Manzini Youth Rally Recap

First off, thank you to everyone who prayed for this rally. It was really good. We had about 25-30 people who attended. Some people didn’t stay the whole time so it’s hard to get an exact number. We had planned for 50-60 youth so I was a little disappointed at first. However, now I think it was a good thing to have a smaller group. We had plenty of food, plenty of sleeping space, a smaller group of teenagers is easier to control, and I think the youth were able to get more out of the sessions.

The weather was weird for this time of year. These are the last couple weeks of spring so it should be hot, but it was rainy and really cold. Because of this everyone had to sleep inside the church building instead of the boys sleeping in the big revival tent, and outdoor games became indoor games.

The main theme for this youth rally was Purity, specifically sexual purity. Swaziland has the highest infection rate for HIV/AIDS so sexual purity is a necessary issue to address. We watched the movie “Beat the Drum.” It was filmed just a couple hours south of Swaziland and is about a Zulu boy’s travel to Joburg and how AIDS affects him and the lives of those he meets along the way. One of the speakers shared a couple of Country-Western style gospel songs sung in siSwati. I never thought I would ever hear anything like it, but he was really good and I enjoyed it a lot. The next morning I gave the morning devotion and the main verse I used was 1 Timothy 4:12, “Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, life, love, faith, and purity.” Actually, without meaning to, all four speakers mentioned this verse. The pastor at the Manzini Baptist Church, the church where the rally was held, gave a True Love Waits presentation and some of the youth preformed a skit.

We had indoor games which included egg races, bean bag toss, and musical chairs. Then we separated boys and girls and had times of discussion. During this time there was a Swazi speaker for each group who talked a little, but mostly left room for people to ask questions. I obviously sat in on the girls’ session. I couldn’t understand most of what was said, but I did notice that some of the women who also sat in on the session would answer questions for the girls. I think this is great because it allowed the older women to offer advice for the younger ones. Plus, topics like boyfriends and sex are not always discussed with a mix of younger and older women, so it was good for both age groups to share. The last session was about relating sexual purity and the Bible. Also, we worshipped in between sessions.

At church this morning I talked to three girls who were at the rally. They all said they enjoyed it. One said her favorite part was the girls’ discussion time, that she learned more about what it means to be pure, and that she is going to tell others about what she learned. Another said that she wouldn’t change a thing about the rally.