At Abide Well we prefer to make Swazis the champions of the story. Abide Well is making an impact in huge ways, and you can see this impact primarily through our social media pages where we update projects and have a lot of fun! You can head to the "Impact" page to see a briefing on our 2 programs; building and feeding.
Stable and Steadfast
Revealing Identity
We Will Be Getting Dirty
Touch Dirt
Walk This Way
Investigate Jesus
Rural Africa: A Day in the Life
Enock Part 2: A Love Story from our very own Pastor Enock
Pastor Enock begins to tell his story
Jeremiah would have lived in a rural area outside Jerusalem, similar to where we work in Eswatini Africa. This is a reminder to live God's calling on your life no matter what!
Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning 'humanity to others'. It is often described as reminding us that 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. Meet Maria, a chicken farmer supported by Abide Well! Her faith has guided her journey and she emphasizes the importance of helping others. ο»Ώ
"Showing off his Swazi pride—and a little more! When traditional meets cheeky. ππΈπΏπ
Benjamin's Swazi Story
Hey there! I'm Gnina Freedom Msitsini, a 41-year-old dad of three from Phophonyane, Eswatini. I've had quite the journey! From growing up in a small town to finding my passion in carpentry, my life's been a rollercoaster of ups and downs. After leaving high school, I found myself at a crossroads, bouncing between odd jobs and feeling stuck. But fate had other plans. Inspired by my father's craftsmanship, I dove into carpentry, starting with the basics like sanding and painting. It wasn't glamorous, but it lit a fire in me. Fast forward to today, and I've carved out a niche for myself under the shade of a tree, crafting everything from TV stands to benches. It wasn't easy. I hustled hard, saved every penny, and even worked as a security guard to fund my dream of owning a workshop. Now, I'm living that dream, working alongside Mr. Ginindza, honing my craft every day. It's not just about the work; it's about providing for my family and giving my kids the education I never had. I'm proof that vocational skills can pave the way to success, with or without a formal education. So, to all the young dreamers out there, don't shy away from your passions. Embrace them, because you never know where they might lead. As for me, my next goal? To snag that license and open my very own carpentry workshop.
The Story of 2023
I am Palesa Dlamini, a calm person who enjoys connecting with others and strives to succeed in everything I do. Born in Monini, a town in the Manzini region, I find joy in reading books and singing. Despite facing hardships, including the loss of one of my daughters, I have four children. My education took place at Bulembu and Nyanyali in Nhlangano, with attendance fluctuating due to home circumstances. Born with eyesight issues, obtaining glasses improved my ability to see, enabling me to return to school. Unfortunately, I couldn’t complete high school, stopping at form 2 due to difficulties getting a new pair of glasses. After moving to Bulembu, I secured a job in forestry, improving our circumstances. My eldest daughter resumed schooling. I encountered Jabulani Manda, a lead builder at Abide Well. Accepting a job offer there brought happiness. Initially unfamiliar with house building, I now enjoy concrete flooring and painting. The lifestyle shift from piece jobs to working at Abide Well is significant. Previously earning E200 ($12) weekly from house cleaning, I now earn much more and can afford my daughter’s school fees. My prayer is for God’s continued blessings on my family, and my dream is for my children to complete their education. ο»Ώ
“My name is Phumaphi Ruth Ndlangamandla. I was born on the 30th of July 1978. I have two children and they are both done with school. I was raised by my father and my grandmother, my mother left me when I was 6 months old. Growing up without my mother was very painful because I never got to feel the love from having a mother. I stayed with my grandmother most of the time. I went to Matsebula Primary and High School. I stopped going to high school in Form 3 because there was no more money to pay the school fees. I had to look for a job in Matsapha (a town in the center of Eswatini). Even though I got a job, I was getting paid less because I didn’t get to finish my education. When I was working in Maphatsa, that’s when I when I met Charles Dlamini, he proposed to me and I said ‘YES’. We have been together for 8 years now and we stay in Malanda together. Life in general is difficult at the moment for me and my family, and we are in a community which is also struggling. On Sundays I go to church at Christian Life International Bible Church (CLIBC), the senior pastor there is Pastor Enoch. I enjoy singing at church a lot even though I am not the best when it comes to singing (she laughs). One of my children is sick and unable to do anything for herself so I am the one responsible for taking care of her. At home I am the only one who puts bread on the table for the family and that really pains me sometimes. My husband Charles is not working but sometimes he just comes to Volunteer here at Abide Well. I really enjoy working at Abide Well and I have learned a lot of things working there. l learned how to paint, to float concrete, brick laying and cement plastering. In my spare time I have even started digging a foundation because I want to build a chicken coop. My dream is to keep egg layers just to sell and make extra money for my family. ”
“My name is Charles Mehluko Dlamini, I am 62 years old. I was born and raised in a family of 10. I am married and I have 6 children. Life was very hard when growing up. My mother was not stable, she only had money to send my older sisters to school. So l sold vegetables to raise money to be able to go to school. I stopped schooling when I was in Form 3. Even after selling vegetables, there was not enough money. So all the money my mother and I were raising had to go to my sister's school fees. I then suggested that I try to go and look for a job at the local mining company, Havelock Mine. I was lucky that the supervisors at the mine knew me from selling vegetables to them at their houses. I got the job and l was working as a Store-man for the whole Mine. When I was working at the Mine I met a man named Mr Smith. He encouraged me to go do a course for store-keeping and store-control. He used to give me money during the weekends to go to Mbabane to attend classes for the course. Some of the things that they were teaching us at school, I was already doing at work, so it made it easier to learn. I finished the course the same year and I got my diploma. It was a little difficult returning to the Mine after getting the diploma. When you come to work with a certificate, expectations are different. Some of the workers were not happy with me returning because they knew I would get a better position than them. Although some of the workers were hating, I continued going about my work and I chose to focus on the job. Then one day the manager started increasing my tasks and my pay. I did not take that opportunity for granted, I worked very hard so that the managers were very pleased. I continued working at the Mine until it was shut down. I was jobless for 6 months after the Mine was shut down. Fortunately another man came and took me to work in Matsapha. Life there was very hard, so hard that I only worked there for one year and I decided it’s better to stop. My sister was working as a nurse, we came together and discussed what I could do next. She helped me to buy a van and used it as a for-hire van. I used to park next to the hardware shops so that people could hire me to transport their materials. I did that for about 10 years then I had to come back to Bulembu. When I returned I was elected to be the chairman of the chief's council. I accepted the position. My role in the community sometimes can be very challenging. It’s so painful to be a leader of people that are in need of many things. Most of them don’t have strong houses, some don’t have money to buy food and some are not even working. That makes my current role difficult at times. Now my family is attending church at the Christian Life International Bible Church (CLIBC) lead by Pastor Enock. Going to church helps a lot. It's life changing, you start to look at life in a different way. I started knowing about Abide Well when Nathan came here with Pastor Enock to tell us his dream and vision he has for our community. We took him to Emkhawulweni to introduce him to the chiefdom and they gave him a warm welcome. That’s when I started knowing of Abide Well and I liked the vision he had for this community. Although I have nothing to give to show my appreciation for what he is doing for us as a community. I decided to volunteer and join the Abide Well workers when they are building a house or any of the projects they do. We had a water problem in the community and since it was already Abide Well's vision to improve water systems, he offered help. Another time we were having problems finishing the community bathrooms. Abide Well helped to finish the project. Abide Well is also helping the Edudusi Primary School by providing food for the children. The school children are going to school happily because they know they will get food at school. At home they might not get food so attendance has improved. I would like to thank the supporters of Abide Well for everything they have done for the entire community of Malanda ”
I met my wife Tia in our first week of College. If that were the story you came here to read, I would no doubt succeed in convincing you that opposites do indeed attract . By the end of our University days we took our personality types as part of our marriage counseling. The test results say we are “double opposites, as it were—a people person versus a loner, a feeling type with a thinking type”. She expresses her “feels” and loves to love everyone she comes in contact with. I am perfectly content figuring out life independently, and if I absolutely have to “extrovert” with others at a party, I would prefer some time (a year) to recover. Beyond that we come from very different families of origin. But ultimately there was something about her nurse’s heart for hurting individuals and my discontent with unjust worldly systems that pulled us from our roots in the Pacific Northwest to the small nation of eSwatini in Southern Africa. Our love story isn’t the point here, but if you haven’t figured it out yet, we really like telling stories. Stories are what we use to communicate that Swazis are people, they aren’t HIV statistics. These are people to be partnered with, not beggars in need of saving. During our years in eSwa tini I can’t count how many times we were face-to-face with extreme need. My inclination was to solve the problem from a macro point of view, logically thinking through what kind of massive economic and political shifts would need to take place to bring an entire nation out of poverty. There was a passion in me that I had not known was there. So I did whatever I could do to “solve” this injustice. I read books. I spent sleepless nights thinking up development models. I eventually taught myself the language, a very difficult language to learn because it is so obscure that there are very few resources available to do so. There are consonant clicks, several noun classes, “K”s sound like “G”s when read out loud, and don’t even get me started on sentences that are in the past-tense. I did all this because I was desperate for change. I saw a nation that needed transformation. I knew facts, I knew statistics, and I knew the language better than Tia, but she was a natural listener. I would translate the words, but she could translate their hearts. “Sawubona” is a typical siSwati greeting, it is how you say “hello” in eSwatini. Translated literally it is an entire sentence meaning “I am seeing you”. Isn’t that a beautiful greeting? As a team Tia and I learned how to see together in those first three years living in eSwatini. Our home became a magnet for all kinds of people, but mostly for Swazi individuals coming from nearby rural communities. They would tell us about their lives and their families and their needs. We had great conversations, put on action movies for teens, and set up the small above ground pool for the kids. We would play with the babies and only give them back when we absolutely had to. By year two there was a knock at the door every single night. It became overwhelming at times. Tia was pregnant and gave birth to our first of three sons, Jack, in this season. She may have needed some more space. She was ready to kill me if I invited another person over, but she was the one who taught me how to do this extrovert thing, ya know? We came to understand what a gentle knock on our front door meant. With each knock came a story. With each story came a relationship. This was the seed God planted that would later turn into our ministry. It was a season I will forever look back on with admiration. James’ claim that pure and undefiled religion is to visit orphans and widows (James 1:27) came to life right in front of us, in our home. Eventually these relationships led me to knock on a few doors myself. I walked to the village of Malanda, eSwatini and knocked on the door of a church. Pastor Enock opened the door, I said “Sawubona”, and I meant “I am seeing you” and not “hello”. I introduced myself and he happened to be fundraising to build a home for an elderly widow who’s mud and stick home was rapidly declining in the seasonal monsoons. With help from family and friends we were able to put the funds together for Gogo Joyce’s home. Through this experience I was forever connected to this community. I was introduced to Jabulani Manda and Mandla Shongwe, our lead builders. I was introduced to the “inner council” of the village and to the chief of the area. I was given their blessing to continue working into the future. I didn’t know it at the time but this was the start of what is now “Abide Well”. That name, “Abide Well” also has roots in Swazi culture. The words we use in siSwati to say “goodbye” are literally translated as the command to “stay well” to the one remaining and “go well” to the person who is leaving. We see the command to abide over and over again in scripture. Jesus commanded us to Abide in Him. To “abide” well means many things. In our work of developing Swazi communities we seek to copy the blueprint laid out in Isaiah 32:18 “My people will abide in peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places”. For information about why we do what we do and our biblical convictions for this, you can read more about our vision below this article. Eventually our ministry evolved from building projects like the one we did for Gogo Joyce to other programs like school sponsorships and feeding programs. There is an African Proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” I found out there is great wisdom in doing this together. We want all Swazis to be seen and to be heard. You may be half-a-world away from Africa, you don’t know the language and you didn’t know you could do anything about this. Someone is knocking at the door, someone is ready for you to see them through a gentle yet convincing “Sawubona”. That someone may be living on less than $2/day, they may have lost their parents to HIV, or they may just need a meal. That isn’t the point, that isn’t their whole story, or at least it doesn’t have to be. We would like to invite you to say “Abide Well” and change their story forever. Give a recurring donation of $50/month by clicking here and receive monthly stories of individuals affected by your donation. For questions please reach out to us at Nathan@abidewell.org or (928) 308-7316 (also available for WhatsApp).