40 Days Of Prayer WITH the Children

40 Days of Prayer WITH the Children started today. Today talks about hunger. I see it all the time, kids on the street begging for food. But I see it with a full stomach. In my quiet time today I was impressed to know what it feels like from the inside. I’ve fasted before but then my focus was always on God not the hunger. I tried to ignore the physical to concentrate on the spiritual. Today is different. I’m focusing on what it feels like to want; to want something to eat, to want what someone else has, to want to think about something else besides my hunger, to want to not go to bed hungry.
I don’t like it and the day is only half over. If I had no hope that tomorrow would be different than today, would I be one of those digging through the garbage — probably. Would I let someone bribe me with food for sexual favors — I pray not but what if I had no hope?
I am so thankful that we are able to give so many children HOPE!!! That we are able to show the love of Jesus in a tangible way. We are making a difference!
But what if we stopped being able to provide the food. May it never be, but what if? Today I’m thinking of the what if in regards to only the food. I’m hungry! What if the children we serve had no hope that tomorrow there will be a hot meal for them? My heart is breaking. How can they think of anything else when they are hungry? Please pray! Pray for provision! The economy in the states is tough but God has not forgotten these children. May we be able to feed even more children next year!!! And may satisfying the physical hunger give us a chance to teach them how to fill their spiritual. Thank you for praying with me these 40 days and everyday!

“I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.”
Psalm 132:15 (KJV)

40 Days of Prayer WITH the Children

Celebration Sunday!

As the Oasis Church celebrated their 5 year anniversary this past Sunday, it was time to reflect and to look forward. Over these past 5 years, the Oasis Church has been instrumental in thousands coming to know Christ and/or rededicating their lives to God. The Oasis Church has taken bold steps of faith to reach the lost in Loganville, but also across the world in Swaziland, Africa!  Below is a video to share how the Oasis Church has been ministering  in Swaziland for the last year and a half. Only God knows what is yet to be accomplished as we are obedient to His calling!!
Thanks to everyone who has been supportive in this life changing ministry to hundreds of orphaned and vulnerable children in Swaziland Africa!!! The faces in this video are not just cute kids. These are the children that will be instrumental in changing their generation in positive ways because you reached out and made a difference!! You let them know that EVERY child matters!! You are helping break down cultural and HIV barriers!! You are sharing with them that we serve an AWESOME GOD!!! (Note: The white dots and squares on foreheads are stickers from teams who have visited.)

Songs are from Chris Tomlin’s “Hello Love” album: “Love” and “God of the City”

Live at the OC

Our very own missionary, Sandra Chesterman, will be speaking Wed. night, April 29th @ 7 pm at the Oasis Church Loganville Campus on Hwy 81. Be sure to come and see pictures of the CarePoints and the children we minister to. Learn about Sandra and her 1 1/2 years of being our hands and feet half way around the world.

As we pray and prepare for our Miracle Offering on May 3rd ,the Oasis church’s 5th Anniversary, come and hear first hand what a change our support has made to Oasis @ Swaziland. By supporting this ministry, you ARE making a difference!!

Tito

The end of January is the season of frustration for missionaries. Sandra, our missionary for Oasis @ Swaziland shared this in her personal blog:

It is the beginning of the school year which should be exciting but ends up being when I feel the most useless! Government schools in Swaziland cost money. Not a lot to an American, just under $100/year for elementary and $250/year for high school, but for the unemployed or even those that have a job that pays about $5/day, it is out of reach. On top of the fees they have to buy school uniforms that total about $100 (although they can wear it more than one year if they are lucky) How do you decide who you can help and who you can’t? Now that I’ve shared my struggle with this time of year, let me share a success!!

This is Tito.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tito is 17 years old (he looks 15) and was one of the youth from Mangwaneni CarePoint that Thabo (Cup employee) chose to help make the round cement blocks our Oct. team used for the retaining wall at Fonteyn. The other boys that worked had money credited to their school fee balance they still owed but Tito said he wasn’t in school. He said he wanted to go but couldn’t afford it. I told him to see me in January and I would help with school. Instead of just leaving it at that, Tito started coming to the office everyday and going out to work with Thabo. The picture above was when he was helping with the Oasis team. Tito worked without pay everyday from the end of August until school started in January (except for Christmas break). He is a hard worker! By November we had promised him that if he continued until school started, we would pay all his fees for next year. He has shown a willingness to work with excellence and with integrity, two of the 6 core values we are working to instill in our young people.

It happened I needed someone to cut my grass early in January. I was able to steal Tito from the work crew that day. When I took him to be trained on my grass cutter (weedeater in the US–that’s what they use to cut the WHOLE lawn here) he listened intently. When we got back in my bakki (truck) he exclaimed “I like this!”  Tito worked hard that day and we worked out that he would cut my yard on Saturdays and I would buy his school uniform (2 shirts, tie, sweater, pants, shoes and socks). I would pay him to work for me on Saturdays as long as he keeps up in school. In April we will also see about getting him some training at the garden center since he has a passion for yard work. This way he will also have some skills training.

Tito, lives with an “Auntie” and his mother who is very sick. Neither of them would help him find a place in school. Did I mention that even once you have money you must find a school to accept you and it’s not necessarily the one closest to your home? (The schools are overcrowded to where there are 50 or more in most classrooms.) Some of our staff helped Tito find a place in a school not too far away and he has started the equivalent of the first year of high school in the US. He is so excited. He has promised to come ask for help if he starts struggling in a subject. Tito attends the HPC church and youth group because Mangwaneni is the one CarePoint close to our HPC Swaziland church. We cannot help them all but we can help some and I know that God has a plan for Tito’s life. Pray he grows in his walk with God and becomes a young man God will use to change a generation!!!

SIYAJABULA KUTSI JESU UNATSI!

Merry Christmas in Swaziland is Siyajabula kutsi Jesu unatsi (see-yah-jah-boo-lah goo-tsee Jay-soo oonah-tsee). “We are happy that Jesus is with us!” It is great that Michael is able to join his mom, Sandra Chesterman in the field there for the holidays. It was a little cold and rainy but they had a lot of fun as you can see by the pictures.  Some of the events included playing soccer, jumping castles, face painting and dancing. There were hot dogs, chips,  juice and ice cream!!! The Carepoints performed for each other as well as a performance from a youth group from Manzini. At the end each child received a gift bag including a toothbrush, washcloth, toothpaste and treats! Thank you for your support! These children would not have had the most exciting time of the year without your support. Siyabonga!!! (see-yah-bow-ngah) which means thank you! The children signed 2 banners you can see below that are coming back to the church via Michael in January! May the Lord continue to bless you as you support this ministry!                        

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CAREPOINT SCHOOL GRADUATES!!

 

Fonteyn’s Graduates  

 

Mangwaneni’s Graduates

Oasis @ Swaziland celebrated graduations at both Fonteyn and Mangwaneni CarePoints. We had 10 graduates from Fonteyn and 16 from Mangwaneni Mbabane. School here is from late January to early December. Christmas falls in the “summer break” (is that ever a hard switch for missionaries). No white Christmas here.  Children’s Cup provided caps and gowns for the day! Each CarePoint has a two year program which is free for orphan and vulnerable children. At the completion, the children are ready to attend the public school system and enter at grade 3. Public school costs $75-$100/year. We try to encourage families to save and find creative ways to pay for school fees because it is so important for these children to be able to continue to learn. Where we can, we also try to help.

This is Lungile Dlakudze “Loon-gee-lay (slur z sound) ah-goo-dzay” @ Mangwaneni, Mbabane CarePoint. She is eleven. Without Oasis @ Swaziland’s support she would probably not have had the opportunity to learn to read and write English. She did so well at the CarePoint school, we believe that when she starts in public school she will be able to enter even higher than grade 3. Lungile has such a servant heart. Every time our missionary, Sandra, was at the CarePoint, Lungile would be found helping younger children with their school work, the teachers with their classrooms or the cooks with the feeding or cleaning. Thank you for supporting Oasis @ Swaziland. This is just one of the many ways you are helping to change a generation!!!

  

 

Sandra’s 1 year anniversary in Swaziland

Can you believe it has been one year since Oasis @ Swaziland sent it’s first missionary out on the field!! Sandra Chesterman landed in Swaziland Africa, November 16th, 2007 and has been working with Children’s Cup and overseeing our two Oasis @ Swaziland CarePoints ever since. Sandra oversees the Mangwaneni (“mahn-gwah-nay-nee”), Mbabane (“mbah-bah-nay”) and Fonteyn (fawn-tain) CarePoints. Jordan Flores will be over the Fonteyn CarePoint when he returns to Africa the first part of 2009. Jordan was serving as intern in Swaziland and is now working to come back full time. Both of these CarePoints serve over 250 children in their communities. Because of Oasis @ Swaziland these children have a consistent meal that includes fresh vegetables with their pap (“pop” made from maize) or rice and beans. We are seeing the children becoming healthier physically (as they also get regular health care) and spiritually as they become involved in bible clubs at each of the CarePoints. Sandra is passionate about TB and HIV and not letting it become a stigma but getting it out in the open. She is active in educating, encouraging testing and reinforcing taking medication consistently. Since Sandra’s experience with Pepe last spring she has become more vocal in stressing that you don’t have to die from AIDS but can learn to live with HIV. Pepe and her brother Banele were hospitalized last year and Pepe was near death last April because of inconsistent taking of their medications. Today they are both happy and healthy in their group home as they take their medicines twice a day. They are in school and run and play and are enjoying their childhood!

Sandra is the hands and feet of Oasis @ Swaziland. She is working to minister the love of Jesus in compassionate ways. Sandra has asked that we join Children’s Cup this next year at activiely changing a generation. No longer seeing our children at the CarePoints as vulnerable but as future leaders! Training them to be victors not victims! It is so wonderful to see how Oasis @ Swaziland is making a difference on the other side of the world! We can’t wait to see what the next year holds! You can send Sandra a card to encourage her by mailing it to

Children’s Cup

Sandra Chesterman

P.O. Box A527

Mbabane, Swaziland

or by getting it to the church office by Dec. 5th so they can get it to her son Michael who will be visiting her in Africa for Christmas! Keep up the good work Sandra!!!

The Oasis Church 2008 Mission Team Works Hard @ CarePoints!

The 2008 Oasis Church Mission Team to Swaziland came and worked so hard! They got to see and experience first hand what your support goes to. From fresh vegetables and chicken day to new classrooms and medical care. Check out all the hundreds of photos on their My Space page  www.myspace.com/oasisswazilandteam2008 .

Back row left to right: Scott, Tammy,Tony,Charlie, Steve, Susan and Creig. Front row left to right; Julie, Emily, Brenda and Fran. 

They represented the Oasis Church well. They worked hard and gave lots of love from back home to Sandra and Jordan. Don’t hesitate to ask them about it and their encounter with an angry elephant!

Here are some of my pictures of them.

 

Julie and Charlie digging in and working hard.   

Fran making some kids dance with joy! 

Susan, Creig and Scott creating steps in the retaining wall @ Fonteyn.  

Steve putting the finishing touches @ Mangwaneneni’s new kitchen!!      

Julie, Tammy and Scott weren’t afraid to ruffle a few feathers!

Sandra at the garden that the 2007 team help clear out last year!

Brenda carrying maize the way the Swazi women do!

Tony sharing LCA shirts with the teachers @ Mangwaneni!           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jordan and Sandra checking in with Jabu who is doing wonderful!

Emily face painting with flair!

Teachers, Portia (Fonteyn) and Kike (Mangwaneni) at their baby shower!  

Thanks to all on this great team!! Scott, Tammy and Emily Cabaniss, Charlie and Julie Adams, Creig and Susan Cavenaugh, Fran Baker, Brenda Denny, Steve Horner and our photo journalist Tony Lancaster! Well done!

Oasis @ Swaziland CarePoints

Where is Oasis @ Swaziland? In communities on the outskirts of Mbabane, Swaziland, the capital city. At the Olympics Swaziland was referred to as the Switzerland of Africa. That is because it is so mountainous.

Oasis @ Swaziland consists of two CarePoints:

Fonteyn CarePoint                                                      

Mangwaneni, Mbabane CarePoint

       

Your support makes sure that the orphaned and at risk children in these communities have food made by volunteers cooks every weekday.

Preschool thru grade 2 for 20 OVC (orphaned and vulnerable children) per class. Public schools are expensive for homes with so little. Sometimes older children have never been to school or learned to read and write. We currently have 2 classes at each CarePoint.

Your support provides basic medical treatment, including worm pills twice a year and weekly vitamins. You also help provide hygiene items like toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap.

Bible Clubs are held at least twice a week. Yearly there are weekend camps for young children, older children and then youth. 20 children from each CarePoint who have been faithful in bible clubs get to attend.

The CarePoint provide a safe place for the children of the community to play and be loved on.

Oasis @ Swaziland also supports 2 missionaries:

Sandra Chesterman

Jordan Flores

This is just the regular monthly support. Later I will show you the bigger changes we have made at the CarePoints.

WOW!!!! Thank you!! You are awesome!!! YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!!

Bye for now! or rather Sala Kahle (means “stay well” and is pronounce “Sah-lah  Gah-[sort of th slur]-lay”)

WELCOME!

Welcome to the new site!! Sandra, Jordan (in Swaziland) and Scott (in Loganville) will try to keep you updated to events and stories from Swaziland and Loganville on what is happening with Oasis @ Swaziland! Be sure to check back regularly.