The committee remains active on campus and has created a visible presence. They have attended a workshop about the rules, regulations and privileges of the clubs. They have been asked to take part in several campus programmes.

7 Bible Study groups have been started. These groups are a good mixture of first year students and volunteers who have been through FTN. Those in 2nd year and above are being encouraged to mentor the 1st years. Please pray for the club. We really do believe that they can play an important role in the future development of FTN as a whole and can make a huge difference on campus. The university is very positive towards the Club.

Our two Namibian volunteers have been busy ever since their return home.
• Face The Nation curriculum has been approved by their sending church’s AIDS Committee. It is to be used in the Youth Group and also be part of the After-School- Programme Life Skills classes.
• A nearby high school has been approached for the opportunity of introducing the Face The Nation curriculum to the Grade 11 (16-17 years) students in Term 3 of 2010.
• An introduction of Face The Nation has been made to the Namibia Council of Churches Namibia Steering Committee on HIV & AIDS.
• They have approached the church council to assist with counselling after the morning services

• 140 Volunteers were trained by FTN this year
• They were drawn from +60 Churches
• 60/140 were either returning volunteers or heard about FTN while students at school
• 28 senior secondary schools were reached
• Total of 55 000 teens were reached
• 10 volunteers from Namibia & Zambia were trained to expand and strengthen FTN.
• 2 Rally Teams performed more than 70 rallies
These happened in Senior, Junior, & Private schools, Churches; a Museum; two feeding stations; seven police stations; Open Market places; . . . and a Prison
• +70 Prayer Partners supported our volunteers
• IN SCHOOLS: 5 116 Salvation commitments were recorded
• IN SCHOOLS: 9 295 abstinence pledge cards were signed
• In the Communities as an added bonus:
• 867 salvation commitments were recorded
• 1 716 abstinence pledge cards signed
All together that brings us to totals* of:
• 5 983 salvation commitments, and
• 11 009 abstinence pledge cards
*These are not our final numbers. We are still awaiting statistics from two schools.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

The “active” phase of Face The Nation has been completed for another year! I put active in inverted commas because life at the office has been no less active. We praise God for the safe return of all our volunteers and the successful completion of their time in the schools.

“Face The Nation…going the extra mile.” was our theme. This was held early in August. It was a joyous reunion time of the teams and a time of celebration, as everyone looked back over the goodness, provision and faithfulness of God over the past three months. The testimonies of some of the volunteers were incredible. Each one is a story in and of itself. I will be sending these to you over the next weeks.

Our facilitators are currently busy interviewing potential volunteers. This is a long and difficult process. 100 volunteers have already been interviewed. Please pray that the facilitators will remained focused and will have a spirit of wisdom and discernment. The success of FTN depends on the caliber of the volunteers.

Please also be in prayer about accommodation for our volunteers, once they are in the field. We are struggling to find suitable accommodation in some areas.

Yours in Face The Nation

Gail Wingreen

This year saw another new development at Face The Nation. We are always growing, developing and being moved out of our comfort zones! The leadership of Face The Nation and other members of Open Baptist Church did all of the leadership training for our Facilitators. We praise God for an excellent 2 weeks of training and that after 3 years we have been able to take ownership of this, make it our own and put our own flavour to it. Our humble thanks to Donna Chisam, Terry and Mary- Lou Herald, Craig Whittaker and Joel Carwile, partners from the US, who did the training for 3 years and laid a solid, godly foundation for us to build on.

Once again the generosity of the church family, with monetary donations, gifts, teas and lunches provided made the training possible.

We at Face the Nation are celebrating our 5th year anniversary!!!
So, watch this post.

3 former Volunteers Become Facilitators!
Our leadership training for our 5 new Facilitators and 2 new Rally Team leaders began on Monday 23 February and will conclude on 6 March. Three of leaders being training were FTN volunteers in 2008. We are so encouraged by this!

We are excited to have some ardent supporters of Face The Nation here with us to conduct the bulk of this training. They are Donna Chisam (TIME Ministries) Terry and Mary-Lou Herald (Whiteburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, Alabama) and Joel Carwile (Valley View Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky). Please pray for us and this training over the next 2 weeks.

Director Retires and Ushers in a New Director
In December David Odhuno, who has ably led the program for the past 2 years resigned. This was not unexpected. David was seconded to Face The Nation by Navigators, Botswana. Their work has grown sufficiently that he is now needed full time developing this ministry. We praise God that he has raised up another godly man to take David’s place. Modise Mokgwathise, a citizen of Botswana, was a facilitator with Face The Nation in 2008 is fitting in well as the new Director.

Additional of a Facilitator to Office Staff
We also welcomed onto our staff Maria Phiri. Maria was also a facilitator in 2008. She is an experienced teacher and has come on board to develop the curriculum, teaching kits and to help leader to the newly appointed facilitators for 2009.

Face the Nation 2009 is off to a roaring start.

By the first week of January we started receiving applications for facilitators. The response has been positive. We have been especially encouraged by those applicants who were in Face the Nation as volunteers. It is evidence of growth and maturity in the people that do join our family and a testimony to their dedication to making this nation better.

On Monday 19 January 2009 we will start the recruitment drive for FTN 2009 volunteers. This promises to be truly exciting!!

We will definitely keep you posted!!!!

May the God Lord richly bless you in this new year, and please do keep us in your prayers.