Missions

When looking up information on missions in Swaziland I will be honest not much popped up which was frustrating to say the least, but what I did find was the earliest reported missionaries were in 1844. The missionaries that came to Swaziland were the Wesleyans who though they had a late start became the most dominant missionary group in Swaziland. Their churches started out small but continued to grow and expand over the years, and later in the 1920's we see the Catholics show up in Swaziland. There was a gentlemen's agreement among the missionaries since there were so many that they would take away any converts from each other.

With Swaziland a predominately Christian nation we continue to see missionaries in the small nation, but more medical missions. One of the biggest reasons for this is because of HIV/Aids this small nation has the highest levels of HIV cases in the world. So you see medical missions popping up to help combat this by treating those with HIV and teaching them ways to prevent getting Aids by changing their lifestyles from a spiritual perspective. These medical missions treat other problems as well since affordable medical care is hard to come by. One medical missions I follow is the Luke Commission because a friend of mine works for them. The miracles I been able to read about and the smiles they bring to those people is amazing and I hope God continues to bless them and help them grow to help save more people for his kingdom.

Bibliography

Swaziland Digital Archives. n.d. http://sntc.org.sz/sdphotos/photo.asp?pid=626 (accessed February 26, 2017).

The Luke Commision Compassionate Medicine. n.d. http://lukecommission.org/ (accessed February 26, 2017).

First Contacts

So Swaziland had initial contact with the Europeans in the 1830's specifically the British as the Boers who were Dutch from northern Africa. I could not find the main reasons for the British in coming but they were already in South Africa at this point and were taking up land in Swaziland. One of Swaziland's main natural resource is their forest so this  and territorial expansion could have been the reason for them coming to Swaziland. Relations between Swaziland and the British had been strained because of this land succession and the administration from Britain.

The British appeared under Mswati's reign after his death the Swazis, British, and South Africans reached agreements on independence, resources, authority, and security. The end result was South Africa had control from 1894-1902 when the British took over. The British remained in control for over 20 years under Queen Regent Lobatsibeni, Sobhuza II  Swaziland established its first legislative body where in 1944 it was said only the King or chief had the authority over Swaziland.

So in the 1960's during the apartheid Britain expected Swaziland to become apart of South Africa and worried the increase in racial discrimination would cause problems for them so they began preparing Swaziland for Independence. So on September 6, 1968 Swaziland declared their independence from Britain.



Bibliography

"A Brief History of Swaziland." about education. n.d. http://africanhistory.about.com/od/swaziland/p/SwazilandHist1.htm (accessed February 20, 2017).

"Swaziland." Countries and their Cultures. n.d. http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Swaziland.html (accessed February 20, 2017 ).

Natural Resources and Trade

Swaziland has many natural resources but the ones they are most known for are their forest and coal.

The forest of Swaziland are known for their pine and eucalyptus and home to some of the largest planted forest spanning 397,839 acres.

The main colliery in Swaziland is the Maloma colliery and it produces anthracite

There are many other natural resources such as asbestos, gold, diamonds, quarry stone, talc, clay, cassiterite, and hydropower.

The forest in Swaziland has been the biggest change over the years in the fact they have decreased while the number in other countries in South Africa have increased in 1990 it was said there were 160,000 by 1995 135,000 and that number has for the most part stayed the same. These forest help create financial capital for Swaziland. However, South Africa is the main driving force for domestic commerce, and the most developed distribution routes connect to South Africa. Even in foreign trade most imports originated or were transit through South Africa.

Bibliography

Bikalemesa, John Muhaise. "Natural Resources of Swaziland." Fortune of Africa. n.d. http://fortuneofafrica.com/swaziland/2014/02/07/natural-resources-of-swaziland/ (accessed February 13, 2017).

Gale, Thomas. Swaziland. n.d. http://www.encyclopedia.com/places/africa/swaziland-political-geography/swaziland#DOMESTIC_TRADE (accessed February 13, 2017).

Industrial Tree Plantations Invading Eastern & Southern Africa. n.d. http://wrm.org.uy/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2016-10-Plantations-in-ES-Africa-TW-WRM-med-screen.pdf (accessed February 13, 2017).

Swaziland Religion

Swaziland is predominately a Christian nation with about 40% of its population as Zionist. Zionist are a mix of Christian and indigenous ancestral worship. Roman Catholicism makes up 20% of the nation and 10% Muslim. There are many other Christian religions practiced in Swaziland, but the few I named are the main ones.

In going back to religion and some of their practices many in Zwaziland go to the tinyanga pictured above which are traditional healers those who use natural medicines and rituals for their cures. The Diviners known as tangoma are said to be more powerful than healers and are possessed.

Also witchcraft and sorcery are big in Swaziland pictured above is a witchdoctor and a snake for a ritual.

Finally a strange ritual that goes along with the witchcraft and sorcery they have in Swaziland is the practice of Muti murders. This is where animals or people are killed for their body parts for spells and medicines.

One of the most important traditions to them though is the practice in staying in touch with their ancestors dealing with the supernatural. The head male of the home is the one who stays in contact with their ancestors.

Bibliography

"Swaziland." Countries and their Cultures. n.d. http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Swaziland.html (accessed February 6, 2017).

"Swaziland-Religions." Nations Encyclopedia. n.d. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Swaziland-RELIGIONS.html (accessed February 6, 2017).