Our Collective Mission to Empower Health and Healing in Eswatini

We are committed to supporting Eswatini in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and non-communicable diseases through comprehensive healthcare initiatives. Additionally, we work to protect and care for women and children survivors of abuse, ensuring they have access to the support and safety they need to rebuild their lives. Through our combined efforts in health and protection, we strive to create a stronger, safer, and healthier future for all.

Our Partners

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Join Us In Eswatini

Bethany First Church is sending a mission team to Eswatini in July 2025 and we need the support of people just like you. The team will serve at Haven of Hope, a home for female survivors of abuse and human trafficking. We’ll minister to at-risk children through Child Development Centres (CDC) and local homes, and assist with renovations at the Southern Africa Nazarene University School of Theology.

Learn More

Application

Please submit applications to Gaylene Simms and gsimms@bethanynaz.org.

Today’s Efforts

A woman painting animal designs on a classroom wall next to a chalkboard.

Doctor examining a child with a stethoscope at a medical clinic.

Over 800 people from Bethany First Church and other partners have volunteered on short-term teams that build, paint, clean and serve in clinics, schools, churches and at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital (RFM). Teams have built medical clinics, church buildings, and safe spaces for Swazi people to receive holistic care.

The Eswatini Partnership has received support from organizations like Heart to Heart International, Dean McGee Eye Institute, and churches in California, Kansas, Texas, and Canada.

Short-Term Teams and Partners

Join a team

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Two-story pink building with a metal ramp and multiple windows, in a rural setting with trees in the background.

A group of people engaged in an outdoor painting activity, using canvases and paintbrushes, seated at a table with blue cups and paper plates under a white tent canopy.

Gender-based violence and human trafficking are two prominent issues for the Swazi population, specifically, for women and girls in the region. Our partnership with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries of Eswatini made the idea for a home for victims of abuse and human trafficking possible.

Haven of Hope was built in 2019 as a home for survivors of abuse to find safety and spiritual, mental, and medical care. At its maximum capacity, Haven of Hope is called home by 24 women and girls.

Haven of Hope

You make stories like Manessi’s possible.

A woman in a denim jacket stands beside a seated person with a blurred face wearing a red hoodie and holding a large red and gray backpack. They are outside next to a tan wall and open wooden door. A black bag and sandals are on the ground.

Join the effort to make a difference in the lives of women like Manessi.

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A Uniquely Nazarene History

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People gathered outside a building in a rural area with hills in the background, several cars, and a small blue structure nearby.

The first missionary for the Church of the Nazarene in Eswatini, Rev. Harmon Schmelzenbach, arrived with his family in Piggs Peak in the northern mountainous area of Swaziland (now Eswatini) in December 1910.

An Early Vision - 1909

Southern Africa Nazarene University building with banner displaying 'SANU'

Black and white image showing a crowded hospital ward with several patients lying on beds and the floor. Medical staff in white coats are attending to patients.

Generations later, the reach of Schmelzenbach’s ministry has expanded to include a Nazarene university called Southern Africa Nazarene University, five high schools, 43 primary schools, 150 churches in 4 districts of Eswatini, Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital (RFM), and 20 rural clinics. In many communities you will see a clinic, a school and a church. All of this network throughout Eswatini represents our official partners.

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Three smiling women standing together indoors, with one pregnant woman wearing a yellow "New Bottoms" shirt.

Dr. David Busic, former Lead Pastor of Bethany First Church, and Dr. Loren Gresham, former President of Southern Nazarene University, had a vision to reach out to Eswatini, the country with the highest rate of HIV and TB in the world. They were welcomed by Swazi health, education, and church leaders. BFC recruited missions partners, formed an Eswatini Leadership Council, and set about enlisting local medical professionals, business leaders, and other willing and talented people to join the effort in Eswatini.