vul·ner·a·bil·i·ty
The quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
I wanted a theme for my blogs, so I decided that I will post them every monday night, and they will be about my previous week in ministry. But the title will be 1 word that sums up my week, and I will put the dictionary definition down at the beginning of the blog. Don’t really know how I came up with this idea but I think its kinda cool. Anyways…
We have finished our first week in Swaziland! It has been an incredible week for our ministry, and it has been incredible to grow in relationship’s with my brother and sisters in Christ. Its kinda crazy to think that its only been one week. I have learned so much about this country, the people who live here, and I have learned a lot about myself. I never would have thought that being here for this short would have an impact on me like it does now, but thats the beauty of it. It has only been one week and I have experienced so much growth, I cant imagine what 9 months is gonna be like. With all the commotion of the week, I am reminded how blessed I am to be put in this squad and team. I love being surrounded by people who are as hungry as I am to learn more and spread the word, I also love being challenged by these people. They are the reason my journey has started so strongly, and I cant wait to share the next 9 months of my life with them.
Vulnerability is something I have always struggled with, and this week I was reminded of that. Even writing this blog about my struggles with vulnerability is hard because its me being vulnerable about it. I just have always had troubles opening up about how Im really feeling, whether that be with my friends, or parents, its just something I never was good at. I know at times I thought it was more important to hear other peoples stories, and have other people open up to me, but I never reciprocated the vulnerability. Like I said, I was very good at listening to people and have other people open up to me, but not the other way. And to be honest I didn’t know that was unhealthy until I got to training camp, and realised that the main part to a good relationship is vulnerability. I learned this in the context of building a good and healthy rapport with my brothers in my team. But then I started to take that info and look back in my past and realised that It plays a major role in all of my relationships, even with the Lord. This is something I am still working on, and I cant wait to see how it ends up helping my relationships with people and my relationship with God. So please pray for me in this journey, thank you!
So now Im going to talk a little about the type of ministry we did over the week! The cool thing about the guys team is that we don’t have a specific carepoint. The only ministry we are guaranteed is the prison ministry on Tuesday. Every other day, we have no idea what type of ministry we will be doing. So last week this is how it looked. Monday: Sabbath, Tuesday: Prison Ministry, Wednesday: Manuel Labor Ministry, Thursday: Evangelism, Friday: Logistics Ministry. Our weeks will not look the same as this, but Im looking forward to not knowing what will be happening.
Prison Ministry: There was only a small group of us allowed to go in the Prison. This time it was me, Champ, Matthew, and Samuel. It was a 15 min drive from Leos house, and at first we couldn’t even see the prison. Surrounding the prison was a very nice community where the staff lives, and a preschool. But once we started driving deeper into the community you could start to see the towering white walls of the prison. There were two main gates to enter the prison, and then you walked straight into the open courtyard. Once we arrived to the prison, we could hear the prisoners clapping and worshiping in the little room we were meeting them in. It was so cool to hear there echos throughout the prison. Once we got to the room Leo introduced us and then we were given the task to “speak”. There were 53 prisoners and only a handful of them spoke English, so we had to give our testimonies with the struggle of stopping every 5th word so then the translator could keep up. But the prisoners responded to us, and were impacted by our stories. It was INCREDIBLE. After our sermon most of the prisoners had to go back to there cells, but there were some who were allowed to stay back and talk. So we were able to stay back and pray one on one with some of them and hear there stories. I cant wait to build relationships with some of the guys in there and just be someone they can talk to. So thankful that I have the opportunity to do this.
Manuel Labor: A lot happed this day haha. We were told to go shovel off grass that was growing on a basketball “court” (it was a dirt space that had a basketball hoop). The owner of the basketball court (Steven) instructed us to clear off a space where kids could practice shooting, he wanted this to be a community court. We got to the court around 10:15 and started to shovel off the grass and roots. I underestimated how hard it was going to be, and how hot it was. Before Wednesday it was super super nice outside!! Like im talking maybe high of 80… usually lower, but of course the one day cool temperate would have been nice, it was 104 outside. Champ and I got super dehydrated, where to the point we thought we were going to Throw up, or black out. So now we know how important the phrase “Hydrate or die-drate” is. But it was super cool to see how the court ended up looking, and I cant wait to see kids playing on it in the future.
Evangelism: This was a first for me. When they first told us that we would be going to a big market and evangelising, I was stoked at first, but then for some reason I got kinda nervous. Ive always talked about how much Ive always wanted to do this, but when the moment actually came I got the thought “wait… how do I even do this?” This was the thought I tackled with all morning before we left. And now that I think about, its the thought Ive tackled with my whole life. I know it’s the right thing to do, and as Christians its like the main thing we do, but I never learned how to! But once we got to the market and started walking around I finally understood… I didn’t need a how-to lesson, I didn’t need a instructional video, all I needed was Jesus and confidence in him that I will either point them back to him, or at least plant some seeds in them. And with that mindset, I was able to go and plant seeds in people who were working or walking through the market. There was this one guy who we became really good friends with! He is a Kumbi driver (Taxi driver), and with this new relationship, I hope in the next 3 months we can slowly add Jesus into our conversations and hopefully he can realise that Jesus is his answer. Looking forward to what is next in this part of my journey.
Logistics: On Friday the logistics team were given the day to work on logistical things. We debriefed our travel days, and we worked on future travel days. It was very nice to have ac and sit on sofas for the day, but this is our ministry towards our team. We probably won’t have this every week, but I love this opportunity to serve our squad.
I absolutely loved our first week of ministry and I cant wait for our next adventures… I will be posting some pictures Ford And Mathew took of random moments last week! Thank you so much for reading I hope everybody has a good week.
LOVE your vulnerability, Parker! I will be praying for you as the LORD continues to show you how and when to open your heart to others. Keep the blogs coming! It is so great for us to read about the things God has you doing!
It sure sounds you had a really wonderful first week in Swazi. God is good! I can’t wait to hear about where He leads you this week!
That was very detailed – love it! Thanks for sharing about learning to be vulnerable – such a great practice. We will see you soon!
Jesus is just starting the change He will bring about through this experience. But even that is just the beginning. You have a wonderful team of Bros. SEE YOU IN A COUPLE WEEKS!!
10-4 Parker
Hy.drate
The act of drinking enough fluids during the course of the day. ??
Glad you had a great first week! Love your writing…it makes us feel like we’re there. Love you. Dee Dee
#takethecutthrough
Thank you for describing your week – it was quite the mix. Praying that the lord will give you the words needed at the perfect time for your evangelizing days. Great photos!
Dye-drate: The act of turning a scarlet hue of red due to the failure to hydrate in the hot African sun.
Die-drate: The result of a failure to hydrate which led to dye-drating in the hot African sun.
I LOVE words and word studies! Etymology is so much fun for me! I will so look forward to your next word! I really enjoyed how you went out of your comfort zone to share and be vulnerable with people around the world! People are reading this on tiny little screens in various places homes… in cafes… like me… being encouraged by your words! It seems so WEIRD to be sitting at a little round table… with the comfort of a cup of white mocha…. cars passing the big window …. the AC humming in the background… and to know that you are on another tiny little screen …on the other side of the world ….
….and I got to be a part of it! Thanks for sharing!
W
Thanks for sharing the post and the pictures. Love staying connected to your reality and experience. You are loved and appreciated. Dad
Parker, so excited for you!! And thank you for posting pictures!
Enjoying reading about your adventures! I’m praying for you & will be sharing your stores with choir.
That’s awesome dude. So happy to hear how much God is moving in your first week out on the field. And keep digging into the vulnerability it kinda sucks and hurts sometimes. But it is such a valuable thing to have.