Greetings all,
Tomorrow (Monday) I am teaching 2 classes, 40-minutes each, at a junior secondary school here in Mochudi on self-concept and how to withstand peer pressure, especially as it relates to involvement in sex, drugs, and alcohol. It’s the school where I most regularly helped lead the Scripture Union club back before the school schedules changed, making the extra-curricular clubs after school no longer a possibility. Thankfully the school has allowed us in to teach during the school day for this whole week. We have split up the teaching amongst us full-time YFC staff/volunteers and some local Batswana volunteers so that we each teach one or two classes. I will teach at 7:30 am tomorrow and then again at 2:00 pm. Prayers are welcome! [It went well..more details next post]
The same school has also invited us to regularly share with the whole school for 20 minutes each Thursday morning at the assembly! So that’s a huge blessing too…just requires an early morning—assembly starts at 7:00 am. [Starts tomorrow morning!]
At the senior secondary school in Mochudi, the opportunity I had a couple Fridays ago to speak to the students who pledged to abstinence went really well. Again, it was during school hours that I was given this opportunity to speak and 63 students showed up, which took a certain boldness to leave their classes (in essence identifying themselves as those who’ve pledged to abstinence). I was warned that the students in Mochudi can be very disruptive and loud on Friday afternoons, but when I shared with them for the last 45 minutes on that Friday (seemingly the worst possible time-slot), they were extremely attentive and quiet! It was such a blessing. I had them fill out an anonymous questionnaire that, among other things, asked if they had broken their pledge to abstinence since making it back in July (e.g. if they’d had sex since they pledged). I was pleasantly surprised to find that only 2 of them had broken the pledge; 61 had not. One of the questions asked if what they learned during the Face the Nation abstinence curriculum ever influenced them to not have sex when they were in a situation where they otherwise might have…and many of them indicated “yes.” So it is encouraging to see that the efforts to promote abstinence are making a difference.
This school was where I had planned on starting the abstinence club, but again, due to the school schedule changing, the club has been unable to ever start. I asked the 63 students who came to the abstinence talk if they would be interested in coming to the club if we did it on Saturday at the YFC office. I told them to write “Yes” on the back of their anonymous questionnaire if they were interested in going to a club on Saturday. Again, I was amazed that 30 said yes…some in huge letters with exclamation points. So I called up the guidance/counseling teacher (who came to the abstinence talk, and with whom I’ve been in close contact regarding the girl I take to counseling in Gaborone), and told her how many students were interested. She suggested we could meet at the school in a classroom…so that club will start up in the next couple weeks on Saturdays at the school!
Next Friday or the following, I will be speaking to the Christian students at the school during the same timeslot at the end of the school-day. The guidance/counseling teacher has invited me to share whatever I would like to encourage the students. I am still praying about what exactly I will share, but she said I could share my testimony or “something from the Word of God.” What an amazing open door! So prayers are definitely appreciated for that. I will be sharing with them about the ways they can grow in their faith, the programs and resources YFC offers them for free to help them grow, and then whatever else God lays on my heart to share with them.
I have much more to share, including the opportunity last week to speak to some Christians at the University of Botswana and recruit volunteers for the ministry in Gaborone…but I'll wait til next time.
Blessings!
~Em
P.S. I would also like to ask for prayer for the friend of Slim, the girl who I shared about last time. Her friend is suffering from grand mal seizures and just tonight that friend's 11-year old brother had a stroke (or something similar) and is currently unconscious and not moving. Any and all prayers are appreciated. Thanks. [still don't have a conclusive update...Slim is hoping to ride the bus down to visit her friend today to find out more...please keep praying]
No comments:
Post a Comment