On February 4th we finally were able to go to our first schools with Cherish!! The first school that we went to, Victorious, the girls were very quiet and didn't seam to want to respond.  I told a little about my past, so that they would understand that Cherish is a safe place. A couple of them talked after that, but they still weren't wanting to talk much. My teaching partner, Swazi, talked to them in Siswati and made them laugh. (She's good at making the girls feel comfortable.) We go to Victorious at 8 o'clock in the morning, so I think some of them might not quite be awake when we get there.

      At 2 o'clock that same afternoon we went to Moyani.  The girls at Moyani were very open and excited to talk and get to know us better. They asked questions, and laughed a lot. I did the majority of the talking at this school, and they seamed to respond very well. Such a blessing, since Victorious didn't go as well as hoped.

      On February 10th, we went to a school called Phumelele, the sister school to Victorious. At Phumelele the girls seamed excited to start the program, and were worried that not everyone would get the chance to go through Cherish. Our (Swazi and my) girls were very talkative, and excited to hear about what we'll be going over for the next eight weeks. One question, just for an example,  was; Is it a sin to have a boyfriend? Swazi went to the girl next to her and touched her shoulder, "Its not a sin to have a boyfriend. But when it goes from this to touchy, touchy-- kissy, kissing-- touch some more.... Ect. It goes too far and that is a sin."  They giggled, and the point was clear. Talking about sex before marriage the girls looked at their friends, giggling. Most of them are not abstaining, but being in a culture that's literally being wiped off the planet by AIDs, I'm not surprised.

        So far we have five schools, and should be starting a sixth one on March 2nd. Our girls are starting to step up and want to take a school on Fridays. Fridays are our family ministry days, so Alyssa, Alene, and I cannot work on Cherish those days. The opportunity for the three of us to start stepping back, and the other girls to start stepping up has arisen, finally. I'm excited seeing Swazie and Phumilile step up and take ownership of this program.God is truly working in these girls and I'm already starting to see a change.

        I'm very excited to see all of these girls grow in Christ and realize their worth in Him. They are all such sweet sprits, and I can see that God is just waiting for them to lay their lives down for Him. He will use them in such a mighty way. I pray that all of these beautiful girls will leave this program following after Christ and His will for their lives.

     Some things that you can pray for are; Swazi, Gugu, and Phumilile--  that they would put all of their faith in Christ and trust Him  that everything will work out.  For guidance for them as they figure out how to step up to their full capacity, and truly allow the Spirit to move. Also, there are a few small problems that we're working through at the moment. For all of the girls that we're working with-- that they would take this seriously,  for open hearts, and pure actions. That this program would truly touch their lives and create change. For Alene, Alyssa, and myself-- that we would know when to step up, speak out, and back down. That God would give us the words to speak to our teaching partners/ disciplees as we start doing our one-on-one bible studies.

     Thank you for all of your prayers, it means more than you know, and I wouldn't be able to be here serving our Lord and Savior without them. God bless you!!