Every year some students take a mission trip to some third world country, just like Nate Freeman.  Freeman went to Swaziland, Africa in July this past summer

Swaziland is bordered by South Africa to the south, east, west and Mozambique is to the north. It is the smallest country in Africa.

“It’s like this little dot close to the bottom of South Africa,” said Freeman. “During the entire two weeks we were there, we traveled all over Swaziland.”

Freeman says that Swaziland was a life changing experience and he will never be the same.

“I had been to Swaziland before, but I guess this time really kind of hit me hard. I was more mature this time and absorbed the important stuff. I didn’t really realize how lucky we are to have running toilets everywhere we go,” said Freeman.

Freeman said Swazi’s have outhouses, which are concrete block, with a big hole in the middle. The hole is about 50 feet deep and they never empty it.

“Plus they don’t have toilet paper so all of us had to bring our own,” Freeman said. “Only Manzini, Mbabane, and Lobamba, the biggest cities, had bathrooms, but they still didn’t have any toilet paper. One rule of thumb is NOT to shake their left hand, it’s disrespectful and it’s the hand they wipe with.”

Freeman went with about 13 people from his church, and another seven from a church in Texarkana. They all stayed in Manzini, but rode in a van to get to the smaller, rural areas.

Chase Hampton, from Texarkana, said that he has a baby brother and seeing all the little babies with no clothes, really made his heart hurt.

“One day, we went to homesteads, which are just like shacks of some sort. Most of houses are made out of their own manure and little babies  have to live and breathe around that,” said Hampton. “None of the kids had many clothes. All of the boys clothes were ripped on the private parts and the girls the same. Most babies don’t wear clothes. But that’s how they potty train.”

Hampton said that children and teenagers don’t eat but once a week. It’s rare any time else.

“Their culture is that the man fixes his plate, and then the woman. They eat until they are full, and then if anything is left the children will eat,” Hampton said. “Majority of the time there is nothing left. But every Saturday, the church feeds them.” 

Randy Freeman, both Hampton’s and Freeman’s uncle, is the one in change of all the mission work done in Swaziland. Freeman, his wife, and their four kids have lived there for two years and don’t come to the states often.

“I have a calling to be here. My heart goes out to the people,” he said. “Swaziland is the only country in Africa that is still under a king. It’s illegal for anyone to talk about him too.”

Freeman said their culture is a lot different than that of the U.S. and that’s the whole reason he is there.

“Their culture is that they can go to church on Sunday, worship the Lord, then go home, worship their ancestors, and their relationship with the Lord be perfect,” Freeman said. ” But ancestor worship is the same as praying to the devil. They are welcoming demonic spirits into their homes.”

One native told Janice Donais, missionary from Searcy, that his home was possessed at one point from the ancestor worship.

“He was telling me to come pray for his house, so Iwent and he told me the story of how his teenage daughter came home from school, and a million or so poisonous frogs were all over her bed, the floor, the walls, and inside her shoes,” Donais said. “It took days to lure them out of the room and out of the house.”

The average person makes only one dollar a day, and everything has a fee.

“Every child is required school, but with only not enough money, most parents don’t send kids to school,” said Hampton. “A lot of the time, teachers don’t show up to teach because they just don’t want to, so it’s just a waste of money.”

Freeman said people are considered wealthy if they own a car.

“Cars are two times the amount there than they are in America,” Freeman said. “So most people just walk everywhere.”

Katie Dukes, from Texarkana, said that the money value, called rand or emalangeni is almost worthless.

“The value goes up and down there. Ten dollars here, is less than a dollar there. The Rand is South Africa’s currency and Emalangeni is Swazi’s. You can’t spend emalangeni in South Africa, but you can spend rand in both,” she said.

Dukes  said Swaziland has the highest HIV/AIDS population there and the the average life expectancy is  32 years.

“Most teenagers have to care for their six or seven little brothers or sisters, since their parents have died,” Dukes added. “We saw many grandmothers taking care of them, and sometimes they weren’t actually related. The neighbors combine and take care of each other.”

Randy Freeman’s wife, Dezra, said that it’s hard to live in a third world country raise her kids here too.

“I have four kids, and two of them know the difference between here and the states. My youngest one was just a baby when we moved. It was really hard bringing her here,” Dezra Freeman said. “I worry of their safety. One day, I came into my home and a man was standing in my living room. It was only after that we put up a fence around the house.” 

Ronnie Freeman, Nate’s dad, Randy’s brother, and the pastor at Searcy Faith Assembly of God, said that Swaziland is very strict when it comes to Christians.

“We were very lucky to get past customs,” he said. “We waited forever in lines to get passports stamped. From all the years I have gone to Africa, I have learned that you have to tell them something else, besides what you are really there for. We said visiting family and friends, which is true; I visited my brother.”

Randy Freeman said that the government gets ridiculous when it comes to “foreign people.”

“Swazi’s consider themselves Christians, but that doesn’t mean they live like they are,” he said. “The majority of all men have more than one wife and they believe in worshiping their ancestors is okay. And that’s why I’m here.” 

The pastor said they plan another mission trip next summer.

“The more people, the more help we have to go to homesteads, to build a church, to build a well, to build a chicken coup, or to build a orphanage, like we did last year,” said Ronnie Freeman.