An amazing Christmas give-away!

(Warning: lots of pictures of happy kids)

  What can we say?  God is Amazing! Over 220 children heard the Christmas message, sang songs, danced, played games, received gifts, goodies and had a lot of fun at our Christmas give away.  

There was enough donated that we were able to bless three communities Mgldzangcunu, Section 19 and Khomba, even though we said we were only doing Mgldzangcunu, but God had other plans!

After we had given out all of the gifts, Ncamsile, one of the mothers at Section 19, came to us and said “It is the river of God. It flows from our friends in America, through the Stephens and out into the children and we must not stop the river from flowing. You can see it in the children’s faces as they received their gifts and opened them.”

 
    We want to thank you for opening your hearts to provide gifts for over 220 children. Your generous donations put really big smiles on the faces of so many destitute children. We hope you enjoy the pictures, which say more than the words we can express.

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.

Chicken Project Update

Maphiveni Ladies Chicken Project update

From small beginnings the Lord will grow this business. 

The Ladies were very happy and thankful to the Lord for providing the opportunity to work. We were very impressed with the organization. They had a schedule in place for when each of the ladies would be working a twelve hour day selling the chickens and caring for them. There is a nightly security guard  to prevent theft

The initial purchase was for 100 chickens but due to extreme heat about 40% died .they have sold 35 chickens at $4.50 each. The ladies were able to sell all the remaining flock within three weeks and had to make a second purchase of chickens. The women are now buying the chickens earlier and keeping them a little longer so the chicks can get a little fatter.  The first batch turned a profit of over $400. We only need to help them cover the cost of the security guard and some additional feed for the chicks. All the rest of the financial needs are covered from the profits of the business. 

Make Phumzile, Christinah, and Busisisiwe are three of the women involved in caring for the project.

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.

New Chicken House

The ladies working with the Chicken Project have finally moved to a larger building since their chicken business has really taken off and they were able to start bringing in a profit within just a couple months. Now that they have the new building, there are some details that need to be worked out with the group. They have been working on a constitution for the members to follow and meeting the various requirements that the Chief (who owns the land the building is on) has come up with.

The women have worked really hard to clean up this building and refurbish it to house their expansion of the chicken project. We will be supplying them with the funds to build a cement fence around the building to keep the cows out from wandering in among the chickens. 

I (Jenn) volunteered to take several of the ladies and Solomon (the overseer) into town this last week to help them open a bank account. Well, to open the bank account, the women all needed to get their own id. This process took several hours and I was just sitting outside waiting for the ladies to finish their business. Several people came up to me asking what I was doing. I guess I looked suspicious just sitting there outside the building. We weren't able to finish all the necessary steps for opening the account that day so we will have to go back again to complete everything. Once the account is opened, the women will be purchasing some more chickens to raise to sell.  We are so grateful to a couple of our friends who have graciously decided to back this operation financially so that these women are able to earn an honest income and support their families. Please pray that we are able to get this venture off the ground once again and that it will be a good source of income for these women.

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.

Kindle Love

Our Kindle envy started around last Christmas when we heard that Jenn's sister and Charissa both had gotten a new thing called a Kindle. They were telling us about the great way to read electronic books and that you could take it anywhere and have so many books loaded onto the device. Having read all the books in the 3 libraries nearby (or attempting too as many books have pages/sections missing) we started looking at the kindle online- really being envious of not having one ourselves. We debated long and hard about if the expense of buying a kindle would be worth it. Finally we decided to purchase two, one for each of us. We emailed our wish list of books to Charissa and she loaded them onto the kindles and sent them to us. They arrived shortly before our accident, which was such a blessing!  Since we couldn't get around and leave the house very much during our 10 weeks or so of recovery, our kindles helped us not get quite so stir crazy (at least kept us from wanting to choke each other).  Our neighbor John has been great about giving kindle tutorials whenever we run into something we don't know like how to share books between our two kindles. We've started reading more authors and types of books than what we previously had on our 'favorites' list. One series that we have found is a British murder mystery series which makes us laugh out loud when reading it. When we aren't reading, we are online adding books to our wish list of ones we want to download. We'll have to test the claim that you can have up to 14,000 books on the kindle at a time, right now we have just over 60 books each!

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.

Sitting on the Veranda

There's a gentleman who makes bamboo furniture and sells it by the roadside.  He does excellent work and we applaud him for coming up with a creative idea to be gainfully employed and support his family. He is an example in an area where many are unemployed and have no real desire to work with one's hands to provide for one's family. After admiring his work for quite some time, we decided to purchase some veranda furniture. 

Isn't it nicely made? 

We enjoy sitting out on the veranda and having a cup of tea.  

Bonginkosi is telling 'Mammy' (Jenn) what she should be doing. Newman is also in on the fun! We're thankful for both guys and the laughs/conversations we can share. 

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.

'We Don't Need You'

I enjoyed reading this Daily Bread and wanted to share it with you. It's true, we can't do anything without God giving us the ability and the tools to do what He's called us to do. Ian

WE DON’T NEED YOU

There’s a story about a group of scientists who decided that humans could do without GOD.

So one of them looked up to GOD and said, “ We’ve decided that we no longer need You. We

have enough wisdom to clone people and do many miraculous things”.

GOD listened patiently and then said, “Very well, let’s have a man making contest. We’ll do it just

like I did back in the old days with Adam”.

The scientists agreed, and one of them bent down to pick up a handful of dirt. GOD looked at him and said “ No! You have to make your own dirt!”

Taken from Our Daily Bread  August  3^rd 2005

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.

Starting the recovery process

Thank you for all your prayers, encouraging notes, and thoughtful acts of kindness to us since our accident. We are feeling very loved and cared for and realize how many lives God has touched through our lives. It is very humbling. We are at home resting and working on recovering. It's a challenge, Jenn can't do much with her left hand and right ankle out of commission and Ian can't bend or lift anything due to the fractured ribs and sternum. However, we are thankful for God's abundant provision and we are well cared for by our friends and neighbors here in Swaziland. If we spoke more SiSwati (or more fluently) we'd have an unending stream of visitors from the communities who are all so very concerned for our well being and pass on messages to anyone who is heading to see us. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, especially as neither of us like to stay in very long and we're already feeling a bit stir crazy.

Just wanted to let you know about Nokulunga, she was supposed to go to the Mbabane hospital on the 18^th May but the only remaining orthopedic Dr had left and they were no longer seeing patients. There is another orthopedic Dr at the hospital in Manzini  who is willing to see Nokulunga. She now has an appointment for the 10^th of June so prayerfully she will actually be seen that day and will get the medical care that she so desperately needs. 

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.

We're so blessed

We are having an amazing time of being served (and receiving it well). Here are a couple of examples of our recent blessings.  God is so faithful in His provision. 

About a week ago, we stopped in Ezulwini to get some shopping done before we picked up Larry in Mbabane. We met Pastor Ken and Brenda and they treated us to lunch, which was so thoughtful. 

After Larry left, we were taken out for lunch by a friend Tony, whom we have not seen in 3 years. 

Last week on Wednesday and Thursday, we went to a Bed and Breakfast, which is owned by a couple in the church at Simunye. They wanted to serve us by giving us two nights free accommodation, which was very needed! After the hectic week with the team out here, we are really enjoying being served. 

Jenn

Ian, Soloman, and Larry

We were also blessed by Larry and he served us in many ways while here on his visit. The fellowship we shared and the encouragement he gave us was very special. God always knows what we need and we are so thankful for His provision. 

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.

What did you do for New Year's Eve?

Happy New Year!  Our New Year's Eve probably looked a little different that yours. 

For starters, it is in the middle of summer for us and the temperatures have been about 105' F/40' C. With no air conditioning it can be a challenge to stay cool. We knew that the Simunye Country Club had a pool so we called over there to see what the cost would be for us to come swim, which is the only thing that sounded enjoyable on such a hot day. 

To our pleasant surprise, we were told that there would be no charge for us to come and use their pool. So, off we went on New Year's Eve to go swimming! We had a nice swim and then enjoyed a good pot of tea at the Country Club. It was very refreshing and we plan on doing this again. 

Today, we drove up to North Swaziland where we had heard about some beautiful waterfalls. However, by the time we arrived (after the hour and a half drive) and found out that the walk down to the falls and back out again  we realized that it would take longer than the time we had so we just walked around, enjoying the beautiful gardens and will have to make plans to come out here again. We might spend the night in the area and then will have all day to enjoy the hike down to the falls. 

Lately, we have realized how important for us to get away once in a while to reconnect with each other and also spend time refocusing on the Lord and seeking His direction and plan for our ministry. Doing this will help us to keep centered in the Lord and more effective ministers of His gospel. Late January, we will be taking a short trip to do just that. The trip is something that we are looking forward to and know that it will be a time of refreshment, reconnection, and refocusing. 

Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we go into a new year. We pray that you and your family will be blessed in this New Year. 

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.

Lost Sweater

 

Fanzile with his Gogo receiving a food parcel. 

Although the children are now on long summer vacation, we are starting to get prepared for the start of the new school year. We wanted to check to make sure Fanzile had everything  he needs to return to school in January. When we were there, he informed us, "I've lost my school sweater. I have no idea where I lost it, but it is gone!"

 Children are children whether here in Africa or America.

Guess we will have to get Fanzile a new sweater. But when you see the smile on his face, it's hard to get mad for very long. 

 
 




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.