen or felt God’s sovereign hand over me or my team’s actions in ministry. This occurred vividly to me this past week as I got asked the day before a staff meeting if I would like to share a devotional lesson. I was happy to share, but a little unsure on what I would share on and nervous to prepare it so quickly. God has been faithfully walking me through dealing with anxiety over the past few months, so I sat down with the Lord and asked that He would show and lead me what to share on this topic. Within an hour my entire lesson was prepared! It was amazing! I didn’t realize all that the Lord had been teaching me on this and the different tools He has been giving me to fight that spiritual battle. Usually I would be a little nervous to talk in front of anywhere from 50-100 people, but the next morning I stood up in front of the staff in Eswatini with peace and excitement to share what I knew God wanted me to share. Then the following day, as I was working in the AIM office, one of the staff members told me that they had been encouraged and learned from it!

Then, our team has been sharing our testimonies during our team times. I’ve spent the past two and a half month with these girls, so of course I know some of their stories, but getting to delve into their struggles and what God has done in their life has been eye opening and beautiful. Last night, our last squad member shared her testimony, and I began to really see the value of our team’s ministry here. Many of us girls grew up in christian homes or grew up looking put together from the outside, but in our hearts each of us struggled with different things and experienced very difficult things in our lives! However, in one way or another we grew in our relationship with God and healed from past trauma or struggles with the help of mentors and friends coming alongside us in our faith. What God pointed out to me through this is  while much of our ministry here is calling children or adults who have put their faith in Jesus to a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him, this is no less important than sharing the Gospel with an unbeliever. Whether it be sharing a message that God has been teaching me at a staff meeting, writing lessons for the missions staff, or sharing favorite bible verses and talking about faith with teenage girls at the care point, encouraging believers in their walk with God is vitally important!

God led me to Ephesians 4:11-12, “and he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” and Hebrews 3: 13, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Both of these verses encourage us to build each other up as a body of Christ, and I’ve been so encouraged that I get the opportunity to do that especially since I don’t know where people are at in their walk with Christ. In the same way that my teammates and I’s stories were incredibly impacted by one persons actions toward us, we can be that person to radically change another believer’s life in following Jesus more intimately as we choose to be faithful with where God has us serving.

I hope this message is encouraging to you today! God intentionally designed us to be within Christian community, but this does not mean that we are not still being faithful to the Great Commission. Disciples are followers of Jesus, and we are being faithful to the command to “make disciples” when we encourage someone in their faith even if they have already excepted Jesus, because we are calling them to follow Jesus even more intimately!

I would love prayer that our team would continue to be able to and be stirred to put in 100% each day while we are here! And we would love prayer that our actions, words, and presence would really impact the children’s lives here and the people we are around! I love you all and thank you for your prayers and support!

God bless you,

Abigail