Soshanguve, Pretoria, Gauteng Province, South Africa
aka one of the most corrupt parts of the entire country
aka my current city of residence
despite the crime and corruption, this place is not hopeless. not one bit. and much of this hope can be accredited to Popup Ministries, the organization we are working with this past month and the next.
Popup started out as a soup kitchen, but then came to the realization that the issue in this city wasn’t basic needs not being satisfied, but the need for empowerment of the people. so that’s when they started doing classes to give people the life skills that they need to thrive, in the workplace and the rest of the world. so for the past 3 weeks, one of those weeks was spent in the classroom where students, ages 18-35, are learning about life skills: problem solving, theology, asking questions, bettering their English, and tons more. the week that my team got to sit in the class was a week where the students discussed who God was, where He was, what He was, and His characteristics. huge questions. it was a privilege to be able to hear people from a completely different culture answer these questions even if we were in way over our heads. that same week, over half the class rededicated their lives to Christ and they had big breakthrough moments where they gave things up to God. gosh, such a gift to be able to be friends with these people regardless of skin color, socio-economic status, education or anything else that may be a barrier. these people have past hurt to the Lord that i would never even imagine experiencing, gave up relationships that were worse than i’ve ever even heard of and situations that they were in that seemed helpless. table 2 has my heart.
after this 4 weeks course, they go into a class of their choice for their vocation. while many are choosing welding, there is also forklifting, sewing, child and adult facilitators, computers and even more that i can’t remember. these people are going place. onward and upward, table 2!!!!
that was the third week we were here. the first week, we didn’t do much while we were settling in except some evangelism and some gardening, super chill. the second week i was mainly in the kitchen with 4 other people helping the cook, Grace. Grace is a funny funny woman who is terrified of cats and claims that in her culture they tear people’s faces off. she loves having us in the kitchen, like really loves it so much. today she told us we had to come in the kitchen all days because we are going to be gone until Tuesday. even if we don’t do the best at cleaning or stirring pap (it’s like grits and the main staple of every lunch), she is thankful for our company. simple gratitude. something i’m definitely learning from her. and how to cook for 40 people of the occasion ever presents itself.
the rest of the mornings we aren’t in the kitchen, we’re in the garden. okay this project is really cool: popup is making a garden so that the community can come in and learn to plant things for themselves and learn sustainability and provision and then take it to their homes. what a way to empower the disempowered, to keep their mission, even if people aren’t taking a class! i have big prayers for this garden, hoping that their vision comes to fruition and is greater than expected. and the gardener Glad, what a guy.
this week we’ve been going to an orphanage in the afternoons, where we help get ready for the kids to come home from school and get to play, if we’re lucky, with the kids in the daycare who aren’t a part of the orphanage. i love having these crazy kids jump all over us and just be simple joy and light for us, without them even knowing it. i’ve definitely had to dig into the back of my mind to pre-calculus to help a girl with homework, but after 4 tries we figured it out. this orphanage is doing really good things. i can’t quite put into words how good that place and everything they’re doing is, but i’m thankful those children have a place like that to go and beyond thankful we get to be part of it even if it’s just for 2 months.
if we aren’t doing any of the aforementioned things, we’re out in the street evangelizing. this was so far out of my comfort zone before the Race but now it doesn’t really bother me to go up to strangers and make small talk to get to talking about their eternity. the relationships we’ve made and conversations we’ve had are unforgettable and i want to write about that more but i’ll save it for another time. the people here are beyond friendly and it makes this easier than it would be in the States, and i hope we are carrying out the mission of the ministry even as we flood into the streets.
soshanguve, you’re sharp sharp. and so are you, popup ministries.
