Mission Providence is a nonprofit, faith-based, humanitarian organization whose main objective is to build self-sustaining communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, beginning with widows and orphans affected by HIV and AIDS.

Brief History:

Stephen and Esmé Sheasby co-founded Mission Providence in August 2008 as a way to begin changing lives and communities. The HIV and AIDS pandemic that has swept through Africa in the last decade has left in its wake untold wounds, trauma and challenges, mostly for the children.

In thinking what can and must be done to help these children, it became evident that forming a non-profit organization will allow access to church and private funding as well as corporate funding. All current board members are deeply committed, solid, Spirit led members of the Church.

Christians in Swaziland at African Christian College (ACC was formerly Manzini Bible School) and the Tubungu Church of Christ have become more increasingly concerned with the overwhelming number of orphans caused by AIDS and HIV. They decided to at least provide one good meal per week to these orphans in their community. The meal consists of maize porridge, chicken stew, an egg and greens. Many children walk about a mile to get this meal, some are as young as 2 and 3. This feeding effort has been called the “MOM Project” by ACC.

Swaziland is an absolute monarchy and one of the older queens living in the area heard about this effort and has offered a piece of land adjacent to ACC to use for growing food for the orphans. The college staff wants to help this desperate situation but their focus on academics leaves little time and energy for effective benevolence. Through some mutual friends the faculty and local church members heard about the Sheasbys desire to help the helpless and destitute. As a result the board of ACC invited the Sheasbys to make a trip to Swaziland and to consider beginning their mission in Swaziland. The board members for Mission Providence felt strongly that this was the direction God was leading and sent them on an exploratory trip to Swaziland in September 2008. After returning from the trip the Sheasbys were convicted that they need to begin the work of Mission Providence in Swaziland.

Why Begin in Swaziland?

Mission Providence has chosen Swaziland as their first place of residence for the following reasons:

• Swaziland currently has the highest rate of HIV and AIDS in the world; ~40% (UNAIDS, Kaiser Family Foundation, CIA, Wikipedia)
• We have a community of faith and friends at ACC, people we have known for many years, who will provide much needed emotional support.
• The Swazi people are peaceful, friendly and open to help and open to hearing the Word of God.
• Mission Providence will work closely with the Tubungu church and ACC to expand and enhance the MOM Project.
• The symbiotic relationship between Mission Providence and ACC will extend the reach of Mission Providence by Stephen teaching classes on benevolence and practical theology while students assist in the feeding and care of orphans. This practical knowledge will then permeate the communities the students will return to.

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: polygamy, animism, 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.