Mission: To deliver compassionate, comprehensive healthcare to the most isolated and under-served populations of southern Africa in collaboration with local communities, government, corporate and non-profit partners.
TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 1
10/3/13 5:21 PM
Dear Partners,
Jus
It’s been a year of miracles at The Luke Commission. But really why should we be surprised? Since 2004 when Echo and I first visited Swaziland, we’ve been on a fast-track behind God. Echo often says the learning curve has been straight up. We’re living our dream! Though we have crisscrossed the country countless times, we look forward to each new mobile hospital outreach site and the opportunities to serve rural Swazis medically and spiritually. The Luke Commission this year has moved headquarters into a new Swaziland home on land TLC owns outright, thanks to supporters who gave $170,000 in just three weeks. Construction of buildings started almost immediately, also thanks to gifts bestowed upon us. The Miracle Campus will be the nerve center of The Luke Commission as we seek to replicate the mobile hospital model. Who knows where Jesus will open doors for TLC teams? More than 35,000 patients were treated in 2013, and that’s just the beginning of services offered. None of this would be possible without God’s favor, without our dedicated national and international staff, and without you. Our boys continue to grow up in Swaziland, and our baby daughter has begun life’s journey amid our dear Swazi family. It’s our privilege to be here. Thank you for loving us and allowing us the privilege of serving.
Mo cities Swaz Th medi equip whee trave hosp canva Mo since Th Unite Cana Swaz This will a you w few r victo The L Comm Welco
Harry VanderWal Co-Founder/Executive Director
For
Table of Contents 1 - A Friend, Indeed, is Swaziland’s Deputy Prime Minister / US Ambassador Commends The Luke Commission
7-B uildings Arise on Miracle Campus
2-H e Knows His People.../ Phumzile Learns to Hope
8-M other of Seven Faces Life Alone - Almost
3 - Covering the Kingdom
9-P ortrait of a TLC Mobile Hospital at a Rural Swazi School
4 - The Essence of TLC Turns “No” to “Yes”
11 - Manzini Move
5-L ooking Back at Their First Year with TLC
12 - Tholie “Give Ourselves” to Patients
15 - Free at Every Clinic
6-T hanks for “a Taste of Heaven”/ Thulani Keeps the Prayer Lines Moving
13 - HIV+ Swazis Still Hide Status
16 - How Far Can Your Heart Reach?
14 - Visitors See Inside TLC
17 - I’ve Got Shoes!
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” - Luke 18:27 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 2
10/3/13 5:21 PM
Fo detai outre figur day. occas “W by th Fortu whol our n that w Be Fortu chan part o my ru sick t Fo on la offer At ho moth
7
Just In Case You’re Wondering Most Swazis live in rural areas and cannot travel to cities or afford healthcare. HIV/AIDS and TB have affected Swaziland worse than any other country in the world. The Luke Commission packs up medical supplies, medications, a 6-bed surgical unit, laboratory, x-ray equipment, educational material, scripture booklets, Bibles, wheelchairs, reading glasses, shoes, food and staff then travels to where rural Swazis live. The result - a mobile hospital outreach, serving one community at a time, canvassing the whole country. More than 531,000 medical services have been delivered since 2005. (See complete list of services on page 15) The non-profit ministry is supported by donors in the United States, Canada and Swaziland. This magazine will acquaint you with a few recent victories of The Luke Commission. Welcome!
Fortunate Lives Her Name Fortunately, staff member Fortunate Mkhaliphi loves details and organization. At TLC’s mobile hospital outreaches, she evaluates each room, 1 through 9, to figure out how best to use the staff that moment, that day. Fortunate also operates the x-ray machine and occasionally counsels HIV patients. “We’ve been so blessed by the land this year,” notes Fortunate. “We moved the whole TLC from Manzini to our new land. All by itself, that was a miracle.” Beginning on staff in 2011, Fortunate says TLC has changed her life. “Now I am part of a team that is helping my rural Swazis who are so sick to be better.” Fortunate shadows Echo on land-development days, offering assistance instantly. At home, Fortunate is a mother to a year-old son. TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 3
64,780
Male Circumcision/HIV Community Education & Counseling
Sipho “This Work is Tough” “This is big land for The Luke Commission,” declares big-hearted Sipho Mabuza. Sipho, a longtime leader, first joined TLC in 2006. He is married and has two daughters, one an albino named Angel America, and an older son. Today at the mobile hospital outreaches, Sipho talks to crowds of young men, encouraging them to be circumcised, to test for HIV and to trust Jesus. He is an expert at kind, gentle crowd control. “God is doing things I would never believe,” he says. “Sometimes, only eight boys will raise their hand to circumcise. I pray with all of them. Then many more raise their hands.” He continues, “They are worried about the injections hurting. I tell them they must be brave for the injections, so the cutting will not hurt.” With loyalty and respect, Sipho notes: “I pray every day for Harry and Echo to have wisdom. This work is tough.”
10/3/13 5:21 PM
A Friend, Indeed, is Swaziland’s Deputy Prime Minister
The third most powerful man in Swaziland is a friend of The Luke Commission in thought, in word and in deed. Deputy Prime Minister Senator Masuku said, “I have seen that you love what you do, which is no doubt rooted in the biblical Great Commission that Jesus gave His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel and to lay hands on the sick so they may be healed.” Concerned for his nation, Senator Masuku noted, “Our people slip away daily without notice, but The Luke Commission’s outreach programs help us discover, prevent, recover and sustain our life.” He specifically recognized TLC’s patient-centered approach, making the services offered “very significant at the individual and community level.” Swaziland’s Deputy Prime Minister called TLC’s staff “champions and heroes of today.” In a speech delivered at TLC’s first Awareness Dinner, Senator Masuku looked across the ocean to add: “My gratitude also goes to those who have supported this remarkable TLC initiative with their time and contributions to help change mankind and reach out to our population.” The Deputy Prime Minister meets or communicates regularly with the VanderWals, both offering and seeking advice. Senator Masuku answers to the Prime Minister, who answers to His Majesty, King Mswati III.
US Ambassador Commends The Luke Commission
US Ambassador to Swaziland Makila James spoke at TLC’s first Awareness Dinner in Swaziland this year. Her presence alone was an honor, her speech a commendation. Ambassador James said: “The Luke Commission’s work is special in that they are able to take important services to rural Swazis who are often missed with outreach activities. They are meeting people where they are with integrated services.” Relating her firsthand experience, she noted, “I have visited The Luke Commission at one of their rural sites to see their work in action. I left that visit both inspired and impressed.” Ambassador James drew laughter and applause with this observation: “I’ll take this opportunity to note that Echo VanderWal is able to multi-task like no one I’ve ever met. She can perform several medical procedures, dispense advice, provide guidance to the staff, nurse her young baby, answer a question from one of her beautiful boys, and then turn around and start it all over again, in the time it takes many of us just to decide what we are going to do that day.” Harry and Echo VanderWal and children are “an amazing family,” Ambassador James continued. “I am so proud of them as Americans in Swaziland. They represent a spirit of giving.”
“Rem fe
1 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 1
10/3/13 5:22 PM
Luke
cant
d:
ati III.
He Knows His People...
…and has agreed to come on staff with The Luke Commission. That’s Rogers Mamba, who until this fall was a member of Swaziland’s Parliament and the King’s Cabinet Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Rural Development, representing the 336 chiefdoms. When 80 percent of the incumbent Parliament members lost re-election, Rogers was one of them, though he’s one of the most respected leaders in the kingdom. Beloved Swaziland! Helping Harry and Echo VanderWal understand their adopted country is Frans Pienaar, Rogers views his loss through the lens of a Christ Worldwide Corporate Executive and TLC Swaziland Board follower. “I know God has a purpose for everything.” Most Chairman (center), and Rogers Mamba, pictured here as likely, he will re-enter politics in five years. Cabinet Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Rural In the meantime, however, Rogers has been hired Development, and now a Luke Commission Director. by The Luke Commission as the Chief Advisor to the Executive Directors and the Director for Community and Public Relations. His former portfolio and position as Cabinet Minister is influential for TLC in coordinating with chiefs and community leaders for mobile hospital outreaches. “This is beyond what we could have dreamed or strategized,” exclaimed Echo VanderWal. “Rogers has been one of our top in-country advisors for the past 7 years. We know him for honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness. He has been there in every crisis. We never thought he’d be available to join us on staff.“ Continued Echo: “To have him on the team internally is something only God could orchestrate. It has come just in time. God has increased the boundaries of TLC. To have someone to help carry the top load is a necessary part of growth. If we were able to choose one person in Swaziland to be next to our side during the next phase of growth, it would have been Rogers. We could not anticipate the way God was going to move to allow this to happen.” There’s so much more to Rogers Mamba. Watch www.lukecommission.org for his whole inspiring story.
“Remember all the glory goes to God. This land fell from the sky. These new buildings fell from the sky. This team of US builders fell from the sky. These are miracles!” - TLC Board Chairman Frans Pienaar at the dedication of the Miracle Campus in late September
Phumzile Learns to Hope Talk about 2013, and Phumzile Msibi mentions the new CD4 machines and mobile laboratory providing results on site, community children receiving shoes, patient numbers increasing, “my people understanding circumcision,” and “my people are starting to openly talk about their HIV status” as grand strides. That’s just for starters… “The Luke Commission is popular,” she laughs. On staff since 2006, Phumi says working with The Luke Commission has “made me understand life better. I’ve learned in every circumstance there is hope. When trouble comes, I know Jesus is walking with me.” TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 2
2 10/8/13 9:03 AM
Covering the Kingdom TLC Outreach Locations 2013 locations Past locations
Mhlume
Mbabane
Siteki Manzini
Swaziland
Big Bend
Nhiangano
3 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 3
10/3/13 5:22 PM
Do you think you can mess with the dreams of the poor? You can’t, for God makes their dreams come true. - Psalms 14:6
The Essence of TLC Turns “No” to “Yes” This story illustrates the essence of The Luke Commission. At one rural school clinic site last year, the head teacher informed TLC staff that he did NOT recommend “his boys” be circumcised. A wall of resistance surfaced. “When I heard this, I went down the road to the next school and asked who wanted to be circumcised,” said Echo. Many did. Each male before surgery is given an HIV test. One 12-year-old boy, obviously sick, tested positive for HIV. His CD4 count was too low to operate. “Had we not gone to the other school to recruit for circumcision, we never would have met this HIV+ boy who needed help immediately,” noted Echo. However, the boy’s family would not let him start anti-retroviral drugs. Another shift in TLC’s approach was necessary. Echo and a staff member walked to the boy’s homestead late at night. “We talked and talked and explained that the boy’s life was in danger if he did not take ARVs,” said Echo. God changed the family’s mind. Last week at a 2013 clinic, the boy came running up to Echo, healthy and happy and thankful. “I can be circumcised today!” he declared. “Even in opposition, Jesus has a purpose we don’t always see.” And, yes, this year the head teacher at the first school changed his mind about circumcision.
The Luke Commission may have been sent to that unscheduled school last year to spare the life of one boy - or scores of boys.
1,263
Male Circumcisions Performed 4 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 4
10/3/13 5:22 PM
Looking Back at Their First Year with TLC
Brian and Missi Schmelzenbach, plus two teenage children, were The Luke Commission’s first international staff family arriving in Swaziland January 2013. They complement TLC’s Swazi pastor Thulani Thomo who has “grown up” with The Luke Commission since 2008. Thulani prays with hundreds of patients at each rural clinic. Brian was senior pastor at Ensley Church of the Nazarene in Pensacola, Florida. He and Missi served there nine years. All that began to change in 2010, when the family met the VanderWals. In July 2012, Brian resigned his pastorate to concentrate on raising support. They sold their home that December. Today the Schmelzenbachs look back at their “settling-in” months in Swaziland with amplified humility and aromatic introspection. “TLC is how the church is supposed to look – a team accomplishing the work of Christ,” said Missi. “I still feel humbled. Not everyone could be here; not everyone could be so blessed.” Her voice breaking with emotion, Missi continued: “Each member of the TLC team offers special gifts, as we all take the Gospel, healing and hope to so many rural communities. When we are weak, and we are weak, we realize God is in the middle. His perfection makes us strong.” Peyton, age 15, noted that living in Swaziland is “much more work than when I was in Pensacola. But now I like learning new things, working with different people. I’m closer to my family now. When Dad was pastoring in Florida, we didn’t see him much.” Katie, age 17, admitted: “I thought I’d struggle being here, but I don’t. I so enjoy the busyness, working school in around the clinics, and meeting new people. We’re right in the middle of what God’s doing.” Yes, Katie misses her friends “once in a while, but I really don’t have time to think about them. I appreciate watching how God is working with TLC, and we’re right in the middle of what He’s doing.” Brian explains his first months in Swaziland in terms of lessons. “I’ve learned how God speaks in the quiet. Our lives are so full of noise, go, go, go, do, do, do. In Swaziland, though, I can be quiet.” Remembering last year, Brian acknowledged he had an agenda for Swaziland based on his life experience and education. “However, what God has me doing with TLC is nothing like I thought,” he said.
“The more we think we can offer Him, the less He can use us.” Brian’s great-grandfather served as a pioneer missionary in Swaziland. He arrived in 1910 and stayed until he died in 1928. Sibaha, as the Swazis called him, carried a small black bag with quinine, tea, and salve which he used to “doctor” those who were sick, nursing them back to health with prayer and compassion. The average life span was 62. A hundred years later, The Luke Commission (named after Dr. Luke in the Bible) takes Compassionate Medicine to rural Swazis, fighting insidious HIV/AIDS and TB which have cut life expectancy to 32 years. Three years passed before Brian’s great-grandfather saw the first Swazi accept Jesus as Savior. Today at TLC’s “mobile hospitals,” “the fields are ripe unto harvest,” as Jesus said in John 4:35, and many are turning to the great Physician for eternal healing.
5 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 5
10/3/13 5:22 PM
Thanks for “a Taste of Heaven”
The father of a family, whose members were near death, quietly proclaimed at the Awareness Dinner in spring 2013:
“This is a taste of heaven. I never thought I would see this on earth. - Siyabonga.” He was one of 20 patients invited as “TLC heroes.” Earlier when his wife and daughter tested positive at a Luke Commission medical outreach, they became scared and ran away to their hut filled with sick loved ones. “I could not walk to where The Luke Commission was that day. I thought no one could help me,” he said. Before packing up and going home, The Luke Commission staff searched for this family with the assistance of the Swazi police. They located the family’s home far up in the mountains. That was just the beginning of a remarkable new lease on the lives of the whole family.
Thulani Keeps the Prayer Line Moving TLC’s homegrown Swazi pastor takes his “job” of praying with each patient seriously and passionately. He organizes patients as they walk into Room 3, where they will see Dr. Harry for treatment. First, though, Thulani seats them on benches or small school chairs and offers a lesson from the Bible. Then he prays, and, oh, how he prays! Prayer is voluntary for each patient, not mandatory. Thulani is 36 years old and recently made a young woman his fiancé. “I have been waiting many years for God to show me the right woman,” he said last year. Thulani often drives one of the nurses to “re-checks” – the 2nd or 7th day after circumcisions when the surgeries are re-examined. This year, Thulani often preached from John 6. ”I tell them Jesus is the bread that will not spoil. We are there to meet their physical needs but they can have more than our medications. They can have eternal life.” At national staff meetings, Thulani routinely brings whatever issue or problem is being discussed back to “what does God want us to do.”
50,105
Scripture booklets disbursed 6
TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 6
10/3/13 5:23 PM
Buildings Arise on Miracle Campus Three men from Colorado Springs have jumped into The Luke Commission’s Miracle Campus project with both feet and lots of expertise. The dynamic trio of Ken Driscoll, Dan Schmidt, and Larry Lang from Colorado Springs, Colorado, are spearheading the construction of the first two large buildings, one as a hub for logistics and the other to house TLC’s fleet of vehicles. More may be in the making. Dan is the construction superintendent, and Ken is the donor who happily gets his hands dirty. Larry adds his quiet knowledge and heartfelt hard work. Construction began after four 40-ft containers were sent to Swaziland full of pre-fabricated steel building materials, a skidsteer (with backhoe, forklift, power auger, and power dump bucket attachments), fence posts, air compressor, foam block building machine, electrical and plumbing supplies, tools, an ice maker, and a commercial refrigerator. “It’s so very thrilling,” says Harry VanderWal. The three men worked in Swaziland with the national TLC staff the first two weeks in August and then added eleven other volunteers in September. Back in October, the men plan to return early next year and keep on building.
In their service for Jesus, Ken and his wife Rae started a foundation in 1984 to build for ministries overseas. “Mostly we work with orphanages and Teen Challenge,” he said. Since then, Ken has constructed 60 buildings in 44 countries. While in Swaziland, the men participate in TLC’s mobile hospitals. “It’s fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like it,” notes Dan, who travels extensively building for ministries. “People talk about changing a nation. I see it happening here.” About the male circumcision surgery unit, Larry says: “It’s incredible.” “I think it‘s wonderful that the boys are protecting themselves, taking steps to live,” adds Ken. Two other buildings and 11 containers are currently part of the Miracle Campus. Everyday TLC operations are headquartered in a remodeled dairy barn, aptly named the Temporary Operations Base (TOB). Also, a 20-unit staff housing complex is under construction as living quarters for full-time Swazi staff members. The Luke Commission thanks these men, women and their families for sharing their resources and their abilities. To God be the glory!
What’s on the Miracle Campus, thus far? A vehicle warehouse, a logistics nerve center building, staff housing, eleven containers full of supplies and materials, and the temporary office building which is a renovated dairy barn.
7 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 7
10/3/13 5:23 PM
Sp wh f def the -
Mother of Seven Faces Life Alone - Almost
ae es d in
C’s n vely ing a
rry
cting
ed ns ex time
men d
even
She is a pretty Swazi lady. Her greeting is a shy smile and a nod of her head. Probably 20 years ago as a young child, she curtsied whenever in the company of adults. But now at the age of 32, she is an HIV+ single mother of seven children. At a Luke Commission mobile hospital outreach, Mumcy brought two of her five sons to be circumcised. One boy Simiso is 12 years. The other, a baby boy Owenkosi, is 7 weeks old. “I want my children to fight the disease,” Mumcy tells the MC counselor. Her other three boys, ages 2, 5, and 10 years, will be circumcised in the future, if she has her way. Mumcy is grateful The Luke Commission came to her community Kambhoki in northeast Swaziland. “I cannot travel to the city.” The father of Mumcy’s first five children died in 2008. Mumcy tested positive for HIV in 2009 and began taking anti-retroviral drugs to bolster her immune system in 2011. She grins when she says all the children have been tested, except the baby, and all are negative. The father of the baby is “staying with his wife.” Parents of her late husband and her own parents are no longer living, so there’s no extended family assistance. Like most women in rural Swaziland communities, jobs are few and far between for Mumcy. “I am struggling,” she says simply as the cautious smile emerges again. Understatements abound here. “Sometimes I go to the maize fields, sometimes I help my sister and she gives me a little food. I take in washing and clean floors and sweep yards.” Her two oldest children are girls, ages 15 and 13. “They help me in my home,” which is a oneroom hut without electricity or running water. Both are in school, however, paid for by the Swazi government. The Luke Commission gives Mumcy a SiSwati Bible which she clutches to her chest and some clothes and blanket for her new baby. Asked if she knows Jesus loves her and desires to be her companion, she answers: “Yes, Jesus is always with me, but I do feel alone.” About 11 pm that evening, we watch Mumcy shuffle to a waiting bakkie (truck) to climb in the back for a ride home. She holds baby Owenkosi; her 13-year-old daughter carries the sleeping 2-yearold on her back; and the three other boys, including the newlycircumcised son, trail behind. They’re all in a cluster, huddled against a heavy rain which has drenched everyone for three hours. They’re a family, though, and families stick together. She smiles and offers a little wave - part curtsy as she passes our vehicle packed for the long drive back to TLC headquarters. By Janet Tuinstra
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; defend the rights of the poor and needy. - Proverbs 31:8,9 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 8
8 10/3/13 5:23 PM
A
C
HIV, TB, Male Circumcision & General Community Health Education
B
Public Health Screening & Treatment for School Children
A
PET Cart and Free Wheelchair Mission Construction, plus Mobility Assistance
8
B
C
room
Optical Department
9
Registration, Patient Intake & TB Screening
room
1
Portrait of a TLC Mobile Hospital at a Rural Swazi School room
9
room
1
Testing Room - Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar & HIV Testing
room
2
room
2
9 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 9
10/3/13 5:24 PM
room
room
8
room
7
6
room
8
B
Movie about the Life of Jesus
room
Surgical Registration, Pre-op & Post-op
7
room
6
Six-bed Surgical Unit - Adult & Newborn Male Circumcisions (Funded by PEPFAR/USAID), Minor Surgical & Medical Procedures
D room
4
room
5
room
5
room
3
Private HIV Counseling & Digital X-ray
Medical Consultation, Treatment & Prayer
3
room
TOMS速 Shoes Distribution
(window from Room 3) Pharmacy
room
4
D
10 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 10
10/3/13 5:24 PM
Another year with TLC. “Oh, yes!” exclaims Rebekah Sartori of Corbin, Kentucky. Rebekah’s duties extend far beyond her nursing abilities, as she supervises the procurement of food for all staff members and visitors. She also is the main contact person for all short-term visitors. This is her 3rd year in Swaziland. “TLC is always growing, changing, and looking to the next thing God has in store,” notes Rebekah. “Nothing is stagnant here.”
As exciting as the new Miracle Campus is, leaving the rented Luke Commission headquarters in Manzini after eight years was a little difficult. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually. Just a little… Everything from 40-ton containers to staff meetings to chickens had to be moved 20 kilometers
11 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 11
10/3/13 5:25 PM
sout grate Th
Tholie - “Give Ourselves” to Patients Tholakele Gama is head chef at The Luke Commission, a position in which she excels and enjoys. But her heart is at mobile hospital sites, particularly in registration. “Room 1 is the face of TLC,” she explains. “Many patients are scared, but they tell us we are different. Hopefully, they must see Jesus in our faces.” Obtaining accurate, detailed information from each patient is a TLC goal. “Dr. Harry needs good background. To get from our patients, we must first give ourselves to them. We must treat them with respect.” When Echo first took the staff to see the Miracle Campus, “she was so excited,” says Tholie. “Echo pushes us all and carries the Swazi nation on her shoulders.” She looks forward to a new kitchen at the Miracle Campus –“one with a big stove and a dining room to serve all our visitors.” Tholie and her husband have three daughters.
in
rs
south to Sidvokodvo. These photos simply give a hint of the complexity of the relocation. We are grateful to God for safety of all participants, dozens and dozens of them. The Luke Commission also thanks the Nazarenes of southern Africa for their hospitality.
12 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 12
10/3/13 5:25 PM
HIV+ Swazis Still Hide Status
None of Bongani’s grandparents are living, and he does not remember his father. He hopes to go to high school next year, but his mother does not have money to register him. He dreams of college, too. Mother and son were attending their first TLC clinic, “but we heard about The Luke Commission coming Just when we think the stigma against those with here last year.” HIV is collapsing, along come Bongani and his mother Knowing he needed to be circumcised now that Ngoliwe. his health had improved, Bongani was one of the first Echo first met Bongani when he was being schoolboys in line. “I was a little scared, but they were circumcised. Bongani understood everything Echo was nice to me,” he said of the TLC staff. saying and wanted to talk during surgery. “That was Both Bongani and Ngoliwe are believers. “We pray, unusual,” she laughed. “Usually we need our staff to pray, every day,” he declared. “Please just don’t tell translate even the simplest of instructions.” anyone I am HIV+. I must keep my status close.” Echo encouraged him: “Your English is excellent. “Your English is so good, I can offer you a job with Keep it up, my boy. If you want to go places, you must The Luke Commission when you graduate,” Echo told know English.” the boy. Later, Bongani and his mother Ngoliwe agreed to tell their stories. Both are HIV positive. Both have been taking antiretroviral medications for five years. They did not want their real names in print for others to see. “Some people are still afraid. So many are HIV+ and don’t tell,” said Ngoliwe, who was a part-time teacher at the school where the mobile hospital was being held that day. She had two more courses to complete before she could seek a full-time teaching position. “If they knew my status, they may start looking at me in a different way.” At age 13, Bongani is in the 7th grade, the last primary grade in Swazi schools. “I like school very much,” he said. He’s the “prefect” in his class, which means he is the student leader who exhibits exemplary conduct and has added responsibilities and privileges. Ngoliwe was not married to Bongani’s father, but she did care for him when his full-blown AIDS surfaced. “He only let anyone know he was sick until a month before he died,” she said. “When his father died, I realized we needed to be tested.” Ngoliwe’s CD4 was 93, dangerously low, and Bongani’s was 250, also low. Both required ARVs immediately. Ngoliwe was not working, but knew she must support her son and herself. She went back to school to become a teacher, agreeing to repay the government when she receives a teacher salary. 13 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 13
10/3/13 5:26 PM
he high oney
clinic, g
“God called me here to do whatever needs to be done,” said Melody Miller of Kalona, Iowa, who is in her second year as a full-time TLC international staff member. “My nursing skills have been greatly enhanced, but I also have become a logistics coordinator. That’s like being a ‘mom’ with an industrial flavor.” With an infectious laugh which bursts forth habitually, Melody credited TLC for teaching her “how to problem solve, communicate, work through conflict positively, and live a life with a positive outlook instead of complaining.”
t first were
ray, ell
with told
Visitors See Inside TLC A total of 124 short-term visitors participated in The Luke Commission mobile hospitals in 2013. Most were in Swaziland two or three weeks. Teams include Wright State University medical students; Cedarville University alumni; Cedarville University students; church members from Durban, South Africa, to Buffalo, New York; Mount Vernon Nazarene University students and faculty; Southern Nazarene University students and faculty; Students in Free Enterprise; Colorado builders; Sandpoint, Idaho medical personnel; plus 33 individuals. More than 300 additional visitors joined TLC for one outreach day. Thank you to several universities that have adopted TLC as their missions’ projects. We trust each one who traveled to Swaziland marvels at what God is accomplishing in the physical and spiritual well-being of people we have come to love and to respect.
Short-term medical school visitors from Wrig ht State University Boonshoft School of Medicine pack pills for the upcoming Luke Commission mobile hospital.
In humility, value others above yourselves. - Philippians 2:3
14 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 14
10/3/13 5:26 PM
2013 Stats of free services rendered at every mobile hospital outreach
11,875 – TB Screenings Completed 101,350 – Orphans & Vulnerable Children Given Clothes/Shoes 7,045 – Patients Tested & Counseled for HIV 650 – HIV Anti-retroviral Adherence Counseling Sessions Delivered 112 – Patients Counseled, Tested, Services at Follow-up Clinics 132 – Prevention-of-Mother-to-Child HIV Services Provided 64,780 – Male Circumcision/HIV Community Education & Counseling 320 – Wheelchairs/Adaptive Equipment Fitted 1,263 – Male Circumcisions Performed 32 – Minor Procedures Completed 43 – Surgeries Sponsored 52 – Cataracts Referred 6,765 – Eye Glasses Fitted 50,105 – Scripture Booklets/Books of Hope Given 24,326 – Blood Pressure & Sugar Tested 216,774 – Medical Packets Dispensed 36,129 – Medication Patients Treated 38 – Chronic Care Patients 1,547 – Laboratory Services Rendered 1,532 – HIV/TB Referrals Tracked 875 – Bibles Distributed 542 – X-rays Obtained 157,183 – Total Medical Services Provided
Tiffany Schleuter of Pevely, Missouri, joined the international TLC team in Swaziland in spring 2013. While serving in the Army Nurse Corps, Tiffany volunteered as TLC’s donor relations coordinator. Last January the army awarded Tiffany the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. Today in Swaziland, Tiffany still works in development, but on clinic days she uses her nursing skills in the male circumcision surgery unit. “God’s favor on TLC is so evident as He provides opportunities for further growth and, eventually, for replication in other countries” she said. 15 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 15
10/3/13 5:26 PM
How Far Can Your Heart Reach? Dollar for dollar, your gift reaches more Swazis than seems possible. $25/mo } HIV testing or TB Screening for 30 patients $200/mo } comprehensive healthcare for 100 patients $500 } reading glasses for 1,000 Swazis $10,000 } concrete slab for large warehouse for the Miracle Campus $20,000 } one comprehensive mobile hospital outreach delivering more than 2,650 medical services Please consider joining those who give monthly to The Luke Commission. Since 30% more patients have been treated this year, we need more help! Let your heart reach out consistently, month after month. Donate or join today at LukeCommission.org 16 TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 16
10/3/13 5:26 PM
PO Box 1335, Sagle, ID 83860
I’ve Got Shoes! The Luke Commission recently distributed thousands of new TOMS Shoes to all the children who come to medical outreach sites throughout Swaziland. TOMS is a One for One™ company that gives a pair of new shoes to children in need for every pair that is sold. Early in 2013, The Luke Commission received four, 40-foot containers full of new, black TOMS Shoes.
More than delighted to receive TOMS Shoes are these Swazi schoolgirls. One at a time, the boys will be fitted too.
Taken from atop Inyatsi Construction’s 3-story building, this view of children lining up to receive TOMS Shoes suggests the depth of this partnership with The Luke Commission. No one was left out.
PO Box 1335 Sagle, ID 83860 | 866.351.1254 | Info@LukeCommission.org | LukeCommission.org Box 7133, Manzini, Swaziland | 268-7641-7297 The Luke Commission is a registered 501(c)3 with the IRS. Donations are tax-deductible. TLC_Booklet_2013.indd 17
10/8/13 8:57 AM