Moringa, Floor Polish, and Chickens

   Have you heard of Moringa? It is a diet supplement that is easy to grow and helps boost the immune system. You can grind it, eat the leaves raw, or put them into a crockpot. It does have a slightly bitter taste to it. We have been distributing 10 moringa seeds per household so they can grow a nutritional addition to their diet.

Jabulane (our coworker counting moringa seeds)

   Last week was the launch of the Section 19 community project to produce floor polish. The Woman's Support Group opportunity will provide several things for the women of Section 19, a marketable trade skill and much needed income to provide basic necessities for their children. We are excited to see how God will use this micro-industry!

  God has opened another door for us. We have been given the use of a building every Friday evening to teach the people of Maphiveni about mother to child transmission, TB, and abstinence. Jabulane and Mary will be teaching with us. This will be our first adult teaching series, please pray that it would go well.  

  Chips is set to expand into two new sections on August 1. There will be an additional 600 families served by Chips in these two areas. We will be going to a meeting to get the final go-ahead on July 6. Please pray that God would continue to open doors and work out all the details. There is such a real need for Chips in these sections as people are dying because help, medicine, and proper nutrition are not available.  

  Speaking of expansion, we are looking to find a place in the community(s) to house the Chips office. Right now we are working out of a room at the church but are quickly outgrowing the space.  

 This woman, Delsiwe, is a Chips patient and was so grateful when we were able to put a fence around her garden so the chickens couldn't keep destroying it. Now her garden is thriving and she delights in sharing her produce with all her neighbors, including us! 

  

Goodbyes are temporary

This week we had a child die who was in the Chips program and also heard that a dear friend back home in Little Rock died the same day. 

Sikkumbuzo was only 8 years old, had HIV, TB, and measles and had been sick for a long time. Please pray for his family, Mary, Jabulane, and us as he will be missed by everyone. Though it's difficult to see a child die, we are happy that he is with Jesus now. 

Our friend Nancy W. had been in poor health for a while but was a great prayer warrior on our behalf. We are happy and sad at her passing; happy that she has no more pain and is with the Lord but sad that we didn't get to say good bye. Please lift up her family at this time.

A Rock and a Baby

Mary and I (Jenn) went to see a young lady at Matatuka who was in labor. I told Mary that this lady needs to get to the hospital as soon as possible.  While we were waiting for her to get organised, the Swazi ladies were busy fussing around looking for a rock. I said to Mary, "We need to go now! Forget the rock!" Mary laughed and said they tie the rock around the abdomen and the baby won't be born until mom gets to the hospital. Well we blew that theory out of the water as the baby was born in the back of the Toyota Rav 4 on the way to the hospital!

Both mom and baby girl are well. 

Later, Darren (our supervisor) came over for lunch and after hearing the story said, "It's your fault for rushing them in choosing the rock!" This can only happen in Swaziland! 

This is Mary (with the vest) and two Chips patients. The Chips patients range in age from 0-70 years old. 

Meet Vusile

Vusile is a blind 4 year old boy who lives with his 70 year old father. Vusile has had a dislocated shoulder since the age of 2 months and his legs need to be straightened. Both the father and Vusile are not getting enough proper nutrition. His mother isn't in the picture. 

Vusile has a special place in our hearts and we see him often. 

Please join us in praying that we can find a baby walker for Vusile to scoot around with, that we can find an orthopedic surgeon who can help with his shoulder, and a physiotherapist who can help straighten his legs. Also please pray that God would draw both Vusile and his father to knowing Him, 

the one and only true Healer. 

Small but encouraging

Sometimes it's hard to see God working through us or in the hearts of the people we work with. Recently we were encouraged and excited by a couple of  'God-things'.

While we were still in Mbabane we had met Pamela, who is originally from this area where we are now. She works in a small shop that we had gone to in order to stock up on some things before moving to Vulvulane. Pamela asked about what we did so we explained the ministry that God has placed in our hearts and that we were relocating to Vulvulane to continue working with the children. She called us the other night saying she had a financial gift for the children down here. Amazing!

Another 'God-thing' is the hope we see in the lives around us. Often we hear that before CHIPS came into the area that there was no hope and many people died. Now, the Swazi people have hope and there are fewer deaths due to the medical treatment offered by CHIPS.

8 kids+ATM with no $=ICECREAM!

A generous donor just gave money to our Orphan's Fund and we were able to provide 8 children from Vuvulane with shoes. Thank you so much!

First we pile all 8 kids into the church van along with us, then make the drive into town and head to the bank. Oh no! It closed before 3:30pm, what do we do now? Try the ATM, it always works in the US. Well, Toto, this isn't the US and the ATM had no money in it. Well since we can't bring all the children with us again another day we went to the shoe store and had them all try on shoes until they found a pair that fit. After putting 16 shoes on lay-a-way and looking at 8 sad faces, we came up with a brilliant idea to make everyone feel better, Icecream! That always makes everyone happy!

The next day we went back to town alone, paid for the shoes and had fun handing them out to the children.

Just a small amount given to our Orphan Fund can make a big difference, would you consider donating the cost of a coffee today?

http://tinyurl.com/ProjectingHope-Contribute