South Africa-Durban

Mission Providence
Durban, South Africa

Executive Director & Founder
PO Box 2166
Cypress, TX 77410-2166

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www.missionprovidence.org

Mission Providence is a faith-based humanitarian organization reaching out to children and their families affected by HIVand AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa – a pandemic that has left in its wake untold wounds, trauma and challenges, all especially difficult for the children.  We recognize human beings, created in the image of God, have more needs than just being fed and clothed. As such, we focus on the whole person: spiritual, physical, emotional and educational. (Read more about our approach on our website.)

Started in 2008 here in Houston, co-founders Stephen and Esmé Sheasby (former members of WHCC; Stephen was on staff as Minister of Technology) chose Swaziland and began working with an established care point. After realizing the need they established three new care points alongside our friends at the African Christian College, the Tubungu church and other local churches. Today, more than 300 children receive meals twice a week and many five times a week.

Meeting the children's physical needs proved a perfect place to start: Using the care points for initial contact, we have been able to enter the children's homes, to love and comfort them during crises, to intervene in abuse situations, and to work alongside and encourage local church members.

During 2010, we were instrumental in establishing three congregations – intentional in promoting local leadership – who, not only boast more than 150 members, but, in turn, partner with our care points to continue the ministering to the children.  In late 2010, the Sheasbys moved to Durban, South Africa, in line with our stated goal to expand services into South Africa. Caring in Swaziland continues aided by partnerships with local churches while we continue to explore several exciting opportunities in the immediate Durban area including potentially ministering to abandoned infants.

As always, your prayers are the most powerful donation we can ask for. Please keep us and our work with the children of sub-Saharan Africa in your prayers especially as we consider opportunities to reach the children in the Durban area. Pray for continued blessing at our Swaziland care points. And as we continue to expand, pray for the resources to bring on additional helpers to join us in our mission.

Scope:

Mission Providence recognizes that a human being, created in the image of God, has more needs than being fed and clothed. Our focus will be on the whole person, recognizing that these facets interrelate in all of us:

Spiritual:

Believing that God is the source and sustainer of Life, we seek to share the Good News of reconciliation through his Son, Jesus Christ and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual challenges and bondage in Swaziland is great; such as polygamy, animism and incest to name a few. We believe that modeling and teaching God's laws for living will lead to an abundant life full of hope in this life and in the life to come.

Physical:

Assisting communities with food and clean water, by teaching gardening skills, mending dwellings and fences, and so on keeping in harmony with current cultural norms. Eventually we envision providing basic medical help.

Emotional:

 Providing professional counseling in native language (Siswati) to help all those traumatized by the effects of AIDS in their immediate families and communities.

Educational:

Educating communities in basic life skills and later job skills such as farming, brick making and so on. Host “traveling” pre-schools teaching local people how to use what they have in order to teach basic early childhood skills. In the future we would consider opening a school with individualized curriculum that can identify and correct learning gaps in all ages, especially helpful to those who have not been able to attend public school.