Teen Missions November 2019

2019/2020 TEEN MISSIONS REPORT

Teen Mission is an important part of the FOF program for our youth as it imparts valuable life skills, develops their sense of responsibility and presents ways to examine the Word of God so they can grow in the Lord and communicate their faith to their community.

This year’s program started on 24th November, 2019 and went through to 9th of January 2020. FOF sent 125 youths and of these, 87 gave their life to the Lord and 6 re-dedicated themselves to the Lord. 

Before proceeding to Teen Missions, all the youths gathered at the STC to receive groceries, blankets, clothes and other supplies before going to Ndola. Upon arrival at the camp, Teens were arranged in groups of thirty and given specific tasks to perform such as; 

  • Planting maize and other crops,
  • Building churches/Construction;
  • Planting bananas.
  • Bible reading and memorising (a pack of 40)
  • Evangelisation 

After the camp, the youths came back to S.T.C to receive new pairs of shoes to use for school and other school supplies, as well as provide reports on their time at the camp. Here are some of the reports from four of our youth that attended this recent event.

BLESSINGS MUKOTAMI

Blessings wrote, “I gave my life to the Lord when I was at Teen Missions Camp. I would like to be a Pastor when I finish school in order to serve in God’s kingdom and to help people in the community. I would like to help sick people with the encouragement of the word of God that through him, many could be healed and be saved. Teen Missions has done the following for me:

  •  Shaped me to teach the Word of God and how to interact with others (social interaction).
  • Enabled me understand how to study the Word of God every day, and I have learnt various skills such as reading, bricklaying and farming.
  • Taught me how to use time responsibly and meaningfully.  
  • Encouraged me to grow in my Christian life.” And the things of the Lord, always.

PAULINE KATONGO

Pauline says she accepted the Lord as her personal Saviour during Teen Missions Camp after the Word of God was explained to her. She learned a lot of things at Teen Missions that have helped her in her Christian life. Teen Mission program helped Pauline to know the importance of time keeping, concentrating, working hard and understanding missionary work. She promised to continue preaching and sharing the Word of God to her family and friends when she goes back to her village.

BRIGHT MWABANYA.

Bright is a twenty-two year old young man from the Inakamwale FOF Center on the Solwezi Road. He gave his life to the Lord last year at Teen Missions and went back again this year. He likes the Camp because it brings youths together to  work and learn things like how to manage finances, how to sing, how to do farm work, learn to know God and how to behave towards one another. He appreciated the care he received at Teen Missions. He also said he enjoyed sleeping in tents and hearing birds in the trees singing all night during camp.

The debrief time also was another exciting time for him, when teams were competing in forty memory verses and singing. Lastly, he would advise youths to attend Teen Missions because it’s really a good place to know the Lord.

ABRAHAM JIKATA

“I went to Teen Missions already a Christian and I was able to grow in the things of the Lord. I truly appreciate having attended Teen Missions camp.” Teen missions taught me how to live with others, i.e. eating together, playing together and having fun together. Teen Missions promotes unity and more importantly, to be prayerful all the time. Prayers are very important at Teen Missions. In the morning there is personal devotion time and I have personally dedicated to God to continue personal devotion which is a good way of communicating to the Almighty God. Teen Missions taught me agriculture, poultry and crop management. Teen Missions help youths to be punctual at all activities and to be dedicated to duty all the time. It helps one to be disciplined all the time in life.”

Note:

Five of our youths have since decided to remain at Teen Mission to train as Pastors.

The School at Lungwa Centre

What began in October of 2015 with three Canadians arriving in Zambia has been completed and is now in full use. The generous support of Canadian donors has enabled Faith’s Orphans Fund to build a school at the Lungwa Centre where the children there can now receive the education to change their futures and impact their community.

The nearest school for the children of Lungwa had been more than 16 km away, too far for children to walk at anytime let alone during the rainy season when paths and the road would be awash.  Education previously consisted of brief lessons by non-teachers in a tiny hut.

The construction plans for Lungwa consisted of a school building with three large classrooms and supply storage room, a small four-room building to house the teachers, two separate latrines for the students plus all the required desks and chairs.  Before construction of the school could begin however, a well had to be drilled to provide the water to mix with cement to make concrete.

The well that provided the water required for construction also gave the entire community a sustained source for safe clean water and it has become the central meeting place for the community.  The well was made possible by a generous group of people in memory of a special teenager from Frankford Ontario and a plaque embedded in a concrete memorial now stands by the well as a permanent tribute.

The work on the school was carried out in three phases with the assistance of four students from our Skills Training Centre and the entire Lungwa community, including the children who contributed by carrying materials like heavy concrete blocks to the building site. Before the school was finished and before the desks and chairs arrived, the children were being taught in the classrooms…and today, 176 children attend the classes held in this new school.

Thank you for your continued support of Faith’s Orphans Fund. Together we are making a difference in the lives of these children and giving them a brighter tomorrow.

Teen Missions Boot Camp

One of the significant elements in the development of our high school students is the opportunity to attend Teen Missions, a 4-week long leadership-training program that is often referred to as ‘Boot Camp’.

The most recent ‘Boot Camp’ ran from December 4, 2017 to January 6, 2018 and FOF had 70 students attending. Additionally, we had 10, mostly Grade 12 students who had attended a previous Boot Camp, start one week earlier than the others. These 10 were chosen to be leaders during the following weeks of the ‘Boot Camp’. This additional training is especially valued as these teens are often selected to be head boys and girls by the headmasters of the schools they attend .

After the first two weeks of learning in a classroom about bricklaying, cement work, farming practises, tree planting, and managing their time, they were divided into groups of 30 to apply their new knowledge in a ‘hands on’ setting. Acquiring these basic skills is incredibly useful for securing the future success of our students.

Important as these skills will be however, the ultimate goal of Teen Missions is to re-establish or ensure our students are firmly grounded in their faith as a Christian. For some teens, Teen Missions has been a life changing experience as they make a decision to follow Jesus and to live their life honouring Him.

Faith Liyena has provided the following testimonies from some of our students that attended this recent ‘boot camp’.

 

 Edina Kasunga says that her journey was filled with what many people would consider an amazing coincidence, but for her, she says, it was by God’s grace. 

Raised by non-Christian parents, she did not know the love of God. She lived in “wretchedness and lawlessness of life,” without any real standard of behavior in her because she was living without God’s word. She gave her life to the Lord after hearing the Gospel at Teen Mission and has since applied to train as a missionary at Teen Missions this year.

 

Martin Muthali says, “it was at FOF Kabulankashi center where, I learnt about Teen Missions in Ndola.” I was told about the “Christian activities that help someone to grow in the things of the Lord.” Encouraged by friends that had been there and by their good behavior in the community and in school, he asked to attend and was among those who were picked to go to the boot camp.

“I was not yet saved but I used to go to church.” At the Teen Missions camp, I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and personal savour and I am now living for the Lord.

While at Teen Mission camp, I also learned other life skills such as bricklaying and also time management as important to life. I want to be a good example at school and in the community. “I appreciate FOF for introducing me to this Life changing programme.”

 

Some of Our Students That Attended the Recent Teen Missions

 

Faith Liyena, the Director at FOF in Zambia, has also reported that it is a joy to see so many children give their lives to the Lord. “These children are the little lights in the families, communities and schools.

It is exciting to see them back home, more mature in the things of God…” and helping to build their community with their newly learned skills. These students have also had training in leadership and one of the activities they engage in back in their community is sharing what they learned with the younger students. The community benefits by one of their own attending Teen Mission.

Thank you to all our Supporters for generously providing the means for this years group of teens to have the Teens Missions experience!