The first month of our World Race has been quite an adventure in finding a place to serve. Our squad is made up of nine teams, and five are currently in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Zambia. The rest of us are in Pretoria, South Africa, and we finally have an exciting opportunity to serve.
While we were in the dark about our service placement for a while, here is what happened:
After the soccer camp in Johannesburg fell through, the AIM headquarters searched for another ministry and contacted one in Pretoria. The ministry is Pop Up, a skills training and development center, offering adult education, medical, and social services to disadvantaged people nearby. Pop Up is an acronym that stands for People Upliftment Program. (Upliftment is an actual word in Afrikaans that starts with an O.) There are three Pop Up locations, but we are at the largest, located near the suburb of Tshwane on a dirt field between a train station, neighborhood, and slum.
When we showed up on Thursday, a man named Russell met with us and gave a tour of the compound. Our group clicked with him immediately and he became fired up and enthusiastic about our potential. Later we found out that he was originally going to give us a tour and try to pass us on to someone else in Pretoria.
There is not a lot of work to do here at Pop Up, but Russell became so fired up and excited about what we have to offer and our potential in the city. When we explained our visions of how we wanted to help, he thought of many examples of how they aligned with local needs and his personal calling. He saw the promise in us and realized God wanted us here, not in Zimbabwe or Botswana.
With enthusiasm, he is devoting a lot of time to spend with us and arrange transportation and opportunities. We only have two more weeks here, but we are going to do a lot of ministry and service in the city that may include work schools, hospitals, and streets. We are also going to work at Pop Up, but our focus will look different. We will not be pouring into the local people with needs, we’ll be pouring into the leaders at Pop Up who have been doing the pouring themselves.
There is definitely a buzz here about how we showed up and what we are doing. I even heard a rumor about a local TV station that wants to do a story about how us Americans ended up here. Every interaction so far has shown that God does want us here and has great plans for our work in Pretoria.
Our work starts on Monday and everyday will probably be different. For now, please pray for Pop Up and the 27 of us here as we do whatever God brings us. I will keep you posted as more happens!
