Youth Conference Outreach - Malelane, 1 to 3 October 2011

Brief report of the Youth Conference by one of the helpers:

The sixth Youth Camp at Malelane (KSB Schulzendal) started on Saturday morning 1^st October. Almost 1200 children are attending services during the day of which about half of them are being transported daily in-and-out of the Mission as far as 140km away. Many locals, including adults, come by foot and about 400 are accommodated at the mission – sleeping in various places e.g. the cowshed, chicken houses, the church building, crèche and tents.

A huge tent was pitched up in which the services are held. Food is being prepared in the traditional three legged pots. A cow was slaughtered to provide meat for the children. Temperature in this area has reached previously a maximum of 45⁰C, but a light shower Friday night brought about cool refreshing air.

Rev Stegen took the main services on the theme of 2 Tim 3:1 the difficult times we are living in. Other preachers include Rev Michael Ngubane and Uncle Jo Newlands. Many helpers from KSB came along to help including about 10 young ladies from Romania. A team of seven co-workers came the previous week and visited 47 schools in total, sharing the Gospel and inviting the pupils to the youth services. A group of the Concerned Youth went to Malelane and Nelspruit during the evenings to put up posters and hand out pamphlets concerning the Government Drug Policy. We thank God for the work done in this area already and expect great work still to come.

Info during the run-up to the conference: A group of co-workers is already at Malelane (the Kwasizabantu outstation in Mpumalanga Province, near the Kruger National Park) preparing for the upcoming Youth Conference. The Lord willing, the services will begin on Saturday morning and continue through to Monday morning. The Youth Conference, where 2,000 or more are expected to participate, can only begin on Saturday because the Provincial school holidays start on Friday. Rev Stegen is expected to be the main speaker for the full duration of the conference.

A full bus load of co-workers and volunteers will probably leave Thursday 29 September to assist in erecting the tent and other facilities for the meetings, as well as helping with the catering, preaching and counselling.

Please pray for the Lord Jesus to glorify Himself at this conference.

(a link to the Malelane centre is here, though there are many more if you use the Google search option at the top of the KSB website. For some nice photos of a previous Youth Conference there, see here.)