Using a camera to God's glory

I honestly did not know what to expect when I came to Swaziland. I had been told that I would fall in love with the people, but nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. Yes, I fell in love with the men and women that I met. But it was the children who captured my heart. It began with the little granddaughter of Shorty, crawling around under the table and pews as she translated. It grew as Bree, Em, and I took pictures outside with the 3 or 4 children that were outside the church. But it absolutely exploded when I saw the stampede of children run across the field towards us when they saw our digital cameras. They swarmed around us, laughing and smiling and motioning for us to take their pictures, squealing and giggling with delight as we showed them the images on the back of the cameras. They were so beautiful, every single one of them! Nothing, nothing could have prepared me for this…me, of all people, falling in love with children!

That’s not to say that the adults mean less to me. They are in every way just as beautiful, and in many ways, just as childlike and precious…every one of them was warm, kind, loving, and excited about the things we were teaching. As the rest of the team worked with the people to build solar ovens, I did my best to document everything with my camera. I felt a little useless not helping, and I struggled with that for a little while. But I realized that God gave me a gift, and finally, I was in a position to be able to really use it for Him, for His work, and for His glory.

I can’t wait to see what more God has in store for my heart.

Melissa