October Updates and Jesus Soccer Club! |
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The African school year runs from January through November, with most of December off for the holidays, so many students are taking exams at this time. Thandy reports, "We can never thank the Lord enough for opening more doors for the program during this tough time of Covid. There is a desperate need for hope and light in most communities and Reach4Life is being requested by many schools, prisons, rehabs, and churches."
Pictured here is the Lesea soccer club in Lesotho. In the first row on left is goalkeeper Tshepo Lipitsi. He reports, “Early this year our coach introduced to us the Reach4Life Program. Each time before practice we will read a lesson and pray. Every topic was so interesting that we requested that he gives more time to the lessons. Our team has committed to the Lord. We are growing in the word, and we help each other to grow spiritually. We have R4L stickers on our club uniform because we appreciate what the R4L program has done for us. In our village we are known as the Jesus soccer club. May this program reach many young lives like us.”
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Two Pastor Trainings in October |
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The training center that was completed earlier this year continues to be used frequently. In October, two pastor trainings took place. Pastor Hlabangwane (3rd from left in back row) shared, “Oh, what a day well spent! I am revived as a young Pastor. Its hard to find great mentors in my community due to bad scandals, most of our older leaders have questionable characters. Today I learned a lot about “what is God’s church” and the hinderances of ministry. Wow, I am thankful I came!” His wife, Nyeleti (2nd from left in front row), says, “We are a small church and as young leaders we had a lot of questions about many things concerning making decisions as a leader. Cultural things have been tough to tackle but today there was a chapter that dealt with that and we were answered fully. As a couple we are inspired and encouraged to serve together as an example like Emmanuel and Thandy.”
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Burundi Nationals Church Appreciates R4L
Burundi is a country bordered by Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and is made up mostly of two ethnic groups - the Tutsi and the Hutu. There is a church in Pine Town (Durban area), South Africa for Burundi nationals. Pastor Theo (blue shirt), shares, “We heard about the R4L program while visiting another Pastor in this town of Durban. We had no tool for our youth ministry. Reach4Life is a rich youth Bible with lots of relevant topics to youths. As a church we have launched it to our youth group, and we can see a higher turn up on R4L Friday clubs. Next year we want to be trained to go and teach in schools nearby. We say thank you to team Reach4Life!"
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Swazi Foxes Prepare Lesson on "Emotional Pain" |
Pictured here are Magubheleni High School, Swaziland, Fox Peer Educators preparing to teach their groups. Foxes are students teaching fellow students. The lesson they are preparing is "Emotional Pain." This subject was chosen because of the high rate of suicide attempts by other students in the school - many by kids who are hurting due to losing parents or family members due to Covid. The headmaster has graciously provided the storeroom as a meeting place for them to to prepare their lessons. Adult Peer Educators mentor the Foxes and help ensure that the lessons are understood and taught correctly. |
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"Saturday Mornings are My Favourite Time" |
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Above is the Tugela Ferry, Esijozini Reach4Life Girls Club. Dorcus Shelembe, age 14 (middle, red dress) says, “Saturday mornings are my favourite time of the week as me and few girls in our village come together and read the word of God and pray together. We have decided to follow the Lord’s ways and wait till marriage for sex. We want to be good examples in our community and families. To have Christ in your heart is very special. Each one of us also runs a group at schools we attend. We will spread the gospel to our peers, and we will shine for Jesus in all we do.”
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Yay! We made our goal of $15,000 for the auction, and even surpassed it! Some contributions are still trickling in but so far we have raised $16,564. If you wanted to contribute, it's not too late! You can make a donation on our website. During payment processing, use the dropdown from the "projects" box and select "Reach4Life." Also, we are taking in our last load from the clothing drive on Saturday morning, so if you have anything to drop off, please do so by this Friday night, November 5. Thanks for your help - as we always say, everyone giving a little goes a long way!
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7,462 Bible Distributions in October! |
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During the month of October, 7,462 Bibles were distributed in all four countries. A few pictures of the rollouts are included to the left and below.
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Correction! Swaziland Youth Club |
(Last month we included the incorrect picture for this group. We are inserting the correct picture here.) Londiwe Dlamini (pink and white top) says, “Our Swaziland Mankayane village R4L club meets 3 times a week. Our peer educator takes us through the four journeys which are the lessons in the book. We sit and discuss topics and we pray together. My life has changed since the program came to my village; we are one out of many other clubs in Mankayane. I thank the team of R4L for teaching me about God and how to behave as a young girl in order to have a bright future.” |
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Portuguese Bibles Get Good Response! |
The Mozambique team is quickly getting the new Portuguese R4L Bibles into communities. Coordinator Merson Tete (white shirt), says, “We are so happy to finally have the Portuguese R4L Bibles. Our teams in different towns are getting a positive response. We have launched R4L groups to 9 churches this month. We are excited and thankful to be part of the R4L ministry." |
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Pictured above is Noluthando Makgalemele, Engqondweni High School, Grade 12, Ladysmith. “This is my final year in high school. I became part of the Reach4Life program when I was doing grade 8 my first year in high school. This book has changed my life, challenged me to be a better person and to value my life even more. High school has a lot of challenges like peer pressure, Drugs, and alcohol. I escaped all of that because I learned from my R4L Bible how to say no and focus in my schoolwork. I will forever be grateful for this program that has walked with me throughout high school. I appreciate the Peer educators who were always at our school teaching us the word.”
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"I Can't Just Live as I Please" |
Delisile Dlamini, Nyatsini High School, Swaziland, says, “Today I signed my commitment to Christ commitment card. I have been part of the R4L group for 7 months. Since Reach4Life was launched in our school, our school is more orderly. Kids are behaving much better than before. I was one of the naughty kids at school and my school work was very poor, but now I have changed. The lessons in the book shows us that we are loved and special therefore I cant just live as I please but must honour my maker.” |
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Team Gets Needed Resources |
Richards Bay Coordinator, Sandile Mthembu, reports, “Our team just got two Reach4Life banners and a laptop to do our reports. We also recently got a sound system which we use in assemblies during the roll outs. We appreciate that we can have other useful resources which helps us to have more impact with the Reach4Life program. We have more schools in our regions needing R4L than we have Bibles and Peer Educators. Early Jan 2022 we are planning a training for new Peer Educators who will teach in the new schools. We are happy and committed to continue doing R4L in our Region.” (Thank you, supporters, for helping us provide the resources that are needed for the program!) |
Pt. Shepstone Pastor Deals with Teen Pregnancy and Drug Use |
Pastor S.N. Sithole, from Port Shepstone, Murchison, AFM Assembly church. “I am looking forward to introduce the program to my youth group. In the community I serve in there is a lot of teenage pregnancy and drug use. Parents are losing hope and schools are out of control. But today at the Pastors Fraternal we were introduced to this program which I believe that God is going to use to save our youth and revive our youth work in our churches." |
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The current Rand exchange rate is now at 15.2 Rand per dollar. |
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Sincerely,
The Prevention Time Board
Lorna Packard
Mindy Sauerlender
Mary Schumacher
Kim Ives
John Packard
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Pastor Ed Kelley IV
Margaret Kiyohara
Janis Schlepp
Sara Dickinson
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