This is the speech that was delivered by Oaitse Phikane, one of our volunteers, at the Commissioning Service.

Face The Nation is truly a “God thing” that makes me speechless. I first learnt and heard about FTN in 2006 and 2007 when I was doing my Form 4 and 5 at Moeding College. The Rally Team presented drama and dance. We were all excited to see young people like us preaching Abstinence and most importantly preaching Christ. The people who were in the Rally Team included Kefilwe and Vivien and these women I still look up to, even up to today. In 2006 I remember one guy Clive came to my class and taught us life skills and study skills. These study skills included mind mapping, which I still use even today and it really helps. In 2007, a team of four ladies came to our school. The ones I remember are Noma, Neo and Amo. They were wonderful and introduced us to a message of Abstinence. I had an opportunity of signing up a True Love Waits card and making a pledge to be sexually pure until marriage, and I still have that card (at this point Oaitse held up her pledge card) and I am going to give it to my marriage partner, to show that I have been sexually pure, waiting for him.

In Moeding College 2007, I was the church prefect and Scripture Union Chairlady, therefore I worked closely with the FTN team. They taught me leadership skills and these ladies were always available to laugh, cry, eat and pray with me. They helped me to grow personally and spiritually and it was for these reasons that I wanted to enrol in the university to become part of this life changing program called Face The Nation. In 2009 I had the opportunity to be part of FTN and ever since FTN has become my second home. A home where I have been trained as a child to fear the Lord, to love Him and most importantly to serve Him with my all. FTN has opened my spiritual eyes and has trained me to be a servant to all. Teaching and doing counselling in Matsha College in 2009 and 2010 has allowed me to give back what was planted in my life in 2006 and 2007 to these precious kids. The study skills that Clive taught me in Moeding and all the teachings from School of Discipleship, I was able to invest into the lives of these kids. I am still in touch with many kids from Matsha and I mainly do counselling on the phone. These past 3 weeks were truly phenomenal. I am so grateful to God for using all the lecturers to speak into my life.

The first week with Student Leadership University was a great experience. These men of God challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and do my best for the glory of God. Fresh Start challenged me in the area of forgiveness. I have been hurt in the past and found it difficult to forgive because some of the people who hurt me are Christians. It was during the Fresh Start week that I got my deliverance and total healing. This last week has challenged me to actually dare to be different and to go out and live the talk. I have learnt that I am unique, fearfully and wonderfully made, so people should see Christ in my life. I am going to take all the teachings I got from FTN to reach UB for Christ, because “I am in UB, but not of UB.” I am so grateful to have a family like FTN and this is thanks to OBC for such a “Big Programme.” Some of the people who have kept me focused and nurtured my faith include my Prayer Partners in 2009 Mr and Mrs Ephraim Nkomo, my spiritual mothers, Sylvia Neo Kadi, Gail, Aunty Maria and Tirelo.

Their smiles and prayers have kept me going. Moruti Mokgwathise has been a father figure in my life. Face The Nation brothers and sisters in the past years, my current Prayer Partners Dr and Mrs Boadi, are truly a blessing. Mr Lenos Ngugi and my dear friend Lame have also played a role in my Christian walk, they are true prayer warriors. My prayer truly is to see FTN growing international. I am not ashamed to say, “I am what I am, because of Face The Nation.” Thank you. Oaitse was one of the 7 volunteers voted onto the committee of the FTN Club at UB for the 2011/2012 academic year.

Please continue to pray for the volunteers over the next two months before the new academic year begins. Pray that fires burning brightly will not go out, that volunteers will stay connected and hold each other accountable. Many of them have gone back into their home towns where they have little support from families, and as we know, it is often most difficult to live out your faith with family.
Thank you once again for your ongoing prayer and support.

Yours in and on behalf of Face The Nation
Gail Wingreen

The committee remains active on campus and has created a visible presence. They have attended a workshop about the rules, regulations and privileges of the clubs. They have been asked to take part in several campus programmes.

7 Bible Study groups have been started. These groups are a good mixture of first year students and volunteers who have been through FTN. Those in 2nd year and above are being encouraged to mentor the 1st years. Please pray for the club. We really do believe that they can play an important role in the future development of FTN as a whole and can make a huge difference on campus. The university is very positive towards the Club.

Our two Namibian volunteers have been busy ever since their return home.
• Face The Nation curriculum has been approved by their sending church’s AIDS Committee. It is to be used in the Youth Group and also be part of the After-School- Programme Life Skills classes.
• A nearby high school has been approached for the opportunity of introducing the Face The Nation curriculum to the Grade 11 (16-17 years) students in Term 3 of 2010.
• An introduction of Face The Nation has been made to the Namibia Council of Churches Namibia Steering Committee on HIV & AIDS.
• They have approached the church council to assist with counselling after the morning services

• 140 Volunteers were trained by FTN this year
• They were drawn from +60 Churches
• 60/140 were either returning volunteers or heard about FTN while students at school
• 28 senior secondary schools were reached
• Total of 55 000 teens were reached
• 10 volunteers from Namibia & Zambia were trained to expand and strengthen FTN.
• 2 Rally Teams performed more than 70 rallies
These happened in Senior, Junior, & Private schools, Churches; a Museum; two feeding stations; seven police stations; Open Market places; . . . and a Prison
• +70 Prayer Partners supported our volunteers
• IN SCHOOLS: 5 116 Salvation commitments were recorded
• IN SCHOOLS: 9 295 abstinence pledge cards were signed
• In the Communities as an added bonus:
• 867 salvation commitments were recorded
• 1 716 abstinence pledge cards signed
All together that brings us to totals* of:
• 5 983 salvation commitments, and
• 11 009 abstinence pledge cards
*These are not our final numbers. We are still awaiting statistics from two schools.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

The “active” phase of Face The Nation has been completed for another year! I put active in inverted commas because life at the office has been no less active. We praise God for the safe return of all our volunteers and the successful completion of their time in the schools.

“Face The Nation…going the extra mile.” was our theme. This was held early in August. It was a joyous reunion time of the teams and a time of celebration, as everyone looked back over the goodness, provision and faithfulness of God over the past three months. The testimonies of some of the volunteers were incredible. Each one is a story in and of itself. I will be sending these to you over the next weeks.

Suzanne Taylor from Johnson ferry Baptist Church in Atlanta, joined FTN for 5 weeks to do filming and travel with the North Rally team this year.

National Geographic notified her that she has received the internship to work as a Production Assistant with the TV group. 2 people were short listed for the position and her experience in Africa, with FTN clinched her the position.

Well done, Suzanne

Send us Lord…..

Being on the road as a member of the rally team wasn’t always great but we had the privilege of seeing Scripture come alive. Scriptures like, the joy of the Lord is my strength, God honours obedience more than sacrifice, unless the labourers work with and under God they work in vain.

What I learnt about God is that God just is. God can work with and without man. God brought me to a place where I realised it’s not the dancing or the dramas that drew the kids to him but He draws, by using the dancing and the dramas. From that I learnt that you have to take your quiet
times and devotions very seriously and your first priority is seeking God. So that when you perform you become invisible and your maker is visible.

In one school in Letlhakane, I counselled a lot of troubled young ladies, some had been raped, and when they reported no one believed them, not even their parents because of their past lives, some where abandoned by their parents and others were without parents. These kids had nothing and they were hurting, and you’d think they would want nothing to do with God and we had to tell them God loves you, that was hard. But this is where I realised that God works when and where he wants because these were the very same girls who came crying, saying “I don’t understand it but when you were performing I felt something different and I want it” Wow! Not man but God. Now they are walking with God and their lives are not perfect but a lot better than before.

It’s very easy to adopt these kids and you can’t help but love them and when they find Christ they don’t want to let go of him because they have found life. Even when they get off track, they never go back as far as they were before.

It was really awesome going back to the schools and finding students with worn out abstinence pledge cards from last year and they were still walking with God. They are proud of themselves. Abstaining has become cool in the schools and it is cool.

Pastor Norman talked about prayer and how prayer back home made a big difference for the volunteers on the field. That is so true. The spiritual war fare was so tangible this year and it can only be the hand of God that took and lead the rally teams all around the country safely. God woke us up one night at 3a.m to pray because we had forgotten that we were in the fore front. Every time we did a rally God broke down walls and the devil threw stuff at us but the prayers of the saints were at work way before we started. Thank you for the prayers and the encouraging smses. Please send more next year and the year after that.

Living a life of moral purity is impossible in the eyes of man but nothing is impossible with God. There is evidence of God’s marvellous works and I am glad to have been a tea spoon in his kitchen

My testimony of Face the Nation 2008
By Onnetse (Kez) Samagabadi