March 2020 - Protests again!

One again, the new year started with student protests!  During registration, a nationwide 7-day shutdown was called for by national student organizations and Mahikeng’s students were fully on board.    Thankfully, there was very little violence and destruction of property this time around and all was resolved peacefully by the end of the week.  I opted to stay in my home on campus rather than evacuate, but with the gates blocked by students it was a bit like house arrest. 

To watch a local news broadcast about the protests visit: https://www.facebook.com/GoSpeakLiveBoldly/videos/186187259408285/ 

In addition to shutting down registration for a week, the protests also meant we were unable to continue with our planned student outreach activities.  We had Bible studies organized for several evenings during the week and a movie outreach on Saturday that all had to be cancelled.  Once everything calmed down and the term got underway, we held the first-year movie outreach a week later with good attendance.

Movie outreach for 1st year students

Our regular Monday night Bible studies are now well underway, and we are focusing on Jesus’ “I am” statements such as “I am the bread of life” and “I am the light of the world.”  In Acts 29, our discipleship/witnessing training group, the new students are learning to share the gospel using the bridge method (also called once verse witnessing) and the returning students (we call them trainers) are doing a study with me on Discipleship, 10 Qualities That Move You From A Believer To A Disciple, by Denis Rouse to help them disciple new believers.

My group of trainers studying "10"

We also held a special training day for our 15 trainers one Saturday covering servant leadership and how to develop personal mission/vision statements to keep our focus where it should be and not get distracted by all that life throws our way.   One of our goals for this year is to work harder on developing leaders among the Acts 29 students and allowing them to take on more responsibilities in the groups and outreaches.

Our group of trainers for 2020!

On the veterinary side, our final-year group has jumped from 80 to 100 students.  A new rotation needed to be developed to accommodate the higher numbers and it will include several days of equine work.  This is a new avenue of experience for our students (and for me!) and I’m excited to see how it develops.  A local horse rescue and welfare organization, Highveld Horse Care Unit, is partnering with us by organizing health clinics in surrounding villages for horses and donkeys.  I’ve also been working for the past 6 months to improve our facilities to allow two horses to be kept at the university and used in student practicals. Practicals, in basic handling, grooming, restraint, and physical exam, etc., for equines are planned and should provide a nice addition to their education.  

Thank you all for your prayers and support.  I am blessed to say that once final year donations were tallied, my support for last year actually surpassed my expenses slightly!  Thank you so much to all who contributed and helped me to be financially stable!

God bless,

Rebecca Quam