Swaziland: Help 50 orphans become future leaders

While in the Western Hemisphere the air is getting crisp, the leaves are turning and the kids are all back in school, in ESwatini (formerly known as Swaziland) the relative chill of winter is transitioning into warm, sunny and gentle days and the kids are looking forward to a summer break.

This signals the coming of the All Africa Convention for 2018 in which The New Hope Centre students were well represented. Timothy and Izak ran in the 1600-meter race. Keziah won second place in the Creative Worship Dance as well as placing third in the Science Exhibit Competition

Ethan took second place with his Piano Solo as well as participating in the Long Jump Competition and Sketch Competition. Jemimah ran in the 100-meter dash; Hephzibah placed in the top ten for her photographic submission of two zebras. Joseph entered a beautiful example in the woodworking exhibit and Miriam entered her own fashion creation in the sewing contest.

Jemimah and Naomi placed third in the Puppet Show and the NHC Girls Volleyball team competed in that sport. Izak, Caleb and Timothy have been nominated to participate in the 2019 All Africa Competition.

These games give our NHC kids the opportunity to interact with students from all across Africa and to gain motivation for sports and creative pursuits in their lives. They always come home with a sense of fun and accomplishment as they demonstrate their God-given skills and talents.

We thought you may enjoy hearing some of the extracurricular activities these bright and enthusiastic kids are doing through your blessing.

Thank you, again, for supporting and praying for each one.

Most sincerely,

Cherry Brandstater

Project Coordinator

New Hope Centre

We would like to give you some insight into the somewhat more intangible results of what you are contributing when you support the children of New Hope Centre. We are not aiming at just their physical needs, but also at their personal, internal and spiritual needs. They are fed, clothes, nurtured and loved. They are educated and the fruits of their education are displayed as they reach deep inside to translate their language skills into poetry.

The Abraham children were asked to meditate on a living thing of their choice until they felt that they understood its value to her/him. They were to observe it, contemplate its place in their world and then create a poem that illustrated it meaning.  The exercise was to stimulate thought that went deeper than just surface notice, trigger creativity and build language skills.

Even our little ones participated.  Azariah contemplated the honey bee discovering it had five black and five yellow stripes.

Osaka contemplated the grass. He noted that it serves as beautiful clothing for the Earth. It is also a source of giving as it feeds the deer, horses and cattle and provides us with oxygen to breathe. Hephzibah wrote a hilarious ode to her beloved Chihuahua, Cuddles. She fell in love with Cuddles at the animal shelter we visited and since that time they have been inseparable. To make the poem more enjoyable, Cuddles attended the reading while displaying the antics for which she is treasured. Keturah wrote poem about a beautiful flower that lives beside the road and the revelation it brought to her inner being.

The judges of our poetry camp were beloved Auntie Margaret and Doug Eaten. They are country coordinators for Bethany First church in Bethany Oklahoma.  The children were uplifted by the words they shared with them as they were encouraged to continue to look deeper into the works of God’s hand.

By the way, Swaziland is now officially the Kingdom of Eswatini since 19 April 2018. A newspaper article from Mbabne had this to say: “It is now official. The name change of the country to Kingdom of Eswatini has been gazetted. The gazette was signed by His Majesty King Mswati III, and is titled ‘Legal Notice No.80 of 2018’. His Majesty announced the name change during the 50/50 Double jubilee celebration which was held at Mavuso Trade Centre. The country was celebrating the King’s 50th birthday and also commemorated 50 years of independence. When the King declared the new name for the country, he said that the name change was a sign that the country was reasserting its own identity.

In his speech when he made the announcement, the King said, “As we are aware, the name Swaziland was inherited from the British. “If we are to give true meaning to our independence, time has come to give our country a name of its people. It must be said that this process is long overdue, particularly if you consider how other countries in the region localised their names soon after independence.”

He said the nation was now Eswatini and further announced, “Therefore, I have the pleasure to present to you, on this historic day, a new name for the kingdom. Our country will now be called Kingdom of Eswatini”.

So, from now on we will be referring to Eswatini as the country in which New Hope Centre resides. We wanted you to be up to date.

Your support of New Hope Centre inspires us to work with a spirit of creativity and love that we see reflected in your continued support. With humble hearts, we thank you once again.