Picture waking up on Christmas morning, sitting in your pajamas next to the Christmas tree glowing with a string of lights and you with a Christmas present in your lap. You begin to unwrap the tiny package pulling the ribbon to take off the bow, removing the paper and when the present is revealed it is...SOAP. I'm not talking about fancy, good-smelling soap, I'm talking regular, original scent bar soap. How excited would you be? How would your relationship be with the person who just gave you the soap? If you're anything like me your smile and excitement before the present was unwrapped would have turned to scrunched eyebrows. "Huh? Soap. Um, thanks". That's because my basic hygiene needs, like soap are met. Soap is not a luxury, it's a necessity.Not so in Swaziland. That large green bar these precious women are holding in the pictures are huge bars of soap. They use this for everything. They break it into smaller pieces and use it to bathe, they use it
to handwash their clothes, they even rub it on a wet cloth and use it to wash their dishes. The women stood up and danced with their soap while cheering. I wish I could have got it on video but I was having to shake everyone's hands when we gave the gifts. It was priceless!I'm not judging, I promise I'm not judging but after this party I saw Christmas in the States so differerent. Just seeing the presents I gave and received and how I expect to get a certain standard of gift and I couldn't help but remember the women dancing because they got soap.
The pastors were dancing too. I cannot tell you the joy that the people of this church were feeling that day. Nothing, i mean NOTHING like this had ever happened to them before. I admit sometimes I thought, "what's the big deal? It's just food and a few gifts, that I would consider necessities." I was so humbled though by their joy in having a party, having food, having soap and had to confess my ungratefulness. Enjoy the "pastors boogie" below.
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