After Launch in Chicago, I-squad headed to New York ,JFK where we spent a night in the terminal giving us our first official taste of World Race culture. We had to split up our squad in half to be able to get us all to Atlanta on time without missing our 16 hour flight to Johannesberg. We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa around 6:00 pm on Monday, September 10th, 2012. We took a bus to Eikenhof Life Center and arrived there around 11:30 pm. We were able to do a lot of resting and recouping before starting our work.
On Wednesday, September 12th, 2012, 5 teams left for their ministry sites in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Each team was going to be taking a very long bus ride, the longest being 32 hours. The plan for the 4 remaining teams (team Shekinah included) was to stay at Eikenhof and work there for the rest of the month helping out by painting whatever needed to be painted. However, that wasn’t God’s plan for us. Luckily the contact at the EikenhofLife Center had a ministry partner in Pretoria that they connected us to. We headed to Pretoria on Thursday, September 13th, 2012. Popup (People Upliftment Program)
PopUp heard about us a day before we came and decided that they could not only accommodate us, but also put us to work for the remaining two weeks of the month.
PopUp
POPUP is a non-governmental organization initiated by the DoxaDeo Christian church group. It started as a shelter for the homeless but was subsequently turned into a career training facility. PopUp serves their surrounding community and their goal is restoration. They currently have programs consisting of Job Placement, Medical Services, Social Services, PopKids, Makhulong Foster Care, and Skills Programs. They recently launched two more facilities that will have the same services in MmakauGa-Rankuwa and Soshanguve.
PopUp is a shining example of the kingdom of God. They not only provide for physical needs, but also care about affecting their community eternally for the Glory of God. I am so blessed to be working with PopUp. The interesting thing is that PopUp is doing exactly what I studied at American for my B.A. Awesome to see theory put into practice!
