Ambassadors of Hope
Nhlangano, eSwatini (formerly named Swaziland)
Celimphilo and Tamara Vilane, founding leaders
Three years ago, Celimphilo and his wife, Tamara chose to step out in faith and begin Ambassadors of Hope, a ministry to young adults in their country of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). They have proven themselves to be gifted leaders who are contagiously joyful, Spirit-filled, relational, visionaries and purpose-driven.
Celimphilo has been on staff with Adventures in Missions (AIM) for several years and Ambassadors of Hope (AOH) was started under the accountability of this well-known, very established international organization and their eSwatini-based leadership.
The following is quoted from the Vilane’s: “We have a dream to see the young people of our communities living their dreams, this is mostly because we know if the heart got the healing it needs and good morals are instilled we can break the cycle of HIV/AIDS, joblessness, poverty and vulnerability. Dreams can come to life, talents can be discovered and innovativeness can be on another level. This will be achieved through mentorship and leadership programs, income-generating projects and compassion ministry.”
Vision
To have responsible, innovative and successful citizens who pursue their God-given dream.
Core Values
- Integrity
- Responsibility
- Leadership
Objectives
- Facilitate mentorship for young people throughout their development stages and prepare them for the world outside.
- Assist young people to develop strong characters, good values, and moral standards.
- Provide programs that will enable young people to do community service.
- Empower young people to develop their communities through income-generating projects that will grow into Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
- Equip young people with leadership skills to enable them to cultivate new initiatives to develop their communities.
- Connect young people to the corporate world and open an opportunity for them to practice their dream careers.
- Instill good values to young people through AOH Mentorship and Outreach.
Ambassadors of Hope purpose and overview (written by Celimphilo and Tamara Vilane)
The Ambassadors of Hope is a Christian-based program that focuses on young people’s character formation and exists to bring a new wave of responsible citizens, a generation of leaders who will lead with integrity, fearing the Lord. The focus of this program is beyond borders, race, denomination, and language.
Integrity, Responsibility, and Leadership are key.
The program is conducted in three major stages and all these stages are in one year since the program runs for eight months each year. For these eight months, we stay with the students 24/7, we feed them, shelter them, and model the life we are instilling to them.
First stage – Character formation and self-discovery
Second stage – Community transformation and self-development
Third stage – Corporate world practice (apprenticeship and living the dream)
Strengths
- AOH is spearheaded by innovative young people with the help of influential members of communities and the organization’s leaders.
- AOH is a dream of the people from the continent of Africa, who grew up in the communities and who understand and know the challenges faced by their communities.
- People of all ages support the vision because it will benefit the communities as a whole.
- AOH is founded on firm Christian values that promote hard work, teamwork, and good character development.
- It is composed of young people with various gifts and talents, which they will use as tools to grow the organization.
- We trust God for good and deserving students each year.
Weaknesses
- Our organization relies on funding from outside, for now, in the beginning.
- We don’t have our own base, but we are renting someone’s property and that limits us from doing other things
- We currently don’t have support to grow the organization.
Solutions (from Mary Conrad – [email protected])
I have experienced, first hand, the ministry of the Vilane’s and have had the privilege of meeting their AOH students the past two summers. While they are just beginning this ministry, I do believe their vision is God-given and they are gifted to be leading it.
- Celimphilo and Tamara have limited access to anyone outside of eSwatini. As such, their opportunities for raising support are quite limited. Their friends and family in Africa do not have the resources to commit to regular support.
- Celimphilo is receiving a small salary from AIM. This salary is not a sufficient amount, even by Eswatini standards, for a family of four with their caliber of skills.
- If you want to make a single or ongoing donation, you can do so at https://thevilane.myadventures.org (cut and paste the link)
