What's New:December 2009: On the Swaziland National Swim Team
Great news! The Zone Six swim competitions for the under 19's was hosted in Swaziland Dec 2010. Caleb, Tirzah and Noah have been invited to officially be representing Swaziland National team. This is amazing. From a school with 24 primary kids and family with 42 kids we have managed to place 3 kids on the national Swazi team. Thanks to everyone who put in the hours with the swimming lessons, and praise the Lord for showing the way.
December 17th: This week the training begins in proper form and this morning these Tirzah and Noah left home at 5:30am for training all day at a swimming pool in Manzini. The pool is not heated and we have had rains lately, so the water is unusually cold for this time of year. They came home exhausted and hungry with sore muscles all over. But praise God for their determination and commitment to use the talents and opportunities God has given them
December 8, 2009: Christmas at New Hope Centre
Christmas at New Hope Centre has already begun as we lit the first Advent
Candle on Sunday night. We meet around the candle every evening to study the Word of God related to the Candle, then we celebrate communion together. The first Candle is the candle of Prophecy so we focus on the prophetic words that were spoken in the old testament and then fulfilled in the birth of Jesus in the New Testament, also we study the prophecies of Jesus' second coming to help us wait expectantly and in anticipation of the events of His second coming. This second week we have started the second candle of advent which is the preparation for the coming King. Last night we studied the preparation of our hearts and bodies by looking at the story of the man who was let down through the roof by his friends to be healed and had both body and soul healed as Jesus declared his sins forgiven and he got up and walked after being paralysed. The great point being that with a healed body and soul he went home and God was glorified so we too need to prepare ourselves so that in and through our lives God is glorified. Yesterday 5 teams of children went out to plant vegetable gardens in our community. We decided to help plant gardens this year as a gift so that people can have food for the rest of the summer in our gardens. We thank God for the Go-TEAMS and the Heart for Africa Teams who have come and given their funds and strength to build 5mx5m fenced gardens for the poor families in our community. Now it is wonderful to follow up and plant 70 seedlings in each garden so that we can be a part of bringing glory to God in the vegetables, the healthier food and healthier bodies of the people in our community. We could do more if we had more funds but 50 is the number of grace multiplied by ten so we rejoice in being able to help these families and participate in giving. On Saturday night the children had met with Ms Njabu our community ministry co-ordinator and prepared a scripture to teach and share with the families, a drawing that illustrates the story that we gave the family to keep them reminded of the blessings. Schools closed last Friday and a committee of four kids selected a Christmas drama for the children to use in ministering over this season. This week three teams are selecting the roles they will play and beginning to memorise their parts. Then we will be presenting the Christmas story in the Prison near us in Matsapha to 600 inmates. We have already bagged up some kiddie snacks for each inmate to bring the "child" out in each one so that the wonder of Christmas can be rekindled in their hearts. We will be going to the Prisons on Tuesday the 15th December in the morning, keep us in your prayers that we be effective in sharing the joy and love of God. Then on Sunday the 19th, the children will be presenting the Christmas story at the church we attend, "Sword and Spirit" in Manzini. We hope this will be recorded on video to be presented, as in years past, on national television on Wednesday night before Christmas. Then on Wednesday the 23rd 18 kids will be presenting the drama to the children in the large referral hospital about 12 Km away called Raleigh Fitkin Memorial hospital, a hospital built by my grandfather. We will be able to give teddy bears, a face cloth and soap to each child in the hospital. Finally we have our own celebration and we have a gift from some doctors from Ohio we will have 4x15lbs turkeys that Debrah and her cooking team will prepare. Sis Tandzi our housemanager and the teenage girls have been wrapping gifts, while Wendy has been taking children 3 at a go to the shops to spend their US$12 each given to them by friends in the UK. Christmas eve will have our big party with a big Birthday cake for Jesus and at midnight when we light the Jesus candle we open all the gifts that God has blessed us with as sons and daughters of His on the day of celebration of His only begotten sons birthday. Christmas morning we will be up early to attend the Anglican Church Eucharist service with the candles, bells and incense and carol singing and Christmas story readings of the Bible. Liz Pass has a wonderful song that "come and celebrate with us, the birth of the Great King, Jesus Christ INKhosi is born on Christmas Day. Its Christmas in Africa" December 7 2009: last night we had severe storms and the bad news is that Andile our swim coach and head maintenance man was home for the weekend and lightening hit his house and it burnt to the ground. The good news is that he was home and had his wife and toddler son run out of the house when the storm was raging and so they were not burnt but are still alive. He will not be able to come into work today as he is arranging with neighbours where his little family can live temporarily up in the mountains.
Andile has been with us since we started the foundations of the main wooden house. He was even here cutting the grass before the building was started, so he is one of our pillar people. We really ask for help to build him a new house, just two rooms; a room for them to sleep and a room for them to cook and eat. Each room will cost US$1000 to build the basic structure; no finishings or plumbing or electricity. We ask please for folks to help us raise this US$2000 as it is the rainy season now and they are homeless.
Giving can be made through Hope for the Nations - please specify “Swaziland - Andile”. Much thank, Elizabeth
UPDATE January 28, 2010:Thank you for your gifts for Andile. The house has been built up to the roof, however due to a big storm over the past weekend the rafters where unable to be erected. We hope the roof will soon be on.December 5, 2009
A Day Full of Love for God Today started out as a typical hot humid summer day with clear blue skies, but proved to be a day full of love for God. At Church, a wonderful young man from Ghana was preaching. He ministered prophetically, and asked everyone to put their hand on their stomach until they felt the fire when they felt the fire they would know it was them and they were to come forward. Ms Rachael and Ms Njabu both went forward - in total 11 people went forward. The word was that this year was the conception year of ministry and 2010 will be the birthing of a ministry that will prepare the way for the Lord in Swaziland.
Joanna (aged 11) says she too felt the fire, but when she tried to move she was frozen and shaking in the power of the Holy Spirit. She could not take a step or even lift her hand for help. Later, the preacher came down from the pulpit and laid hands on Joanna and she was free again. She found herself covered in gold dust of every colour under the sun, she had it all over her. She even had sparkles all over her bed when she was resting this afternoon and still had it all over her tonight even though she had showered - very colour and the tiny tiny dust particle size. Gold dust scripture by the way is found in Job 28 vs 6 .
Abigail and Ms Zanele were shaking from head to toe then weeping like their guts would come out so it was pretty amazing. Ms Zanele says she will tell me what God said after she has had time to pray tonight.
Recently, while in Pretoria, we had been praying about Ms Rachael's emptiness of joy and her negligence to call joy in the morning. After today, Ms Rachael is just full of joy! She saw a vision of this huge dragon sitting over the Lavumisa school where two weeks ago she had preached everything she had in her. In her vision a small plant grew gradually into a huge vine that strangled the dragon. The vine then began to grow along the road from Lavumisa to Nhlangano, and up the road from Nhlangano to New Hope Centre where it turned into a mighty river. The river turned into a fountain, and then into the most beautiful Jesus.
All of this is just amazing! 10 years ago we performed a the prophetic act of flying around the country in a tiny prop plane and dropping gold dust mixed in annointing oil from Israel on the borders of Swaziland. When Gugu, Matrine, Jackie and I and others did the prophetic actions on the ground later, we saw from Lavumisa (city in the south of Swaziland) a vision of a huge fountain of rainbow coloured spouts of water splashing life all over Swaziland. Later when June, Loni and John were here we did the prophetic shofar blowing from the same little prop plane and one of the stronghold areas we aimed for was the mountain range that is along the road from Nhlangano to Manzini - the very road where Ms Rachel envisioned the the vine that turned into a river of life. Amazing - Rachael knew none of these former things and yet 10 years later these things are still on God’s agenda.
October Fun Day 2009
This October New Hope Centre was host to a fun day of arts and crafts. A group of supporters from Toronto, Canada, had raised funds for Dr. Samuel Hynd's medical clinic in Manzini, and came by the New Hope Centre to visit the children.
 Everyone had a great time making necklaces and jewellery, doing footprints and building things with Lego. The children were blessed with a fun day and connections with new friends. Dr. Bob and Dr. Samuel expressed much thanks, and prayed for Gods continued blessings and for future medical assistance in Swaziland. The day ended with a barbeque.
 August 1, 2009 "Nedbank Swaziland Invests in the Nations Future"
Who would believe our local bank came by today to bless the New Hope Centre children! Just after lunch about a dozen cars full of Nedbank Swaziland team members arrived at New Hope Centre in a show of love and support. The bankers had come to plant vegetables, and to invest in the future of Swaziland.  The team had worked through Tsabsile the marketing officer at the Mbabane Head office to prepare a gift of 24 watering cans, 8 hoes, 8 forks, 8 rakes, 8 shovels, 8 grass cutters and 3 picks, all to make tending the vegetable garden manageable. Up until now the children's 5.30am daily gardening work has been hampered by a shortage of good tools. There have been many squabbles as they shivered in the cold and dark early mornings waiting to share watering cans. The children are very grateful now that the early morning chore can be done speedily without waiting in line. The groundsman staff were also delighted as now the teams of 8 children who tend the gardens with them each afternoon will be able to learn the goodness of garden work without losing involvement and enthusiasm waiting for a turn with the fork.
 Once we had the tools the children painted their names on each piece and then with the bankers planted 60 seedlings – cabbages, spinach, onions, and red lettuce (all that was available in the garden supply shop).
Then the greatest of all God honoured the day with His blessing of the frist rains. As I write this it is gently raining, paltering on the tin roof. God is pleased and commands a blessing when we work in unity (Ps 133) the young and the “old” the former destitute orphan and the bankers who serve the family.
To God be the Glory. Elizabeth
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