Vuvulane Primary School

Vuvulane Primary School is a poor rural school which serves the town and 4 other informal settlements. A large percentage of the children are OVC’s (orphaned and vulnerable children) and their parents /guardians are unemployed. These are the children we try to help with uniforms and fees. The school has received some funding from the government enough to cover the basics mainly teachers’ salaries. 

The principal, Aero Mthembu, is a Christian and has a deep commitment to the children in the school. Over the past few months, we have developed a good relationship and we enjoy the way he interacts with the pupils. Aero Mthembu really wants to improve the life of the children, but needs our help. The main objective he has is to set up a counseling /library center.  There is a need for furniture tables, chairs, paint to brighten the interior of the room, shelving for books, and breakfast food. Many of the children do not have a meal before school starts and the only meal they have is provided at lunch time by the school.  The education of these children is the future of Swaziland.

We are not asking for any specific dollar amounts, but we would appreciate your prayers and ask the Lord to see what He places on your heart to give towards this huge need. We are so thankful for wonderful ministry partners with whom we can share these prayer 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.

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.

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. 

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

How far does $8 go? What can $15 or $20 buy?

It doesn't buy more than a movie ticket or a cheap dinner or a couple of lattes. The small amounts of money that disappear every day could be used to make an eternal difference and a great impact in the life of a child or family.

Think about this:

• $8 can buy a much needed medicine that can make a big impact on a child’s health and life

• $15 would buy a 10 lb bag of sugar beans, providing many meals

• $20 would buy a 100 lb bag of mealie meal, a staple in the Swazi diet

• • $20 can also buy soap for a lot of families, which would help with preventable diseases and illnesses that are spread through bad hygiene

• • $ 150/month would buy enough bread to feed 40 children a sandwich breakfast during the school week

Thankfully, our monthly needs are being met through God’s gracious provision and your generosity. At this time we are serving 200-300 children in the areas surrounding Vulvulane and would like to be able to minister to all of them in the best way possible. It’s through meeting their physical needs for food, medicine and treatments, and education that we can then share the life-changing love of Jesus with them.

In addition to this list, we would like to be able to use the land at our new house to grow vegetables and raise hens. Another thing that we would like to do if funds were provided is to start several micro-industry projects including: making floor polish and Vaseline. All of these ideas would provide food, generate income and employment, and teach vocational skills to the Swazi people ravished by poverty.

As you can see these are amounts of money that we treat as insignificant. We are asking our supporters to look at small practical ways they could join us in being Jesus’ hands and feet to these precious children by giving of their resources. Would you be willing to get your family involved and commit to giving up one or two small things each month and instead sending the money to help these children?

Here are a couple of ideas of small things you can do as a family that would make a huge difference in this ministry to the children of Swaziland. If you have other ideas, please post them as a comment. We would love to hear about your ideas and how you can help! Thanks for your prayers and your very practical support.

1. Saving your loose change and sending it in at the end of the month

2. Giving up one treat (coffee, going out to eat, or a movie etc) once a week/month

3. Having a yard sale

Please send all contributions to:

TEAM
PO Box 969
Wheaton, IL 60187-0969
Memo line of check: Stephens Orphan Care Swaziland

Contribute on-line: www.teamworld.org account #01398