God's hand is on the micro-industry projects

The chicken project is going well and the ladies are taking responsibility for the ongoing work of taking care of the chickens and planning to expand the project. They have made a profit of several hundred dollars since  Jan 10th. Now the women are talking about bank accounts, micro-loans  and building their own chicken house when they have saved the money. The original chicken house which was on Gogo Doreen’s property, but Gogo Doreen refused to have the other ladies on her land.  but as a group they found another place to keep the chickens and paid the first month’s rent. Progress is happening but these are great times to share the Word as we talked about forgiveness after what happened with Gogo Doreen. The Lord has really worked through this and has amazed all of us with how well that the project has gone.

Ian has received enough money to provide tire gardens to five families in Macetuca. The tires were delivered in the last couple of weeks and we'll be taking pictures to show you as the gardens grow. 

We were able to visit Gogo Mandatshane's homestead and assess her house and needs. Her homestead is up a rough mountain road and then about a mile down a bumpy cart trail. There's no water on site and her house, made of wood, is in bad shape. There will be a challenge to get the supplies and crew up there, but we're looking forward to helping her out with this need. Gogo Mandatshane was very excited to show us her homestead and land.

There have been some meetings with Lloyd Dlamani, who is the area coordinator for the Sebenta program. This program is government run with an emphasis on literacy and has been going well for ten years. We really liked this program because it focuses on Swazi ownership and responsibility. Lloyd also has all the participants pay a nominal fee to be a part of the program. If there isn't enough money for the fees, that's where Chips would step in and help cover the remaining amount. There is a one time fee of $1.25/person fpr books and $1.50/month. The program is 6 hours a week and continues for 9 months. We are still looking to find a coordinator in our area.

The floor polish ladies group has done extremely well. They keep making and selling batches of floor polish and vaseline, even with a couple different scents.

We're so blessed to see God's hand in all these projects and how He's given the participants success. We continue to pray that they would see God as the one who has provided for them the work and ability to sell their goods.
Thank you for your help with all of these projects and impacting so many lives.

P.S. - If you want to support our ministry, the fastest way is to make an Online Donation via www.WorldOutreach.org
Go to "Donate" and select our name, Stephens, Ian and Jenn SWAZILAND. The system can process USA and International cards.


Or simply mail your gift to World Outreach Ministries, PO Box B, Marietta, GA 30061 and designate for Ian and Jenn, Fund Code #97.