Children's and Youth Ministry

The population of Botswana has a large proportion of young people, and there is great opportunity to reach them through sports ministry, schools work, early childhood development centres and mental health support.

Sports Ministry

At the end of Nov 2022 we were able to send two Africa Evangelical Church youth workers on a 10-day Sports Friends training camp in Cape Town. This is the beginning of what could be a very fruitful ministry and we would like to have a team who could co-ordinate such ministry across several denominations.

Mental Health Care

In 2020, there were only 11 psychiatrists in Botswana. Meanwhile, schizophrenia affects 49 people per 10,000 and one cross-sectional study stated that 20% of adolescents demonstrated depression, with 30% displaying substance abuse disorder.  1.6 to 2.4 % of children live with intellectual disability.

Whilst there are some medical and therapy practioners with expertise in Botswana, there is no centre of excellence to deal with such problems comprehensively, or to set a standard to help any who are struggling. Day care and church-based ministries are few. Many such children end up being neglected – often even by their own close relatives. Other families are struggling with the pain of these problems alone and with no support.

Early Childhood Development

The Africa Evangelical Church in Botswana has 27 branches around the country. Most of these congregations are in rural areas with limited resources and the church sees a huge need for Early Learning Centres (EDCs) in their communities. Some of their facilities will need building additions and renovations to meet government requirements for ECDCs, but their vision is to open one in each of their churches in the coming years. There are people who have done some ECDC training, but a regular, continuing training programme would need to be set up to foster consitently high standards across the centres, and we hope to be able to assist in this area.

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Schools Work

At present there is an open door into all our secondary schools with the blessing of the Department of Education. We are looking to recruit more workers who are able to help us seize this incredible opportunity.