On July 17-18, we helped sponsor a quiz bowl and speech/debate competition at the Glory Library. 

Here is Pastor David’s report of the event:

“First of all, we would like to express our gratitude and heartfelt thankfulness to all the Firefall friends who helped in prayer and supported in finance to accomplish the vision of Glory Reading Room during the student competition. The Lord is working beyond our imagination!

Though we hoped to host about 200-250 people, on the first day, more than 400 people came to participate in our event. That day 48 high school students from 16 different government and private high schools competed in general knowledge and quizzes. Each school brought 10 students and 5 teachers to observe and cheer for their schools. Some of their parents came. Their school administrators were there, too. 

I greeted the crowd and introduced our library for 10 minutes, sharing the goodness of God as a testimony of the history of our reading room for another 10 minutes. Everyone listened very carefully. The competition was lively and intense with everyone giving their best. We fed all of them lunch with rice, chicken curry, beans and chilies. Our funds for two days were exhausted on the first day.

We were in an awkward position and prayed together for the second day with the library team. When I checked my Messenger after prayer, I saw a message from Nancy asking about the situation. Jehovah Jireh provided for the second day through Firefall - on time. Hallelujah!

There were about 500 on the second day, including military officers and leaders from the local authorities. Thirty-two students from 16 schools competed with impromptu speeches (take an unseen topic from judges and talk about it for seven minutes). We included this competition so that the students would read more (at the library). We fed everyone lunch like we did on the first day. I got another 15 minutes to share a testimony! 

The Glory Kids led by my daughter also presented three gospel songs and dramas during those two days. They performed twice when the people requested them to. We gave presents to all competitors. We gave small cash gifts, trophies, medals and presents to all winners who won first, second and third place. They all were very excited and happy to receive them.

The most exciting news is that 127 people registered as new members of our reading room after the competition. Most of them are the brightest students from each school, teachers and military officers, too! 

We made an effective bridge during these two days beyond what we could imagine! Many of the students had not laughed, enjoyed life, or felt free like this for quite a long time because of our political and economic situation. We saw how much they enjoyed and loved this event by the joy in their faces.”