Meet Erika and Louis (I’ll get a picture of them up soon). They run the ministry BEAM House Africa, the ministry we’ll be working with this month. They were there to pick us up from the airport in Johannesburg. While the rest of the squad is headed to Cape-town to work with Kingdom Sports, our team took a short drive to Pretoria to work with their orphanage. After getting settled in and trying to get a good nights sleep, we enjoyed a nice breakfast of porridge and coffee with our contacts. And they shared more about their ministry and their heart for Africa. You see, BEAM isn’t just an orphanage. That isn’t even their primary mission, it just sort of sprang out of what they were already doing. Their heart is to train people for life. To break the cycle of poverty. To break the chains. Ironic because our team name is Broken Chains and Erika didn’t even know. BEAM takes people through different trainings beginning with a compulsory program that teaches about God’s Plan and purpose for their life. Later it moves on to more specific skills like computers, nail technology, financial management, and even resume writing and how to interview for a job. Those who go through the program, whether it’s orphans or adults, are taken all the way from schooling to job placement.
Enter our team. It took only a couple days to realize that it wasn’t what we expected. When we were told we were going to an orphanage, I think we all had images of holding cute African babies. Such is not the case. Through more discussions with Erika and Louis, we realized we had been dropped right in a time of transition for them. And not necessarily of pretty transition either. From one side, you have the religious folks accusing them of not being “spiritual” enough. From the other, you have the government opposing their work. Shortly before we got there, they were forced off their property very quickly. And now the government is stopping them from acquiring new property in one the townships. Everywhere they turn they are faced with corruption, bribery and opposition.
Since we have no babies to hold, we’ve still kept busy doing everything from washing the doggies and vacuuming, to weeding and mixing concrete. Our goal as a team is to support Erika and Louis in whatever they need. As their ministry heads in a different direction, we want to stand and fight with them. Will you pray for favor and blessing upon their ministry as Louis and Erika as they continue their ministry?
PS. My next financial deadline of $11,000 is April 1st. I need $3500 to be able to meet it. Please pray and consider supporting me as I continue the World Race.
