Hoskins July Update

Happy 4th of July!
Last month was very eventful for our team here in Swaziland.  Todd and I started out by attending the National Youth Leaders Retreat.  Along with the missionaries, Swazi youth leaders from the Baptist churches around the country get together for a weekend of fellowship, worship, and planning for the year’s big youth camp in August.

The next week, Todd attended the first-ever South Coast Bible School event that was held in Swaziland.  The school, established as a partnership between an institution in South Africa and the largest Baptist Church we work with in the country, marks a great step for theological education in Swaziland! Todd continues to work on materials that will support this school and other initiatives like it.

For the months of June and July, we have ten short-term missionaries in the country (University students from the US), who are here with the specific task of sharing the message of True Love Waits in schools. Eight of these students spent several nights at our home in Manzini this month, and enjoyed Deborah’s cooking and Todd’s secret obsession of being a Tourist Guide.  The founder of True Love Waits International was in Swaziland for a few days during this time to see firsthand the work these summer missionaries are doing.  We organized a get-together for those who are involved in True Love Waits across the country and about forty people attended: representing all four regions of the country.  It was wonderful to hear testimonies of the impact of the message of True Love Waits on peoples’ lives. Please pray for the summer missionaries’ endurance and that lives will be changed with the Truth found in God’s Word.

To finish off the month, 650 donated home care kits arrived in the country. These are specifically designed to comfort and care for HIV/AIDS patients, and they were donated through programs within the Southern Baptist Churches. We are so thankful to the people who donated the items for these kits.  Please pray that the churches will be wise in the distribution process and will use these as a ministry tool to those who are hurting in their communities.