”
Don’t be afraid, for you have another son.
As she breathed her last-for she was dying- she named her son Ben-Oni.
But his father named him Benjamin”
Ben-Oni translated means “son of my suffering”.
Benjamin translated means “son of my right hand, son of my favor”.
Jeff and Caryn Hakes were affected by this renaming of Benjamin by his father.
The Hakes, who work with iris ministries in Mozambiqueb, began to see the need of teenage boys that were transitioning out of the centers. The Lord led them in 2004 to open a center for young men called the Benjamin Project.
(Jeff Hakes-on left, and Michael Laubscher)
The Benjamin Project was started 3 years ago and is still in its pioneering phase as the Hakes would put it.
The young men are pioneering right along with the Jeff and Caryn, learning and growing in the Lord.
These pioneers started out with nothing but a 19 acre plot of land near
Maputo.
Their first homes were tents, followed by bamboo dwellings, and now there are two concrete homes on the property.
One for bthe Hakes and a dorm for the boys.
The Hakes, after 3 years, recently got electricity! but still have no running water on the premises.
(Caryn with the boys dorm in the background)
One of the visions of this project is to see the boys
“through to the day they are ready to launch out on their own and succeed as adults in what God has called them to be and do.”
This project helps these young men to continue their education and assists them with career training.
There is also a focus on spiritual development.
Being with the Hakes allows them to have parental figures, to learn what being a parent is all about (as these men will someday have families of their own.) They teach and disciple these young men and in turn these teens disciple others.
(The young men playing basketball)
A church is also on the premises (or at least the start of the building…they can’t hold services there right now because it is too cold and windy and there are no walls).
Members of this church consists of locals from the community, Jeff and Caryn, and the young men that live the Benjamin Project, and has about 70 members.
Having the church on the property also provides the opportunity for these young men to walk in their spiritual gifts and callings, one of the guys leads the children in Sunday school, another leads worship.
Another one of their visions is to continue to build up the project. Eventually they would like to have a woodshop, welding shop and a cafeteria/training kitchen/cafe.
With these things they want to be able to have small businesses. For example to be able to serve out of one side of the kitchen and to also sell baked goods out of the other.
Money earned will go back into the project as well as providing training for the young men and members of the community.
Not only are the Hakes providing a home for these young men, but training and life skills as well.
As stated from the Iris ministry website about the Benjamin Project,
“Also as a part of a commitment to ongoing education, students in the Benjamin Project continue their education in several nearby schools, skills centers, and universities where, in addition to core curriculum, they can enroll in classes in auto mechanics, drivers’ education, computer technology, household electrical and other skills development programs.”
There are already several young men that started with the Project that have gone away to University-one wants to become a Dr. and another a civil engineer.
Caryn did tell us that these boys still come “home” on the weekends and during school breaks.
These young men are growing up in a family environment. They are learning how to carry on and to make a life. To support themselves, family members, and any family that they might have in the future.
Through the love, support, and obedience of the Hakes, these boys are spending vital years surrounded by parents who are teaching them what it means to be a member in kingdom of the Lord.
To learn what a real father is.
