Although there was a good response to the abstinence message and large numbers of youth were making pledges for sexual purity, there was a deplorable lack of interest in the salvation message. The Palapye team had even sent prayer requests so that this situation could be remedied.
Well, the prayers have been answered and the latest report is that 278 students have committed their lives to the Lord in that one school!!!!
A staff member in one school, on reflecting on the positive influence of FTN in the school, said that the year before FTN volunteers were sent to his school there were 35 reported cases of pregnancy. Since the programme has started in the school the rates have gone down to almost zero. FTN is really making a huge difference.
World Vision in connection with Willow Creek church in the US has held an international competition for churches who are taking an initiative against the AIDS pandemic. It is called the Courageous Leadership Award. Open Baptist Church entered Face The Nation for the competition. I quote from the letter received from them today….
“Through what has been a thorough, careful, thoughtful and prayerful process, we have finally identified our top three finalists. While Open Baptist did not qualify in the group of finalists, the Selection Committee felt that it deserved a Special Recognition Award. Both Committees were impressed by what your small church has been able to accomplish and they loved the local school emphasis—educating the next generation. Well done!
The awards will be presented at a dinner……… Open Baptist will be recognized at that dinner. The winners of the 2008 CLA will be announced during the Leadership Summit session the next day in front of 80,000 church leaders from all over the world. As a Special Recognition church, Open Baptist will also be featured on the Courageous Leadership Award website.
Congratulations!! We wish you God’s best as you continue your efforts to be the hands and feet of Christ addressing the greatest humanitarian disaster this world has even seen.”
Once the students have made this life altering pledge for sexual purity they bombard our volunteers with a myriad of questions
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Moeding College, a senior secondary school located in the sleepy village of Otse, has been the hub of activity as young people took a positive step in reclaiming a hope filled future. Three hundred and twenty one of them made the pledge for sexual purity. And by honouring this pledge they will rest assured that they will not fall prey to teen-age pregnancies, contract HIV/AIDS or even get infected with the numerous STI’s, some of which are debilitating and even life threatening.
Brandy,our USA volunteer, was so excited last week at leading a student to the Lord. Well, that student went and told her best friend about Jesus. Both students then came to Brandy and she led the best friend to the Lord too. Doubtlessly, they are all very excited!!!
Mean while, due north, near the village of Tonota, a university of Botswana student doing their teaching practice was also led to the Lord by one of our volunteers.
And back in Moeding, where 321 students pledged to a life style of Sexual purity, there were 286 commitments to the Lord!!! That is quite amazing!!!
These guys are not going to be left on the lurch when the program comes to an end. This year our volunteers were given follow up bible studies material to give to the newly committed Christians. Through our partnership with Youth For Christ the new believers will get regular encouragement, advice and additional bible study material through the year through our correspondence.
As our north rally team zip and zapped through rallies in towns small and large, Suzzane Taylor tagged along capturing raw footage, with her handy camera, which she hopes to turn into a documentary. She would like this documentary on HIV/AIDS to be refreshingly different and with FTN being a program that focuses on sexual- purity she is not far from her goal.
She experienced first hand the inner workings of a rally team by traveling and living with them for 3 weeks. It was crazy at times, a hectic travel schedule, squashed in a 13 seater van, sleeping in tents in the freezing cold, getting home too tired to cook but too hungry not to cook, but through it all she experienced the passion and faith that drives our volunteers and the essence of what Face The Nation stands for: giving it all for the sake of others.
Who is she? She is a young lady from one of our partner churches in the USA, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, where she is pursuing her masters in documentary filming. . She is hoping, in time to be able to enter it into student film festivals and of course to make copies available to us for our resource centre.
Salvation
· News is coming in on a daily basis of students giving their lives to the Lord. This is being done in groups and individually.
· Brandy, our US volunteer led a girl to the Lord. Her comment: “My trip has been worth it for this.”
· In Shoshong, the Scripture Union held their own outreach last week end, with the FTN volunteers and they have made a request for 50 extra Bibles.
· In Letlhakane, the team believe they are starting to see the harvest. People’s hearts are being opened and even a teacher has asked for counselling.
· There has been similar feedback from Moeng.
· The Rally Teams are also reaping a harvest. At the Gabane taxi rank, 30 people gave their lives to the Lord after an open air rally.
· In Mochudi, which is normally considered a tough school, the Rally team reported their best rally ever with 187 giving their lives to the Lord and responding to the pledge to sexual purity.
· As far as possible follow up Bible Studies are being done with the students.
· Please pray for the team in Palapye. They have reported that students are signing up for sexual purity. They are sharing the gospel one on one with every student that comes forward but the response to the salvation message is extremely slow
WHEW!!!
· This is the sentiment of many reports. The pace is increasing and there is more and more pressure on the volunteers. As they are winning the confidence of students, so the demand to counsel increases. Some of the cases that they are counselling require a counsellor with a PhD and years of experience!
· There is also more and more demand to be doing programs in the SU, PACT and Abstinence Clubs.
· The most common comment that accompanies the “Whew!” is “By the grace of God we keep going and He gives us the strength and the wisdom.”
· In Kang the volunteers have already counselled 32 students concerning sexual relationships.
· Please pray for ongoing grace, strength and wisdom as these young, brave people walk in territory where most would fear to tread.
PROUD LEADERS
· Pastor Norman has just made a trip to Francistown and David is currently doing a round the country trip. They have both proudly given feedback from the schools they have visited. Staff and principals alike have raved about the volunteers- how well they know their subject, how well they teach, how well they are conducting themselves. They are very excited about Face The Nation. Teachers are sitting in on lessons to learn and observe.
GOODHOPE
· This is a school near Lobatse that had a shaky opening at the beginning of the year.
· We decided not to send volunteers there because they were just getting going themselves.
· On a courtesy visit they begged us to send in volunteers and had already organised accommodation for the volunteers.
· In Moeding the volunteers do not have a full teaching schedule and so these volunteers are working in both schools.
· We have put out an appeal for old clothes, blankets and schools bags to be donated to this community, as it is very poor. Donations are coming in at a steady rate. Thank you!
· The deputy principal welcomed the volunteers and said, “You couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.”
· They had their first day of teaching today.
EXAM TIMETABLES
· Many schools are cutting the teaching programme short because of changes to the exam timetable.
· This is very frustrating for the volunteers and is putting them under a lot of pressure to condense 5 lessons into 4 or even 3.
· Some schools are also cancelling or trying to postpone rallies for the same reason. This is making life a challenge for the rally teams.
PLEASE PRAY
The harvest field is enormous and ripe but the labourers are few. Pray for our labourers. Pray for their continued protection.
Yours in Face The Nation Gail Wingreen
· Okavango School in Maun (private school) has only 2 days of Guidance and Counselling lessons. The volunteers from this school are helping out on the other 3 days at Maun Senior Secondary School (SSS) on the other days. This is a double shift school and therefore demanding on the volunteers.
· In Kang the volunteers were asked to write an article about the purpose of their visit for a paper.
· In Shashe Hill (Tonata), Moeding College and Mater Spei (Francistown) extra lessons are being taught during study time.
· Volunteers are finding Pam Stenzel’s book “Sex has a Price tag” an excellent resource
· The grandmother of a volunteer in Moeng has passed away.
· Scripture Union Clubs and Abstinence Clubs around the country are being revived.
· The SU Club at Naledi SSS (Gaborone) meets every day for prayer
· The SU Club in Selebi-Phikwe is taking up the challenge of supporting those who gave their lives to the Lord or pledged to a life of sexual purity at the rally in their school.
· Volunteers at St Joseph’s College (Gaborone) are coaching basketball and helping in the Poetry Club
· At Naledi SSS (Gaborone) volunteers are helping with fund raising ideas for the Red Cross Club , to support those less fortunate than themselves and working in the Edu –Confidence Club- a peer mentoring club to build confidence in others
· Due to teaching taking a while to get started in some schools, lessons 1 & 2 are being condensed into 1 lesson.
These were the words that a rally volunteer heard on her cell from a student that she counselled at FTN in 2007, in Selebi-Phikwe. She has maintained contact with this student all year. This student’s mother had just passed away and suicide was the best option available to her in her moment of anguish. Much prayer and maintaining contact with her throughout the day averted the crisis. A volunteer in Selebi-Phikwe was put in contact with her. She was able to spend time with her over the week end and then get her connected with some support through the school on Monday morning. Please pray for the volunteers as they walk this road with this young girl.
