Images of Mvii

Emmanuel and Cécile ELOP: Young Leaders will put up at their house at Mvii, the village of the 2009 camp.

THe HQ of the camp will be in this house

Landscape of the village

At the water spring

Harvesting Cocoa

Welcome to Young Leaders Camp: "Mvii 2009"

On Saturday June 18 Victor went to Mvii, a village 150 Kms (about 95 miles) away from Younde. Rochelle and Donald, respectively president and auditor of the Young Leaders Club (YLC) of "Collège les Sapins" went with Victor. Mvii is actualy the village of Rochelle. Her parents built a spacious house there and they have accepted that we use their house for the YLC Camp next June 21 to 28.

The people of the village are very hospiable, and they can't wait to receive Young Leaders next June ending.

Below are some of the activities that we will carry out during the camp.

• Story telling
  
• Traditional Dances
  
• Exploration of some lessons of Leadership And Development Studies (a leadership curriculum under development for the youth in the African context)
  
• Community work like cleaning and sanitation of the village water spring
  
• Football/soccer game with the youthof the village
  

YLC Leaders strategize for a successful 3rd academic Term

1. This Sunday April 12, the Leadership of the YLC of Les Sapins had a strategic meeting to prepare for the Clubs activities during the third academic term that starts on Monday April 13. The President first made an evaluation of the club's activities in the 2nd term. After that, the teams brainstormed on a few measures that will help ensure a successful third term.  The following are the main points of the evaluation.

    

   Things that went well in the first term:

   1. The Clean Toilet Clean School (CTCS) Project was a real success despite the difficulties we had completing it.
   2. The Spokes person of the Club, John Bissohong made an incredible impact on the students in his speech of presentation of the CTCS project.
   3. Before the CTCS project, students of Les Sapins would always vandalize and tear posters on the school bill board. Anything posted on the boards would scarcely remain there for more than half a day. Since we did the CSCS project, that bad habit has changed.

   Things where improvement is needed:

   1. The average number of club members who attended meetings as low in the second term. Less than 50% of registered members.
   2. The president had backed seriously on giving leadership to the club due to personal difficulties?
   3. Meetings didn't stat on time, and many young leaders arrived at meetings late.
   4. The drama group went cold due to the unavailability of the volunteer staff in charge.

   What should be done to ameliorate the clubs life and activities in the third term?

   1. Club leaders should meet a club member each school day, and know how they are doing.
   2. When Young Leaders meet, they need to ask each other: "Did you have an opportunity to serve today?"

    

Our current challenge

In two days, school resumes after Easter break. The Young Leaders Club will also resume it's acitivities for the 3rd academic term. The 3rd Term is the shortest of all three in the academic year. It is also the most decisive, as it leads to final and official exams  for students. It is going to be a very short and decisive term for Y2L too.

Indeed we need to find the location for  Young Leaders Camp next June 21 to 27. We also need to get the Young Leaders sign up for that crucial activity for the year. Our objective is to have 20 YL at the camp.

The Manyims Update March 2009

Dear friends and partners in the harvest,

Receive greetings from Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon. What a joy we have to send you feed back on work on the field. Be blessed as you read.

Incredible progress (Picture: John E. Bissohong - Treasurer Young Leaders Club)

The first time Young Leaders addressed the school community was when they had to present the megaphone they had bought for the school. When given the floor to present their gift to the school, the treasurer as the spokesperson of the Young Leaders Club was hardly able to say a few sentences to the nearly one thousand students gathered. “I had a stage fright” said John later on, when Victor spoke with him and encouraged him. Three weeks ago, John had to come in front of the school community again. This time, he had to come and explain the Clean Toilets Clean School (CTCS) project to his fellow students and to the staff. He also needed to challenge them to embrace the project through their support. John took four hours to write a two page speech. Victor and another young leader-Daniel- gave their input as John simulated the presentation of his speech. It was on a Sunday evening, and the presentation was scheduled for the next Tuesday. “Go and continue with the simulation at home, gather your brothers and friends at home and present them the speech. Read it several times and get acquainted with it. When you will be giving it next Tuesday, don’t be looking at the students in their eyes. Look slightly above the heads, relax, and all will be fine”. This was the advice and encouragement Victor gave to John. On the day of the presentation, John did an excellent Job. Here is the comment of the school’s principal to Victor after the presentation: “John Bissohong gave an energetic presentation this morning. He was able to speak to the hearts of the school community. His message to the school about the CTCS project was delivered with excellence. He has made incredible progress from the first time he spoke here. The Young Leaders Club is doing a great job”. Praise God for helping us to make this happen.

Spiritual Impact

The spiritual impact on the Young leaders is evident. The Bible is naturally present in our leadership talks, and we can notice that young Leaders have adopted it as their leadership reference. Eight have  expressed a commitment to Christ and they even want to grow in their faith. The spiritual impact of the Club has gone beyond the club. It is impacting the whole school. Victor recently asked the discipline prefect of the school what she thought was the spiritual impact Christian activities in the school. She said: “The impact is real. Two weeks ago, a Bible Reading Club was even launched here. We were surprised to see so many students sign up. I believe this is the result of the spiritual influence of Christian activities here at school.”

We launched the YLC this year with a new ministry approach. We decided to restrain ourselves from doing direct preaching and to teach leadership concepts to the Young Leaders, drawing inspiration from the Bible. We have done this, expecting that Young Leaders will know the right paradigms of leadership and desire to own them. We also expected that they will understand that only Christ could make them to lead like Christ, and that they would be willing to embrace the Lord as we give them the opportunity along the process of our activities. The shift from being a classical evangelist to being a conversion facilitator was not easy, and some times, we felt we are not doing what the Lord sent us for. After six months of activity, we are so happy to realize that the Spirit is not only convincing the Young Leaders that the principles we explore are the right principles for their life and leadership, He is opening their eyes and hearts to receive Jesus. Praise the Lord

Pray with US

1. 1.      Give thanks for the total support of the school authorities to our initiative
   
2. Thank God for the progress we can see in the Young Leaders lives.
   
3. Some of the YLC members need to be freed from the spirit of hypocrisy. They know what we expect them to be, and that is what they pretend to be, but just as long as we are with them.
   
4. Pray for the Clean School Clean Toilets project. We are executing it this month.