“You have the choice!” the high school principal bellowed. “Either you replace the SD card you stole, or you leave the school and don’t return.”
Siya, 14, walked away from the school and never returned to class. He’d been told that people of his race couldn’t be trusted—and he got the message.
He was in eighth-grade—his first year of secondary school.
Today, six years later, 20-year-old Siya maintains his innocence in the accusation of SD card theft. He argues that he had neither a cell phone nor laptop with which to use it. Nevertheless, such accusations continued and from an unlikely source. His own mother accused him of stealing from her.
Shortly thereafter he walked away from home and lived in a metal shack in Stone Hill, all alone.
Siya survived by carrying crates of beer for the local shebeen—an informal, usually unlicensed, “watering hole” set up in an informal settlement.
Now, he repairs shoes!
Most surprisingly, Siya met boys in the settlement who invited him to Uncle Bradley’s Bible study one Sunday evening.
There he discovered that many of the Bible study boys were meeting during the week in a shipping container retrofitted into a classroom and observed how they exited each meeting with smiles on their faces.
The boys, Siya noted, shared a great friendship among them. So, he hung around outside the container/classroom to see if he could discover the cause of this mysterious joy, too.
He asked around and was again invited to attend our Soldiers for Christ weekly meeting in the shipping container. He finally did and has never left.
At our Soldiers for Christ ministry, we expect loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage, in serving King Jesus!
In response to hearing the Word of God being taught, Siya was moved! When I asked him if he had put his faith in Jesus Christ, he said that he had done more than that. In his world this means that his faith embodies his whole life.
He explained how he doesn’t get drunk, smoke cigarettes, or take drugs anymore. And he can’t get enough of reading his Bible—all three of them, in fact.
“I have a big one at home in my shack,” he said. “I have one on my phone, and another small one I carry in my pocket.”
Still, life is hard, especially for those without formal jobs.
“All I wish now is to have a job so that I can buy clothes and food,” he said. “And I want to support my disabled younger brother.”
Siya’s brother lies in a shack all day and is occasionally pushed around the dirt roads in a makeshift wheelchair.
While walking in the squatter camp in November 2022, Siya was attacked by a knife-wielding thug. Although his attacker was much older than him, Siya disarmed the thug and beat him senseless. The thug went straight to the police and laid charges of assault against Siya—who was immediately arrested. He awaited trial in prison for a week.
These false charges—more accusations—cast a long shadow, forcing him to return to court multiple times over 11 months to defend himself. Finally, thankfully, the matter was thrown out of court in October 2023 due to lack of evidence.
Siya is smiling ear-to-ear and thankful to the Lord for helping him through this troublesome time, which could easily have led to years of unjustified incarceration.
Julia, at 16 years old, is trying her best to help and support her younger siblings. They live in a metal shack, in the Stone Hill informal settlement. Her mother sleeps around, is often drunk or on drugs, and does nothing more than bring embarrassment and violent terror to her family.
There is no father around!!
After attending the Parent-Teacher Association meeting at school on behalf of her siblings, because their mother is too inebriated to do anything that might require responsibility or common sense, Julia is berated, beaten, and spat upon by her mother, on her return.
There are many Julias in Stone Hill.
They attend the Dream Girls ministry, which Sonja runs with a wonderful team of ‘aunties’ – ministry leaders.
Sonja [Charl’s wife] and the brave aunties teach arts and crafts to the girls, and you might just be thinking, “isn’t this a waste of resources? What about the Gospel?”
Considering that the Gospel effects every area of life, we use all areas of life to incorporate the Gospel into the girls’ lives. Teaching arts and crafts to the marginalized can have several important discipleship benefits:
Encouragement: Learning artistic skills encourages the girls by providing them with a creative outlet and a means to express themselves. But this does not happen in a vacuum.
Ingrid Dahl, in her article, “The Christian Philosophy of Art” states, “True art depicts God's work Biblically, historically, and materially and acts as a lens that focuses the eye on some aspect of His work.”
In a poor, pagan, squatter camp environment there is no beauty to behold. You need to create beauty with the gifts the Lord has blessed you with.
Income Generation: Arts and crafts skills can be a source of income. By teaching these skills, they enable the girls to create products that can be sold, providing them with a means to earn a living and improve their financial situation.
Cognitive Development: Engaging in creative activities enhances cognitive development. It improves problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and fine motor skills. Unbelievably, most of the girls need to be taught how to cut straight with a scissors.
These skills are essential for personal development and can be valuable in various aspects of life.
Covenant Community Building: Arts and crafts activities bring people together, fostering a sense of covenant community and belonging. Shared creative experiences strengthen social bonds and create a supportive network, leading to improved mental and emotional well-being.
Therapeutic Benefits: Engaging in artistic activities is therapeutic, providing an emotional outlet and reducing stress. This is particularly important for girls facing challenging life circumstances, like Gender Based Violence and poverty.
Educational Enhancement: Integrating arts and crafts into education enhances the overall learning experience for the girls. It makes learning more engaging, encourages creativity, and improves academic performance.
By starting to learn these skills, girls and women have started their own small businesses, contributing to the local economy, and created job opportunities for others.
In summary, teaching arts and crafts to the Dream Girls has a transformative Gospel impact on their lives, offering discipleship opportunities, including personal and economic growth, and fosters a Christ-centered covenant community.
I am so proud of our team of aunties, who are patient, loving and gracious, under the most difficult of circumstances.
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This is a compilation of articles written by ITMI’s Charl van Wyk, arranged by the ITMI staff.
As we look ahead to the coming year, we have ambitious plans to expand our Gospel outreach and impact even more lives.
For example, my friend, Charl (cool name, right? There’s more than one of us.) will be launching a new project at our Stone Hill ministry base. He’s arranging to teach valued skills such as woodwork and metalwork to jobless young men like Siya.
Our sewing project, run by a husband-and-wife team, has been a wonderful success with some trainees finding jobs in the industry and others becoming entrepreneurs making and selling clothing.
We prayerfully work towards a Gospel-centered reformation, aiming to building a generation of young, Christ-centered, Gospel-driven servant leaders to act in our broken world.
Please pray for our ‘Soldiers’, that they may worship Jesus Christ with their whole hearts and lives!
Pray: Prayer is powerful, and we ask for your prayers as we embark on new initiatives and continue our existing programs. Spiritual attacks have been relentless. Please pray for the individuals and communities we serve, that they may experience the love and grace of Christ.
Donate: Your financial support allows us to continue our joint ministry and expand our reach. Whether it's a one-time gift or a monthly commitment, every contribution makes a significant impact.
Spread the Word: Share our mission with your friends, family, and colleagues. Encourage others to join our cause and make a difference in the lives of those who need it most.
