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“The reason why I like to come here is because I learn more about the Word of God.” …

A heart-warming smile played at his lips for a moment before his wide-set eyes dropped, focusing on the black and white checked tablecloth on the table in front of him. The smile stayed in place as he said, “The reason why I like to come here is …”

See the ministry your support helps make possible in these clips from Stone Hill outreaches!

Charl van Wyk, South Africa, Stone Hill

“Discipling Teenage Boys is a Challenging but Rewarding Experience.”

“The reason why I like to come here is because I learn more about the Word of God.” …

Inside a Soldiers for Christ Meeting (Video)

A heart-warming smile played at his lips for a moment before his wide-set eyes dropped, focusing on the black and white checked tablecloth on the table in front of him. The smile stayed in place as he said, “The reason why I like to come here is …”

Stone Hill Outreaches – Thank You for Your Support! (Video)

See the ministry your support helps make possible in these clips from Stone Hill outreaches!

Mary* has never met her father, and her mother is incarcerated for dealing drugs. …

The seeds you’ve planted have, by God’s grace, experienced explosive growth! …

Allow me to share a short example of this via a story that ITMI’s Charl van Wyk recently shared. …

Stone Hill, South Africa, van Wyk

Hungry for More Than Food

Mary* has never met her father, and her mother is incarcerated for dealing drugs. …

Charl van Wyk, Stone Hill, South Africa

Sewing and Sowing Seeds: Job Skills Training for 18 Unemployed in Stone Hill

The seeds you’ve planted have, by God’s grace, experienced explosive growth! …

Stone Hill, Charl van Wyk, South Africa

Dear Team: How Biblical Logic Helped Solve One South African Boy’s Hunger Problem

Allow me to share a short example of this via a story that ITMI’s Charl van Wyk recently shared. …

THE CONTEXT

Stone Hill is a squatter camp outside of Cape Town, South Africa. The youth of Stone Hill are incredibly hardened by the depravity of their culture.

Alcohol, drugs, theft, stabbings and rape are common occurrences in their everyday lives.

Stone Hill, South Africa, Charl van Wyk, Poverty

Stone Hill settlement, outside Cape Town, South Africa.

Stone Hill, South Africa, Charl van Wyk, Sports, Poverty

Run down shacks like this one are the only thing that stands between most Stone Hill families and the damp, cold South African winter. 

It's not uncommon for girls are encouraged by their mother to have sex before marriage and give birth, thus proving their fertility.

Homes are filled with illegitimate children who have no idea who their father is. If there is a man in the home, he is probably their mother’s boyfriend.

One young man was set on fire in a revenge attack and another was stabbed to death over a cigarette. 

 

 

WHAT YOUR SUPPORT DOES

Reaches a Community for Christ

Your support of the outreaches in Stone Hill enable local believers to build relationships with the impoverished and suffering in this marginalized township to share the Good News.

Demonstrates the Love of Jesus

Through the demonstration of His love in practical ways, many are coming to Jesus.

Disciples Youth for Multiplication

Your support of Stone Hill outreaches helps ITMI partners disciple youth in Stone Hill so that they can be agents of His Word in their community.

Learn About the Outreach in Stone Hill

Youth Outreach Programs

A group of believers has spearhead discipleship opportunities for the youth of Stone Hill using activities like wrestling, soccer, handball and crafts as catalysts to build relationships with the youth.

Stone Hill, South Africa, Charl van Wyk, youth

Stone Hill girls with their crafts.

Stone Hill, South Africa

The Stone Hill wrestling team surprised everyone by winning the championship!

Through activities and relationships built while doing them, the youth are learning that they have value. They are discovering how a trustworthy, godly adult lives.

They experience the novelty of safe relationships.

They encounter Jesus through His people.

Stone Hill, South Africa, Charl van Wyk

Stone Hill youth connect with believers through outreach activities.

 

New Shacks and Mattresses for the Needy

One of the ways the South African believers could demonstrate God's love to families in Stone Hill was by replacing tumble-down shacks with structures that were more sturdily constructed.

They also provided mattresses for many who were sleeping in the dirt inside the ramshackle lean-tos.

Stone Hill, South Africa, Charl van Wyk

Local physician, Dr. Bradley Kuhn, after a family has been blessed with an upgrade for their shack. 

charl van wyk, bradley Kuhn, stone hill, south africa, mattress

Carrying a donated mattress for a family in need.

Community Center

With the help of ITMI supporters, a Community Center was constructed out of three shipping containers placed in a U-shape. The cover was added to create a courtyard where Sunday services and events could be held.

charl van wyk, mark parris, stone hill, south africa

The Community Center houses a meeting room, a weight room where the youth can channel their energy and frustrations in a positive way and a kitchen for food outreaches.

ITMI Partners, Charl van Wyk and Mark Parris fellowship with young men from Stone Hill at a Bible Study in the Community Center.

Medical Clinic

As part of local believers' outreach in Stone Hill, ITMI supporters helped set up a small medical clinic, which Dr. Kuhn oversees.  For residents of Stone Hill, medical care was mostly out of reach.

If a Stone Hill resident needed attention, their only option was to pay for transportation to a clinic in town. For most, this was prohibitive. But due to the distance, most of the time, they were turned away.

Local hospitals will accept patients first come, first serve and once they've accepted the quota, no more will be admitted, regardless of the severity of the condition.

The message received by the impoverished of Stone Hill? Your life doesn't have value.

But the message delivered by this clinic is that they are valuable bearers of God's Image and He is calling them to Himself.

 

The small but impactful Stone Hill medical clinic from the outside.

Dr. Kuhn inside the medical clinic.

Early Childhood Development Center

stone hill, south africa, medical clinic

The Stone Hill Early Childhood Development Center 

ITMI supporters helped establish the Stone Hill Early Childhood Development Center, so that parents who have employment have a safe place where their young children are supervised while they are at work.

For many in Stone Hill, work hours are long, and children are left unsupervised for much of the day, perhaps without food.

At the center, children are protected, cared for, and taught from the Bible.


Stone Hill, South Africa, Bradley Kuhn

Dr. Bradley Kuhn at the center's entrance.

Stone Hill, South Africa, early childhood development center

A safe space for the young children in Stone Hill to learn and grow with supervision.

Tutoring Center

Graduation rates in Stone Hill are dismal. Students face incredible challenges.

Imagine struggling to find transportation to school if you lived in an informal settlement outside town and couldn't afford a vehicle.  If you arrive, you find your teacher absent without a substitute. Often. Or being taught every day by a completely unqualified teacher.

You face challenges at home, too. Your one bedroom shack has a dirt floor and no table. Your (probably single) mother can't help you - she dropped out, too. She will often be working long hours to make ends meet.

You don't have access to books or the internet to help you. Yet you still have to reach certain standards to pass the grade.

The math and science education in South Africa continually ranks in the bottom 5% of education systems worldwide.

Sadly, if the basics are missed, and they often are, most may never catch up. This leads to failing and dropping out, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

When the Mark and Cindy saw this cycle, they opened a tutoring center in Stone Hill, equipped with "school in a box" tablets containing a full curriculum through 12th grade.

Soldiers for Christ

The Soldiers for Christ group is a group of young men who have come to know the Lord through the various outreaches in Stone Hill. They have pledged to serve Jesus in their community by protecting others, helping them and studying God's Word together.

Stone Hill, Soldiers for Christ, South Africa

The Stone Hill Soldiers for Christ meet to study the Bible with ITMI partner Charl van Wyk and Mark Parris.

 

 

Project Joseph

As an extension of ITMI's Project Joseph, Charl van Wyk and his team set out to make the food provision outreaches more sustainable by growing vegetables on their church's property with which they could feed the poor.

This outreach in Stone Hill feeds about 150 children every day, providing nourishment during this critical time of brain development.

These daily meals help prevent learning problems later in life. Charl writes, “Many children that suffer with learning problems later in life, have been found to have experienced deficiencies and challenges that are traced back to their early time of development.”

Dr. Bradley, Charl’s co-worker, and brother-in-law, adds,

“Studies show that children who are not nourished complete approximately four grades of schooling less than other well-nourished children. Subsequently, this causes them to earn less later in life, they are less likely to have healthy families and are ten times more likely to succumb to childhood illnesses.”

Charl’s prayer, and that of his team, is that the children of Stone Hill would be healthy and able to read and understand God’s Word. That they would be the next generation of those who obey our Lord’s command to “disciple the nations.”

Stone Hill, South Africa

These Soldiers for Christ were able to earn some income for working the garden. Charl and his team used this opportunity to disciple the boys on Biblical financial principles and they put them into practice

 

The garden. 

Church Building

As relationships were built through outreaches, the local believers began having church services. Initially, they were in the covered courtyard of the community center, but eventually, they were able to gain use of a nearby church building.

Stone Hill Church Building

Though the building was in need of renovation, it provides a warmer meeting place than the courtyard. 

Stone Hill, South Africa, Service

Stone Hill church service. 

HISTORY

He saw something out his window that compelled him to pull over and stop.

Cozmore was driving home from another town to his city, Durbanville. What he saw was actually something you see often in South Africa, but still, Cozmore delayed his return home to alight his vehicle and get closer.

What did he see?

It was group of boys playing “football” (soccer). Cozmore loved to play soccer, so he asked the boys if he could play.

It turned out that the boys lived in an informal township which they called “kliphuewel”, meaning Stone Hill. After playing soccer with the boys, Cozmore saw their nearby shanty town. His compassion took over and he began regularly coming to Stone Hill to play sports with the boys.

Others joined. Some of them were from Durbanville Community Church, pastored by ITMI's Mark Parris and attended by ITMI's Charl van Wyk. With Mark's continual encouragement to demonstrate the Gospel among the needy, many got involved. 

Charl's wife Sonia joined a group of women reaching out to the girls of Stone Hill with a weekly meeting offering crafts and activities called "Dream Girls".  Charl and his brother-in-law, Dr. Bradley Kuhn got involved and built relationships with the young men through wrestling and other activities.

Local churches started donating mattresses. And the rest is history. Today the ministry at Stone Hill has grown to involve many, and has seen the fruit of changed lives.

What the Dream Girls ministry is like and how much it means to the young girls who participate in it. 

There we were minding our own business, Thuto and I, driving to our Bible study group for young men in the Stone Hill informal settlement.

As we neared the settlement, I became acutely aware of a police vehicle, with siren blaring, suddenly emerging behind me.

Stone Hill sounds like it could be the name of a planned neighborhood, like one you or I might live in. But in reality, Stone Hill or Kliphuewel in the local tongue, is just the opposite. …

dream girls

A Glimpse Inside the Dream Girls Ministry in Stone Hill, South Africa (Video)

What the Dream Girls ministry is like and how much it means to the young girls who participate in it. 

stone hill, south africa

My Run-in With the Police

There we were minding our own business, Thuto and I, driving to our Bible study group for young men in the Stone Hill informal settlement.

As we neared the settlement, I became acutely aware of a police vehicle, with siren blaring, suddenly emerging behind me.

stone hill, south africa

What Stone Hill’s Early Childhood Development Center Means to Akhanyile, Buhle and Owenthu

Stone Hill sounds like it could be the name of a planned neighborhood, like one you or I might live in. But in reality, Stone Hill or Kliphuewel in the local tongue, is just the opposite. …

When ITMI Director, Steve Evers visited Stone Hill, Dr. Kuhn expressed his desire to…

Zig Ziglar once said, “People were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.”  Those that know of Zig Ziglar know that he was the epitome of being uplifting. He…

Olga and Cozmore share what they’ve seen as on-the-ground workers doing Project Joseph outreaches. They share the short and long-term impact of your Project Joseph gifts.

7 Reasons ITMI Partners are Giving Thanks

When ITMI Director, Steve Evers visited Stone Hill, Dr. Kuhn expressed his desire to…

olga, south africa, van wyk

Dear Team: A Young Lady I Wish You Could Meet

Zig Ziglar once said, “People were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.”  Those that know of Zig Ziglar know that he was the epitome of being uplifting. He…

Olga, Stone Hill, South Africa

Project Joseph Impact: On-the-Ground Workers’ Perspective

Olga and Cozmore share what they’ve seen as on-the-ground workers doing Project Joseph outreaches. They share the short and long-term impact of your Project Joseph gifts.