HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!!!

Happy New Year 2020 from our family!  We hope you had a great time as you crossed over into 2020, & pray that this New Year finds you blessed & doing well!  

Below we are listing an update that we recently emailed out just before Christmas...

We are so very thankful for YOU who stand with us in prayer & also in financial support to our ministry.  Thank you so much for your love to us this past year of 2019!  We really appreciate it! 

We would like to briefly share two big blessings that happened to us in 2019:  Both blessings were birthed through painful beginnings, as the LORD produced something beautiful through His Work & Grace.  

Firstly, Some of you might know a little bit how our life & ministry changed in 2011.  To make a long story short, Pastor Walter, who was like a father to Zwakele, & our partner in Timbutini area from 2004 till 2011, went through a personal problem & also chose to break relationship with us.  It was an extremely painful, sad, & stressful situation that had the effect of us moving to Mbabane, & transitioning to another ministry.  We had no contact with Walter for over 6 years.  Then, about a year and a half a ago, the Lord started a healing process.  To make another loooong story short...over this past year Walter came to us hoping to reestablish contact.  He wanted to meet with Zwakele & I.  At first honestly I was not open to it.  But the Lord Jesus started working in my heart.

I could not escape Colossians 3:13 "...bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you must do."  

As Jesus has forgiven me of so much how can I not also forgive my brother? So over a period of time, and many tear-filled talks, Christ brought us back together as His family!

We are now working together in various ways...we both are partners with AIM as well as serving together every Tuesday in our Hospital Outreach Ministry.  Really God has done a personal miracle for us!  He has brought forgiveness, and reconciliation to our relationship!  It is such an incredible story, and I thank & praise God for His work!  

 

Pastor Walter & I @ the Mbabane Government Hospital

The Second blessing I want to share deals with our quest for our own land and house.  For years we have been trying to raise the money, & find the right place for purchasing our own land. This land is both to live at as a family, and base our ministry, "Catalyst eSwatini," from.  

It's taken a lot of time & there were some serious bumps along the way in this process.  But finally we have now acquired a new piece of land.  The place is great, the purchase went through without any hiccups, and now we can move forward.  Right up to the day before we flew to Buffalo we were working hard trying to do as much as possible.  We hired a backhoe to level and clear the land. We also put up a temporary fence.  In eSwatini you have to put up an initial fence to mark your borders to your neighbors, & to prevent others from stealing all or part of your land.  We do not have the funds yet to start building a house, but we are doing as much as we can bit by bit.  In the next couple of weeks we will be sharing more about this project.    

That reminds me, if you are interested in hearing more about our ministry & your in the Buffalo, New York area, we will be sharing @ a Missions Breakfast Saturday January 4th @ 8:30am @ our Home Church, Kenmore Alliance.  

Again, Thanks so much for your love to us! We are so thankful for your prayers!  We pray for you often as well!  May God bless you in this New Year!  May the Lord Jesus bring us closer to Him in 2020, and may we all reflect Him more & more to the world around us!   

Dennis (for Zwakele, Thandeka, & Busani) 

Catalyst eSwatini 2018: Growing (Pains & Gains) Part 2

Our Dear Friends & Family, 

We hope you & your loved ones had a wonderful Christmas!  As we exit 2018 tonight, we wanted to wish you all a very Happy New Year!!  We pray your cross-over into 2019 will be safe & Blessed!!

We thank you so much for your love to us throughout this year!  We are so thankful for your relationship with us! We couldn't have made it without you!!   

Part of our growing pains in 2018 revolved around partner relationships. When we started Catalyst (back in Feb. 2017), some people close to us didn’t understand why we wanted to do this.  Actually, some told us we shouldn't start it at all!  And w/out getting into many details, this year their feelings became apparent, resulting in them breaking relationship with us.  

For us this was the hardest part of 2018.  Actually, I’ll (Dennis) will be super honest:  This was my hardest year in ministry, and even of my Christian life.  There were times Zwa &I felt so broken, that we thought about pitching it all in, quitting ministry, & moving back to the USA. We tried to work things out but to no avail.  In the midst of all this it was even hard to even know what to say (to anyone).  Of course your flesh wants to defend itself, and there were times I (Dennis) did that…But as time went on we really felt called to just shut our mouths, & by all means trust God, & seek His Love and Healing for our hearts.  So yeah were ready to shut the door on 2018, and asking God for a new season in 2019!    

Thankful for our relationship w/ Sport For Christ!!!

So Much to be Thankful For!!!

Now let me shift a bit!  I wanted to be as super honest as I could above, but I also want to Praise the Lord, for all the good things relationally in 2018!  We are super thankful for our growing & new relationships that we have!!  As written about before, this year we really worked a lot with Adventures In Missions (AIM) eSwatini.  Whether it was through the SLA Friday's trainings, or working with Sport For Christ, we worked often & hard alongside our brothers & sisters @ AIM!  We are so thankful to be in partnership with them!  

Dennis had the privilege to speak @ SFC end of year camp this month! 

Another new part of partnership with AIM in 2018 saw the resurrection of the Pastors Fellowship Ministry!  This was something that was built and developed while we were on staff with AIM from 2004-2011.  This year I was part of a great team that kicked it off again!  We had 3 meetings in 2018. Some of our goals are: to be a safe place, a listening ear, a conduit of God's love and encouragement, & to foster unity amongst the men & women who serve the Lord!

Our 3rd & last meeting of the year. 

AIM donated a new pair of shoes to each pastor!  

The 3 meetings all went very well and we really feel the Lord rebuilding this ministry! In our last meeting we had about 45/50 pastors total.  Many of the pastors are those who work directly with AIM leading a church at one of their 35 Care Points.  However, our meetings are open to any pastor looking to grow in this fellowship!  Going forward we have 4 quarterly meetings planned for next year as well as a couple different types of events.  AIM eSwatini provides the funding to serve the pastors a great meal, as well as transport money, and in providing the venue.  In our final gathering they also donated a brand new pair of shoes to each pastor -  A HUGE Blessing!   

Will you please keep this Pastors Fellowship in prayer?  
1)  That God would use our team to build unity within these pastors!  We want to create an atmosphere of a safe place, where the pastors feel free & can be open, vulnerable & encourage one another.  
2)  That God would use us to speak into each others lives.  In our meetings we have a time where one of our team shares a challenge, preaching to the preachers if you will.  In our first 3 meetings we have felt led by the Lord to share some challenging stuff. Topics like jealousy, etc.  Please pray that the LORD will continue to lead us in what to share with His servants!  

I think that we will close out Part 2 here. In our next post we will share about Catalyst 's relationship with Mafutseni Emmanuel Weslyan Church.  We will also be sending out an email regarding the highlights of our Compassionate Ministry. Again, Happy New Year!!

We really Appreciate Your LOVE to us through your prayers and financial support!!  May 2019 be a year that we all know Jesus's love deeper, & reflect Him in greater measure!  May God Bless you all in Abundance!

Dennis, Zwakele, Thandeka & Busani 

Catalyst eSwatini 2018: Growing (Pains & Gains) Part 1

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14

Our Dear Friends & Family, 

Firstly, our family would love to wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Recently I (Dennis) had a bit of the holiday blues.  I was super busy & very stressed.  A friend lovingly reminded me: "This is the season of Immanuel! God With Us!" God Himself, the King of Kings & Lord of Lord's, humbled himself and walked this earth as one of us!  Because of His great love for us, Jesus died on the cross, so that all who receive Him might live eternally, forgiven, & free from sin!  Amen! We truly have so much to be thankful for & so much to celebrate!    

Taken 23 DEC 2018

We often pray for you all, our dear support team!  Our prayer (for all of us in this season) is that the Lord would continue to refresh us in this awesome truth of Immanuel!  May He encourage us all that HE IS WITH US, & active in our lives.  And, may He continue to renew us in His amazing LOVE!  

We really hope that you have a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Saviour!  After we post this online, we will take a few days off.  We don't have any big plans, except to spend Christmas Day in Timbutini with Zwakele's mom, and then to rest a little.    

We are really looking forward to a break this week.  We have been incredibly busy up until this point.  And to be honest, 2018 has been a tough year. As we have continued to build Catalyst eSwatini,   there have been many challenges (some pretty painful).  But there has also been some great things happening as well!  It's been a year of growing for us, learning lessons both painful and encouraging.  That's why we have entitled this post "Growing (Pains & Gains)."     

Let me start with something that has been both awesome & challenging! One of our favorite aspects of 2018 has been the Hospital Visitation Ministry. Our labor @ the Mbabane Govt. Hospital is purely to show the Love and Mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ!  We go nearly every Thursday afternoon and spend a couple hours visiting the children's ward.  We have been working in the hospital for years, but have been consistent (nearly every Thursday) for the past 4 years! The highlight of 2018 has been in developing a great group working as a team in this ministry.  One of Catalyst's Core Values is "Creative Collaboration."  Our heart is to foster unity, and work with others in the Body of Christ.  We just believe that through partnership, by serving one another & serving alongside one another, we can do so much more for Christ's Kingdom!  

Part of the Hospital Team around September.
Powerful Partnership! #BetterTogether 

At the beginning of 2018 we were individuals from 5 different organizations ministering at the hospital.  Praise God we have seen huge fruit in this ministry! Again, the goal is to be a conduit of God's love and mercy to those whom are suffering.  To use a famously spoken term, we want to be "Jesus with skin on."  Unfortunately, challenges did come as well.  About halfway through the year one of the 5 organizations decided to part ways with the rest of us.  I can't really say much specifically, other than it was like an "organization politics" kind of issue.  It was an unfortunate & painful split, and we tried not to let it happen, but the other party could see no other direction.  Thankfully, those of us from the 4 other organizations continued on in this ministry until now. 

Entrance to the Children's Ward @ Mbabane Govt. Hospital

Zwakele & I's personal conviction is that we do not really take pictures in the Hospital Ministry.  We really want to preserve people's dignity.  The pic below shows the newborn cubicle but you can't really see anyone specifically.  We do have a picture w/ a mother and her child (who wanted us to take her picture).  But even with her consent, I don't personally feel comfortable posting it online.  We will share it in a private email to our supporters @ a later time.   

Cubicle #1 The Section for the Newborns

We really want to say a huge "THANK YOU!!!" to those of you who have supported us financially and prayerfully this year.  It is because of your prayers and giving that we were able to consistently reach out in the hospital!  We don't go empty handed on Thursday's.  We always take practical items, as well as fun things and sweets as gifts for the mothers & children.  We could not have done this weekly expense if it wasn't for your support to us!  Thank you so much!  Again, our only agenda is to display JESUS.  And we have seen much fruit! People have responded because we have been consistently present.  Whether its being a listening ear, giving a hug, praying for/with them, giving out those small gifts, or just sitting & spending time with someone who is suffering.  It has been a real privilege to serve Christ in this place!  

Part of the growth we have seen this year in this ministry:  1) Having a Bigger Consistent Team.  This has been awesome to have people from the 4 different organizations serving together.  We are usually not less than 5/6 people and sometimes as large as 10!  This is a hard ministry at times, & there are 5 rooms of patients to visit.  Having a bigger group really helps in so many ways!           
2) Follow Up.  While we may not be able to visit any other day than Thursday, we have been able to do more follow up on other days.  Meaning we are able to call or text with the child's caregiver - check in, see how they are doing, pray with them, encourage them etc.  We especially try to do this with situations where the child & caregiver have been admitted for a long period of time.  

Will you please pray with us regarding this ministry?  

1) Please pray for continued spiritual unity on our team!  

2) Please also pray that we can maintain our great team and even expand it!  We want to be used by the Lord to encourage His Body to be involved in compassion ministry like this that exalts Jesus!   

3) We also want to see growth in doing more follow up in 2019!  

4) Please also pray for the hearts of those on the team.  We want to be so full of Jesus as we minister.  There are so many tough and dire situations that these precious children face as patients.  Unless God does a miracle many do not make it.  Of course we do first plead with God for supernatural healing!  And Praise God, we have seen kids healed and go home!  Sadly, we have also seen many children we knew pass away this year!  Please pray that no matter the situation we face,that we would walk with the Holy Spirit, speak His words, do what he wants us to do.  As God pours into us we want to pour out to others!  

5) Please also pray if you would be able to contribute to this specific ministry.  Simply put, if we have more resources we can do more. 

I think we will close Part 1 here.  I have already written a lot!  Thank you so much for your LOVE to our family as we serve Jesus here in eSwatini!  We would not be here without YOU!  

May The LORD Bless you & your families greatly this Holiday Season! Merry Christmas! 

Dennis, Zwakele, Thandeka & Busani Brock

 

ADJUSTING to the "NEW NORMAL" Part 2

Our Dear Friends & Family,

We hope that you are doing well!  We are so thankful for your continued prayer and financial support as we serve the Lord here!

This post is the continuation of some of the changes we have seen in the past 5 or 6 months! 
As we stated before, there has been a lot of change around here lately...

A Nation Celebrates & Changes it's Name!  

On the 19th & 20th of April Swaziland celebrated 50 years of independence as a nation as well as the 50th birthday of our King, His Majesty King Mswati III.  During the celebrations the King announced that this nation would no longer be known as "Swaziland."  From now on this beautiful country would be called "eSwatini." Swaziland was the name appointed by the English as they colonized this region, and so the King wanted to bring even the name of this land into Independence.  "eSwatini" basically & literally means "the place of the Swati (people)."  Many other African countries had already changed their names soon after they achieved independence. A few of these are: Zambia, Zimbabwe, & Lesotho.  So, being 50 years post colonization it was the right time to make this change!     

New & Deeper Partnerships       

AIM (Adventures In Missions)  

I (Dennis) started my journey here in eSwatini working under AIM back in 2004.  I served with them for 7 years, leaving midway through 2011.  We left on good terms, and have remained friends with them.  In the past few years AIM has grown so much, having nearly 100 employees here.  For the past couple of years I've spent a couple days a week volunteering & working with a group of young people called "Shepherds," as well as the Life Coaches from their Sports Ministry.  The Shepherds are the young Swazi's who do the discipleship teaching @ AIM's 35 Neighborhood Care Points.  The Shepherd's are also part of a larger program AIM runs called "SLA," aka the Swaziland Leadership Academy.  The goal of the SLA program to keep developing these young people as they continue to serve @ the care points.  In March a team of us started a program that focuses and goes deeper with that development goal.  We don't have an illustrious name, we simply call it "SLA Fridays!"         

From Left: Xolani, Dennis, & Sebe 3 of the SLA Friday Leaders

We split the Shepherds into two groups according to the year they joined AIM/SLA.  Every Friday our leadership team (of 6 great people!) meets with one of the two groups to facilitate the Friday program.  We have a time of worship & devotion, small group mentoring, and a time we call "Focus," which is a teaching of a self leadership principle.  The goal is to be a training resource for these young leaders, an advocate, a listening ear, & to encourage them to continue in their service to Jesus & their communities.  Its a lot of work, for every Friday of execution it takes at least 1 or 2 full days of preparation. So for me 3 of my 6 working days a week are spent on this partnership.  But Praise God it has been a great time so far.  There has been a lot of fruit, and this is a much needed program.  I will update some more specifics in later blogs!     


New Catalsyt eSwatini Partner:  Mafutseni EWC                                                                            In March we also started a new partnership with a church called Mafutseni Emmanuel Wesleyan Church.  Mafutseni is simply the region where the church is located, its actually "just next to" Timbutini, about a 10 minute drive from where Zwakele was born and raised.  

Pastor Mngometulu & myself

Above is a picture of the Lead Pastor of Mafutseni EWC, named Sikelela Mngometulu.  He's a great man of God, and we have known him for years.  He's actually the pastor who married Zwakele & I ten years ago!  They have rougly 60+ children they are feeding every Sunday after their worship service.  These children are either orphaned or simply come from vulnerable situations.  The church has a passion to help the people of the community and believe they should be doing this type of ministry.  Initially they had another NGO that was helping to supply some food to make this feeding possible.  Unfortunately that NGO could help no longer.  After meeting with Pastor Mngometulu we decided that we would form an initial partnership.  We are now helping to provide a large share of the food needed to feed these children every Sunday.  This happens simply because of your financial support to us! Again, because of your support we were also able to purchase 100 plates and 100 cups for them to use.  Praise God & thank you for your prayers and financial support!    

Mafutseni EWC Building

Mafutseni EWC Preschool Room & KItchen 

PLEASE PRAY WITH US                                                                                                                      Would you please keep these two partnerships in your prayers?  We desperately need the LORD'S empowerment & presence as we serve Him.  We want to really see the Lord at work in our lives, and His love, power, and service to flow out through what we are doing!  There are many challenges, much attack from the enemy, and some discouragement along the way.  But we are persevering by His Grace.  We are continually asking the Lord for a Holy Tenacity...to be resolute in our commitment to Him and not grow weary in doing good!  Thanks so much for standing with us!  More to come soon! May God bless you abundantly!    

ADJUSTING to the "NEW NORMAL" Part 1

"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!   

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!!!

Great to be in the Kingdom!

“Greater Love has no one than this:  to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” – John 15:13

Our Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Swaziland!  We’ve been back in Swaziland for almost 2 months now.  As Zwakele & I talked the other day, our time in America seemed so distant, like it just flew by.  Being back in the States is predominantly a “working trip.”  While we did take some time to rest, we were also incredibly busy.  Even so, there was so much we didn’t get done, and many people we wished we could have spent time with.  We really wished we would have had a few more weeks there…

However, it HAS also been GREAT to be back in The Kingdom of Swaziland.  It’s been wonderful to reconnect with the amazing people that we work and do life with on a daily basis.  The normal parts of our Swazi life resumed:  Thandeka attending school, and Zwakele and I ministering in our different partnerships.  We jumped right back into our routine of big group teachings, meeting with people 1 on 1, speaking at church, & working in the rural areas both at care points and home visits.  

Challenges Came Quickly!                                                                                                                      On the 24^th of October, while driving on a rural road we punctured the oil pan on our car.  We were far from home in a very deep rural area.  When we broke down we really had that “middle of nowhere” feeling.  There was no help around us for miles, it was a nice 100 degrees (sarcasm implied), and we ended up being stuck on the road for 6 hours! 

The car was just fixed last week, and at a cost of about $500.  This was a big unexpected financial hit to us for sure, kind of a “one step forward, 2 steps back feeling.”  But we Praise God that He really helped us in this situation and gave us wisdom.  FIRSTLY:  As we drove we never heard the hit or knew that we punctured the oil pan.  There was no huge bump!  But thankfully, I saw the oil light flash on the dash, and immediately stopped the car.  As my mechanic said “It’s good that you stopped the car, if the car had stopped itself, we would have a totally different situation!”  I.E. an overheated & ruined engine.  SECONDLY:  When we broke down we were a 2.5 hour drive from home.  When we finally reached different towing companies, they were going to charge us $350 just to get us back to home.  This is a crazy cost, and they were really taking advantage of our “remoteness.”  But the Lord provided a close friend who organized a vehicle and a flatbed trailer and towed us all the way home for about $100 total. So there was much to be thankful for, even amidst a challenging situation!       

  

Here is a new version of the part that caused all of the trouble! 

Will you Pray with us?                                                                                                                             Please pray that we would end 2017 on a strong note!  In the next few weeks we have many different ministry events that will be serving in.  Our heart’s cry is that Jesus would be glorified through us and that people will encounter Him as they meet us.  One specific request is that we will be helping at a Sports Ministry Camp from the 11th until the 15th of December!  There will be 55 high school aged kids from different rural areas.  Will you please pray that God would greatly impact these young people for His Kingdom?  Also please pray that the LORD would use & work powerfully through those of us who are staffing the camp!  I will be speaking for one of the sessions at the camp and serving throughout the rest of the days.         

A Few Praises
We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We gathered on Thanksgiving with about 20 other Americans and had a great meal together!  It wasn't the same as being home with family, but it was the 2nd best possibility.  Another praise we would like to share is Thandeka completing her preschool and getting ready to enter 1st grade in January.  We are so happy for her, & can't believe she has grown so much!  The picture below was taken on her Preschool Graduation:     

Thank You!                                                                                                                                            Thank you so much for your love, prayers, & financial support to us.  We only have one supporting church, which is Kenmore Alliance Church.  We so appreciate the way the church, and individuals have laid down their lives for us.  We couldn’t serve here without your love!   

God bless you all!
Dennis, Zwakele, Thandeka, & Busani Brock

Greetings From The USA!!!

Our Dear Friends & Family,

Hello!!! Greetings from the USA!  We flew from Johannesburg South Africa to the USA on the 25th of July.  

We came to celebrate my Parents 50^th Anniversary!  What an Accomplishment that is!  It has been such a blessing to be back in Buffalo - to connect again with family, and our friends @ our home church of Kenmore Alliance. And while we have been able to have some fun, It’s also been a busy “working trip."  

I (Dennis) had the great opportunity to preach @ all 4 services on the weekend of August 19 & 20th @ KAC.  We also had a wonderful time sharing with all the children of the K-5th Grade Sunday School.  Next, this Saturday (tomorrow), we will be sharing about our work in Catalyst Swaziland in a special Missions Breakfast.  Lastly, I’ll be sharing with the Jr. & Sr. High Youth Groups in the first week of October.  Will you please pray for us for these last couple speaking engagements?  Please pray that the Lord would use us to speak for His Glory!    

We are so thankful that we have been able to also have some fun while we've been in the USA!  We saw lots of animals @ the Buffalo zoo, played games at Chuck E Cheese, went bowling, & we were able to spend 3 full days at a Family Bible Camp down @ the Jersey Shore!  These fun times were really such a blessing for our family!  I have attached a couple pictures to check out.  

Thank you so much for standing with us as we continue to serve Jesus in Swaziland!  We really appreciate your love to us through your prayer & financial support!  We pray for you, our support team/family regularly!  May God bless you immensely!     

Another way to connect with us is through Facebook:  

Search for:  Zwakele Mamba Brock  as well as Catalyst Swaziland.

Dennis (for Zwakele, Thandeka, & Busani)

Happy New Year 2017

Our Dear Friends & Family,

We are now a week into 2017, and as our New Year has begun, our family wishes to say a huge "Thank You" for your continued love and support as we serve here in Swaziland!

We crossed over into 2017 at our awesome place of fellowship here in Swaziland: Healing Place Church (or HPC).  It was a great time of fun, fellowship,  thanking the Lord for His faithfulness in 2016, & seeking His face for 2017.

The vision the Lord gave our family for last year was: "Compassion, Discipleship, Catalyst!". It was a vision of focus, where the Lord was shaping our work into these 3 categories. 

Compassion: We as a family are called to compassionate ministry - to show the LOVE of Jesus in tangible ways to people that are suffering.  We want offer His Hope, not just in words, but also in action.  We are engaged in compassionate ministry at a few different locations, but our main work is @ the children's ward in the Mbabane Government Hospital.  Our goal is to consistently minister there at least once a week.  I'm so thankful that we were able be there nearly ever week in 2016!

The hospital is never a fun place to be admitted, and that's definitely the case here in Swaziland.  When looked at with human eyes, the hospital can seem a very depressing & rough place - the facilities are not the best, the level of care much lower than someone in the Western world would be used to, less access to needed meds, & it doesn't always look, sound, or smell good.  Mothers & Grandmother's need to live with the patient who is admitted in order to care and see to their needs.  It's not uncommon to have a child admitted for 1 month.  Recently, we knew a pair of twin babies that both suffered burns...they were admitted for nearly 3 months!

It's hard to live at any hospital for a length of time.  It's hard to see your child suffering and you feel like there is nothing you can do.  It's hard to see other parents (maybe even the one in the hospital bed next to you) lose their child, and you wonder "What's going to happen with my baby?" Again, when viewed with human eyes, things can seem hopeless, & death can seem to reign in this place.

But that's where God comes in!  He has sent us to be a light in the darkness! Where death seems to reign, we choose to speak the reality that "Jesus Christ Reigns in this place!" Where there is suffering, he uses broken vessels like us, to be a conduit of His LOVE & Compassion.  To be an extension and representation of His heart that says "I love you & I am with you in this suffering."

Really what a privilege it is to be an ambassador for Christ.  I am totally unworthy, but yet he still uses me to shine His Love. 

What do we do at the hospital?  Obviously, we pray for supernatural healing for the precious kids, pray for their caregiver, and speak the words of hope of the gospel, and words of comfort.  But this ministry is also a ministry of presence.  We spend time with the children and their caregiver.  We endeavor to be a listening ear. It's hard to be there, and so we want them to experience that someone is tangibly with them in this (& more importantly the Lord is with them).  We also believe that we should come with something: so we always bring some fruits to hand out, some gum and sweets, and as we can provide, small toys and/or crayons and coloring sheets.  Our goal is to share & show the love of Jesus, practically help, encourage, and bring joy, leaving a smile on someone's face. 

This ministry costs us about $20 dollars a week.  There were 3 times in 2016 that we didn't go because we simply didn't have the $20 to buy the supplies, & it's our passion that we need to have something practical to bless the patient. If it wasn't for our friends, family, & KAC for supporting us we could not do this. 

Please keep this ministry in prayer! Along with Zwakele & myself, we have 3 wonderful ladies as part of our team, who are dedicated week in and week out.  Please pray that the Lord would continue to use us as a source of His awesome love, hope, & comfort! 

God bless you!

In our next blog we will continue to share about these areas of vision and where we believe the Lord is taking us!

Merry Christmas from the Brock Family in Swaziland!!!

Merry Christmas!! We hope you have a wonderful time with your family & friends celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus!

As I write this, on Christmas Eve, it's about 90 degrees Fahrenheit here in Mbabane Swaziland.  We have a full house of family visitors.  There are 12 of us squeezed in our house, but we are happy to be together, and looking forward to celebrating tomorrow! We will all go to church in the morning, and then head back home for a great BBQ!

Thandeka is 5 but turning 6 this February, and Busani will also be celebrating his 2nd birthday in February!

One of my favorite things about Christmas this year has been doing an Advent Countdown with Thandeka.  Reading a couple Bible verses each day and then discussing the significance of Jesus birth.  It's been such a joy to see Thandeka so excited to do the Advent every day, and for her to tell me how it's been the same as what she is learning in Sunday school!  Gods awesome love for us, freedom from sin, and Jesus being the light in the darkness are just some of the talks we've had.

I'm just so thankful that Jesus the light of the world chose to come to us, to be Emmanuel: God with us, humble himself to enter this dark world, show us the way and ultimately giving up his life for us, and then conquering death...all because he Loves us and wants to have relationship with us!

"The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned." ~ Isaiah 9:2

I am so thankful the Light of the World has come!  May He continue to shine His light through us as his children and ambassadors in this dark world!  Again, Merry Christmas!  Thank you for standing with us this year as our family serves Jesus in Swaziland!  May you have a wonderful holiday season, and may the Lord bless you in abundance!

Dennis, Zwakele, Thandeka & Busani

Busani, Thandeka, and their cousin Nonsiki. :) 

Merry Christmas from the Brock Family

It has been such a long time since we have posted to this blog. However, we have just discovered an app that we can download to our cell phone and post updates. So we now plan to dust this baby off and post regularly! This first post will be the test!  Here we go...

Brock Family

Joy, Pain, & some GREAT News

 

 

Our Dear friends & family,

 

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” – Psalm 18:2

 

What an incredible blessing it is to belong to the LORD!  Whether in good times or in bad He is our Rock, our Fortress and an ever-present help.  He is always with us, and will never leave us nor forsake us!  The past few months have been very busy, and filled with great levels of both joy and pain.  But the Lord Jesus has been with us through it all, and we are so thankful for His sustaining love.  Now I would love to start with some good news first:     

 

Teaching Ministry 

I recently had the great opportunity to teach again at Joy Mission Bible College in Ngculwini.  I taught a 4 week course on Expository Preaching.  When the College approached me to teach this class there was only a week and a half before it started.  So, I had to get right to work because I needed to build everything up from scratch.  I had to develop & write the class syllabus, source all my teaching materials myself, develop all the lessons, and students assignments.  It was a lot of work, but it was also very fulfilling and fun.  I had 13 students and they were all wonderful. 

Some of my students & myself from the Expository Preaching Class. 

I am so thankful that I had a lot of my own expository preaching books from my days as a student @ Nyack College – they really helped me!  I also realized that although I am no expert on preaching, I have been blessed to receive so much from those who poured into me over the years.  I am forever thankful to those who have poured Christ’s love into my life.  Their mentorship, love and support, has impacted me tremendously...I think of people like:  Jim Bailey, Jon Schuerholz, Ken Berding, Ron & Wanda Walborn, & Paul Hazlett to name a few.  The phrase “I stand on the shoulders of giants” rings so true for me.  My class went very well and I loved it.  As I said, it was very fulfilling for me to help equip my students for their ministry.  I will be teaching another class early next year in January or February.                 

 

A Painful Road  

One of the hardest things in the past few months was to lose one of our very close friends.  In fact in the space of 2 months we lost 3 friends.  2 friends died of complications from HIV.  That was terrible but we knew ahead of time that could be happening unless the Lord Jesus brought some significant healing.  However, we were incredibly shocked & unprepared to lose a dear friend very unexpectedly.  Her name was Nokuthula, and we first met her when she worked as an Aunty at the  Sandra Lee Centre.  She quickly became a very good friend to us.    

Nokuthula laughing with Zwakele behind her.

In fact, she was really one of Zwakele's closest friends.  Her passing was very painful for us.  Shortly after our family left the SLC, Nokuthula also left her job because of some challenges she was going through in her life.  In this season and up until her death Zwakele spent a lot of time with her.  Our friend had a very difficult early life, but she met Jesus and he changed her and brought her joy and great hope.  Nokuthula loved to laugh, I'll always remember that about her.  I joked a lot with her and we would always laugh so much together.  She also loved to sing and worship the LORD.  Although we are sad she is gone, we are incredibly thankful that she knew Jesus!  We will see her again one day!  Nokuthula left behind a sister (named Thando) who really has no other family.  Would you please pray for Thando as she continues to deal with her loss and please pray for us as we minister to her.  We've known Thando for a while, and love her and told her that we are now her family. 

 

 

Rural Outreach                                                                                                                                                      

In the past few months we have continued to regularly spend time in the rural area near Pigg’s Peak.  This is the community where we did some home visits with Pastor Jon Schuerholz when he came out to visit us in February of this year.  We have spent time building relationships, doing home visits, and meeting some practical needs.  One of the families who we met with Jon in February was headed by a pastor who had lost his sight.  Our family has grown to know this family quite well over the recent months.  As we spend time with this man I am often struck by his attitude.  He has gone through a very rough season in his life.  He lost his sight - how terrible a thing to go through.  Further, we recently found out that there was some medication he could have been receiving to help keep the sight in one of his eyes but the government hospital has run out of it many times.  Because of the poor level of care he has suffered so greatly.  I don't know about you but sometimes I complain a little too easily.  And some of the things I complain about are often trivial.  However, since I have started knowing this man I have never heard him complain.  In fact, he is often the opposite, ready to encourage us and filled with joy.  He has a joy that rises independently from the circumstances he exists in.  That kind of joy is rare, and can only come from Jesus Christ. 

Zwakele talking with the pastor and his wife.

 

Thandeka being silly with the pastors wife!

 

Because of a donation from a friend we were able to get the pastor a solar powered talking siSwati Bible.  He was touched and very thankful for the gift of the Word of God.  At our last visit with him he was telling us about the importance of the Word of God.  He said that many church's in Swaziland are distracted by so many things but what they really need is the Word of God.  He encouraged us to continue strong in the Word as it is the source of life.  Despite all he is going through, he remains passionate, walks in purpose, and is always encouraging and having the joy that comes from a life in Christ.  Praise the Lord!

The solar powered talking siSwati Bible.
Thank you Caroline McGraw for the donation!

 

Kenmore Alliance Church also donated the funds to build a house for a widowed single mother of 4 in this community.  The process to get this house done has been quite frustrating.  It has taken much longer than originally planned.  We had a lot of problems.  First, it was so difficult to get a truck to deliver the building materials from the nearest city to the homestead.  The road was so bad and often inaccessible due to rains.  Secondly, we had quite an ordeal getting a builder and then working well with him.  Sometimes the builder would just not show up to work. :(  Other times he would run out of something which would cause him to stop working.  However, he would not communicate this to us and the work would stop for a week.  

Old & New:  The old house on the left and the new one going up in the back!

     

Taken about 2 weeks ago, the new house nearly finished!

Well just today (the 27th August) we received a call that the house is totally finished!  Praise God!!  We are so happy that the family will be able to enjoy a new safe place to live in.  Thank you so much KAC for your sacrificial giving to this family!  We will get a picture of the completed house posted soon!   

 

S.O.S.                                                                                                                                                                              

In July I had the great experience of leading a 2 week trip called “Steps Over Swaziland” (S.O.S.).  This was the third S.O.S. trip to Swaziland, but my first time to be involved with them. This years team consisted of 8 people from the USA who came to volunteer. 

 

The purpose of the trip was to raise awareness for various issues affecting Swaziland, to prayer walk the nation, and to do some practical outreach in communities around Swaziland.   Each day the team started by prayer walking a distance of 18 to 20 kilometers! 

The team and a group of Swazi's walking on Day 1.  Notice the police escort!

 

 

Part of the vision was to get young Swazi people from various church's to participate in the prayer walk and get them involved in their communities.  Praise God that on various legs of the trip we did have a number of Swazi's prayer walking with us! 

Day 1 finished!

 

After the team finished the days portioned walk, they would eat lunch quickly, and be driven to a ministry site where they would spend the rest of the day.  Many times this was at a neighborhood care point, although we also did a bunch of home visits and spent a day with The Luke Commission at one of their clinics.  My specific job as a leader was to handle the trips finances/accounting, run the logistics, support the team as they walked, and participate in the daily ministry.  While the team walked, at every 6 kilometers I would set up a relief station, giving the team water and fruit to help refresh them.   Because of my service the team ended up giving me the nickname "Carson," after the character on Downton Abbey.  I guess I'll take that over being called "Thomas" from Downton Abbey any day! :)

       

 

 

The team started in the Southeast region of the country and walked along the road up to the Northwest region of the country.  By the end of the trip the team had gone 122 miles by foot!  Quite a distance within a few days time.  It was a great trip overall, and a lot was accomplished.  It took weeks of work involved in preparation and set up before the trip but it was all worth it.         

The team brought a huge quantity of soccer jerseys that were given out at care points.  

YWAM DTS                                                                                                                                                         

Time has flown by!  I can't believe we officially started with YWAM in January.  Part of joining YWAM Swaziland is that the organization of YWAM requires that everyone who wishes to be a full time staff member go through a training called "Discipleship Training School," or "DTS" for short.  YWAM wants all their staff to know the organizations core values so hence the required training.  I will be starting my DTS this upcoming Monday, the 1st of September.  The training will run for 3 months, finishing at the end of November.  Will you please pray for me as I participate in this training.  I will be going through this training with 3 other team members.    

 

GREAT NEWS                                                                                                                                                      

We originally had planned to be back in America from the middle of July to mid-September.  We wanted to be home to see friends and family, go to the KAC Camping event, get a little break, and attend a good friends wedding.  However, something has come up that has prevented us from making the trip home just now.  Look at the picture below:

That's right Zwakele is pregnant!!!  The new baby is due in the last week of February 2015.  We are excited for this next member of our family!  Please keep Momma and the new baby in your prayers!  So far Zwakele has had a bit of a rough time with this pregnancy and she cannot wait to get into the 2nd trimester.  Next month hopefully we should be able to find out if were having a boy or a girl.  As of now the plan is to have the baby delivered in Swaziland, I will then make the mad dash to get all paperwork done and then LORD willing we will fly to states 1st or 2nd week of April for a visit!  Exciting developments!  

Thanks so much for your prayers and support to us!  We couldn't do this without your love!  May the Lord bless you abundantly!