Short-Term Outreach Manual

1. Welcome!

We would like to welcome you to Swaziland. This may well be one of the most life-changing events that will happen in your life. Swaziland is a friendly country, relatively safe and mostly open to Christian teams. I am therefore convinced that you will not leave Swaziland as the same person who entered the country.

 

2. Introduction

Swaziland is a small country, slightly smaller than Kuwait and slightly larger than the Bahamas - or, for our American friends, just slightly larger than Hawaii. It has a monarchy, the present king being King Mswati III. The country is divided into four areas: Hhohho with Mbabane as its main town, Manzini with Manzini as its main town, Lubombo with Siteki as its main town and Shiselweni where Nhlangano is its main town. You are going to be working in the Shiselweni area, which is in the southern part of Swaziland.

 

Swaziland is not only a very poor country, where almost 70% of the population earn less than $1 per day, (described by the World Bank as “extreme poverty”), but it is also the country with the highest HIV infection rate in the world, with a prevalence rate of close to 30%. This makes Swaziland an extremely challenging country to work in. (Click on map to open a larger version in a new window.)

 

3. Shiselweni Reformed Church Home-Based Care

Shiselweni Reformed Home-Based Care is a specific ministry of the Shiselweni Congregation of the Swaziland Reformed Church which focuses in general on people in need and more specifically on those infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS. This assistance is rendered regardless of the client’s church affiliation or faith. The ministry has been registered as a Section 21 company (NGO) in Swaziland.

 

In 2005 the pastor and the members of the Swaziland Reformed Church (Shiselweni Congregation), situated in the poorest and most vulnerable southern part of Swaziland, formulated the vision to “become the hands and the feet of Christ in the communities surrounding the church” through a home-based caring project.

 

After initially training 36 people in an area known as Dwaleni, the group of volunteers, all working without any salary and many of whom are HIV-positive themselves, started reaching out to members of the community in need of care and support.

 

After one year the group started expanding and at present 1200 volunteers, many of whom are HIV-positive themselves, are already part of this home-based caring project in 43 different communities - all, with the exception of one, situated in the southern region of Swaziland. More than 4300 clients are cared for through this group of volunteers.

 

Apart from taking care of clients in their own homes, the NGO is also running four pre-schools, attended by 200 orphaned or vulnerable children, as well as feeding approximately 600 orphans daily at nine different community care centres.

 

An academic paper was published about the work of this NGO in Verbum et Ecclesia in 2006 with the title: On Becoming the Hands and Feet of Christ in an AIDS-ridden society in Swaziland and can be downloaded from: http://www.swazimission.co.za/Documents/verbum_v27_n3_a18.pdf

 

In 2008 this ministry received the runner-up position for the prestigious international Courageous Leadership Award for the outstanding service the volunteers are doing towards helping those with HIV and AIDS. More details about this award can be found on: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/764957498.html

4. Vision and Mission Statement

Vision: To become the hands and feet of Christ in this community.

Mission Statement: In a community devastated by poverty, sickness, broken families and death, we want to bring back true Christian hope, not only through our words but also - following the perfect example of our Lord, Jesus Christ - by reaching out in love to those in need, comforting and supporting them by all means available to us.

 

5. Objectives

1) Training community members, regardless of their gender or HIV-status, to become volunteer caregivers at homesteads in close proximity to their own home
2) Identifying homesteads where potential clients reside. Although the focus is on people living with HIV and AIDS, any person in need of care can become a client of the caregiver
3) Serving each client with a comprehensive approach to fulfill their psychological, social, spiritual and medical needs to the best of our ability
4) Encouraging community members to be tested in order to ascertain their HIV status and encouraging HIV-positive people to start ART
5) Presenting continued training for all caregivers and specialised training for coordinators to enable them to improve their skills
6) Identifying orphaned or otherwise vulnerable children, in collaboration with community leaders, and inviting them to become part of our feeding project
7) Running a pre-school where orphaned or vulnerable children may attend without fear of stigmatisation

 

6. Short-term Outreaches

The Swaziland Reformed Church has established itself as a popular venue for short-term outreaches. Operation Mobilisation sends teams to this ministry annually to give their students practical training in rural outreaches. Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida, USA has also been sending teams from their university to Swaziland for the past two years and other churches are also showing increasing interest to send people to Swaziland for a short-term outreach. We are especially interested in getting long-term commitments from Christian organisations and churches to send teams to Swaziland.

 

We believe that there are mainly two reasons why short-term outreaches are hosted successfully in Swaziland:

 

1) Contrary to many other venues, we have made a decision that our first priority is not to see how much we can get from the outreach team. Our main priority is to set up opportunities for visiting teams to build relationships with local people in Swaziland

2) Even though we realise that we can receive much from outreach teams in terms of finances, goods and services, we believe that we have much to give to the visiting teams in terms of sharing with them our vision for the people in Swaziland, teaching them how to care for the hopeless and sending them back to their homes with the realisation that God is working in many more places than they may have thought before visiting Swaziland. It is therefore essential for us that outreach teams should leave Swaziland, knowing that they have received more than they had been able to give.

 

7. What can teams do in Swaziland?

This will depend largely on the type of team coming to visit us. Except where highly specialised teams want to come on an outreach (such as a team consisting of medical professionals), the major part of the outreach will be focused on the home-based caring ministry, although it is possible, within this work, to differentiate somehow between certain gifts and interests

7.1 Home-Based Caring

The home-based caring volunteers visit their clients, mostly on a daily basis. During an outreach, unless if teams are specifically going to be used in other ways, such as building projects, we will arrange that the team members meet up with one or more of the caregivers and they will then go out daily on visits to clients. This is done specifically to expose the visiting teams to the reality of the work being done in Swaziland and the tremendous need found within the communities.

7.2 Orphans

We have a number of feeding schemes for orphans. They usually arrive there at around 3 pm when they receive food. There will be some time for interaction with these young people before they return to their homes.

7.3 Pre-school

There is a pre-school (also known as a creche) at Dwaleni. There is a full-time teacher working with about 30 children daily (except for during the Swaziland school holidays). Obviously we cannot have an entire team working exclusively with the pre-school children, but if one of the team members have a very special calling to work with small children, then we will be able to link such a person with the teacher so that they can work together for the time that the team is here. After school, during lunch, the rest of the team might also be able to spend time with the children, possibly by teaching them one or two songs or by playing games with them.

7.4 Medical assistance

Much of the needs of the clients are of a medical nature. If some of your team members have medical knowledge (especially if they are trained as medical professionals), please inform us in advance. We prefer to send these people to the clients with the greatest medical needs. Although you will not be able to solve all the problems, just watching a professional medical practitioner working with a client helps to build confidence within the caregiver and this is a great time to teach them as well. We would encourage you not only to apply your knowledge, but also to keep on explaining to the caregiver why you are doing certain things so that they can be better enabled to take care of their clients in the future.

 

8. Planning the visit

The longer in advance a visit is scheduled, the greater the chance that a team can be accommodated. Ideally, first contact should take place at least 6 - 8 months before the intended visit. This is even more important for teams coming from the Northern hemisphere, such as the USA, Canada and Europe, where teams typically go on short-term outreaches during their summer break. As far as possible we do not want these outreaches to overlap.

Priority will be given to existing partnerships to determine the dates for their visits, but we will endeavour to accommodate any team wishing to visit Swaziland.

 

Communication can be done via email with the possibility of using Skype if certain issues need to be discussed directly. It is essential that the team leader and I have contact from as early as possible. Where a central office organises their outreaches, I wish to be put into direct contact with the team. If it is essential for the central office to be aware of arrangements, I will undertake to copy all emails between the team leader and myself to the office.

8.1 Accommodation

We have a few options for accommodation. Many teams prefer to stay on the premises. They either pitch their own tents or they can sleep in the existing buildings. At Dwaleni and Matsanjeni we have kitchens where food can be prepared. Often teams prefer to eat with the children receiving their meals at the community care points where we supply food. For people staying on the premises the cost is R20 per day for electricity, water and gas. If the team wants to have lunch at the community care point, then an extra R30 per meal is payable,

 

Another option is to stay at Pasture Valley Farm, about 15 km from Dwaleni. This needs to be negotiated with the owners of the farm and strict rules apply concerning interaction between visiting teams and the orphanage situated on the farm. For more information visit their website.

 

For people wishing to live in greater style, a guesthouse is available on the outskirts of Nhlangano. This is a bed & breakfast facility with the option to have supper there as well. More information can be found on the website of Phumula Guesthouse. Contact them to make sure that their quoted prices are up to date.

 

Certain teams, such as those from OM (Operation Mobilisation) may request to stay within the Swazi communities. In such cases arrangements will be made. However we will decide where these teams will be placed, as the safety of our visitors are of extreme importance to us.

8.2 Transport

We are fortunate to have an 11-seater Landcruiser available for the use of visiting teams. Although built to last, these vehicles are expensive to run. Running costs of the vehicle according to the Automobile Association is R5.77 per km (which includes fuel).

 

Should you have your own transport, we would advise you to leave your vehicle at the church and to make use of public transport together with the Swazi caregivers. Experience has taught us that this becomes one of the easiest and most effective ways to build a relationship with the local people. Please note that a lot of walking will be done, which means that comfortable walking shoes are essential. The good news is that walking normally takes place at a fairly leisurely pace.

 

In certain cases, such as with medical teams, circumstances may be different and then it may be advisable to use transport to move from house to house, in order to allow the team to reach as many as possible people in the available time.

8.3 Food

Breakfast and supper will typically be taken at the place of accommodation. Nhlangano does have a KFC. Lunch will usually be served at the church. There are supermarkets available from where food can be bought.

 

Concerning lunch served at the church: The food is fairly simple but tasty. The cost is R30 (more or less US$4) per person. In Africa, eating together is part of the culture and having lunch at the church is therefore a good time to build friendships.

8.4 Malaria

Most teams will be working towards the western side of Swaziland which is not known to be infected with malaria. The far-eastern side of Swaziland, bordering Mocambique, is very hot and humid and malaria is a danger in that area. In most cases, taking preventive medicine for malaria will not be necessary, but the choice remains with the team member whether it will be taken or not.

 

9. Do’s and Don’t’s

9.1 Culture Shock

Every person coming on a short-term outreach to Swaziland will experience some form of culture shock. Most people coming on an outreach come from fairly affluent societies. When entering Swaziland, it is clear that this is a different country with a different culture and it is also clear that people are much poorer than those we have left behind in our own communities. However, most tourists coming to Swaziland, live in luxurious hotels, spend their time on beautiful golf estates or within one of Swaziland’s game parks and will never know what is happening behind the facade which separates these tourist attractions from the lives of the real people. When you come on a short-term outreach to our ministry, we intend to expose you to the real people. We want you to leave Swaziland, knowing that you have become friends with real people with real faces and real families.

The places where we work are all situated in rural areas. Many of the houses are still built of mud. Tap water does not exist. Few homes have electricity. Most homes, however are clean in spite of the poverty. Most people coming from a Western background are immediately appalled by the circumstances within which the Swazi people live and this emotion may lead to different reactions. Mainly, Western people are problem-solvers and there is a great tendency that they do not focus on the people in the homestead they are visiting, but rather think of ways to solve the problems. Africa, including Swaziland, have many memorials to failed projects which were started with good intentions but with poor planning.

 

Time will be made, as early as possible in the visit, to start speaking about the emotions experienced. Possibly God may call your team to solve some problems. Let us, however, discuss this in depth before you start doing things. We need cost-effective, sustainable and duplicatable solutions for the problems that exist. Otherwise you are wasting time and money that could have been spent in better ways.

9.2 To give or not to give

Western people, and more specifically people from the USA, are considered to be wealthy by the Swazis. Compared to the majority of people in Swaziland and specifically in the areas where you will be working, you are extremely wealthy (even if you think you’re not.) Once you have had your share of culture shock and someone approaches you with the request to assist them financially, be it to buy food, to pay for school fees or to support someone who wants to study, the temptation will be great to put your hands in your pocket and to give them whatever is necessary.

If you want to work with us in our ministry, then we are going to expect of you not to give in to this temptation. Although this may sound harsh in the light of the terrible need within the communities, there are a number of reasons why we feel so strongly about this:

1) We are trying to build relationships and not dependency. Every person from outside handing out money indiscriminately, makes it more difficult to see Westerners as people who are honestly interested in the Swazi people and not merely as a source of money

2) You do not know the people who are asking you for assistance. All over the world you will find people who are masters at manipulating others in giving them things What should you do when approached by someone to give financial help? Listen to their needs and then assure them that you are going to pray about this issue and also to discuss it with others to determine whether you should give assistance. Do pray about it. But also discuss the matter with the local church leaders. They will better be able to evaluate the situation, to warn you against people who are trying to manipulate you and also to advise you about the best way to give assistance. If there is really merit in the request, it may be better to channel the money through the church to the recipient rather than giving it directly. But this is something that can be discussed should the need arise.

9.3 When can you give?

Obviously you are going to make new friends in Swaziland and you would like to leave something for some of your new friends to remember you by. There is no problem in doing this. My suggestion would be to bring something small and not too expensive from your own country to give to some of your new friends. However, I have to stress that the gifts should be reasonably priced. Remember that $50 may not be a lot of money for you, but for most of the people that you will be working with, this is a small fortune and we do want to prevent a situation where jealousy develops or where people look forward to have teams from outside visiting them, in the hope that they will once again receive a large gift.

9.4 Travelling with the local caregivers

Although we do not want you to give out money indiscriminately, there are times when you will be expected to pay. Our caregivers are all volunteers, receiving no salary for what they are doing. Our arrangement is that they concentrate on homesteads within walking distance of their homes in order to cut out all unnecessary costs such as travelling costs from their own homes to the clients they are serving. When we have outreach teams, some of these caregivers will need to travel to the church to fetch you, then you will travel by public transport to another area after which you will return to the church and then the caregivers will have to return to their own homesteads. Please offer to pay for their travelling costs to and from the church and also pay on their behalf when you make use of public transport.

 

Our caregivers will take good care of you and will ensure that you are safe at all times. Even the women will feel comfortable when moving around with the caregivers.

 

While on this topic: Not all Swazi men are Christians and unfortunately it always happens that some men will propose marriage to female members of an outreach team, especially the younger women. Don’t become flustered when this happens. By preparing an answer, you will be able to remain in control of the situation. Do NOT say that you will pray about this (unless if you are seriously going to consider the marriage proposal.) A firm answer such as: “I did not come to Swaziland to get married. I came here to work for God” or some other answer will normally be enough to convince the man that you are not going to consider the proposal. We have never had a situation where a man kept on pestering a woman once they have kindly but firmly rejected the proposal.

9.5 Clothing

Clothing can be a touchy issue. Swazi women, especially in the rural areas, normally wear fairly traditional clothing. Up to some years ago we were very strict that women on outreach teams were not allowed to wear pants while in Swaziland. Although very few Swazi women wear pants, they have told me that they are accepting it when Western women wear pants. As a general guideline I would suggest clothing that fall within Christian norms of decency. Shorts (above the knee) would not be a good idea. The same applies, incidentally, for the men. Adult men never wear shorts as this is associated with clothing that children wear.

 

Dresses or skirts should also be of a decent length, at least about half-way between the knee and the ankle. Although we are trying not to be too prescriptive about clothing, it will definitely be appreciated if the women wear a dress or a skirt on Sundays during church services.

9.6 Smoking and Drinking

In Swaziland smoking and drinking are associated with an old, heathen lifestyle. Those who drink, will rarely drink moderately. Therefore, when Swazis accept Christ into their lives, they break with these old traditions and you will never see a Swazi Christian drinking or smoking. Out of respect for these Christians who sometimes have difficulty in living a new life-style, we expect any team member visiting us, to keep to these restrictions. If you are a smoker yourself, we want to encourage you to pray about this issue and to make an effort to keep from smoking for the time that you are in Swaziland.

9.7 Addressing older people

Under normal circumstances an older person will never be addressed by their first names. Married (or previously married) women are addressed as “Maa-ke” and a married man is addressed as “Baa-be”, which translates to “Mother” and “Father”. We will help you with the pronunciation when you arrive. Married people in the outreach team will usually be addressed in the same way by the Swazis.

 

The Swazis have a strange custom whereby they rename visitors after a few days. Most members of an outreach team will receive a Swazi name, sometimes linked to something funny which they did, how they look, how they act, etc. If you have been to Swaziland before and already have a Swazi name, be sure to use it when you introduce yourself. The process of giving the new names and especially explaining why the names were chosen, will not only lead to a lot of laughter, but also helps to build relationships.

9.8 What to do in a home

When you visit homes, you will not be on your own. You will be visiting with some caregivers. Often people remove their shoes when entering a home, but it is not compulsory and usually you will be told not to remove your shoes. Depending on the homestead you are visiting, you may all sit on the floor. If only one or two chairs are available, you will be offered the chair. Accept this as a sign of respect for the visitor, even if the caregiver has to sit on the floor. If it is a mixed team (men and women), the man will usually be offered the chair, if there is only one available. If you are not sure what to do, ask the caregiver. They are there to teach you.

 

You may be asked to share something from the Bible or to pray. Be prepared for such a situation. Prepare a number of portions from Scripture that you feel would be encouraging to people facing a difficult situation. You may want to bring a pocket sized Bible with you. It is not necessary to “preach” in every home, but if you have a specific story to share of how God encouraged you, then you are free to share this with the people.

 

If the caregiver has to help a client physically, you may offer to help. If you are of the opposite gender from the client and the caregiver has to clean or wash the client, then it would be advisable to excuse yourself and wait outside. If you are of the same gender, then can ask the caregiver whether you may help.

9.9 Sunday Service

The Swazis have a natural talent for singing and therefore the first part of the Sunday service (two hours in total) consists of singing, testimonies and prayer. There are usually also a number of choirs. Visiting teams are usually called upon to contribute towards the program. It would therefore be wise to do some practising beforehand. Two or three people usually share a testimony during the service. If one of the team members have a really strong testimony to share, then they are welcome to do this. However, do not feel compelled to give a testimony.

9.10 The Bible and the Gospel

Many people coming to Swaziland have two preconceived ideas, one is that the Swazis do not have Bibles, therefore Bibles need to be handed out. The other is that the Swazis are virtually all heathens and therefore need to be converted. Both are not quite true. Most families do have Bibles. The Bible in siSwati was completed a few years ago. Most older people prefer reading the Zulu Bible (a language closely related to siSwati), while younger people, who have had siSwati at school, prefer the siSwati Bible. Only in rare cases will we hand out a Bible free of charge. When Bibles are handed out free of charge, everyone will try and get a copy, whether they have a Bible or not. We do however heavily subsidise the Bibles that we sell, making them available at around 25% of the cost of Bibles in Swaziland stores. The one exception that we make, is that we supply each of the home-based caregivers with a Bible which goes with their medical kit, thus enabling them not only to care physically for their clients, but also spiritually. Should you be interested to contribute towards this cause, you can get more information at: Medical_Kits.pdf or if you reside in the USA or Canada, Medical Kits USA.pdf

 

A high number of Swazis are devoted Christians. I can assure you that you are going to meet people who are as devoted to Christ as you are and most probably even more so. Of course, there are thousands of Swazis who are not Christians, but one of the biggest mistakes made in the past is that Westerners think they can enter a country in Africa, share the gospel in five minutes, expect a few hundred people to respond positively and then report back about all the people that had repented. Whether we are in the USA, Europe or in Africa, we need to realize that we have to earn the right to discuss a person’s spiritual life with them. We welcome any open and honest discussion about spiritual matters, but we do not encourage a “quick-fix” policy, where we have all the answers and others merely have to accept what we tell them. Swaziland has almost been over-saturated with the “Jesus Film” and other similar methods of converting the masses. We encourage one-on-one dialogue about Christ and rejoice in every person making a commitment to God.

9.11 Dating in Swaziland

Dating, as smoking and drinking, are issues that the Christians feel very strongly about. Pre-marital sex, teenage pregnancies, together with the enormous HIV infection rate, are issues that we really struggle with. Christians need to take a radical stand against these things which have almost become the norm in a life without Christ. Should it happen that a couple who are dating are part of the team, then they will need to take note of a few things. We strongly discourage a male and a female to wander off on their own while part of such a team (married couples excluded, of course.) You may be innocently wanting to spend time on your own with the person you’re dating, but those observing you wandering off to a private spot, will not understand that you merely want to sit and talk. Even walking hand-in-hand before marriage is not something done by Christian youth.

 

The best advice I can give is to put your relationship more or less on hold for the time that you are in Swaziland. During the evenings there will be time to sit on your own and talk, but during the day, while within the Swazi communities, it would be best to come to an agreement that you are there to serve the local people and to respect the lifestyle (and the struggles) of the Christians in this regard.

 

10. Changing of Money

Swaziland uses the Emalangeni (Lilangeni - singular) as their currency, which is linked to the South African Rand. South African currency (notes) can be used anywhere in Swaziland, although coins are not always accepted. The currency conversion rate changes daily, but has been fairly constant over the past few months at between E7.00 & E7.50 for US$1. You can check on Currency Converter to find the latest value. I would advise you not to travel with too much cash. ATM machines are readily available, both in South Africa and in Swaziland. Most major credit cards are accepted. This is the cheapest way at the best rate to obtain money in the local currency. I would not advise the use of traveller’s cheques.

 

A word of extreme caution is however necessary. South Africa is notorious for ATM fraud. Never ever allow anyone, no matter how convincing they seem to be, to assist you at an ATM. We have had cases with visitors where someone had offered to help them at an ATM. The card is then swiped through a card-reader which the "good Samaritan" has in his hand so as to make a copy of the card and later thousands of Dollars had been stolen from the account. Do not go to an ATM on your own. Have someone with you who can help look out for suspicious characters and if anyone, including security guards, offer to assist you, kindly decline and leave immediately!

 

11. Mobile Phones

Swaziland has its own cellphone network: Swazi MTN. If you have international roaming on your cellphone, then your phone will work in Swaziland. Do note however that the USA uses a frequency range which is different from South Africa and Swaziland. If you come from the USA, it will be worthwhile to confirm beforehand that your specific model phone has the capability to work on both frequencies. A Swazi MTN simcard can be purchased at a very low price and airtime can be bought from as little as R10. This will enable you to send text messages or to phone within Swaziland. If you come from South Africa, you may consider bringing an extra phone with you for this purpose, as there are places where you will move where your South African cellphone will work, as we are fairly close to the border. Just remember to bring your charger along as well.

 

12. Electricity

Swaziland uses 220V. Many appliances (cellphone chargers and laptop transformers) nowadays will convert automatically between 110V and 220V, but in certain cases, people coming from the USA may have to bring a transformer with them. Visitors coming from Europe and the USA could make up a short cable before they leave, with a “female” socket (which can take at least two plugs) on one end of the wire, while the other end is left open. You can then purchase a “male” plug in Swaziland, fit it to the open end of the cable and your laptop or cellphone chargers can then be conveniently plugged into this extension cable. We have a few hairdryers available in the farmhouse for those travelling from overseas.

 

13. Returning to your home

I can assure you that you are going to return to your home, feeling as though you have buried a friend. You are going to make great friends while in Swaziland. As you return to your homes and to your home congregations, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind:

 

1) Keep all promises you have made. (Important is that you do not make compulsive promises.) If you promised to write to someone, do so. If you promised to send photos, do so. And also keep in mind that these people do not have email, therefore you will have to send letters through normal post. Letters can be sent to the postal address of the person whom you want to contact. You may want to consider buying some stamps while in Swaziland and then including a self-addressed envelope with the correct postage in your letter, thus making it easier for your new friend to write back to you.

2) Photos should rather be sent to our South African postal address as the chances are small that photos will reach their destination if sent to a postal address in Swaziland. I will ensure that they reach the people in Swaziland. You can send photos or other parcels to:

 

C/O Dr A van Wyngaard
P O Box 886
Piet Retief
2380
South Africa

 

1) We need you to become an advocate for our cause in Swaziland. Hopefully, after you have spent some time with us, you will realize the enormous task that God has placed upon our shoulders. As you return to your home, commit yourself to pray regularly for these people. Make use of opportunities given to you to speak to others about the work. We can help you with material you may need in this regard.

2) God is supplying financially in miraculous ways for our needs. However, He has often used people who had witnessed the situation in Swaziland, to start raising funds for this cause. We therefore want to urge you to prayerfully consider to assist us in this regard. If every person visiting this ministry could raise up three or four other people to each commit themselves for a certain amount every month, this could enable us to do so much more. I can honestly say that I know of no other organisation such as this, that are using their funds more effectively and anyone contributing towards this ministry can be assured that their money will not be used on luxuries, but will go directly towards the work that God has called us to do.

3) Should you wish to support this ministry, then it can be done in the following ways: (We have bank accounts in South Africa as well as in the USA).

Within South Africa, you can deposit funds into the following account:

Bank: Absa
Branch: Piet Retief
Branch code: 632005
Account Number: 9232 019 533
Name: Shiselweni Reformed Home-Based Care

 

Within the USA or Canada you can do the following:

 

We are extremely fortunate that the Central Community Church in Fresno, California (tax ID# 77-0456281), has offered to assist donors who wish to support the work of Shiselweni Reformed Home-Based Care (SHBC). Any donations given in this way are fully tax deductible in the U.S. Furthermore, everything you give in this way, will be sent to Swaziland to enable the volunteer caregivers to scale up their services amongst the people of Swaziland. This ministry of the Central Community Church is known as Project Glory.

 

Should you wish to make a tax deductible donation towards this work, you can send your gift (one-time or monthly – with "SHBC" on the memo line of your check) to:

Project Glory

4710 N Polk

Fresno Ca 93722

 

If you are living in a country other than South Africa or the USA, it is still possible to contribute towards the ministry in Swaziland. You can arrange with your bank for a wire transfer. For this, you will need to supply them with the swift code of the receiving bank. The swift code is the unique identification code of a particular bank.
Bank: Absa
Branch: Piet Retief
Branch code: 632005
Account Number: 9232 019 533
Name: Shiselweni Reformed Home Based Care
Address: P O Box 886, Piet Retief, 2380, South Africa
Swift Code: ABSA.ZA.JJ
Bank Address: Private Bag X7293, Witbank, 1035, South Africa

 

14. Conclusion

Should you have any further questions, you can contact me in any of the following ways:

You may want to spend some time on my blog where I have elaborated on many of the issues discussed in this document. You can find my blog on:

http://missionissues.wordpress.com/

 

Once you are there, you can do searches for various topics, including "short-term outreaches", "Swaziland", "culture", etc.

May God bless you as you prepare to visit Swaziland with your team. Let’s all pray together for this time.

Dr Arnau van Wyngaard
(Pastor: Swaziland Reformed Church and Project Manager: Shiselweni Reformed Home-Based Care)