At a recent staff meeting, Katie shared about Nhlopo, one of her LaunchPad students, and the incredible ways he’s been reaching out to others. He spoke at an assembly at his school and talked to all his fellow students about what he’s been learning at LaunchPad and encouraged others to attend with him.

We asked Nhlopo to share with us what he told his schoolmates:

“Every single day of your life, you need to spend time with Jesus. Many people think that to get close to God they have to withdraw from everyday activities. But I learned that the apostle Paul taught that it’s in our everyday lives that we learn to become close to God.

“My advice was to remember that in everything you do, you can ask God to help you and be there with you. To do positive things, you need to remember that everywhere you are, God  is there with you.”

It was incredible to hear about this unsolicited LaunchPad “promo”. God is indeed working in our students’ lives!

Ask any little boy in America what he wants to be when he grows up and you might hear firefighter, doctor, or astronaut. Little girls will say they want to be teachers, nurses, lawyers. Though their answers differ, these children all have something in common: They can answer the question.

Ask a child in Africa what he or she wants to be when all grown up and you may be met with a blank stare. Shrugging shoulders. “I don’t know.” They can’t comprehend the question and they don’t know how to answer. They don’t know, because they don’t know how to dream.

I’ve seen the blank stares. I’ve watched the shoulders shrug. I’ve heard the “I don’t know”s. Once when I asked a young boy what he wants to be when he grows up, he answered with a statement that has never left me: “I want to be alive.”

Poverty kills dreams. It murders hope. It squashes every last ounce of ambition. Poverty impacts the old, but targets the young. It steals more than full bellies and healthy bodies; it suffocates the future and squanders potential.

What Africa needs—what anyone affected by poverty needs—is not a hand-out. Africa needs more than charity, more than money, more than employment opportunities. All of those are vitally important, but Africa needs something even greater. Africa needs to learn to dream again.

Next time you choose to make a donation, contribute your skills, or give of your time for someone or some organization, find a way to also instill hope, offer encouragement, shine a light at the end of their tunnel. As you spark dreams in people’s hearts, you’re doing the best thing you can do to eradicate poverty.

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Only halfway through the term, we’re already seeing the fruit of the coaches‘ goal to focus on student salvations. So far we’ve seen 199 salvations at the Leadership Summit classes! Not only are students receiving Christ, but they are becoming disciples as well. They are sharing their convictions with their peers and are standing firm for what they believe in. Students are deciding not only to allow Christ to rule their hearts, but their lives as well. Many are giving up smoking and drinking for a lifestyle that reflects God.

One of Lucas’ students shared with him that her boyfriend wanted to have sex, but instead of giving in to the pressures, she stood up for what she believed in and broke up with him. She said that she broke it off so that she could save herself for marriage. This is the kind of life that God desires for each of us and these students are getting it.

God doesn’t want us to have some type of Godly head knowledge, but for our lives to begin to mirror His.

Our coaches are an important part of our ministry team. They are passionate about reaching students in their communities with the Gospel message, and are incredibly hard workers. We love our coaches and always enjoy bragging about them!

During the first half of the year, the coaches reached a retention rate of 85% — meaning that 85% of the students who started the Leadership Summit program at the beginning of the term successfully completed it. The coaches are committed to increasing that percentage for the second half of the year. We’re halfway through the term and we currently have 95% of the students still attending. The coaches’ hard work is paying off!

These classes are doing much more than teaching students to abstain until marriage. In the last two weeks alone, we’ve seen 61 more students give their lives to Christ! We know that as young people commit their lives to following Jesus, they’ll experience long-lasting change in their behavior. Our coaches are doing a great job of presenting the Gospel message and being mentors in the schools.

Our 17 coaches teach over 3700 students every two weeks. Each coach directly impacts 220 students! How incredible is that!?

Thank you for serving alongside the coaches in the public schools. We couldn’t do this without your prayers and support!

This is our tenth year of ministry at Thrive Africa. We wanted to treat our staff to a few days away at a lake resort as a way to express our appreciation to them. From Abram, who’s been with us the longest, to Aimee, our most recent staff addition, all of our staff has played a vital role to our growth and success as a ministry. Our success isn’t gauged by anything other than lives changed — and our staff have changed a lot of lives!

It was overcast almost the entire time we were at the lake. It was windy, rainy, and freezing cold. Of course that didn’t stop the staff from riding the wave runner or having some fun on the tube. We played games together (and some of us had sore muscles to prove it) and enjoyed the break from “work”. Everyone seemed to really have a great time.

On our last night away, the staff presented Niel and I with a gift. Months ago our DVD player broke, so they all chipped in to buy us a new one. They also pooled together a wad of cash for us to use as spend money on our upcoming vacation. We were overwhelmed by their generous gesture and their encouraging words scribbled in a card. We really have a great staff team!

Thanks, guys, not just for the way you blessed us with these wonderful gifts but for all the sacrifices you continually make as you give your lives away to raise up Godly leaders in Africa. We love and appreciate you!

We had our last Leadership Day of the year, and the day was thoroughly bittersweet. It’s sad to reach the end of anything, and this was no different. Though I was excited because it was the first Leadership Day I’d had the opportunity to be a part of.

The day more than met my expectations, it blew past them. Half of the interns had their family with them, and I’m so glad they had the chance to experience what I did. The sight of all of the students was enough to break anyone’s heart, and when they began singing, the unity and beauty of it all was overwhelming.

Leon DeHaan, longtime friend of the ministry, spoke about the importance of being a coach, and during small-group time after he spoke, many were brainstorming different ways that they could positively impact their communities. The ideas were amazing, and their enthusiasm and passion to see them come to fruition was heartening. Needless to say, these learners have been impacted more than they could ever have imagined. We’re raising up students that aren’t just preparing to lead in the future, they’re leading right now.

It’s been a crazy, fun-filled month; we’ve celebrated many birthdays, and met many family members we’ve been hearing about for months! Enjoy reading about what we’ve been up to!

September 2008 - Intern Newsletter (PDF)

We had the wonderful opportunity to host a team of 26 students from all over the United States for 3 weeks this summer. They changed many lives and had their own changed as well. Take a closer look at this video to gain a better understanding of how they spent their time here, and to get a feel for the authenticity that served as the backbone for the entire trip.

Does this sound like something you’d want to spend a couple weeks doing? Hop on over and take a look at our student and adult Thrive Trip opportunities.

Be sure to check out our September Field Report that contains the following stories and updates:

• Leadership Days
• Doing Life Together
• Bringing Life to Africa
• Family Days

This past July we hosted the Thrive Student Trip under the watchful supervision of Cassie and Brandon Hart, leaders from the States that we’ve had led the Thrive Student Trip the past two years. They’re a huge part of the reason that Thrive Trip is so instrumental in the students’ lives that come out; their dedication and pure, steadfast joy in the Lord and His work is a shining example of the life we should all be striving to live.

Cassie is an elementary school teacher, and when she came out in July she brought notes of encouragement from her third-grade students. They were both humorous and refreshing. Here are a few of them:

Hello my name is Eva. God loves you and he’ll never let the earth fall into the sun, you his daughters and sons.

Your friend,
Eva

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Dear Missionary’s, I hope the African children understand what you say. God has you in his hands.

Love,
Natalia

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Hello, you are doing something that is great! Thare is hope for all the children’s family, frends and them. Keep up the good work.

Love,
Megan