Prevention in Schools and Universities

It is said that a dollar invested in prevention is worth as much as 1,000 dollars invested in recovery. I think it’s very true and that’s why we want to do everything we can to stop young people from becoming addicted before they start experimenting with drugs, alcohol, or pornography. That is why we go to schools, high schools, and universities and present our testimonies, we hold seminars and through these meetings, in addition to the prevention work, we proclaim the Good News, the Gospel of our Redeemer who still transforms lives with his great love and power. It is an extraordinary opportunity to have open doors and partnerships with government institutions that invite us every year to present our message to hundreds of young people.

As some of you already know, this is a ministry that I have been doing for about 12 years and that I consider very important. I want to form a team of at least 3 people with whom to go and give presentations of about 1.5 hours on 3 topics of major interest to young people: hidden addictions (Smartphone, Internet Facebook, social media, shopping, computer games, etc.); behavioral addictions (gambling, pornography, etc) and chemical addictions (alcohol, drugs, psychiatric drugs, etc.). Last year I tested this model at Betania Christian High School together with two volunteers and it went very well and we want to continue with this approach.

What I would like to do differently this year and in the future are the following things:

• I would like to make some professional videos with the presentation of the 3 sessions so that they can be used by other counselors where we cannot go in person to present them. I have already made such material with 7 videos in it, in which 6 men tell their testimonies about how Jesus rescued them, and these materials are being used all over the country by the government Anti-Drug centers. We also want to continue this project this year in which the testimonies of some women will appear and we will also address addictions that have not been discussed, such as pornography, social media, shopping, etc.
• I want to produce more video and audio resources, brochures, books, etc. on topics of interest to those with addictions that can be offered for free to those who, after the presentations, ask us for more information or ask for our help for specific problems. I mention that in the official data Romania seems to have a rate of 25% of the population with addictions, which is very serious especially since Moldova and Romania are on the 2nd and 5th places in the top of alcohol consumption in the world.
• I want to translate some very good materials (documentaries, presentations, movies) from the internet that have very valuable content and it would be very good to have them in Romanian
• I want to start holding such presentations not only in schools and high schools but also in other places (cafes, restaurants, bars, Astra Central Library Sibiu, etc.). For example, I held such a seminar at Lumos Restaurant and it was very well received and attended by all kinds of people.

Time invested per week: 4 hours of presentations, 2 hours of preparations.

Partners: National Anti-Drug Agency, Genesis TV, High Schools / Universities from Sibiu, Bucharest, Cluj, and from Romania in general.