Day 5

The team went to the resource center for the board of education in Qwa Qwa today that provided a room large for us to present to and do small groups with 118 of the local teachers in the area. There were three presentations given: Grief and Loss, Trauma within the Family, and Domestic Violence.

Like the others who we have worked with and presented information to, they are eager to learn everything we are able to tell them. The teachers want to know how to work with the students and to be able to help them as they come with issues and traumas they are experiencing. The teachers saw many of their students behaviors in what was presented. They also saw many of their own reactions to the traumas they themselves have dealt with. Many of the teachers though work with 40-60 students daily besides having to deal with their own issues, and many of them become overwhelmed by what they are seeing and hearing.

The presentations gave these teachers many tools to work with their students and also in their own lives. The small groups provide an avenue for them to seek more information and also present issues they have encountered to see how these might be handled. The administrator was excited about what was presented and wanted more information that could help the teachers as they work with their students.

A local assistant headmaster at the session today presented a current traumatic issue that has occurred within a local school and asked for help with that. Our schedule has been changed due to this and on Thursday we will be going into a school of 950 students and presenting the Grief and Loss and doing small groups to help the students work through the recent unexpected loss of their Headmaster. We will also provide individual sessions for those needing more help with their grief.

The team is being stretched in all that we are seeing, working with, and dealing with but we know that God is working in what we are doing. He is providing us with opportunities that are beyond what we originally expected. The chance to serve these people and provide them the resources to help within their communities is on all of our hearts and we desire to show them Christ through all the encounters we have with them.