Sweet baby girl

Langelile Kunene is a beautiful 14 month old baby girl from Vuvulane. She has HIV along with her mom, Cebsile Malambe.  

We were able to get both Langelile Kunene and Cebsile Malambe in the Chips program and started on ARV's.  

Mary is counseling Cebsile Malambe about diet, positive living, and having hope for the future. Please pray for this sweet baby and her mama, that God would soften their hearts towards Him and that they would continue to receive adequate care. 

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.

Vusile and a 9 year old burn victim

Vusile has been very neglected as of late by his father. His father keeps saying that he will be putting Vusile into a  children's home for better care, when in reality he doesn't want to be bothered with Vusile's daily care. Vusile is now in the hospital with sores over his whole body from neglect and malnutrition. We had thought that a children's home had agreed to take in Vusile, but apparently the social welfare hasn't talked with the father and no decision has been made. There's talk that a decision might be made sometime June about the long-term placement of Vusile. Please pray that a swift resolution would happen and that Vusile would be placed in a caring home that would provide a nurturing and healthy environment.

There is another boy, 9 years old, who is in the hospital. A couple of months ago, he was trapped in his house when it caught on fire. Thankfully a couple of neighbor men were able to rescue him out of the fire. He's been in the hospital recovering from the burns. He is now ready to be released, but the hospital won't let his mother take him home until she can come up with a $100. Please pray that the hospital administration would be willing to work with the mother to come up with something so that this boy can return to his home in Section 19. It's a miracle that he's still alive!

6.5.11 update: The government finally agreed to pay the $100 so the 9 year old can return home. The family will have to work out a payment schedule to repay the rest of the amount owed. Praise the Lord! 


Vusile's father, Babe Dlameni, wants someone/some orphanage to take Vusile off of his hands as soon as possible so he doesn't have to deal with him any longer. There's a possibility of an American family taking Vusile to the States for treatment, but for this to happen it could take at least a year for all the paperwork to be finished. Currently there is no adoption between Swaziland and the USA. We're praying that the meeting with Babe Dlameni and the social worker will take place soon and a suitable place for Vusile will be decided in the near future. 


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.

Caiphus

If you had received our newsletter from April, you would have read Caiphus' story (reprinted below in italics)

This is Caiphus. He is 55 and one of our newest Chips patients.  He is HIV+ and has severe malnutrition. Caiphus has one son who doesn’t live in the area and neighbors only check on him occasionally.

 We were able to leave him with a food parcel and buy shoes for him, thanks to generous gifts from our supporters. He also needs warm clothes as we are heading into winter. We have been able to assist in getting him to the hospital to start ARV’s. 

Before we had left for our time in St. Lucia, Jabulane had visited Caiphus to take him to the hospital. He wasn't wearing the shoes that we had provided so Jabulane asked him why. Caiphus responded that he wanted to keep them clean so he could have them to wear at the hospital. Jabulane gave him a second pair of shoes to wear on the way to the hospital where he was admitted to treat the malnutrition and other health problems that he had. 

When we returned from St. Lucia, we came back to the news that Caiphus had passed away while in the hospital. We definitely will miss Caiphus as he had made a great impact on us in the short time that we had known him. 

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.

God's plan is so big!

Since the purchase of the Brown buildings, which we can now call the Chips Community Center we have come to realize that God's plan is so much bigger and more comprehensive than we could ever imagine.  Pastor Dana at the Simunye church was explaining how the Chips expansion will actually be able to reach thousands of people and not the hundreds that we were thinking in our minds. God's vision is so huge! Daran and Teresa were saying the same thing to us and helped us see the wide reaching impact this community center will have.

Along the same lines, the Simunye church donated 35 parcels of clothing and shoes along with food parcels that we can pass out to those in need. That is such a praise and the contents will be able to bless so many lives. Astrid, a member of the church, has a heart for Maphiveni and will help coordinate literacy, English, and sewing classes once the community center is running.

It is the goal of everyone at Chips to raise enough support to pay for the community center in full by the end of the year. The total amount needed is $450,000 and if you wanted to help you can donate at the website below (in the PS section) and then just drop us a note letting us know the designation for the money. We know that God will provide as He has provided the purchase of the community center.

We are so blessed to be a part of God's amazing plan. Please pray with us that we would continue to see God's vision and have faith that He will bring it to pass.
Now to Him who is able to do far more than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him  be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
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.

A mother's healing

Thembile is walking! She has been slowly recovering from her stroke that she had last year and is receiving medical treatment. While she doesn't have full mobility and strength back, she is able to walk around with the assistance of a cane. Now she can help her family around the house and take care of her little one. God is so amazing!

These women/mothers spend long hours working a fruit stand outside of the Vuvulane clinic for just a few dollars a day. Often this is the only source of income for supporting their families.   

Thab'sile Simelane returns from the market with food to feed her family. 

Bright smiles from moms and babies will brighten anyone's day! 

The women here are very hardworking and will do just about anything to support their families survive, often with very little resources to help. One of our goals here in Swaziland is to establish micro-industries where we can teach the women (and men) a marketable skill and help them develop a viable business that would allow them to earn more sustainable income and better provide for their families. To date we have started a couple of micro-industries; making and selling floor wax, jam, growing mushrooms, and growing oysters. 

If you would like to help us start more micro-industries and have an active part in improving a family's life as well as improving the whole community, you can donate online at www.WorldOutreach.org. The instructions for donating are below. Please remember these hard working mothers trying to support their families as you think of your own wonderful mother on Mother's day!

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.

Incredible Provision

Thank you to those who responded to our request about Mxolisi and Eric. Your generous donations were enough to cover both of the two boys school fees so that they can return to school this week. It's amazing to see God work through His people to meet specific needs.
 
We are so thankful to God that He provides for us through our faithful suppporters. There might be some confusion about the finances and why it is that we often make requests for additional support. The financial support given to us has two different purposes. First of all, our personal monthly support which enables us to be here in Swaziland and to be used to minister to those around us. Our needs are faithfully being met every month by you and we are so grateful for that.
 
Secondly, in order to help meet immediate needs of the Swazis, we have established a general fund. These financial gifts are above and beyond our monthly support needs and are used to help a variety of people, including Mxolisi, as the needs arise. We continue to pray for direction on what the best use of these funds would be and that they would make a difference and bring blessing into people's lives. If a desperate need arises and there isn't enough money in the general fund there are times where we have dipped into our personal account to help provide a solution.

Ncomsile and her son Thabiso

Recently, monies in the General Fund have been used to help Ncomsile, our househelp and Section 19 Rural Health motivator, to start a candle business. It is time to cut the sugar cane and there are a lot of seasonal workers who come to Section 19. She is planning to use the funds to pay for her children's school fees.
 

Newman harvesting maize to distrubute in the communities

Newman has also been the receipiant of gifts from the General fund. We were able to give enough money to buy him a bicycle so that he won't have to walk 40 minutes to work one way and so he can visit his son who lives in a different village without having to pay the bus fare. In the near future, we hope to outfit the small quarters on our land with furnature and dishes so that we can offer Newman a place to live. It's our hopes to surround Newman with positive role models, Sifiso, Nchlachla(Lucky) and Ian, to help Newman overcome his alcohol addiction.

These are a few examples of how your gifts to the general fund are spent, but our primary focus is to take care of medicine and food needs for children and the elderly. As you can imagine, the requests for assistance are never ending. Please pray that God would give us wisdom on how to handle these needs and to make the most of the generous gifts in our general fund. Also please pray that God would continue to meet all these needs as they come up.  If you would like to be a part of meeting these needs, you can donate by following the information in the PS section of this post.

We do greatly appreciate your generous monthly support and the additional gifts desginated for helping the Swazi people. May God get all the glory!
P.S. - If you want to support our ministry, the fastest way is to make an Online Donation via http://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.

Can you help Mxolisi go back to school?

Mxolisi is 16 years old and is a single orphan. He was able to start high school in January of 2011. Mxolisi attends church, plays sports and studies hard. Both Mxolisi and another 16 year old boy, Eric, have been registered with the government as an OVC (orphan/vulnerable child) and consequently most of their school fees are paid by the government. There is a small fee that the government won't pay for and that is $40 per boy. If these two boys don't have the $40 by this week they won't be able to continue their education. 

Can you help by donating to our general fund (support that is above and beyond our personal needs) and become a school sponsor so that we can keep these high schoolers in school and provide an opportunity for them to rise above the poverty in their lives and stay out of trouble? 

Would you also pray for Mxolisi, that he would come to know God as his caring Father? 

If you would like to help out with Mxolisi and Eric, you can donate at the link below. 

Thank you for your generous support! 

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.