February 2023

Jimmy Mac's Breakfast this Saturday, March 4!

Yay! For the first time in a few years, we are able to again have a breakfast where supporters can meet with other Prevention Time friends! There will also be an opportunity to sponsor a Peer Educator (or more) to go to the 2023 conference. (See article below.) This is always a fun event so please plan to join us for a yummy breakfast of pancakes, sausage/bacon, eggs, and coffee/orange juice. Half of the price of the $10 breakfast is donated back to Prevention Time for the Reach4Life (R4L) program. This will take place at the Jimmy Mac's near Costco, at 34902 Pacific Highway S. Federal Way. Come anytime between 8 and 9:00 a.m. (We just need to be out of the restaurant by 10:00 a.m.) Please invite your family and friends!

Peer Educator Conference 2023!

Every year the Peer Educators try to get together for an annual conference. They weren't able to during 2020 and 2021, but did gather last year. The problem is that as the program has grown, so has the number of Peer Educators, which means the cost has also gone up. There are now around 750 Peer Educators, so they are looking for sponsors to help with these costs, both here and in Africa. A venue has been booked in KwaZulu-Natal for July 4-7. The cost for the 3-day event will be about $40 per person. That includes a room and food for the three days. During the conference, they receive training, study the Word (see the 2019 group above) and worship together. There's also some time to relax and get to know the others in their big Reach4Life family. If you would like to invest in the lives of these dedicated young people by sponsoring one or more Peer Educators, you will be able to donate at the Jimmy Mac's event (see article above) or online. Select "PE Conference" from the "Projects" drop-down tab on the second page of the payment process. Thanks for your help!

Biblica Brings Team to South Africa

Biblica U.S. brought a mission team - including some board members - to South Africa the last week of February. They experienced the struggle with the failing electrical grid as they moved around Johannesburg. They also saw that most kids don't have phones, which is why their recently developed R4L app doesn't work well there. The top picture and the two pictures on the left show them at the Thusanang Primary School, where R4L Bibles were distributed, along with singing and dancing. They were able to join some of the Peer Educators in the training room of the Soweto office (middle right), where they had communion together. They also visited a rehab center (bottom right above and see article below). Biblica prints the R4L Bibles and have donated many to the R4L program, so please pray that they will continue to print a good number of physical Bibles in the future.

Peer Educators at Johannesburg Rehab

During the Biblica mission trip, 400 rehab participants at this facility received the R4L Bible. The Peer Educators (pictured above with Thandy and Pastor Emmanuel, bottom right) will be taking them through the program for the next 8 months that they are in recovery.

Resources Provided to R4L Teams

In January, coordinator Mayibongwe Dlamini (left) attended a training in Johannesburg and was given two ministry laptops for the Swaziland North and South teams. Because of the large network of Reach4Life workers and friends, they were bought at a good price, and all the needed software was installed. The work in Swaziland is growing rapidly and the laptops are needed to compile reports for the R4L program in schools, prisons, etc. in all of the different villages. On right, Blaauwboch coordinator Mduduzi Kubheka holds a stack of training manuals for the new Peer Educators. (Printing of manuals is a big part of the program.) He says, “I’ve been part of the Reach4Life family for 3 years. I love ministering in schools. This training has given me new ideas on how to grow my team and the number of schools we are serving. I am ready to train my new team with these manuals.”

New Church Building Begins in Tugela Ferry

The weather has been terrible the past couple of months, with heavy rains that are creating problems for the construction workers. As you can see from the picture above, some of the trucks were getting stuck in the mud since there are no paved roads to get to the area. We're grateful that the Chief responded to Thandy's urgent request for help by sending some trucks to help pull them out of the mud. The steel structure has been erected (below) and the walls have been started. Please pray for good weather so that the delivery of materials and the construction process will go more smoothly. In spite of the challenges, the village is excited and they are looking forward to the completion of the building. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to make this new church possible!

"The Skills We Learn Make us Confident and Passionate"

Peer Educator Zinhle Mangwe (above) says,"The Reach4Life program has made it easy for a lot of us young people who love doing ministry but not knowing how and where. When I stand in front of kids you would think that I am a professional teacher, all the skills we learn during trainings make us confident and passionate. Even personally I am a better person, my dreams and hope are alive again now that I am a Peer Educator.”

More Trainings!

The training center in the Soweto office is in use almost constantly. An army of passionate young people is coming out of all of these trainings, not just here, but in all the regions and countries where the program is taking place (South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Nigeria.) This week Thandy and Pastor Emmanuel are traveling to Swaziland for trainings there. Please pray for the logistics of their trip and for all the trainings that are taking place.

Rollouts in February

Thandy says, "We bless the Lord for all the new schools, prisons, rehabs, sport clubs, and church groups that we reached this month. Our focus this month was trainings and roll outs. We distributed 14,872 R4L Bibles and trained 156 Peer Educators." Representing these rollouts is Sasamala High School in Qwaqwa (above) and Lushaba High School, Nkandla area (below).

Church Rollouts!

Churches are reporting that their youth groups are growing when they begin participating in the Reach4Life program. We had great pictures of church groups but will use this one above of Faith Mission Church in Dundee to represent them.

"I Fully Endorse This Program"

Mr. Buthelezi, KwaZulu-Natal Schools District Director, shares, “Today I have come to attend the R4L presentation personally after hearing so much about this life- changing program from other Districts. The topics that are being addressed in this book are the very same problems we are facing in our schools. It’s getting harder being a teacher because of the disastrous state of morals of kids in schools. This program is going to heal the broken lives of our kids. The way this organization is implementing the program, it actually complements our Life Skills calendar very well. In my office capacity I fully endorse this program as a must in all our District schools.”

My Life Changed!

Londiwe Xaba, 17, Msinga High, says, “I am a teenage mom. My life took a wrong turn two years ago. A boy in my village said he loved me and that he will help my family with food. After I fell pregnant by him, he rejected me and the baby. A friend invited me to a R4L group…few weeks later I accepted Christ as my Lord. My life changed. My group helped me get back to school. Now I lead a group of “R4L Foxes.” We have turned our school upside down for Christ. We minister at the assembly, we run a number of different groups in the school and the community. I have started over and I am a better person now and I thank the R4L Program.”  Note: Londiwe shared her testimony at a school assembly, where she also influenced other pregnant teens not to abort, but to keep their babies.

"I Plan to Stay Connected"

Lydia Mpepe (left), age 17, says

“I am grateful for my R4L Bible, it has been a blessing to read about things that have been troubling me. I have made good friends who are doing their best to make the right decisions. I am loved by the Lord and I plan to stay connected to the cross that has saved me.”  

"I Want to Become Something"

Mpume Mbonambi (right), grade 11, Sekusile Senior Secondary School in Blaaubosch says, “We are under a lot of pressure as youth. The media is pulling us into all direction, but now our minds are clear because we know better. The R4L program is renewing our mindsets and teaching us the Word. I want to become something and through this word I believe I will be ok.”

The current Rand exchange rate is very good at 18.1 Rand per dollar!

Thanks for your help!

Prevention Time thanks you for your interest in our organization. We are a 501(c)3 organization and all donations are tax-deductible. Prevention Time has no paid staff, so our administrative costs are minimal. To help support the ministry in sub-Saharan Africa, please click on the donate button below.