“Why Swaziland?”

“Why Swaziland?”

A friend asked me this question one day. The only answer I had was, “Because God said so.”

This mission trip to Africa is not the product of a long, sought after dream. To be honest, I’d never thought much about going on a foreign mission trip. After all, God had called me to state-side missions on a daily basis. He even moved me 2000 miles from my homeland of South Louisiana to the Northern Rockies almost thirteen years ago, for Him. Why did I need to travel halfway around the world to do what I could do within my own country?

But something started to change in the Fall of 2011. I took a trip to Louisiana for the first time in five years. Children’s Cup Development Director, Dan Ohlerking, sent me an email and asked if I was in Louisiana. I’d just arrived into the New Orleans area the night before, unbeknownst to him. He encouraged me to attend a conference the following day in Baton Rouge. God provided a way, and I hit the road.

At the conference, I met with a staff member to gain more insight on their organization. I’d planned to simply write an article for Inspire a Fire, knowing that Children’s Cup fed and loved on thousands of orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This young lady conveyed the plight of the children of Swaziland. Their greatest need was simply unconditional love; just to be touched or held. As she shared, I felt God drop a coin into my heart. A definitive clank. A moment in time when something shifted inside of me.

In the meantime, God worked on another area of my heart. He wanted me to leave the life He’d provided for me in Teton Valley, Idaho and move to Baton Rouge. Something I’d never thought would happen or that I would do. But this move proved to be His perfect will. I’d experienced living in God’s permissive will too many times in my life. I knew that there was no physical place on earth worth being where He doesn’t spiritually want you to be. And with the Holy Spirit thriving inside of me, the adjustment to living in a southern city, verses a valley surrounded by mountains, went nearly seamless. But after many failed attempts to make enough money to sign a lease on an apartment, God directed my focus to Swaziland. Five months after moving to Baton Rouge, I walked into the Children’s Cup office. I wanted to see if they’d consider sending someone for a month or two to serve wherever they saw fit. Within a week I knew I was heading to Swaziland, Africa… because God said so.

The mission statement came through Ben Rodgers, the CEO. He wants me to go out into the field with different missionaries to write about their daily lives and the plight of the children they serve. To shed light on the abundant need. Also, to show how God is using His people to bring hope through housing orphans, feeding, educating, providing clean water and giving medical assistance to some of the poorest communities in the world. And, a new project coming down the pipeline includes a skills training and economic empowerment program for young adults.

“Why Swaziland?” God’s love has no boundaries. It’s man who sets the boundaries on maps, but also in our own hearts and minds. People are people no matter where they happen to live. No one had a choice as to where they were born, yet we do have a choice as to how we will live. And I chose to live… wherever God says to go! With no boundaries of my own design.

That’s “why Swaziland.”

Go here to keep up with my journey and/or help support this opportunity.

Jennifer L Griffith

In 2000, God used a snowmobile accident to yank up the deep Louisiana roots of Jennifer L Griffith and move her to Wydaho. She let go of her business, her career, college degrees in Biology and Chemistry, and a Masters in Sports Medicine, to be open for God’s move in her life. She went from Chemistry teacher, athletic trainer and entrepreneur in Louisiana, to novelist, drummer, skier and over-all adventurous out west. Since then God blessed her with the ACFW Genesis Award in 2007 for Gumbo Ya-Ya and in 2009 for Magpies in Trees. In 2012, God directed Jennifer back to the Deep South where she serves wherever God calls. This has included three months in southern Africa as a missionary journalist. In 2015, Jennifer's passion for organic living led her to create www.geauxorganic.com. After years of health challenges due Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, which left her fighting for her life, Jennifer shares her journey with others. She hopes to help others thrive amid the chemical world that surrounds us. Jennifer is currently working on her realtor's license, has a few writing projects in the works, and is available for motivational speaking. You can contact her through her websites for more information. You can also follow her spiritual journal here http://magpiesintrees.wordpress.com

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