The Swaziland Reformed Church was initially formed in 1946 as part of the missionary outreach of the Dutch Reformed Church in Swaziland. The autonomous Swaziland Reformed Church was formed in 1991. They have four congregations which is further divided into 24 different preaching posts all over the country. The two ministers, three evangelists, seven untrained full time workers and three tent-makers serve some 1,200 members and regular attenders. The churches meet annually in a synod. They have adopted the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort as their doctrinal standards.

Swaziland has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection in the world. In this country, with a population of less than one million, people are dying at a rate of between 80 and 100 per day due to AIDS! As church, we have felt that it is our obligation to preach against immorality, which is the main cause of the spreading of the disease, but we have also decided to reach out to those who are infected and affected by the disease. (It is estimated that for every person infected with the HI virus, twenty other people are affected by it.)

Miss Evelyn Mngomezulu has been appointed to work on a full-time basis with AIDS patients in one of the major hospitals in Manzini, Swaziland. She has also started to expand her work to people in homesteads. Her work includes spiritual and pastoral counseling of patients and their family members, as well as training in home-based care, as the hospitals cannot cope with the great number of patients in the country.

The Shiselweni congregation, located in the southern part of Swaziland has now also adopted a policy of focussing on those suffering due to HIV/AIDS as well as other life-threatening diseases. A Home-based caring program is being implemented with the intention of serving not only suffering church members but all people within the community surrounding the church. Around thirty people are being used as volunteers in this program. At present the work is focuessed mainly in one area within the congregation, but as soon as this project has proved to be successful, the intention is to start with similar projects in other areas of the congregation.

For more information about this ministry or other work and needs in Swaziland, please contact Arnau van Wyngaard or visit their web site, http://www.swazimission.co.za/