Today was our final full day of ministry in Eswatini! We attended church as a team at Manzini Baptist Church, and Olivia taught children’s Sunday school, Maggie taught youth, while Elinor taught adults. During the service, Jimmy taught a beautiful service focused on Jesus’ second touch and healing of a blind man, and we witnessed powerful testimonies from Swazis, both children and adults!
After lunch, we packed up and headed to a leisurely afternoon. For a quick bite to eat we split some pizzas and then proceeded to float around the Mantenga Market and the Swazi Candle Factory. This was a sweet time of souvenir shopping and chatting with one another and with our translators and friends, Mpumelelo and Xolani.
Finally, we met for an early dinner with the Allen Family and Teresa Flora and her team with the Timothy Project. The Timothy Project is a ministry based in Lesotho, a neighboring nation to Eswatini, and it was awesome to spend time with fellow believers and with friends (both new and familiar.)
In a place like Eswatini, it can seem like a waste to spend so much time eating. Everything here is slow. And when we say slow, we really mean slow. Turtle slow. Our American spirits are impatient with it. Meals take so much time, and time is a precious, precious commodity on a short-term trip.
But on the night before His death, where do we find Jesus? Around a dinner table. Breaking bread. Passing the cup. Sharing a meal. Slowing time, sitting still. That’s our example.
“As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28 CSB)
In that final evening before Jesus is set to defeat death, to climb the cross, to be beaten, whipped, mocked and scorned for your sins and for mine, He sits down at a dinner table and breaks bread. He dines with His friends. So today we sit at a lunch table full of love and dinner table full of friends. We break bread. We sit, we slow. He speaks. We lean in and listen.
