From:Mark and Debbie Blosser
          Your Missionaries in Swaziland

Peter, Mark, Debbie in front of Beehive hut with friends Deon and Nadia.

Greetings from Swaziland once again! By the time you get this letter you should be coming out of your winter while we are heading into ours. We're thankful that the weather is getting a bit cooler, as we have had some unusually hot months. The rains have not been good this year and this part of Africa may be in for a very severe dry spell and famine. In November we usually receive around 12 inches, but this year only 1.5 inches came. The river which runs by our transmitter site is very low and may completely dry up, which is very unusual.

Swaziland is a beautiful country when you view it from the outside, but has many serious problems. The greatest of these is a pandemic of the HIV virus and AIDS. Some say 40 - 50% of the people are HIV positive. This is causing huge problems within the family structure. The number of orphans is skyrocketing. There is a massive need for orphanages to care for the many children being left behind. Our staff is starting an effort do what we can to help. To start with, we invited a pastor to speak to us and tell us what he is experiencing as he tries to help many orphans in his area of the country. His descriptions were heart wrenching. A number of households are headed by 13 to 15 year olds and even five year old children are forced take on adult roles and collect firewood and do the cooking, as there is no one else left! In a few weeks we will be going to see for ourselves and take what food, clothing and blankets we have collected. This past week I heard that the population of Swaziland may shrink from just less than a million, to half a million.

What is being done about the problem? Sad to say, but most organizations are promoting condoms. This is actually making the problem worse. Uganda has been able to bring their infection rate down from 30% to 6%, but it was done by telling the people to abstain from sex outside of marriage. Isn't it interesting that when God's laws are followed, it makes real change? Please pray that Trans World Radio and the church will be able to get the truth out in an effective way.

Peter: In a few weeks we'll be meeting Peter again when he comes home for his last one-month break from Rift Valley Academy. During this break we will be taking a vacation and driving down to Cape Town with another family. It's the last chance Peter will have to see that part of South Africa before graduating from high school and starting college in August. Peter surprised us by being inducted into the honor society on March 5th. Of course, we are proud of him and congratulate him on this success! Please continue to pray as he decides where he will attend college. At this point he is considering three options: LeTourneau University in Texas, Calvin College in Michigan, and John Brown University in Arkansas.

Antenna Work: We have continued to make progress with our towers and antennas. Since writing last, we put up a second tower and one antenna and took down an old tower. We have two more towers and two antennas to put up at the transmitter site. A small tower (part of the one we took down) and an FM antenna needs to be installed in Maputo, Mozambique and a number of FM antennas and transmitters installed in Malawi, where TWR is installing an FM network. So there is plenty to do before we leave for our furlough in July!

Mark and Debbie Blosser

Read about Trans World Radio at : www.twr.org