First Steps...(5 Month's @ the Sandra Lee Centre)

Dear Friends,

We have been serving @ the Sandra Lee Centre for over 5 months now!  The transition has been both great, as well as at times challenging.  

It has been GREAT to be ministering to the 27 beautiful children here.  It’s hard to think that all of them were once abandoned.  Many of the children came from very tough situations (abuse, sickness, etc).  But what a blessing it is to be a part of God’s work of RESTORATION in their life.  To love on them, & tell them about God’s love for them is such a blessing!  I (Dennis) am focusing a lot my time with 9 of the oldest children.  I daily help them with their school work, read bible stories to them, and just spend a bunch of time with them.  One of my favorite activities has been to take the children out of the SLC property for excursions.  I have intentionally taken them to the rural areas to see how many of their countrymen live.  Our children here, although their beginning was pretty rough, are now enjoying blessed lives.  They now live in a nice place, with the huge blessings of hot water, electricity, food every day, etc.  So we have been trying at an early age to help them get their eyes off of themselves, but to also see the needs of others.  We want to instill in them a sense of reaching out to others. Some of them have been shocked to see the way people are living in the rural areas.  We want the children to grow up realizing the blessings they have, and to understand that part of living a life as a follower of Jesus Christ is serving others.  This has been awesome thing to be a part of.

Another part of ministry for us that is a blessing has been working with the 8 Swazi women who daily care for the children @ SLC.  We daily interact with them, but also have special times to pray with them, counsel, and encourage them.  On Wednesday mornings we worship, study the Word of God, and pray for one another.  Zwakele & I have really loved this time on Wednesdays.  Zwakele has really been able to connect with the ladies.  

Please pray with us for our ministry to both the women and children of the SLC.  Please pray that we would continue to build deep relationships with them, & that we would be a continual source of Christs love to them.  

City life in the Capital of Swaziland is very different than our past 5 years of living in Timbutini.  At times we really miss the rural area.  By far the most challenging part of our transition has been not seeing Zwakele’s family as much as when we had lived in Timbutini.  We didn’t move that far away (only 1hr & 20 minutes drive), but because of the distance, and the busyness of daily life, we don’t get to visit them that much.  However, it does make the time we do get to spend with them that much sweeter.  We would definitely appreciate your prayers as we still are adjusting to our transition.  Thanks!   

One huge blessing of life @ the SLC has been Thandeka having so many friends to play with, and love on her.  She has really enjoyed getting to know so many of her new friends.  Thandeka is doing so well!  She just turned 1 year old on the 28th of February.  She is also now walking!  She has really enjoyed living @ the SLC!

 Our Dear Friends thank you so much for your prayers for us!  We so appreciate your love to us!  We wouldn't be able to do this without you!   

Stepping Forward, Stretching Out

Our Dear Friends & Family,

It has been a busy couple of months for the Brock’s since we arrived back in Swaziland.  When we first arrived in Swaziland we had only 2 days in country before the Kenmore Alliance Church (KAC) Mission Team visited us.    

The KAC trip was such an incredible blessing for us!  Not only were they here to minister to the people of Swaziland, but they also assisted us greatly!  Specifically in encouraging us, as well as in providing counsel and wisdom for a big decision we were facing. 

            

For the last few years, Zwakele & I have had a long-term goal of one day opening a home that would take in children who were orphaned or abandoned.  Our original idea was that we would do this in the rural area we currently live in (Timbutini).  There were a couple good examples of Christians already doing this in Swazi.  One such ministry is called the Sandra Lee Centre (www.sandraleecentre.org ). The SLC is a ministry that takes in orphaned & abandoned children.  They have homes with up to 8 children, headed by a 'housemother' who lives permanently at the centre and raises the children. Since these children have lost both their mother & father, the vision is to give them the very next best thing, being a stable and loving Christ-centered home to grow up in.      

I (Dennis) have known the people & ministry @ the Sandra Lee Centre since 2004.  They are awesome!  Over the years I have brought many ministry teams to their facility.  Zwakele & I have often said to each other we would like to do what they’re doing.         

We had been praying for quite a while “Lord, we believe you have given us this vision, so how should we proceed?”  In the last 12 months we really felt like the Lord was calling us to pursue our dream.  We really sensed the Lord challenging us to take a step towards that calling, to stretch out of our comfort zones.  But honestly, we didn’t have the Lord’s peace to start this home in the community we are now in.  The more & moree we prayed we felt that the Lord was leading us to join the ministry @ The Sandra Lee Centre.

After Thandeka was born, we interviewed with the couple that run the Sandra Lee Centre.  They are Mike & Robin Pratt.  They have been living in Swaziland nearly 15 years, with the SLC running for almost 8 years.   When we then travelled to the USA in April we started discussing with the leadership of our home church (KAC) the possibility of leaving AIM and joining the SLC.  They were supportive right away, but still wanted to check into the SLC.       

So, when the KAC Mission Team was here in July, the Assistant Pastor as well as a church Elder had a few meetings with the Pratt’s.  After their trip was over, and they reported back to the church, the leadership of KAC felt that this would be a good move for us.   

So dear friends we are happy to announce that we are transitioning to the SLC!  We are so excited to be taking this next step in our ministry and lives!  At the end of this month, we will be saying goodbye to our roles @ AIM.  It’s hard to believe that I have worked with AIM for 7 years!  It has been a good 7 years, and we will miss the friends and relationships we have built there.   

We will be moving around the 15^th of October over to the Sandra Lee Centre.  Our family will be living at the Centre.  There are around 30 children that currently reside @ the SLC.  The ages of the children range from 3 to 10.  Our roles will be to minister to the children as well as to the housemothers.  We will be doing a lot practical educational work with the children, as well as regular discipleship and training with the housemothers.     

NEW Support INFO                                                                                                                             

This is not a paid position, and therefore we will still be raising monthly financial support, just like with our ministry in AIM.  However, the details will all be changing.  If you currently support us through AIM, we would ask you to please stop sending AIM checks or making online donations through the AIM website.  Kenmore Alliance Church has now graciously allowed us raise our support through their accounting structure.  This is a huge blessing to us!  The following are the 3 ways in which to support us financially:   

1)  If you attend KAC, you can simply give to us through the weekly offering @ any of the services.  You simply need to indicate on the offering envelope that your donation is for the Brock’s. 

2)  If you are a friend who support’s us but does not attend KAC, you can send a check to the church’s address.  It is as follows:  

Kenmore Alliance Church  

175 Bonnett Ave

Tonawanda, NY 14150

3)  You can also support us by making an online donation with a debit/credit card @ Kenmore Alliance’s website:  www.kenmorealliance.com     

 First click the "Online Giving" link. Secondly, at the “Gift Amount & Designation” box you must click “Other.”  When the box comes up that reads “Please specify,” you need to type in “Brock Family” in the box.  In this online form you have the option to make a one-time gift, or you can choose to make your donation reoccur automatically on a monthly basis. 

         

We really feel loved & taken care of by our home church KAC!!  We are so thankful that they have been willing to walk with us through every step of the way in this transition!  Friends, please keep our transition in your prayers.  We are so thankful that the Lord has opened the door for us to follow Him in this next chapter in our lives!  Also, thank you so much for your prayers for our family and specifically for Thandeka Grace!  She is doing well!  She is now 6 & 1/2 months old.  Below is a recent picture of her!                           

We are so thankful for your love to us!  Thank you for standing with us for the past 7 years!  We wouldn't be here following God's will for our lives without your love and support!  May God bless you all!!