Mission Team Leaves Sept 1; Support Still Needed | |
A team of 19 people will be going on a mission trip to South Africa, Sept 1-16. We've ordered more Bibles and books to take with us. We think we have enough suitcases at the moment but if we run short, we'll let you know! Team members still seeking support are underlined here: Janis Schlepp, Emily Schlepp, Hayden Camat-Crisostomo, Cooper Low, Robert Andrade, Robyn Brooks, Merlina & Jay Helman, and Lorna & John Packard (from Christ's Church); Susan Kelley (formerly CCFW, now at Lakeside Bible Camp); David & Amy Baccus (East Renton Community Church); Aaron & Sadie Reimer (Des Moines Gospel Chapel); Angie, Silas, and Ravenna Vaden (North Phoenix); and Faith Wallace (Tucson). Donations can be made online. On the second page of the payment process, select the name of the person you want to support or "where needed." Please pray as we plan for the logistics of the trip, and contact us if you have any questions about the trip or how to donate. Thanks for your support! | |
2023 Peer Educator Conference a Success! | |
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(Most of the rest of this newsletter will be devoted to Thandy's report on the Peer Educator Conference.) Thandy shares, "Words are not enough to thank you all for your support and prayers concerning the 2023 Peer Educator Conference. To have so many people traveling safely from different countries is nothing but God's grace. There was joy all around the campsite! All activities were well planned and a great success. We bless the Lord for our office staff and volunteers who are becoming professionals in organizing big events. In 2014, when I decided to step out and form my own ministry with the vision of us being missionaries to our own communities, Biblica asked Prevention Time to fund this effort, and they have done so. [Prevention Time fully funds the ministry.] I am humbled at how the work has grown since then, from working with a few thousand learners in 2014, to over 439,000 learners last year. All this is made possible because your funds enable us to train, groom and mentor those that come on board until they are productive Kingdom servers. We are charged up and looking forward to the mission trip and all that will be done in the next few months.
Psalm 95:1-2 says, "Come let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” This scripture hung from the entrance gate of the camp as we welcomed our ministry field workers. There were lots of hugs throughout the main hall during our welcoming session on the day of arrival. Pictured above is Johannesburg Peer Educator Puseletso (left) hugging and welcoming Peer Educator Noluthando from Lusikisiki. Noluthando traveled 11 hours with her team of 19 PE’S to get to the conference."
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"Ministry “big sister” as everyone affectionately calls her, Lerato welcomed all the coordinators and their teams who had travelled far and near for this awesome event, where teams are recharged, encouraged, and equipped more for the great Kingdom work that they do. She said, "For this week we have prayed, planned, had challenges and victories. But today we celebrate for we are all here! Let's all stand and give the Lord a shout of praise! Family you are all welcome, please take time to greet someone, know someone and love someone. Please follow the conference rules posted in our rooms and to keep time for all our sessions to be a success.” She then called all the teams by area to come on stage and wave to the other teams." | |
Nine Countries Represented! | |
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"Ministry workers came from the different provinces of South Africa, as well as Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Angola, Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi. In total we hosted 780 Peer educators and Foxes. We also had 20 day visitors (pastors, teachers, and headmasters) each day, so our total number was 800. We had to limit the number of people who came, so there are many more Peer Educators beyond what you see here.
Morning sessions included training recaps (where we look at our training manual and teams are reminded how to plan a lesson, how to use the R4L book, using object lessons, etc.). Experienced coordinators shared how to tackle different challenges in schools, prisons, church youth groups, rehabs etc.) Facilitators handled the Q & A slots. We were all impacted and refreshed in these sessions!"
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The Songs Lifted our Souls! | "The R4L praise team kept us on our feet with praise and worship songs that lifted our souls throughout the conference." | |
"Teams shared dance, songs, poetry and drama, all coming from the R4L Bible. Pictured above, a combined PE choir of teams Zandspruit, Carletonville, Mafikeng and Lesotho did a great dance piece titled “We are soldiers of Christ.” | |
Reminder about Good Reporting | |
"Senior facilitator Monica taught on the importance of correct reporting, keeping good records of where we teach, what we teach, kids committing to Christ and abstinence as well as cases we should not handle, that should be referred to legal or school authorities." | |
"Some time was allowed for group breakout sessions." | |
"We are grateful for the meals we had - breakfast, lunch and dinner were wonderful meals." [The office staff worked with the camp to secure a Zulu woman to oversee the meal planning, to include food that the attendees were used to and would enjoy. On the follow-up survey, the campers mentioned that they enjoyed the food, so that was a success!] | |
"The campers enjoyed some time on the field playing soccer." | |
"The two teams in the soccer game were "Team Glory" and "Team Power." Both teams included PE's from multiple regions. "Team Glory" won and received a trophy from Pretoria Coordinator Mercy (in black at left)." | |
"This was the health-check tent." [Thandy and the team arranged for a nearby clinic to come do health checks. On arrival, the clinic was shocked at how many people were there. They went back for more items, and decided to stay the full time, instead of just one day.] | |
"During the conference, we acknowledge teams for various successes. At left is Tugela Ferry coordinator Monica, who was recognized for the best organized community groups. At right, Pretoria coordinator Mercy (left) was recognized for the best after-school clubs." | |
"Left, Harrismith coordinator Cleo (holding award) and his wife, Lungile (on his left) are being recognized for being the best administrated team. Together they coordinate five teams in Free State province. [Thandy is at far left.] Right, senior facilitators Monica (in green) and Lerato (far right) are recognizing these Foxes (students teaching students) for showing growth in how they teach in their groups, keeping neat, orderly reports and submitting them on time each week without fail." | |
"This moment shows our time of prayer for the nations, for the advancement of the Gospel of Christ across the world." | |
"So much happened at camp we can not share it all! We would like to thank everyone who assisted in making the 2023 PE conference a success. Our teams left in high spirits, ready to do even more. Everyone arrived safely back home." | |
"We have received our supply of Bibles. We appreciate those that have given so that we could print more Bibles this year. Now that we have the new countries coming on board, the issue of books becomes more of a challenge than it was already. We need more Bibles - please pray the Lord will provide! Ministry opportunities are wide open, We NEED Bibles!!!" [In 2022 and years prior, we were contributing about $15,000 to Biblica for Bibles, and with that, we received about 80,000 Bibles. This year, with special one-time offerings, we increased our contribution to around $25,000, but were only able to get around 16,500 Bibles, plus some small amounts that other Biblica partners donated to us. So even with the increased funds we only have about 20% of the number of Bibles we had previously. At the same time, the ministry almost doubled in size to over 439,000 participants. Please pray that Biblica will see the need and find a way to resume the higher level of Bible donations that we had previously. Biblica owns the copyright to the R4L Bibles.] | |
Clothing Drive Continues through October 31 | |
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As a reminder, our clothing drive is underway now and will run through October 31. Clothes can be dropped at the address below even while the mission team is gone; we have arranged for someone to cover that. We can take gently used:
- clothes
- shoes
- purses and belts
- linens (tablecloths, towels, drapes, etc.)
- blankets/sleeping bags
- anything fabric-y
If you have any name-brand sneakers (running shoes, tennis shoes) please bag them separately. (If you're unsure, bag them anyway.) Please do not include any stained, torn, or otherwise unusable items. Clothes can be dropped at 30020 2nd Ct. S., Federal Way, on the porch, where you will also find donation receipts in a plastic bag. The funds we raise will be used to support the R4L program. Please also let your family and friends know about the clothing drive, and let us know if you become aware of any opportunities to collect clothes, including estate clear-outs. We can pick up large amounts of clothes if needed. Contact us at 253-946-5953 (landline), 206-423-0306 (cell), or by email. Thanks for your support!
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Above (from left) are coordinators Thabiso (QwaQwa Team leader), Sifiso (Tshepisong team leader) and Nhlanhla (Zandspruit team leader).
Sifiso (middle) shares, “We last saw each other at last year's conference. I started R4L 7 years ago when I was an IT student, but after teaching the Bible in schools and prisons through the R4L ministry, I fell in love with teaching. I changed my studies and today I am a qualified teacher at a high school where I taught R4L for 3 years as a PE before I became a teacher. R4L is taken seriously in my school. In every assembly, it is used to speak life to kids and the results are tangible. The PE Conference is a precious event each year. We all look forward to it...to see our brothers and sisters who are pushing the same mandate of winning souls to the kingdom. To everyone who has contributed so that we have accommodations and food, we thank you, may the Lord reward you. This year’s conference is the biggest since I’ve been part of the ministry. We are growing. The countries represented here, I am speechless!”
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Social Media Groups Growing in Universities | During Covid, online groups were initiated. They are still fully functioning and expanding to other campuses. Mduduzi Lushaka, age 20 (above), is a business management student at the University of Johannesburg. He says, “I started a WhatsApp group in 2021 in my community - 36 people participated and completed the 40 lessons in that year. In 2022 I took a gap year. This year I just restarted on the Campus where I am. I have 262 people in the group. I post a lesson each week. I also post videos and people ask questions and I help as much as I can. Young people are really going through some serious problems hence I believe every platform must be used to reach lives for Christ. We are reaching to other Varsities and local colleges and each week a new group is formed, I love sharing God’s word - it saves lives.” | |
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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. | | | | |
