In January, Africa South Field Strategy Coordinator Mashangu Maluleka stumbled across a church project that inspired him. While driving through Swaziland, he noticed a church that was under construction. People were hard at work in the scorching sun, he said.

He saw a sign for a Nazarene primary school nearby and realized that the new building must be for a Nazarene church.

Touched by the dedication and commitment of the workers, Maluleka stopped by. He learned that the church, the Mafutseni Church of the Nazarene on the Swaziland Central District, had been raising money and working toward the construction of this building for almost five years. The congregation had outgrown the original church building, established by a missionary in 1968.  

"What blessed me was instead of trying to ask someone to do something or write to whoever missionary who built them the first church, ... (the) pastor just mobilized the people to start fundraising," Maluleka said. "And it is that initiative, it is that willingness to giving what they could and trusting God with the rest, that's what I want to support. That's what I want to be part of."

The next step of construction is to build the church's roof. The congregation has raised 40 percent of the amount needed, and the Africa South Field has agreed to fund the rest using Alabaster funds.

"We give thanks to the Africa South Field for the help she is giving us to roof the church of God," said Pastor Zanele Mavuso. "We really believe that if God has opened the door, no one has the power to close it."

Maluleka encourages these type of partnerships between the region or field and the local church. When church members participate in raising money and working on the project, they have a sense of ownership of the building, he said. This inspires them to maintain the building, rather than feeling like it's the region's church and the region's responsibility to take care of it. 

But more importantly, Maluleka said, partnerships develop a heart for giving within churches. 

"After they have received and seen the power of partnership, their giving mentality to help others improves," he said. "So in that way you are building a stronger army towards the fulfillment of the mission of the Church."

TEAMWORK

The roughly 150-person congregation at the Mafutseni church has doubled since 2009, Pastor Mavuso said. In 2009, they moved the Sunday service into the Nazarene primary school and started using the old church building for children's church. But they soon outgrew that space, too.

Church members have come up with creative ways to raise money and help out. They hosted monthly Shisanyamas (a braai or barbecue), donated farm animals for auctions, brought bags of cement to church each week, and asked for donations from individuals. Those who were unemployed donated their time by making bricks, helping with construction, or preparing food for the construction workers.The congregation started a fundraising campaign in 2010 for a new building that could seat 1,000 people, and two years later they had enough money to pour a foundation. Then, after more than a year of additional fundraising, they had enough to build the walls.

By the grace of God, the pastor said, two men from the Church of the Nazarene in the Swaziland East District offered to build the church at no charge.

CHURCH GROWTH

When asked why her church continued to grow, Pastor Mavuso highlighted its outreach to the community.

"The church membership is growing since the members are the ones who are doing the discipleship themselves," she said.

Each month, the church invites the men of the community for a time of fellowship in which they eat a cow's head together. Many non-Christians attend and learn about the love of God, she said.

In women's ministry, church members buy second-hand clothing and invite the mothers of the community to come pick up clothes for their children.

"The church has become the place of refuge because the church provides (for the) physical and spiritual needs of the community," Pastor Mavuso said. "This has made the community see the church as a place of peace and love. So they join the church with all their hearts."

--Church of the Nazarene Africa Region via Out of Africa