My Family.

…so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another.

                                                                                    Romans 12:5

For the past six months I have been completely blessed with being surrounded by people who continuously show me Jesus. They emit Him out of every pour in their bodies like a never ending stream of light. Even though I have no idea what Jesus looked like when He physically walked on this earth so many years ago I know exactly what He looks like now.

His feet hit the ground running every morning through the people on my team and I feel like it has been selfish of me to not share my family with before this point. When I talk about my team it is referring to the whole one, all fifty some of us, but for times sake I am only going to introduce you to my Swazi family: 

Isabel Maldonado ( Leader): To imagine Isabel what you have to do is think of someone who continuously giggles, like a tickle me Elmo. The kind of giggling that makes you laugh no matter how bad of a mood you are in. She’s infectious. Isabel also has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen, EVER, and is absolutely in love with Swaziland. She makes me love Swaziland. Right now she is leading our trip and going to school to become a nurse so that she can move back to Swaziland and serve the Lord medically.

 Caroline Dorning (Leader): In my opinion Caroline truly lives out Christ’s spirit of sacrifice. Her willingness to follow God and the plan He has for her is intense and she has given up a lot because of it. God uses her a lot of the time to tell you what you need to hear. Like if you are unsettled about something or are trying to figure something out, you go talk to Caroline. She is also the only person on the team who truly understands my love for the African grocery store “Fruit and Veg”. It’s amazing.

Melissa (Leader): To put it simply, she’s stinking cool. Melissa only became a part of our family in January because they thought we needed extra leaders on the Swazi team and I don’t necessarily know if we needed another leader but we needed Melissa. She gets so excited about Christ and what He is doing that it can’t hep but to get you pumped to. Melissa also makes a mean mango loaf and acts a pretty sweet Paula Abdul.

Matt Spainhour (Leader): Matt is a tough one to explain. He is one of those people who is incredibly awkward but yet you never feel awkward when you are around him. He has a ridiculous talent for music and his best friend is Abraham Lincoln. Matt also has this way of putting really confusing things into really weird analogies and for some even weirder reason they always make sense.

Alene Brunkhurst: The thing that I love the most about Alene is the way she gets excited. It always seems to be about things that you normally take for granted, like getting ice cream. She always claps her hands together once and goes, “I’m so excited!!” almost like she just won a million dollars or something. It’s great. She’s a strong woman of God.

Loretta Wang: Loretta is always seeking God. More than anyone I have ever met before. She is a humble servant and I love her immensely. Lor also has an insane talent for photography and takes beautiful pictures. I think she sees things the way Christ does a lot of the time and that in itself is something beautiful.

Sarah Keppinger: Sarah is a teacher who you can tell truly cares about people and is always seeking after Christ. She is a prayer warrior and one of those people who you never feel judged by. I love her attitude and she is very good at acting. You should hear her British accent.

Alyssa Bowles: God has clearly given Alyssa the gift of leadership and she uses it beautifully. She is a servant in so many ways and I don’t think she even realises it. Her heart is huge and you can see the love of Christ pour through her into other people all te time.

Sarah Taylor: The first thing I think of when I think of Sarah is servant. She is always doing things for other people without ever asking for anything in return. She embodies that part of Christ fully and I have learned so much from her. Sarah is also crazy. She is spastic sometimes and had has the best giggle.

Mary Hollis: Mary is amazing and has this way of making women and teen girls fall in love with her and feel so easy around her. She is incredibly giving and always brings glory back to God in every conversation. She also has this funny laugh that I can’t really explain except to say that if she were in a cartoon she would be the villain because of her laugh.

Layne Carson: Layne loves chocolate. She also has this God given heart for Africa and now she is finally here serving Him. She has this way of putting a visual to things when she is explaining the bible that helps you to understand even the most hard to wrap you head around things. She also lights you ask her about her family and has an incredibly high pitched laugh.

Jessica Gourley: Jess is like a mother and always looking out for us. She has an incredible heart for the kids that she worked with last semester and for the girls she works with this semester. I love being wrapped in her arms because it feels like I am getting a hug from Jesus.

Gail Antosh: I don’t think I will ever find another person who thirsts for the spirit the way Gail does. She just wants more of Jesus all the time and is always trying to go deeper in her relationship with Him. She makes me laugh at the weirdest things and jokes never get old with her. Funny things just keep getting funnier and I love that about her.

Davie Ingrim: Davie is crazy and most of the time he is that annoying brother you want to punch in the face but yet you still love when he picks on you. He has a way of speaking that makes you listen and he could read the dictionary and make it sound important. Davie knows how to use words to impact people and get the point across. He also ha a way of making people feel really important.

Tyler Bussanich: Ty loves Jesus and loves people. He was amazing with the street kids in Jeffreys and always seems to be talking to people about what we are here in Swaziland for. He is sarcastic, hilarious and hardcore good at the game Skip-Bo.