Graduation from 6 weeks of intense programming at Hope Africa is no small thing. It means overcoming all kinds of obstacles that would prevent most of us from doing anything, never mind achieving this exciting graduation. It means facing fear, looking at it straight in the face and telling it to get lost. It means believing who we are as people and rejecting the lies we have been told, the lies that we cannot do anything. It also means attending the classes faithfully, learning and growing. It means transformation of self. As I said before, it's no small thing.
Mike started at Hope Africa with this group of graduate 6 weeks
ago and participated in their 3 weeks Life Skills training class, learning right
alongside of them and getting insight in what Hope Africa does. If you
haven't read about his experience, I encourage you to check it what he has to say here: http://hopeafrica.com/a-canadian-perspective/
Once the 3 weeks of Life Skills are over, students go through computer
training, bible overview, etc...
Mike didn't join them in those classes, but instead he has been keeping busy
leading a class over the lunch hour for students who are "seekers", walking along
side them as they consider the claims of Jesus and count the cost of what it
would look like to give their lives to Him. They met almost daily, and
had lots of good, honest, authentic conversation. They asked many
questions, some he was been able to answer and others not so much.
One area specifically that he didn’t know how to answer was in
regards to keeping or letting go of cultural practices after following
Jesus. Thankfully one of the other staff members at Hope Africa who is
Xhosa and has had to travel this road himself came to class to talk to the group
about these questions they were facing.
Here are some of the questions they asked: “What cultural
rituals can I participate in after coming to Christ?” “Why can’t I pray
to the ancestors and go to the Sangoma (traditional healer) and also follow Jesus
at the same time?” “If your parents believed in the rituals, how did you
get born again?” “How do I follow Jesus when everyone in my family
pressures me to participate in rituals?” And the last questions
which I thought was great: “Isn’t Christianity just a white man’s
religion?” Praise the Lord, Jesus was not white!!! (even if in
those pictures in Sunday school Jesus had long blond hair, blue eyes, a nice
beard, white robe, and blue Miss America
sash suggests differently).
We, at Hope Africa, are given 6 weeks of intense relationship with the students, precious
time to impact their lives and show them the love of God - and then comes
graduation. It was so great to see the excitement on the students
faces as they have new hope and skills for their future. Many of
the students thanked the staff for not just teaching them, but caring for and
encouraging them as well. Now these students will be working with our job
placement coordinator to find work. Please pray for them that they
are able to get jobs. Also, please pray as many in this class are still wrestling with
the Gospel, pray that they would choose to surrender their lives and follow
Jesus.
We have also been plagued by sickness the last couple weeks, and covet your prayers for health.
Until next time folks!
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 16:19
The
students coming into the Life Skills course are coming from situations I
can’t even begin to understand, and therefore the skills that as a
Canadian I would see as necessary to getting a job are very different
from the skills needed for these students to get jobs. To simply
give them some technical training without dealing with their past and
what is currently happening in their lives does not lead to any
sustainable change. This is because even though they might have
new technical skills that can get them a job, their lives are not in a
place that has enough stability to maintain that new job.
For example, one of the students from this class shared her story: As a young girl, as far back as she can remember, she was living with her grandmother. They were very poor, so her grandma asked their neighbors for work, and they agreed to hire her. This went well as they now had enough food, but after a short while her grandmother passed away. Thankfully her neighbor decided to take her and her brother in and raise them. However, at about age 10, her neighbor also died.
At the funeral, she met her mother for the first time in her life. Since she had nowhere else to go, her mother took her and her brother to Cape Town. She lived with her mom for a couple of years, but then her mom got a job in Johannesburg. Her mom left her and her brother behind in Cape Town, with the promise of visiting every month and sending money for them. The first month she did come visit and gave her and her brother R600 (less than $100) for the month. However in the 2nd month, she did not visit and only gave R150 ($25). In the 3rd month, she gave nothing. This student then called her mother and asked what was going on. Her mother replied, “I have problems too, you know.” So as a young teen, this girl was left to raise her brother with no money, all while trying to stay in school.
She walked very far each day to go to school, and relied on the generosity of neighbors for food. Often there was not any food. After a few years, she dropped out of school and someone paid for a train ticket for her to travel to find her mother. When she found her in Johannesburg she told her she must come back and be a mom to her and her brother, as she was too young to be a mother and needed to be in school. Her mom came and they started to live together, but her mom quickly got into trouble gambling and owed many people in the community money. She would also often leave for days/weeks at a time and our student would not know where she was or when she was returning. She eventually left completely again.
Today, this student wonders if her father even knows she is alive. She dreams every day that he will come and hold her hand and walk with her in life. Her mom is no longer in her life at all.
She closed her sharing time by saying that she believes what God says, that He will not give you a burden beyond what you can carry. I could not believe her conclusion to the story. After all she has been through, and the unbelievable burden she has been forced to carry, she trusts God with her life. What a challenge to me to trust God with the challenges in my life!
- See more at: http://hopeafrica.com/a-canadian-perspective/#sthash.NXwOpvH2.dpuf
For example, one of the students from this class shared her story: As a young girl, as far back as she can remember, she was living with her grandmother. They were very poor, so her grandma asked their neighbors for work, and they agreed to hire her. This went well as they now had enough food, but after a short while her grandmother passed away. Thankfully her neighbor decided to take her and her brother in and raise them. However, at about age 10, her neighbor also died.
At the funeral, she met her mother for the first time in her life. Since she had nowhere else to go, her mother took her and her brother to Cape Town. She lived with her mom for a couple of years, but then her mom got a job in Johannesburg. Her mom left her and her brother behind in Cape Town, with the promise of visiting every month and sending money for them. The first month she did come visit and gave her and her brother R600 (less than $100) for the month. However in the 2nd month, she did not visit and only gave R150 ($25). In the 3rd month, she gave nothing. This student then called her mother and asked what was going on. Her mother replied, “I have problems too, you know.” So as a young teen, this girl was left to raise her brother with no money, all while trying to stay in school.
She walked very far each day to go to school, and relied on the generosity of neighbors for food. Often there was not any food. After a few years, she dropped out of school and someone paid for a train ticket for her to travel to find her mother. When she found her in Johannesburg she told her she must come back and be a mom to her and her brother, as she was too young to be a mother and needed to be in school. Her mom came and they started to live together, but her mom quickly got into trouble gambling and owed many people in the community money. She would also often leave for days/weeks at a time and our student would not know where she was or when she was returning. She eventually left completely again.
Today, this student wonders if her father even knows she is alive. She dreams every day that he will come and hold her hand and walk with her in life. Her mom is no longer in her life at all.
She closed her sharing time by saying that she believes what God says, that He will not give you a burden beyond what you can carry. I could not believe her conclusion to the story. After all she has been through, and the unbelievable burden she has been forced to carry, she trusts God with her life. What a challenge to me to trust God with the challenges in my life!
- See more at: http://hopeafrica.com/a-canadian-perspective/#sthash.NXwOpvH2.dpuf
