Spending part of the Advent season in Swaziland this year has been powerful. It has changed the way I anticipate Christmas. It has caused me to think of the condition of the world on the first Christmas. How much it meant that Jesus Christ left His heavenly throne to invade earth. How desperate the longing for a Savior.  The anticipation for deliverance realized in a stable full of animals. The ordinary becoming extraordinary under the light of a faraway star. Years of prophecy come to pass in the birth of a baby boy.

Has anything really changed? Are we any less desperate for a Savior? Aren't we still waiting for Jesus to come and change the world? Aren't there parts of creation that wonder if God has forgotten about them?  Don't we still need a rescue?

Here in Nsoko, that longing anticipation is much more obvious. The need for redemption and transformation much more urgent. The hunger for a miracle is unmistakable. You can almost hear the cry of people's hearts in the dry, dusty wind:  Come thou long expected Jesus...

 

The baby girl whose mama is too trapped in a cycle of addiction and sexual sin to see or care that her daughter is walking around in a filthy, tattered, urine-soaked white dress...she cries..."COME!"

 

The baby boy who cries himself to sleep each night, belly empty and aching. He cries..."COME!"

 

 

The teen-age girl who wants someone to love and protect her, cherish her...not abuse her and steal her innocence...she cries... "COME!"

 

 

The boy who prays each day that his mother will live long enough to take care of him and protect him...even though she is weak, sick and dying...He cries... "COME!"

 

 

The little girl who must walk alone each day along thorn ridden dirt pathways to reach a care point where she will get something to eat and maybe even a hand to hold or a lap to cuddle on...she cries... "COME!"

 

 

The tired, old woman whose back is bent from carrying countless gallons of water over hundreds of kilometers. Her fingers are calloused from tending outdoor cook-fires. The lines on her face tell the story of a long, hard life full of more weeping than laughter...more sorrow than joy...she cries..."COME!"

 

 

Here the air seems to buzz with advent...anticipating and longing for change. Praying for redemption. Waiting for the promises of Scripture to unfold.

 

"The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts 'Be strong, do not fear, your God WILL come, he will come with vengeance, with divine retribution he WILL come to save you.' "