This year saw another new development at Face The Nation. We are always growing, developing and being moved out of our comfort zones! The leadership of Face The Nation and other members of Open Baptist Church did all of the leadership training for our Facilitators. We praise God for an excellent 2 weeks of training and that after 3 years we have been able to take ownership of this, make it our own and put our own flavour to it. Our humble thanks to Donna Chisam, Terry and Mary- Lou Herald, Craig Whittaker and Joel Carwile, partners from the US, who did the training for 3 years and laid a solid, godly foundation for us to build on.

Once again the generosity of the church family, with monetary donations, gifts, teas and lunches provided made the training possible.

We at Face the Nation are celebrating our 5th year anniversary!!!
So, watch this post.

3 former Volunteers Become Facilitators!
Our leadership training for our 5 new Facilitators and 2 new Rally Team leaders began on Monday 23 February and will conclude on 6 March. Three of leaders being training were FTN volunteers in 2008. We are so encouraged by this!

We are excited to have some ardent supporters of Face The Nation here with us to conduct the bulk of this training. They are Donna Chisam (TIME Ministries) Terry and Mary-Lou Herald (Whiteburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, Alabama) and Joel Carwile (Valley View Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky). Please pray for us and this training over the next 2 weeks.

Director Retires and Ushers in a New Director
In December David Odhuno, who has ably led the program for the past 2 years resigned. This was not unexpected. David was seconded to Face The Nation by Navigators, Botswana. Their work has grown sufficiently that he is now needed full time developing this ministry. We praise God that he has raised up another godly man to take David’s place. Modise Mokgwathise, a citizen of Botswana, was a facilitator with Face The Nation in 2008 is fitting in well as the new Director.

Additional of a Facilitator to Office Staff
We also welcomed onto our staff Maria Phiri. Maria was also a facilitator in 2008. She is an experienced teacher and has come on board to develop the curriculum, teaching kits and to help leader to the newly appointed facilitators for 2009.

Face the Nation 2009 is off to a roaring start.

By the first week of January we started receiving applications for facilitators. The response has been positive. We have been especially encouraged by those applicants who were in Face the Nation as volunteers. It is evidence of growth and maturity in the people that do join our family and a testimony to their dedication to making this nation better.

On Monday 19 January 2009 we will start the recruitment drive for FTN 2009 volunteers. This promises to be truly exciting!!

We will definitely keep you posted!!!!

May the God Lord richly bless you in this new year, and please do keep us in your prayers.

This is our most exciting recent development!

The concept of a club on the university campus was
birthed this time a year ago.

A number of people have worked exceptionally hard
at bringing this to fruition.

Our thanks go to our church elder Akin Adedoyin and to
other OBC members who are also on the UB staff for putting
the constitution together and making this happen.

Brian Lee, a US volunteer 2007, from Johnson Ferry
Baptist Church is doing some credits for one semester at UB,
with his aim being the establishment of this FTN Club, the
training and mentoring of the committee. He is doing a great job!

The official launch of the club is Thursday 25 September.
Former President Masire, who is the patron of Face
The Nation will be our keynote speaker.

We are also expecting a number of dignitaries from
both government and the University to attend this function.

We are excited that FTN is being taken to yet another level.
We are thrilled that the volunteers are taking ownership of
the programme.

We are prayerful that the message of hope and
behavioural change through Jesus, is going to reaching
another sector of the population of Botswana.

We are trusting that the club will put us in a stronger position to obtain funding for FTN.

Last month Tirelo Ramsden, our office administrator, tied the knot with Peter Miano. Both Tirelo and Peter were facilitators during FTN 2007 and their romance blossomed during the FTN active phase.

Congratulations you two:-)

This though is not the first FTN wedding. Ngugi and Lieki, who were both facilitators in FTN 2007 got married this year March! Exciting stuff!!!

Saturday the 3rd August 2008 saw FTN 2008 volunteers gathered together for the last time.

It was a time of sharing, swapping war stories and generally comparing notes on some generally hair raising experiences that all the volunteers had gone through.

Like the time the North rally team was traveling from Kang to Gantsi and their trailer had a tire burst!!! The phh-a-a-t, phh-a-at, phh-a-a-t they all heard was the tattered remains of the trailer’s rear wheel.

Or the time in Letlhakane they lived in a real , honest to goodness haunted house!!! The minute their rallies were finished in the left town and didn’t go back to that house!!! They did pray for it but decided that they could handle only one battle a time .

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.”