God in the brown grass

There are some amazing benefits to being a “Missionary”. The obvious benefits are holding orphans, feeding those who haven’t eaten in a while, preaching and empowering spiritually hungry Africans, and serving our local missionaries. There are of course some of the other amazing benefits like, watching the sunsets from my deck with my wife, camping next to a water fall with elephants playing just below, and, like today, flying over the African terrain with my buddies.

One of the first things the Lord plugged me into when we moved here is a business men’s bible study at 6:30 on Wednesday mornings. These men that own land surveying companies, furniture stores, hotel owner, pastors.
  One of them invited me up in his private plane to view Swaziland from the air; it was perfect timing to take up some of my brothers, Andrew, Seth and Brett Irwin, with me.

It was astonishing, really, to see this place God has called my family too from the sky. The water falls, mountain tops, homesteads, care points and the banana crops that have green and brown land under them. The green land is a good crop, the brown ground means they are growing marijuana underneath; now you need to know that every Swazi family is allowed to have one “Growth” of marijuana, but they are not suppose to sale it. It is a sad fact, but, a part of their culture that is real and we can hopefully address and help that over time as well. 
 

Learning the culture, living in this place is a new experience everyday. The life of a “Missionary” is hard and fulfilling, I pray that all of you get to see the brown ground some day; it is such a life!

SiSwati word for the day – Siyabonga (Seabonga) this means “Thank you” so, Siyabonga for your living this life with the BlackTribe!!!