Most people hope to leave their mark on those around them. In general, people want to be remembered and thought of fondly. We want to do something that matters and to make a lasting impression on others. To be blunt, we want a legacy like those of our social icons and role models. Like Martin Luther King Jr. Like Mother Teresa. Like Nelson Mandela (had to include him while in South Africa). It is part of human nature to crave a legacy. We want to make an impact. And some of us actually do.
I was privileged to meet such an organization in the Johannesburg community. This organization is called Impact Africa, and it really does impact not only South Africa but all of Africa. They focus on several squatter communities in the surrounding Johannesburg area. Impact Africa makes an impact through its numerous ministries. From their preschool ministry to their baby rescue mission even to its student ministry for the teenagers in the squatter communities, Impact Africa is making a huge difference. As an organization they believe in sharing the gospel slowly and consistently throughout time rather than have an onslaught of passionate evangelical missionaries who are here today and gone tomorrow. They have resigned to the slower more effective path.
Impact Africa work with children via their own preschool, spreading the gospel message through all of their loving local teachers. Another ministry they have is called Impact Baby Rescue and it combats infanticide in South Africa by providing mothers who cannot provide for their children with a safe method of giving their children away. They work in schools teaching teenagers about God’s love through purity and life skills. In these schools, there is a large drug addiction and gang issues which is rooted in the many deeper problems.
Perhaps the most momentous ministry of Impact Africa is the way in which they connect with squatter camps and townships. They emphasize the importance of one-on-one interactions and the personal devotions. In one such township, you will find shacks with no running water, the entire families in one room, and peoples from the entire continent of Africa. These communities develop because of the hopes of new jobs, new wealth, new freedoms, and new opportunities. However so often these people find none of these false promises. These promises can only be found freely in Christ. So by reaching out to these singular communities, Impact Africa is truly able to slowly shape and rock the entire continent of Africa.
When I look at my life, I want to be able to say that I have made a difference. I want to be proud of the things I have accomplished and confident that I have done great and noble deeds. However, I know that is often the greatest things that receive the most negligible amounts of recognition. Impact Africa is an organization which is moving this world in a big way for the LORD. They are an organization that is moving and making a true difference. One could say that Impact Africa does just that they impact Africa.
