The group with no religion

We first started meeting with students at Westerhall Secondary School in the third term of the past academic year. Four young ladies faithfully attended the meetings where we examined salvation, what a Christian looks like and shared our personal testimonies. We went through the responsibilities of the Executive, and they accepted positions.

The Executive at Westerhall Secondary

We had agreed that meetings would be held after school on Fridays, since all their other afternoons were booked and lunchtimes were too short and noisy to have effective meetings. The difficulty with Fridays, however, is that it is usually the day when school is dismissed early if there is a staff meeting or some other school event. We missed many Friday meetings last term because of this.

We had plans to start ISCF meetings for the general school population this term, so I spoke to the sponsor about getting permission to address the entire school at assembly to promote the ministry. We went to the principal (whom I had not met the term before, since he was on sabbatical) to discuss the idea. 

* Sponsor introduces me and explains what ISCF is about and how it works*

Principal: When do you plan to have meetings?

Me: Friday after school, because that is when the Executive is available

Principal: What about Friday mornings?

Me: What happens on Friday mornings?

Principal: From 8:00 to 8:30 leaders of various denominations come to teach classes, but there are many students who do not attend because they say they have no religion. Would you be willing to teach these students in ISCF?

Me: *Trying hard to contain my desire to jump up and down and scream in excitement because this is precisely the students we are seeking to impact* Sure! No problem

I was super excited about this open door that God had provided into Westerhall Secondary, to have an opportunity to share with these students who would not otherwise have been exposed to the Word of God. I had no idea how many students would come, or how they would behave, so I called in the reinforcements - Arlene, who is a Board member and one of our faithful volunteers.

We had our first meeting last week Friday. The principal handed us over to the Executive and we walked around the school looking for an empty classroom to use. We finally decided to use their classroom, which was close to the stage. This was an ideal location, since we had the space to be flexible in our activities, without being constrained with desks and chairs. 

We passed some boys in the corridor who wanted to know what religion we represented. I invited him to come inside and find out, but he refused to come until I told him. When I told him we were not any particular religion, he and his friend agreed to come. We started with those six students, but by the time we were finished, there were about twenty students there.

Playing an ice-breaker

Writing topics they want to discuss in ISCF

Arlene sharing with the students
the love and purpose God has for their lives

Praying for the students

After the meeting we went to the principal to report how the session went. He was happy to hear about the response, and warned us to expect even bigger number this week.

Please pray for us as we minister to this 'group with no religion' :)