As we come to the end of 2011 and everything at LXP and around our lives has slowed down, I’m compelled to reflect over the year.  I cannot help but see the greatness and goodness of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ in His grace and sustenance for the ministry of LXP and our lives at large.  He wonderfully carried us this year.

In view of this, I would like to take this time to first of all thank Him, our great God and Savior Jesus Christ for His unfailing faithfulness towards us in provision and protection. Secondly, a special thanks to all our faithful prayer and financial supporters.  Many of you have given toward us as staff, our students and also toward the running of LXP.  And last but not the least, I want to thank all the LXP staff members for your commitment and selfless dedication toward the students this year.

LXP 2011 was a great year for us.  God continues to confirm His calling in this ministry.  What a privilege for us to witness the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the students. We witnessed hearts and emotions healed, identities established in Christ, compassion cultivated, dreams and passions nurtured, stewardship and servanthood harnessed to name but a few.  LXP is becoming more stable and well established each year.  Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ!  We also experienced great grace in financial provision this year.  Thanks to all who faithfully partnered through giving.

On behalf of LXP, thank you for any involvement you have had with the program this year.  Know that we appreciate you and it’s a joy for us to be connected to you.  We are looking forward to continued partnership with you in 2012 and beyond.  (For ways you can already get involved for next year, please see our Christmas wish list.)

I wish you all Merry CHRISTmas and a blessed 2012.  May our Master, our Lord Jesus Christ, remember your goodness towards The Leadership Experience and His people.

In Him,

George Mwanza

There are still five students who need financial support for LXP 2011. And so I appeal to you once again as the Body of Christ. Each of these five students needs 1500 South African Rand (USD$250) per month or 9000 South African Rand (USD$1500) for the entire program. The total amount for all five students comes to 45000 South African Rand (USD$7500).

Any contribution toward these students will go a long way in covering their expenses. No donation is too small. Will you prayerfully consider financially supporting one of these for the entire program, or even make a contribution toward a portion of their fees? Your support will cover tuition fees, lodging, food and other program related expenses.

On another note, we are very excited to report that our 2 students from Swaziland, 6 from right here in South Africa and 1 from Zimbabwe have already arrived at the LXP base! Many thanks for your prayers – I’m delighted to say the 3 Zambians got their visas and they are due to join us by the weekend. As we shared in our last website post (www.thelxp.org/lxp/by-the-grace-we-are-in-the-final-week-please-join-us-in-prayer-for-final-week-request), it is quite a challenging process for our international students to even obtain the necessary travel documents just to get to South Africa. So the Zambian visas are truly something to thank the Lord for! At the same time, they were only granted their visas on Thursday, and with other complications also holding back the students from Ghana and Tanzania, we’ve pushed back our 2011 launch from this past Wednesday to this coming Monday (6 June). We are yet to hear the final word on the visa situation for the Ghanaian, and it is with regret that I inform you that our 2 Nigerian brothers, 1 Ghanaian brother, and most likely 1 Zimbabwean sister have faced complications that have made it impossible for them to attend the program this year.

Thank you for sharing in this journey with us! We are so grateful and pray the Lord’s blessings in each of your lives.

George and the LXP team

Most of the participants who join LXP come from very humble circumstances and so it is often difficult to acquire the financial resources necessary just to get to South Africa (not to mention the resources necessary to pay their tuition fees once here). Their preparation expenses include passport and visa acquisition—which requires many costly pre-requites such as a medical check-up, a police clearance, certain immunizations, and the ability to produce a return ticket from South Africa or the equivalent amount of money which will be held by the Embassy until their return home. To follow through with each of these things, the candidates must find a way to pay the public transportation fees to get from place to place. For those in very rural settings, they often have to travel hours to their country’s capital city, where their success or lack of it at the South African Embassy may mean staying several days in the city or even making another trip entirely depending upon the feedback they receive in the visa application process. To find a way to source these funds and then even think of acquiring their tuition fees can be quite an overwhelming mountain to climb if a candidate is not strongly determined and able to creatively make a plan when the situation simply looks too hard.

Understanding the above, we know the candidates have come a long way when they reach the point of actually submitting everything necessary for their visa applications. It tells us a lot about their process of preparation thus far and gives us great reason to thank the Father for His grace, strength and provision that has brought them to this point. Now we need to pray them through the actual visa acquisition process. Just because they have succeeded in doing everything necessary to get to this point, it is not guaranteed that they will find favor with the immigration authorities at the Embassy. And so we are asking for people to join us right now in further prayer intervention. I am so glad to share that all of our current candidates are in the actual visa application submission stage as we speak. Will you please join us in praying for the following visa-related requests:

• Our 2 candidates from Ghana were not allowed to even enter the South African Embassy the day they initially tried because of the huge numbers of other people seeking to obtain South African visas. Please pray they will not only be allowed in on their next attempt, but that they will be served well and find favor with the official(s) they will see.
• 4 Zambians have submitted their applications and are waiting for feedback this week. Pray the response is in their favor.
• 2 potential students from Swaziland, 2 from Nigeria, and 1 from Tanzania are also in the application and waiting process. Please intercede for them and keep them in your prayers.

In addition to praying for the visa-related needs of the students mentioned above, please pray for the final travel preparations for the 2 young ladies coming from Zimbabwe, along with the tuition fees that must still come through for all of the students, including for our 5 potential students coming right from within South Africa. It is often at this “final hour,” so to speak, that we have candidates who fall away. Pray that the Lord will hand-pick and make the path straight for exactly the team of young people He has chosen for this year’s LXP program. We are excited for what is in store as we watch Him transform the lives of another year’s group of LXP participants!

Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with us. We look forward to updating you as we receive answers to prayer!

This year is very unique! It marks the second time since the start of LXP five years ago that we are running a six-months program, and it is the first time that we are drawing students from both East African and West African countries. We are excited to have enrolled Nigerian, Ghanaian and Tanzanian students. Other nationalities represented include Zambians, Zimbabweans, Swazi’s and South Africans. This year we are also expecting an equal representation of both genders. Apart from our female-dominated Class of 2010, LXP has tended to have far more male participants in a given year.

This year we have a record of 20 applicants. But due to limited space we can only take 17 students. We are trusting the Lord for more space in the future, for the need for servant leadership development in Africa is huge. Our efforts at the moment seem like a drop in the ocean. However we trust by God’s grace that we are making a significant difference in the Kingdom, as we create great awareness and expose the poverty of sound leadership and life skills within the continent of Africa–while pouring godly character and a fresh passion for Jesus and His service in the hearts of our students.

Our work at LXP depends on the generous donations of you, the Church–the Body of Christ. This year we have 6 prospective students who deserve the training but cannot afford the program. I would like to ask on their behalf, will you prayerfully consider assisting one of these promising leaders realize their potential by financially supporting them for LXP 2011? We have 2 ladies from Zimbabwe, 1 lady and 2 gentlemen from South Africa’s informal settlements and 1 gentleman from Tanzania. Each of these requires 1,500 South African Rand (USD $250) every month for six months–amounting to 9,000 Rand (USD $1,500) for each student for the entire 2011 program. Your support will cover their tuition, food, lodging, and other program-related expenses.

There is nothing of greater value than investing in people’s lives–helping the weak and the vulnerable as well as the seemingly strong and mighty realize their true value and potential as sons and daughters of the Most High God and their unique role in His Kingdom. Thank you for considering this precious opportunity to partner with us by helping one of the above-mentioned students come to LXP South Africa for a program that will change their lives and contribute to impacting Africa at large.

Please contact me at georgemwanza@gmail.com if you would like to know more about financially supporting an LXP student. Your may also contribute via the information on this website.

Most of all, please continue to pray for the work of LXP–both the training program in South Africa and the children’s and youth outreaches in Lesotho. Thank you for faithfully lifting us and our students before our Father!