Beat the Drum follow up

Our week of “Beat the Drum” in Somerset East was fabulous!  We were tired at the end of the week, but we saw so much fruit so we know it was worth it.  Over 120 volunteers from different ministries in Jeffrey’s Bay landed in this small town to bring a message of hope to school students, farm workers and prison inmates.  We used the movie “Beat the Drum” to spark conversations about HIV, AIDS and abstinence by using a 5 day curriculum that integrates the truth of the disease and the Gospel.  By the end of the week hundreds of students received Jesus in their hearts and made a commitment for abstinence.  We also held a free clinic to get tested for HIV and over 300 Somerset residents came to find their status.  We praise God that nearly 90% of those that got tested were NEGATIVE!  That is impressive considering we were in a neighboring town of the highest HIV rate in the world. God is on the move and is bringing redemption to His people.  It was a blessing to be a part of His story, even if just for a week.  

 

 The follow pictures and captions give a few highlights and points of interest of our time in Somerset East.

 

     

 

Above is the hall that we showed the movie “Beat the Drum” in for over 1,000 students.  We had to “black bag” the room before we showed the movie with trash bags to make the room dark! It was quite a process.  The students loved the movie and remembered it the whole week as we were working through the curriculum book.  We know it made a significant impact on their lives by the questions they asked and the commitments they made in the end of the week for abstinence and salvation. 

 

     

 

These are some of the students from Aeroville High School that watched the movie and got to work through the curriculum for the week of school we were there! The mountains is the view from the field behind the school.  The Aeroville students were intrigued by us coming all the way from America, as volunteers, to bring the truth about HIV, AIDS and Jesus.  They said no one has ever done that for them and they were extremely grateful. 

 

 

           

 

These are some of the students that we showed the movie to at a Jr. High School grades 6,7.  Sadly these are the chairs, if you can call them that, they had to sit on if they got to sit at all.  The room was packed tight with sweaty bodies, but their eyes were locked on the movie.  Afterwards several students made decisions to receive Jesus in their hearts and abstain from sex until marriage. 

 

                                         

 

           

 

This is the view of Somerset East where over 120 volunteers descended to present the movie and curriculum of

Beat the Drum.  It was a beautiful town where the people welcomed us with open arms and were extremely receptive the message of abstinence, the Gospel, and the truth about HIV and AIDS.  Each volunteer stayed in host families homes which was such a blessing to get to know the culture and understand the real need in Somerset East. 

 

 

        

 

One day there was a water main break so this truck full of water came out to the township we were working in to provide water for the community.  The residents walked about 30 minutes towards the center of town, lined up with their buckets and bowls to carry water back to their home for who knows how many more days until the pipeline was fixed.  Each person was only allowed 1 bucket of water.  Even then, the residents in the township don’t have running water in their own homes.  Their water supply is from a local tap in which the whole community has to share. 

 

 

      

 

On the left is the church that became our “Beat the Drum base” for the week.  On the right is our team that volunteered for the week.  Chris and I are in there somewhere, promise! We had morning prayer, evening worship sessions, afternoon debrief meetings and many meals inside the hall of this church.  We are so thankful for the many people that allowed us to serve in Somerset East for the week and provided housing, meals, contacts, transportation, schools to minister in, and amazing support for the message of the program.  Many of the students are hoping to go back to Somerset East next semester for a follow-up trip to see how the school students are doing with their commitments to Jesus and to purity.  Thank you to ALL who made this trip possible.