Last week, our interns traveled to about ten different schools in Qwa Qwa and Intabazwe to perform a short drama to get students excited for LaunchPad classes (they started this week!).  Tumo’s Journey helped students realize that they do have a God-given purpose and that they can find this purpose throughout this term in the discipleship classes.

“I enjoyed the kids telling me that they wanted to find their purpose and to know more about God,” Jeremy said, “it was exciting to see their joy.”

On the last day, the interns even had the opportunity to pray with about fifty students. There were even three salvations! God moved in big ways throughout the week. We’re excited to see all He has in store for this term of LaunchPad!

We have been encouraged and amazed at how the Lord has been using LaunchPad to raise up young leaders.

Not only are young men and women learning to apply scriptural truths in their daily lives, they are also learning valuable lessons about commitment, using their God-gifted talents, and giving 100%.

Abram, a long-time Thrive Africa staff member our Thrive Church Pastor, teaches two of our village discipleship classes. He ended both of his classes this term by encouraging his students to live lives that model Christ.  He also challenged them to be witnesses and to put what they have learned into practice.  “It’s important for young people to be committed to learning about God and God’s purpose for their lives, and to be committed both inside and outside of class.  I’m glad to be teaching the next generation how to help others in their homes, schools and communities.”

It’s always amazing to hear how our students are impacted through our LaunchPad classes. But many times, as we teach and pour into others, our lives are also deeply impacted. Here’s what one of our interns, Chelsea, had to say about her experience teaching our village discipleship classes:

“I have learned so much from LaunchPad. I have been changed by the opportunity to teach and pour my life into the students that I got to meet. I learned what it means to lay my life down for someone else and I learned so much from the students I met. They taught me what it means to persevere, to hunger and thirst for God, to be teachable. I was blessed to see the changes that took place in each person that came to our class!

I was amazed to watch them come to Christ, grow in Christ, and learn who they are in Christ. It was absolutely beautiful to see them come up and ask for prayer as they go out and share what God has done in their lives with their families, friends, and peers. I will never forget the people I met because I had the opportunity to teach LaunchPad. There are lessons I learned teaching LaunchPad that I could have never learned anywhere else. I will never be the same because of the students I met, the lessons I taught, and the opportunities I had to share my life with these amazing people.”

As we wrapped up our LaunchPad classes last week, it felt bittersweet–we know it will be a couple of months before we see our students again. But, it’s a huge blessing to see all that God has done in their lives throughout this year!

“God takes my broken down, messed up life and rebuilt it. He sits faithfully at the gate of my heart, He encourages me to do the right things and gives me strength. He redeems me from sin, sickness, shame and makes me. He leads me wherever He wants me to go and provides all my food, water, shelter and protects me.”  –Mokoena Mmakhoya Esther

“Through this course God has provided me a light upon me that even through I may find life difficult sometimes and sometimes forget about Him during happiness. He is always beside me and knows that I’m not perfect and has patience with me. Thus I shall open my heart and let the Holy Ghost guide and bless my life for past times, at present, in the future and forever.“ –Mokoena Handsome

We’re currently recruiting new Leadership Summit coaches to teach in the AIDS Prevention Program for next year.

One of the ways we recruit these young leaders is through our village discipleship classes. Many of our coaches started working with us after gaining a strong biblical foundation through our LaunchPad classes.

When we announced that we were recruiting for coaches in our Boitsebelo LaunchPad class, there was an overwhelming response! Most of the class is made up of high school students, and many of the graduating seniors were excited about the opportunity to pour into other youth.

One student was particularly interested. He excitedly expressed to one of our staff members how he has had a passion to be involved with Leadership Summit since he started coming to his LaunchPad class a couple of years ago. He was ready to step out in faith and start to become a coach so he could impact students.

We love having the opportunity to see him, and our other LaunchPad students, grow into Godly leaders!

We have seen God move tremendously this term in LaunchPad! We have nearly 200 students registered for our weekly village discipleship classes. Already, there have been 19 salvations and we are seeing lives changed every week as students are discipled.

Our students are learning how to study the Word for themselves and what it means to have Christ living in them. They are discovering that they are new creations and that they don’t have to live in sin any longer.

“I didn’t know that the power Jesus had is in me too!” said Bongani, a student at our Mmakwane class.

It is such a blessing to see God moving in these students, and how excited they are about the Word of God!

It’s hard to believe that this week marks the half-way point for the second term of LaunchPad, our village discipleship program. Our staff and interns are teaching six classes this fall; it’s encouraging to see the lives that have already been changed throughout the first half of the term.

Two of our Twenty4Seven interns are teaching the curriculum “Christ in You”. During one of their classes, they were teaching that although everyone is born into sin, Jesus died to take that sin away and give new life in Christ. At the end of the class, the interns asked if anyone would like to receive the gift of salvation.

They were amazed when they had the opportunity to pray with 13 students! Each student who received Christ was given a Bible so they can study and learn more about Christ on their own, as well as in class. It’s exciting to see the students grow in their new faith each week as our interns continue to pour into them.

We can’t wait to see what God does during the rest of the term!

Last week we taught our first lesson for this term of LaunchPad. We began the class by playing a short game, a time of singing and then opened in prayer. This term I’m teaching the curriculum Pressing On, a survey of the New Testament.

We started by telling the students basic information about the Bible–like who wrote it and how it is for them. Then, we explained the Gospels and went into the book of Matthew. It was great seeing them take interest in the information and continue to learn more about God’s Word.

It will be exciting to see the growth that will take place during this term!

-Jen Tuck, Twenty4Seven Intern

I teach a LaunchPad class at Clubview with Katie Miller and Matt Peirce, and graduation is already fast approaching. I honestly cannot believe how soon we’ll have to say goodbye to our new friends, but I’ve been encouraged over this past term about how much we’ve impacted our students.

The spiritual depth of the learners has increased beyond what I’d ever thought was possible. Nowadays, we have students approach us with questions that go far beyond surface level, and I get excited when I get to clue them in to what the Scripture that they’ve always heard but never really understood means. Sometimes it’s hard to look back and see precisely where you’ve impacted people and made a difference, but in this case, it’s clear. I see it on the faces of every student that walks in, and I can safely say that my words have directly impacted these kids’ lives. That’s all I can ask for.

Jace, one of our Twenty4Seven interns, loves teaching LaunchPad. She recently shared a testimony about the openness she’s been experiencing with her students.

“When I am teaching, I feel like I can let my students know how safe they are to honestly share their hearts when they’re at class.The lesson we were teaching a few weeks ago was about how God should be their primary relationship and that God comes first. I was teaching that in order to have that relationship with God we must first have a clean life and ask Him to wash away all the dirty things (our sin) through salvation.

“I asked the students to think about what it was that they are struggling with and to feel free to come talk with us after class if they wanted further prayer or counseling. After class I didn’t really think that anybody was going to come to talk to me. But praise God – I had 4 students come talk to me about what they were going through and how they can they get through it.

“One boy in particular stood out to me the most. He came up to me and said, ‘Jace, I have a serious problem with smoking. It just makes me look cool, and I crave it all the time.’ I respected him so much for being honest and telling me this. I told him to bring his cigarettes to class the next week so that we could help keep him accountable to quitting. Also, his best friend comes to class with him and can be there for him as well.

“I just really poured my heart out to him and shared with him how important it is to get all the dirty things out of his life. The next class he didn’t bring his cigarettes but he said that he didn’t smoke anymore, and that it is a thing of the past that is now out of his life! I was so happy that I almost cried because he was able to get rid of that problem so quickly.

“It’s amazing to see how these kids come to our classes and feel safe to talk to us not only about questions about Christianity but also problems that they are having personally. LaunchPad is a safe environment where they can be open and as much as I share my heart with them, they share their hearts with me. Praise God, dude!“