In a community where abortion advertisements are on every sign and every corner, and babies are being dumped in dumpsters and toilets, hope is found in Impact Africa’s Baby Dump Rescues.
3 babies are abandoned or dumped each day in Johannesburg. The baby rescue safes have brought in a new hope for the women in this community when every corner has signs shouting at them – “pain free abortion” or “quick and safe.”
The area we are focusing on this month is Squatter Camps. A squatter camp is a settlement of makeshift shacks. People find refuge in wood, cardboard, tin, and other scrap materials. Out of a 54 million population, 12 million live in squatter camps. The particular one we are working in has 300,000 people living within a 2 mile radius. Men often leave their families back home in other countries to settle into Johannesburg to find work. Usually this means working 2-3 day peace jobs. Their average income is about $25 per month. And they send the majority of that back to their families.
Something that hit me harder than the poverty itself, is the division. Just over a small river from the squatter camp, you have a very proper condo area overlooking the camp. We were informed that in South Africa, there is no middle class. None whatsoever. The gap is too wide.
Impact Baby Rescue has placed Baby Safes throughout the community. The safe has a padded interior, a camera, and a censor to alert the ministry and proper authorities. Once a baby is placed inside, help comes within minutes. Impact actually has such a great relationship with the authorities and hospitals, that if a baby is found in a dumpster, public toilet, or elsewhere, they will contact Impact Africa to place the baby in one of their baby homes.
The Impact Baby homes care for these babies and the goal is to put them up for adoption. The organization also offers counseling, help, and resources. They build relationships with mothers as well. The center of everything Impact Africa is to share the Gospel. Their heart is to always carry the hope of Jesus – through Impact Kids school program, Impact Baby Rescue, Impact Squatter Camp Missions, and so much more.
Walking through the Squatter Camps brings a familiar comfort and peace to me. My passion lies in the midst of the beautiful people of these communities. God gave me a passion for Nyalenda Slums in Kenya over the past 3 years, and now He’s brought me back into a community to extend the hope of Christ in a similar way. And oddly but beautifully enough, it feels like home.
I love our ministry host’s phrase he told us in training:
“We are not the White American on the White Horse.” We are breaking down cultural barriers. We approach, assist, and advance. We come alongside. We learn as much of the language as possible. We help people encounter personal relationship with Jesus.
Over the next month this is the ministry I will be apart of. If you’d like more information you can visit
- www.impactafrica.org
- Facebook.com/impactafrica
- www.thebabysafe.org
I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you
John 14:18
