Turning to Teens

Winter retreats, spring mission trips, corn-eating contests, small group hang out sessions, and lots and lots of dodge ball consumed a significant amount of our lives while we were working with high school students in Davis. We loved the kids, the leaders, and the activities. We were often as tired as basset hounds at the end of each program. It was (and still is) easy to see how the shaping of one’s Christian faith is critically important during those adolescent years.

While taking a short reprieve in South Africa a few weeks ago, we began to evaluate our ministry here and we noticed a need for people to pour into the high school-aged students, both on the farm and in the community. It may be interesting to note that the biblical knowledge of these kids (even those who are not Christians) is better than the average Christian in America. That being said, their faith may be shallow and riddled with confusing legalistic ideas and infusions from other spiritualistic beliefs. We thought, why not start a youth ministry that meets teens at different stages of faith to share a Christian message that is easy to understand?

These teens play a highly-competitive game of musical chairs.

Recently, Mandi and I, and our colleague, Tiersa, launched Teens For Christ. We had more than 25 high school-aged students come to the first meeting and an equally impressive crowd at the second meeting. It was awesome to see teenagers engage with faith questions and discussions in a way that is both different and inviting. We played games, I gave share a message about Jesus, had some small group discussions, and enjoyed popcorn afterwards.

Teaching about sin.

Lots of laughs, good questions and comments, and a plethora of high fives filled the preschool classroom where it is being held. This accomplishes many objectives of our ministry. It reaches out the community, we get to know the “farm” kids’ friends (like any good parent would want to!) and we form relationships with kids who are in desperate need for attention and affirmation. 

We are currently having Teens for Christ once a month and are looking in the possibility of expanding it to every two weeks. Please pray for this undertaking. Pray especially for relationships to be formed that will allow us to share our faith in a real way. Pray that we would be able to communicate clearly with the teens, and that they would be receptive to what we share. Most of all, pray that kids would come to know Jesus Christ in a personal way.

When Two Ministries Collide

New Life Children’s Homes is a complex, multifaceted operation that is difficult to explain to people – even if they have spent years prancing around this place. There are many aspects of our work here including caring for orphaned and vulnerable kids, operating a school, running a farm that provides food and income to the kids, employing house mothers whose job is to oversee the “farm,” as well as employing nearly 20 other folks from the community to make everything work. It is a place for training others (from kids to leaders in our country), as well as a place where people do business. It is a busy and sometimes crazy place. This makes it attractive to others – from Swazis who want to see a place that a bunch of crazy Americans are helping run to foreigners who want to meet and support the kids and missionaries. We get quite a few visitors who all have their own angle of interest.

This past week, we hosted the Minister of Agriculture for Swaziland (akin to the Secretary of Ag for the U.S., who is currently Tom Vilsack). Along with Minister Vilakati about 25 other government leaders descended on the farm for a tour of the many agricultural operations. Peter (NLCH founder and director), myself, and Mthi (our farm foreman) each talked about different facets of the farm. Below are some pictures of our time with the minister.

More than anything, this brings an immense amount of pride to each of our farm workers and our kids. They see that important people are visiting because of their effort. It is fun to be a part of a team that works hard to serve our kids and community while producing high-quality products. 

The craziest part of the meeting? As we wrapped up, Minister Vilakati asked where we were from in the U.S. After I told he that I came from California, he mentioned that he was familiar with the state from his college years. He said that he attended school in San Luis Obispo. Cal Poly! After we gave each other half-hugs realizing we were both Mustang alum, he then mentioned he received his masters at UC Davis. Whoa! I did my graduate work in Davis. Though we did not proceed to a full hug, there was a pleasant appreciation for each other’s paths that brought us both to a small farm in Swaziland. What an interesting connection!

Below is a picture of the great team that we have assembled on the farm (from L to R), Harriet Makhubu (leads the chickens and the nursery), Raymond Dlamini (our sales and marketing director), Sipiwe Shongwe (house mother), Winnie Johnston (house mother), Mthi Nhleko (farm foreman), Peter Kopp (founder and director), Winile Khumalo (house mother), Happy Msibi (house mother) and, well, me.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support for this project.

Life is Sweet in Swaziland

The children at New Life Homes learn many practical skills around the farm. In fact, on any given Saturday, you can find the children cleaning pig pens, feeding chickens, harvesting beans, or even sprucing up their homestead gardens. Even if these kids aren’t successful within the current education system, at least they will have some skills and may be able to create their own jobs in the future. 

Recently we worked with a few of the teens to harvest some honey. We keep three hives in the farm, and the bees are useful in pollinating everything from veg crops to mango trees. Honey harvesting time is quite a celebration, and the kids LOVE honey. Mlandvo, Donald, and Ritta helped with the harvest. Mlandvo has become very proficient in his role as head harvester, so the rest of us stayed inside to help receive the frames, cut the comb, and minimize the stickiness of the floors.

Afterward, we packaged the honey and delivered it to the homes, shared it with workers, and enjoyed some ourselves. Despite a few stings, the labor was well worth the sweet reward!

Please continue to pray for our work here. We are excited to be receiving a few short term teams this summer. Pray with us that they would arrive spiritually prepared, physically equipped, and ready to jump in. We are still praying for one or two teachers to join us!

Wanted: A Few Good Teachers

A new school year has begun! Our small school, located on the farm, provides education for all of our preschool and elementary-aged students and approximately 35 children from the community. This year I will continue to teach a third and fourth grade combination class. Let me introduce my students.

I am really enjoying my class this year. The fourth graders are an exceptionally gifted group, and the third graders are eager to learn. The students enjoy coming to school and are enthusiastic about most subjects.

Four days into the new term I received disappointing news. The young woman who had served as my classroom helper last year, Zanande, would be transferred by the government to school in a different community. I had spent a substantial amount of time and energy training Zanande last year. Our hope was that Zanande would be my replacement when our term here is complete. This was a significant setback.

The past two weeks have also been disappointing in another way. The vision for the school has always been for missionary and Swazis teachers to work side-by-side. The educational culture in Swaziland (generally speaking) is not excellent. Teachers may show up five minutes before school starts and they leave five minutes after. Sometimes they don’t show up at all. At some schools students are beaten regularly for minor infractions, such as not completing an assignment quickly enough or having their shirt untucked. Teachers aren’t committed to pushing their students. They teach the government issued textbooks, period.

Currently we have one missionary (me) teaching at the school with four Swazis. Two of these teachers are not credentialed. Our head teacher (principal) is also a Swazi. Since the school year started several weeks ago, I’ve noticed a big change in the attitudes of our teachers. I’m wondering if we’ve lost enough critical mass (two missionary teachers and Peace Corps volunteer are no longer teaching) that the culture of the school has shifted. The commitment to excellence seems to be fading. It has been a very discouraging few weeks.

Please pray for New Life Primary School. We need guidance and direction. We need wisdom to know when to push and when to let go. We also need help. 

Are you an experienced teacher that would be willing to join us in Swaziland? We need you.

Please pray that God would send the reinforcements we need to provide a quality education to the children at New Life Primary School.

_____, Wealth, Contentment, Health

Greetings friends. As I (Tommy) woke up this Sunday morning and perused the CA headlines, once again, water (or lack thereof) was a major issue. I was reading about how Governor Brown declared 53 of 58 counties as natural disaster zones. I saw pictures from the Mt. Shasta snow cam that looked more like a barren Missouri field in mid-August. Things do not look good, and for this reason, I extend my thoughts and prayers to the many farmers affected by this dire situation back home. This week we have been joined by a few of Mandi’s college friends. One of the individuals in the “estrogen gang”, Jonnalee Henderson caught me up on some of the water challenges that farmers are facing. Brutal. As much as I despise political water battles, these challenges got me to thinking about our water situation here in Swaziland. Our main issue here: we do not realize how fortunate and wealthy we are. Nearly everyone here, including ourselves, have rivers and streams crisscrossing their property.

We have had rains that have kept our crops afloat. We have wells that are hitting water at 60 feet. Not only that, but as I stand on our veranda and look out towards Mozambique, I see puffy cumulonimbus clouds looking to burst again any time.

Poverty is a problem of the mind, under-appreciated and under-utilized resources if just a side effect of that problem. Mandi and I are often told by the Swazis how lucky we are that we are so wealthy. I do appreciate the situation that we come from, but we encourage our Swazi friends who envy our financial wealth to redefine wealth to include resources. Now look who is wealthy. As you drive into Modesto, CA, you see the city slogan that reads: Water, wealth, contentment, health. There is wisdom in including water first in the slogan. Without it, the other three attributes become much more difficult to obtain. This is true whether you do not have water (the case if California), or you do not realize what you have (the case in Swaziland).

For you, we pray for snow, rain, and common sense discourse as you discuss these challenging water issues. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to try to work to change the mindsets of people here so that they will feel empowered to recognize and responsibly utilize the resources that God has so richly blessed them.

On a side note, we would like to feature the two kids who are leading the unofficial mango eating competition on the farm.

Ndu (top right) and Vusi (bottom) spend more time in trees than on the ground (this is not an exaggeration). They also have the stickiest hands on the farm.

Meet Siyabonga

Have you noticed how easy it is to miss changes that happen slowly? One of our little ones has been making slow but steady progress and we just had to share!  

Five-year-old Siyabonga became part of the New Life Homes family in August 2012. The circumstances leading up to his placement at New Life Homes were very poor. He was living with a grandmother who was unable to care for him properly. When he arrived he was obviously sick and very malnourished. 

Over the past year, Siyabonga has transformed into a happy and healthy little boy. He is constantly entertaining us with his rodeo clown antics (somersaults, chasing dogs, karate chopping, climbing trees, and other general mischief). He also loves to start worship songs at our weekly prayer gatherings. Looking at him, it is hard to imagine the child he was when he arrived. He is full of energy and life!

It is still amazing to us how children respond to a loving and stable environment. The kids at New Life Homes are fed in many ways—healthy food we produce ourselves, love and discipline from the housemothers, teachings about God’s bottomless love. It seems that for Siyabonga, this has been the perfect recipe for producing a happy and healthy child.

In Siswati, “Siybonga” means “thank you.” Will you take a moment to thank God for what he is doing in Siyabonga’s life? Pray that Siyabonga would continue to thrive physically, and each day would trust more and more in God’s love and grace.

Christmas Blessings

Some of our Swazi friends have given abundantly during this Christmas season. From a preschool party, to gifts for all the children, and even hosting a celebration at a nearby game park, they have acted upon their love for the children we care for!

Here are some of the highlights from our Christmas party at Mlilwane, one of Swaziland's game parks. Our friends and long-time supporters of New Life Homes, the Kellys and the Youngs, hosted this party and did an amazing job! They even made it relaxing for us!

The kids went on a hike though the bush, where we encountered blesbok, nyala, impala, warthogs, wildebeest, and monkeys.

Despite the cold weather, Bhuti Tom decided to demonstrate how much fun it would be to swim in the river. No wonder the kids are laughing!

I think Tommy was a little concerned about crocs, don't you? 

Phumlani has a close (too close?) encounter with a warthog.

After walking back to the lodge, the families organized games for the kids and even the housemothers were encouraged to participate. In this game, the moms blew up their balloons until they popped. You can feel the anticipation!

The kids were treated to lunch, cake, and ice cream. Some of the little ones had a hard time keeping up with the drips, and used the excess as a hair conditioning treatment.

We wrapped up the day with personalized gifts for EACH of the 39 children. Can you imagine shopping for 39 different kids? These friends really blessed everyone in a BIG way.

When God gives, he always gives abundantly!

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1

Praying that you and your families also experience the abundance God promises.