The story of El Shaddai begins with its South African founder, Charmaine. In 1999, Charmaine found herself widowed with a three year old child at the age of 26. She felt a tugging on her heart to build and run an orphanage in Swaziland.
Swaziland is a country with an abundance of orphans with nowhere to turn, since the government ignores the growing numbers of parentless children throughout the nation. Charmaine registered a non-profit organization, and laid the foundations of a few buildings on a hillside near Mbabane.
El Shaddai’s welcome sign
Shortly after this, the progress on building El Shaddai was halted, as Charmaine temporarily moved her family to Mozambique to work with another Christian ministry. Although she was still a missionary, she was ignoring God’s call for her in Swaziland, and He did not bless her work there. Her disobedience caused some unfortunate events, and nearly cost her family their lives.
El Shaddai children singing at our Christmas service for the community
After a few years, Charmaine and her family returned to Swaziland to continue the work God had begun with them there. They walked up the mountain they had laid foundations on already and stopped at the top. The Lord asked them to build El Shaddai there, and they did. With only $40 of monthly support to build on, they began the ministry that still remains today.
My teammate Shelby with one of the sweethearts living at El Shaddai
The World Race has been sending teams to El Shaddai for several years. This month, T-Squad has been thrilled to partner with this children’s home. They have helped raise many kids since their start in the early 2000s, and they are currently housing 96 orphans.
El Shaddai’s Clinic
To find out more about El Shaddai, feel free to visit their website at http://www.elshaddaiswazi.org/
There are also links to donate to their ministry if you feel led.
Please join me in praying for the following needs at El Shaddai:
-Teachers to provide the children with a free, quality education in a kind environment
-A full-time doctor to run the small clinic at El Shaddai, which is also a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the community
-More sponsors to help support the financial needs of El Shaddai and the children who live here
-Strength and encouragement for Charmaine and the long-term missionaries and volunteers living at El Shaddai
-A cow to provide daily milk for the children, and a way to introduce meat into the kids’ weekly diets (Right now, meat, milk, and many other nutritious foods are simply too expensive to have consistently, and are only a part of special meals like for holidays.)
Vuyisile and me after a hike (You can see El Shaddai’s several buildings in the background)
