The YOYL family is growing!

Hello to our family and friends!

I want to apologize for the silence. We have been so busy in the past month, but busy with really great things!

First of all, since our last update, we have two new students on the Year of Your Life team. We are now a “family” of 10! We have had a couple of inquiries this week as well, so we have decided that this is the last week for people to join our team if they are really serious about it. We have one new girl, Amy, and one new guy, Kyle who have both just finished with grade 12.

We have been continuing sports and extra homework help at the primary school a bit, but most of the extra murals finished at the end of February. We have continued to go one or two days a week to help some of the teachers with admin. Piet is very excited to start coaching soccer this month at the primary school! Following up from my last blog about the two kids who passed away from the school, we have seen a closeness form within teachers and students. We have seen teachers seeking answers and some even ending up at our church. I think the initial fear has finally worn off and the school is back into the normal routine again. And also because of the events that have happened, we have really noticed a strong sense of trust within the school and our team.

In March, our team was involved in two big events. The first was a worship festival that had different bands coming to play during the course of the weekend. The second event was an abstinence evening called “The Silver Ring Thing” for youth. A few different churches and high schools were invited to attend. We put on several dramas and had three different speakers. At the end of the night, those who were serious had the opportunity to purchase a purity ring and made the commitment to stay pure until marriage. The evening was a huge success! Roughly 15 people committed their lives to the Lord, and almost the ENTIRE room stood up to make the commitment to purity!

In our skills training for the month, we’ve been learning about servant leadership. We were able to visit a software and stationary company called Ingenuit. The owner is a part of our church and he shared with us his journey to making the company a success and how he runs his company with godly and Biblical principles. We will also be visiting Refilwe in a few weeks (where Piet and I used to do ministry), again to find out how the organization is run on godly principles.

After our big events in March, we were blessed with a trip to the Vaal River for a day of rest. Our pastor took us out on his boat and we all went tubing and had a braai and a nice day of fellowship as a team!

Last week, the students took their first exam in theology. The theology is through the South African Theological Seminary, but administered by the pastors and by us; the course is called Crossroads. At the end of the year, the students will have completed their first year of theology giving them a total of 40 credits. With these credits they are able to continue on to get a degree if they so choose.

As if we are not busy enough, we are in the middle of holiday club this week. It is a sports related theme, but we are bridging the gap to make spiritual connections as well. The kids have been learning about endurance and finishing strong. Myself and Charne (one of our students) have been teaching cheerleading and surprisingly the boys actually like it! Piet and Gareth (also YOYL student) are the soccer coaches. Besides these sports there is also basketball and relay races. Piet also doubles as the nutty Willy-Wonka-look-alike MC.  The kids are having an absolute blast and I can see that the leaders are clearly enjoying themselves as well!

We will be applying for Piet’s USA visa within a month or two. We have total confidence that it will be granted. Unfortunately, the USA is very strict about who is let into the country so any hesitation could lead to a denial of the application. 

PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Please pray for Piet’s visa
-My South African spouse visa (I have been waiting for more than 8 months, when it was supposed to have taken 2 months). I need this visa to be able to cross the border when we go on our mission trip in June.
-For our awesome students! That they would take in every moment.
-For our marriage, that God would continuously strengthen us and make us one

We love you all and our so thankful for your thoughts and prayers!!

With peace love and joy,

The Bakers