Girl's Seminar

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One of the great needs of many congregations is helping the youth develop a spiritual foundation. We have noticed a high falling away rate of young people, once they are able to be more independent. This is largely due to the lack of diligence on the part of the parents. Children are often left behind, to stay at home at times of worship, so it is no small wonder that the children absorb this attitude towards Christianity.

We have decided to concentrate some of our efforts on the younger folks, to do what we can to change the tide. One of our recent efforts was a day-long program for girls/young women, which was held this past Saturday. Hours and hours were spent on preparation. A bilingual workbook was prepared to go along with the lessons, to encourage active participation. All in all, the day seemed to go well. I have to admit that initially, I was very discouraged, when at 9:30 there was still only one girl present. It was supposed to start at 9:00 am, but in true African form, the majority did not even show up until 9:45.

When several finally arrived, we offered a light breakfast - tea, juice, and pumpkin bread. Finally, sometime after 10:00, we got started. I taught the first lesson, which was “Our Commitment to God”. We then took a short break, and during that break, Julia took individual pictures of all the girls, for a project later in the day. We had our second lesson, “Searching for Happiness”, and then they worked on a project of making a bookmark for themselves. We enjoyed a nice lunch prepared by a few of the ladies of the congregation, and then we resumed our class, with the lesson “Dressing to Please God.” As in the rest of the world, the lesson is much needed here. Despite the afternoon heat and full stomachs, there weren’t too many sleepy girls, because the subject definitely got their attention.

Earlier in the morning, Julia printed off the pictures she took of all the girls, and our last project of the day was letting them glue their pictures into a little cardboard frame, and then they decorated the frames with markers and stickers. They loved the stickers!

We ended up having 13 girls attend. I was particularly happy to see one girl, in particular. She is the granddaughter of a lady that I taught last year. Some time before we went on furlough, the girl made an extended visit to her grandmother, who lives in Tanga, another region of Tanzania. I had a suspicion that she was sent away, due to being pregnant, but I did not know, and these things are often kept very hush-hush. I try to be careful not be breach lines of good manners, but that often makes it difficult when we know there is a spiritual problem. At any rate, this girl returned a couple of weeks ago, and she did make a general statement of repentance. The following week, she had her four month old baby girl with her. We were very encouraged by the fact that she (along with her two sisters) came to the girls’ seminar with her baby, and stayed for the whole day.

It is our hope and prayer that through continued teaching and through our friendships, we will have a lasting impact on the lives of these young people. If we can get them to see that living a life of holiness will enable them to have a better life now, as well as eternal life, how happy we will be.

Another post will follow this one shortly, to tell about our Sunday out in the bush, but including it here would make this post too lengthy.

We love you all!

The Jensens

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