We live in Eswatini. We build alongside people who already know the call. We measure success by how unnecessary we become.
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The organizations that came to Eswatini during the AIDS epidemic did important work. But most of them never stopped to ask whether they were still necessary. The Dust was built as a direct answer to that — with a different set of convictions from day one.
Before we teach anything, we sit down. We listen. We learn what the community already knows, who already has the trust, and what the actual need is underneath the surface. This takes time. We are not in a hurry.
We work side by side — not as the expert coming to help, but as a neighbor with a useful skill. The hierarchy is flat by design. We plant with the women. We run the spreadsheets with the men.
When the work is sustainable without us, we leave. That is success. The organizations that stayed too long in Eswatini are the cautionary tale we build against every day we show up.
An old Hebrew proverb — for those who follow their teacher so closely that they are covered in the dust of his feet.
That is what The Dust is built to be: an organization that follows Jesus so closely the evidence is visible. Not in words, but in the trail it leaves. A good day for us is one where we are literally covered in dust — hands in the earth, shoulder to shoulder with the people doing the work.
The results weren't what we expected. Some of it was harder. Most of it was more beautiful than we planned for.
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He already knew how to do the work. He needed someone to believe it was worth doing.
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The organizations that helped during the AIDS epidemic never stopped to ask if they were still necessary. We think about that every week.
Read more →Resources are the only thing keeping us from the next step with people who have already proved they are serious about building something that lasts. We're asking now because the work is ready.
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