It’s been a tumultuous season so far, and we are left with six more months before the end of the year. Thank you to your support both spiritual and financial. We were excited and exuberant when the covid 19 restrictions were partially lifted especially in gathering and hosting events. For all the routine activities and events, update of our family please read on.
Sports Ministry:- (Sport Impart)
The opening up of sporting programs and other activities was long overdue. And we are delighted that our soccer academy teams will be out and about once again. We lost some of our disciples during the covid-19 season. And we learnt a number of lessons.We praise the Lord for those who decided to stay the course and we continue to pray for those who left the family. The leadership of the sports ministry is slowly shaping since Thembinkhosi Maseko transitioned into the new role. However there has been some team dynamics which we have had to grapple in the past few months. The impact of covid 19 pandemic had a negative impact also on our Life Coaches from the different parts of the country. A number of the Life Coaches transitioned into different seasons of their lives.This is one of the most difficult season of a leader to let go, but seasons are different and we have had to adjust and we are excited to be in the process of praying, sharing the vision of sports ministry with the hope of hosting a training in October 2022 for Life Coaches who will be commissioned back to their communities of origin to make disciples of Christ and address the issue of fatherlessness.
Abanqobi Soccer Academy:( Whole Life Coaching).
As shared in the previous editions, we ended our partnership with Manzini Sea Birds, our academy teams as of this year will be participating in the Manzini regional football as a stand-alone team called Abanqobi Football. We are presently playing in the regional promotion league which three stages away from premier league football. The competition is tough and as a team we strongly believe that our boys’ mental strength will be tested so will be their character. We envisage our disciples to grow and we are grateful to the hard work by the technical team. Presently there are three teams within the academy drawn from the different care points namely the under 15, 17 and senior promotion team. At the end of the month all the teams will be active in the different leagues and we are excited as we welcome new faces in our training sessions with an opportunity to reach out to them and while consolidating the relationships. There is still work to be done to bolster the structures of our academy as we hope to add another age category soon -the under 11. We are excited with Phila Mkhabela our former academy goalkeeper he is presently playing for a team in the first division. They are likely to be playing premier league football this coming season as they are currently in first position. We hope his team will be consistent as they play their last matches and if funds permit, we are in the process of sending him to South Africa to attend training and trials.
The August soccer festival will return this year, it’s been two years since we hosted one of the biggest junior tournaments in the country. There will be forty teams participating in the tourney from all over the country. Some of the junior players will be eager to be part of the academy, some will be saved, discipled and their lives will be forever be changed.
Life Coaches Movement:
Adventures in Missions underwent some changes during the covid 19 ravaged years we are have adjusted into working regions. As earlier stated, a number of our life coaches transitioned, we are in the process of sharing the vision with the hope that some men and women will come on board and be trained to coach life in the different regions of the country. There are fifty-five political constituencies in the Kingdom of Eswatini and our hope is to at least have a leader per constituency in the next four years. This vision has been embraced by the current leadership and we hope to share and align it with the sports ministry movement. In October we will be hosting a Life Coaching training. The premise of the Life Coaches is based on Matthew 9:38, if there could be more workers willing to coach and make disciples in the world of sport and play certainly lives will be forever be transformed. And the gap of fatherlessness will be addressed as the Life Coaches fill the void of fathers and also mothers.
Fundraising Initiatives:
The covid 19 had a number of long negative and severe impact in our lives. In our history as beings, we all at some point were told by the state what to do and when and in prison at our homes. In the past thirty-six months we were supposed to have closed down due to financial challenges. We are so grateful to the Adventures In Missions leadership both local and in Georgia, US.
Despite the financial challenges, the vision of making disciples in the world of sport and play remains. I embarked on an experimental journey and started an agricultural project in the Malkerns community (the Malkerns valley is amongst the best places for farming within the country with availability of water). We had a green mealies field which partially was successful despite the hailstorms. The goal was to supplement our personal support. As a result, we were able to rent another field and presently it has 20 000 mustard spinach and 14 000 winter green mealies. The past six months have been challenging and my yester years of working in the farms at a tender age have come handy. By the end of the year i hope we will be able to make profit and all the proceeds will be invested in our sports ministry programs. There are a number of gaps within the market with regards to the demand and supply of vegetables and if we raise extra capital injection into the project we will be able outsource some of the vegetables and supply to supermarket chains while farming on the other hand. Secondly renting another piece of land will further create more opportunities for income generating.I’m excited about this venture despite the challenges.Our sports ministry initiative is poised for local funding, however for this to be possible we will appreciate your support.
On the other hand, all my participation in the fundraising races has been suspended. I have had a hectic and challenging schedule that my training has not been to the required level to complete the Comrades marathon. The farming project has been demanding such that i have less time to prepare for the races. Secondly am into my final year of my law studies it’s been hectic. As a result, i will not be running the Comrades marathon on 28 August 2022 as previously shared in other platforms. However, we will host a fundraising dinner possibly in October 2022 and if i complete my thesis and other practical assessments before the end of September 2022 i will complement the fundraising dinner with a three-legged marathon in the month of November and December 2022.
The intention of all these initiatives is aimed at meeting our yearly budget needs, we dream of building a training base within the Ngculwini community which will comprise of a campsite, change rooms and two training soccer pitches. We have been provisionally been allocated land.
If all goes well and according to current plans, I hope to travel to the US in mid-January 2023 to share the vision of the sports ministry initiative here in Eswatini and beyond. It’s still plans for now and am working on fundraising for air tickets to the US and back to Eswatini and also travel while in the US.
Personal and Family update:
We miss Bulawayo- Zimbabwe. We prematurely canceled 12-hour drive along the way and returned to Eswatini while in South Africa. We had an accident, a Kudu ramped onto our left front side of the car. It seemed minor until we discovered that the bonnet and headlights were destroyed and we decided it was for the best to return back to Eswatini as it was nearer. We sadly had to drive back the morning of the 4th of January 2022.Our Toyota Corolla Altis had to be spray painted and its back on the road though there are a few mechanical glitches which need attention. We still have plans to travel this end of July 2022.There are a number of things which need our attention. Firstly, is visit and spend time with family members, cast the vision of sports ministry in my former six schools and be like Nehemiah visiting the city of Jerusalem after a long period of exile. There are a number of sad stories politically and worst economically in Zimbabwe. It’s depressing to read on a daily basis the human rights abuses, looting of resources by those in power, murder of opposition political activists. Our visit will be overwhelming but am looking forward to it.
We are still behind with our support raising goal of $300 per month with a $100 per month shortfall.
We are so grateful as a ministry and family for your continued prayers, financial support and words of encouragement.
Prayer Requests:
- The vision casting and recruitment of Life Coaches.
- The hearts and minds of the sixty plus young men we are reaching to be transformed.
- Financial provision for farming venture in Malkerns, Eswatini.We need to raise funds for a pre -owned truck or pick up and outsourcing working capital.
- Our trip to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
