"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD'S great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;therefore I will wait for him.” - Lamentations 3:19-24
Our dear friends and family,
Thanks so much for standing with us in your prayers! They really do make a huge difference! Please know that we also pray for YOU our SUPPORT TEAM regularly!
Since you last heard from us there has been much change. Some of the changes have been rather painful & challenging, while others are thankfully great developments! The storms of our lives in the past 5 or 6 months have brought to my mind the above verses from Lamentations. It can be so easy to constantly "remember my affliction." We are tempted to unhealthily focus on our challenges. Then often bitterness tries to creep into our hearts, thereby threatening to damage the wellspring of our life.
For me (Dennis), I've dealt with depression for years, both before I was a Christian and after. Lots of people in the church are afraid to discuss depression (& many other mental health issues) because somehow we think that if we are dealing with these problems than we are "not good Christians", or that we are somehow "weak in the faith." But that's complete rubbish! When painful storms come (because of years of struggling with depression) the tendency of my flesh is to stay focused on those painful challenges and then lose hope. Its a familiar path my heart walked for years before knowing Jesus. Now as a follower of Jesus part of the battle for me is to reject that familiar path. I have to actively "call to mind" the GREAT LOVE God has for me, and stand in the truth of God's compassion for my situation - I repeatedly remind myself of God's Truth. He is so extremely and utterly faithful to us, His children!
So while the past six months have been challenging, and painful at times, there is much to be thankful for! We choose as a family to constantly remind ourselves of the goodness of the Lord! Below are some of the changes, both for prayer and for His praise!
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| A pic w/ our niece "Khosi" |
Health Update: In our last email update I (Dennis) shared about my health scare over New Years. Since then I have been seeing a heart specialist. He has been fantastic! The first thing he did was put me on 1 medicine instead of the 4 meds the hospital had me on. My focus has been on exercising, eating healthier, checking my blood pressure regularly, and reducing stress. Thanks for your prayers for this! Things are going much better these days! In fact, my blood pressure reduced very much and is normalized, and I am now on a half dose of the 1 medication. In March Thandeka injured her leg while she was playing on a trampoline! She severely sprained her right knee and the ligaments below it. She could not put weight on her right leg for 3 weeks plus & ended up missing school for most of that time. Again, we want to thank you for your prayers! As of today she is walking, and much to her delight :) back in school.
Will you please pray for Zwakele's Mother?
Some of the challenges we've seen were unexpected and life changing. In the past couple of months my mother in law suffered two strokes. We thank the Lord that she is still with us! And she is recovering. But she is not 100% and she is not the same as before. She now needs someone to be with her at all times. This was a sudden change. It's part of what I mean in our title coming to terms and adjusting to a "New Normal." It seems like we are in a different stage of life now.
Will you please pray for my precious mother in law Jane Dlamini? Things are much different for her now, and its been hard on her as life took an unexpected turn. She was a regular volunteer cook for years at AIM's Timbutini Care Point. At this point, she is now unable to do this. She was also used to starting fires, cooking food for herself, as well as a host of many other "regular normal life activities." For anyone its hard to come to terms with these kinds of changes. Please pray for her recovery, and that we can continue to get her the best care as possible. Thank you so much!
Welcome Vumile Dlamini
As our brother Maurice Dlamini left Catalyst Swaziland last December, we started looking for other people to help with our ministry. In February, we welcomed our friend Vumile Dlamini to the Catalyst Family! She was hired as our first staff member! We have known Vumile for some years having met & served with her @ Healing Place Church.
Vumile is a wonderful young lady and we are excited to have her serving with us @ Catalyst Swaziland! She is passionate about the Lord and following Him. Vumile is initially hired with us for a period of 6 months. She then hopes to qualify for the University of Swaziland, starting her studies in August 2018. Please keep her in your prayers so that, Lord willing, she can reach this goal for her life!
This is then end of part 1...We will have more ministry updates in part 2. I am excited to share with you a new ministry partner that we have developed! Please look for that post next week! Thanks and God Bless You!!!
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