Beat the Drum went AMAZINGLY well!  First, if you have not yet seen the movie, please watch it!  Here was a basic schedule of the week:

    On Saturday we had training all day.  We went through the sessions that we went through throughout the week with the students (they are called learners here).  Sunday we went to church with our host families, ate lunch with them, then returned to the hall for more sessions.  Monday was our first day of classes.  I was at a school called Johnson Nqonxosa (the spelling on that may be off, don't try to pronounce it, there are clicks in it!  ;)  ).  I was with grade 9C and my class was absolutely amazing.

    The first couple days, we basically followed the curriculum we were given.  The kids got enough out of it, but God had other plans than that.  By the third day, we were asked in our morning session, before we went to the schools, to pray for one thing in particular.  The entire Johnson group (we were separated into many different groups.  They were Johnson, Gill College, Cookhouse, etc).  prayed for openness among the learners.  And did God ever answer our prayers.  In the classroom I was in, students began to openly ask questions and by the end of class, without prompting, two students chose to remain abstinent and five committed their lives to Christ.  I was so thrilled by the power of God working through us without us needing to do anything, that I went in front of all of the volunteers (totaling over 100 people, AIM, MXP, LXP, and local volunteers) and shared what had happened.  For those of you who know me well, that is so far from my comfort zone.  But God is so good!

    The final day was a little discouraging as we weren't able to have class, so I didn't get to see my learners to talk to them again, but they had been in that morning to see the video we were showing called In Your Face and sought me out to take pictures with me.  So, I do have that!  That is just a tiny part of how God worked this week.  That was one classroom out of 14 at Johnson and many more in the other schools, in the community, and in the other towns groups went to.  God really is working in Somerset East, in Pierceton, in Cookhouse.  Speaking of Cookhouse, South Africa has the highest AIDS rate in the world and Cookhouse has the highest in South Africa.  So, the group who went there was speaking to the town who has the highest AIDS rate in the entire world. 

    That's what I have for now!

        Bri