Face the Nation

We’re sending two of our After School volunteers, Lazarus and Colly, to get trained in the Face the Nation program in Gaborone, Botswana.

Run by the Open Baptist Church, Face the Nation aims to prevent HIV and AIDS by teaching senior secondary school students about abstinence through Christian principles, using peer mentoring.

Each year Face the Nation trains university students and then places them in schools for five weeks where they teach the program under the Guidance and Counselling Department. Apart from life skills and HIV-AIDS, the training covers leadership, basic counselling, an overview of the Bible, personal evangelism, discipleship, spirituality and ethics.

The volunteers go to schools all over Botswana in teams of three. They’re available for group and one-on-one peer counselling with the students, help with sports and other extracurricular activities, work closely with other supportive groups such as Scripture Union, build relationships with students and, most importantly, peer mentor on the school campuses.

For more information you can go to www.facethenation.org .

This is one of the programs we were introduced to on our networking trip to Flying Mission Botswana last year. It seems like an excellent way to reach young people and prepare them for life after school. We’re excited that we can take part, even if it is with only two volunteers. This is the first time Namibians are included in the training and they will join students from Botswana and Zambia. We are interested to see if the program can be used in Namibian schools and are looking forward to hearing all Lazarus’ and Colly’s experiences.

They leave for Gaborone on 7 May, the training starts on 10 May and their last day of teaching will be 16 July.

It’s a terrific opportunity, but quite an intensive time so please pray for Lazarus and Colly as they go to learn and minister in a different country and culture.