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COVID UPDATE AS OF JUNE 1
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As of today, South Africa has had 32,683 confirmed cases and 683 deaths (graph shows new cases per day). The population of South Africa is 57 million and the country is about 12% the size of the United States. The peak is expected in August or September, but they have just allowed a slight relaxation of the very strict lockdown that had been in place. We are continuing to support the program workers during this time, with food parcels and in other ways. If you would like to donate to the coronavirus effort, please go to our donate page. On the "projects" dropdown box, please choose "coronavirus." Here's an update from Thandeka KaMavundla-Nzama (Thandy), Phakama's R4L program director:
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We are now on Level 3 country lockdown. More businesses are open with minimum services allowed. Schools are still closed, Grade 7 and 12 were set to go back to school on the 1st June 2020 but in most schools masks and sanitizers have not yet been delivered by the Department of Education. The sitting plan of kids in each class is not working out due to lack of infrastructure. Teacher Union Organizations are taking the government to court for endangering lives and refuse that teachers go back to schools. Parents have been asked to assess the schools first; if they are happy with the compliance they can take their kids to schools but if not, they should not. We all wait to see how its all going to work out but it's not looking good.
Churches are now allowed to meet in groups of 50 with a one meter distance among people. That too, we will see how it goes. For now most churches are still trying to clean and get all the necessary protection gear needed. Only when we believe its safe will we resume our R4L groups. For now, we are going to observe as we enter Level 3 in June 2020.
We have received many wonderful testimonies from different areas (see some of them below). All the teams are safe and in good spirit. We appreciate your continued
support and prayers!"
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CLOTHING DRIVE BEGINS; HOLD YOUR GARAGE SALE ITEMS
This "stay-at-home" time gives us a great opportunity to clean out our closets and we encourage you to do that! We are not sure when we might be able to have a garage sale (hopefully later this summer) so please hang onto those items until we advise you further. However, we do want to go ahead with our clothing drive. So as of today, June 1, we are beginning to collect the same items as in the past - gently used
clothes, shoes, purses, belts, bedding (no pillows), backpacks, drapes, and fabric-y type stuff.
Donations can be dropped at 30020 2nd Ct. S., Federal Way, under the porch or in front of the garage doors if the weather is good. Donation receipts can be taken from a bag on the porch. Funds raised from our clothing drive will support Reach4Life. Thanks for your help with this fundraiser!
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CAPE TOWN COORDINATOR
SURVIVES COVID
Pastor Masizane, Cape Town Coordinator says, "Thank you all for your prayers, I tested positive with the corona virus and I am now negative. It was very difficult to be isolated from my family for 3 weeks in quarantine. I received prayers and great support from my big Reach4Life family. My wife and I were very scared, at first, we thought we had flu but because we live in an over populated community and as a Pastor I conduct a number of funerals and attend to family crisis in the community quite often. We got tested and our results came back both positive my wife and I. We thank God that our two children were negative. We are now both cleared and are back at home and doing our best to stay home.(Pastor Masizane was very sick with the virus and we thank God that he recovered.) Please continue to pray for Africa as numbers continue to rise and health care is a huge challenge. I appreciate the Lords grace over my life and my wife, his healing and goodness."
Our 2016 mission team worked with Pastor Masizane, his wife, and the Peer Educators during our time with them in Khayelitsha township, just outside of Cape Town.
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TESTIMONY FROM LESOTHO
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"Our names are James and Jacky, we are brother and sister. We are originally from DRC (Congo). Our dad is a medical doctor here in Lesotho and mom is a seamstress. We are a big family. We live in an area called Moshoeshoe Two. We attended the R4L training in 2019 and started teaching R4L groups in our community. It's been an amazing journey to share the love of Christ with our peers. We are both waiting for the Lord to provide for us to further our education in the meantime we are focusing on serving the Lord.
We would like to thank everyone who has been supporting us as Lesotho Peer educators. The impact of Covid-19 has been felt by all of us, we miss our R4L groups and all the field ministry we do as a team. With the lockdown support we have received we started a small business; we bake and sell bread rolls. We involve other young people in our small business as a means to reach them with the gospel. The whole Reach4Life ministry and Mama Tracy our coordinator has been a great encouragement and support to our faith and small business. The Reach4Life ministry has been a great platform of growth for us".
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REACH4LIFE MASKS
Some of the Reach4Life teams have designed their own Reach4Life masks! Since the virus is likely to be around for a while, we are exploring the possibility of doing this on a larger scale so that they might be available to more of the teams.
Not only are these masks practical and potentially life-saving, but they advertise a another kind of life saving (spiritual).
Please pray that they will become a powerful new tool in the R4L program. Well done to the Pretoria team, who put together the masks pictured here. May each person who gives one and who wears one, be blessed!
We are also ordering additional T-shirts for the Peer Educators. The program has been growing tremendously and there are always new Peer Educators who need them. We appreciate our faithful donors who make program supplies possible. If you want to help, you can donate to Reach4Life on our website. Select "Reach4Life" from the dropdown box.) Thanks for your help!
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REACH4LIFE ONLINE TRAINING
Due to the lockdown, R4L teams have had to find other effective means to reach young people with the R4L program. In addition to using platforms such as whatsapp and FB groups, they decided to do an online training of Peer Educators. It was a wonderful success - team leaders joined from cities, townships, and villages. Coordinator Mercy Masuluke, Pretoria, led this first online training, and we expect this format will be used by others as well. Mercy reports that they have received great feedback from those who were trained, who are now starting their own online R4L clubs.
One participant, Nkhesani Mabaso, reported: "I am a Sunday school teacher in Soshanguve township (near Pretoria). I am so happy that I have been given skills to run my own Online Reach4Life group. I watched our facilitator Mercy taking us through the R4L lessons and all other cool activities found in the R4L bible. When we are able to meet in groups of people again, I'll be implementing the R4L Program to my Sunday school class and youth in our local church. This program engages with participants and has great biblical life answers!
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MOZAMBIQUE PEER EDUCATOR IS THANKFUL FOR FOOD PARCELS
David from Vilankulos village in Mozambique shares, "I had just started a group in my college on Fridays when school was called off. Young people are thirsty to hear the truth and they appreciate short answers which Reach4Life provides so well. This youth Bible is touching and changing many lives in my village.
The support we receive as Peer educators in these villages enables us to travel to all the small groups, we have started weekly. We are thankful for the food parcels we have received during the lockdown; we and our families did not go hungry because of everyone who has given."
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RUSTENBURG COORDINATOR SAYS PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO LISTEN
Rustenburg (South Africa) Coordinator Pastor Moyo (left)says "I have been loving my family devotions more lately. I shared on one of our lessons called The Resurrection and my younger sister accepted the Lord. We are ready to expand the Reach4Life Program in our neighboring townships. The pandemic has made a lot of people in my community willing to hear about the Lord, the fear and pain of those who have lost their loved ones due to the pandemic has made some people to desire the truth about life and death, my Reach4Life Bible has great answers and as tough as it has been God is always in control".
Note: Coordinator Pastor Moyo is currently in the hospital, he's been in and out of hospitals since last year. The doctors say his heart and kidneys are swollen. There's no clear diagnosis yet, but please pray for him. He is a wonderful servant of Christ and has initiated R4L groups in seven townships in the area of Rustenburg. He has a family that he loves and churches that he has planted who need him!
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MAFIKENG PEER EDUCATOR USES
R4L LESSONS WITH FAMILY
Peer Educator Kedumetsi (left) says, "I have been a peer educator for 3 years. I joined Reach4Life because in my community there's a lot of youth involved in Crime, drugs and prostitution. I attended a training in Johannesburg; I then came to my home town Mafikeng (South Africa) and launched R4L. I have 13 Peer educators ministering in schools and Rehabs. Last year I took my whole team to the Reach4Life PE Annual camp. It was out of this world, meeting other young missionaries who are passionate about sharing the gospel. We came back filled and inspired to do more. Currently we are under strict lockdown rules but we have been doing devotions with our families daily using the Reach4Life lessons. I have enjoyed sharing with my 5 years old daughter and 2 niece age 13 and 11. God's word is never on lockdown!
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The current Rand exchange rate is still excellent at 17.4 Rand per dollar.
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Please partner with us in the Amazon Smile program. Go to amazon.smile.com and assign Prevention Time as your charitable partner.
We will receive 0.5% of purchases made at Amazon. Thanks for your help!!
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Thanks for Your Support
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 our work in sub-Saharan Africa,
please click on the donate button below.
Sincerely,
The Prevention Time Board
Lorna Packard
Mindy Sauerlender
Mary Schumacher
Kim Ives
John Packard
Pastor Ed Kelley IV
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