T-Squad is home! We are currently scattered across the United States with our friends and family. Thank you so much for reading and praying for us on this adventure. The last month on the mission field flew by, but I want to introduce to you our last ministry partner of the race.
Our last ministry partner before returning state-side was Impact Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa. Let me tell you, these people are busy doing God’s work! Impact Africa has the following branches to help South Africans in a variety of different ways: Impact Kids, Impact Students, Impact Missions, Impact Baby Rescue, and evangelism and discipleship. Impact Kids Preschools educate underprivileged, orphaned and at-risk children, with quality, caring Christian education. Impact Students strives to engage, equip, and energize public high school students to develop and fulfill their leadership potential. Impact Baby Rescue focuses on baby abandonment prevention, rescue and life-long family care. They offer both short term mission trips—one to two weeks—and more long-term internship opportunities. T-Squad participated in weekly team meetings, discipleship, and vision-casting with the founder, Rich Franzen; we also had the honor of serving in each branch of the Impact Africa ministry.
My personal favorite two ministry opportunities were Impact Baby Rescue and Impact Students. Before speaking of what Impact Baby Rescue does, I have to first tell of a horrifying reality. Due to the extreme level of poverty in some communities of Johannesburg, some mothers believe they cannot provide for their children and, with seemingly no other options, leave their babies in fields or trash piles to die. Impact Baby Rescue was born in response to this “baby dumping.” They provide pre-natal, post-natal, and parental counseling in order to equip and empower parents to properly care for their newborns. As a last resort, two baby drop boxes act as safe places for her to anonymously drop her baby. From these two drop boxes the children are placed in Promise Homes where they are cared for by staff that are registered as legal foster parents until they are legally cleared for an adoption process. T-Squad was honored to help this ministry in two ways: canvassing with information about the ministry in impoverished neighborhoods and loving on the kids at a couple baby homes. We were able to be much needed extra hands to get this important information about safe houses and counseling to more people. Each day we canvassed in these neighborhoods, we were able to hand out in one day the same number of fliers that would normally take the IBR staff a week. This information saves babies’ lives, and it was incredibly rewarding to have conversations with people on the street and see hope come into their eyes. It was a huge privilege to love, play, and laugh with the kids in a couple baby homes. (I have to protect their identity due to their life situation and as a part of the adoption process, but their smiles and laughs melted our hearts!)
My other favorite ministry was Impact Students. The Impact Students staff were the kindest, most fun group. The Impact Students ministry has been welcomed into public schools to inspire kids to reach their full leadership potential. Currently only 30% of students who begin first grade complete grade twelve. The Impact Students staff are young South African adults that pour into these kids as if they were younger brothers and sisters. It is so beautiful to see them start discussions on potential, purpose, and God’s plan for these kids’ lives. This time was especially meaningful during small group Bible Studies after school. We had the opportunity to let highschoolers ask questions and pour into them and encourage them. It was so good to spend time with them, and to know that the Impact Students staff would continue to pour into these kids even after T-Squad was gone. We know more teams will come, and that with the extra help or not Impact Students will continue to go on. And I am so happy that this sustainable and onfire for God team will continue serving even when I am not able to be there in person.
And this is just a small portion of the work that we were able to join in and see first-hand! We also did VBS-style programs, street-evangelism, house visits, and more. Because we stayed on the Impact Africa base, we had the opportunity to soak up wisdom from the staff and interns as well. God is moving mightily in Johannesburg, South Africa, and I feel so honored to have been a part of it.
For prayer requests:
Please pray for the Impact Baby Rescue, Impact Students, Impact Kids, and the important work Impact Africa is doing in Johannesburg. If you feel compelled to donate or go on a missions trip with this ministry, more information can be found here: https://www.impactafrica.org/
Please pray for T-Squad as we are reentering American culture and state-side ministry. God did some amazing things this past year and it is going to take some time to process and figure out next steps.
Please pray for the your local church and the global church, that we would stay awake to what God wants to do in our communities and abroad. Pray that we use every opportunity to give the glory to God.
Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure! It is amazing to be home surrounded by family and friends… but it also feels strange. Like a part of me is missing. I will continue writing and blogging here, because God isn’t finished with me yet. And I know there is so much that he still has to teach me. Thank you again for your prayers and support. I love and appreciate you so much!
