"I will bless those who bless you... and all peoples on Earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:3

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IC South Africa

TEAM HISTORY


InnerCHANGE South Africa was birthed out of a NieuCommunitites ministry in the city of Pretoria. NieuCommunties and InnerCHANGE are both divisions of Church Resource Ministries. NieuCommunities is a collective of missional communities, scattered around the world, each committed to developing followers of God in the way of Jesus. Each year it invites young, emerging leaders to come and spend a 10-month apprenticeship with its staff as they engage God and the world (see www.nieucommunities.org for more information).

For some years, NieuCommunities staff and apprentices had been involved in various ministries in the township of Soshanguve.  Luc Kabongo was part of NieuCommunities for three years and served in the community of Soshanguve along with fellow staff and apprentices. With what was developing in Soshanguve, God confirmed through the president of Church Resource Ministries, Sam Metcalf, and the founders of InnerCHANGE, John and Deanna Hayes, that there was a need for the incarnational presence of CRM in this township.

In 2007 a team of NieuCommunites and InnerCHANGE staff conducted a one-week exploration in Soshanguve to discern how God could use an InnerCHANGE team in that particular area and context.

The involvement with NieuCommunities helped prepare Luc and Petunia Kabongo to pioneer an InnerCHANGE site in the township of Soshanguve on the north side of the city of Pretoria. The Kabongo family relocated to Soshanguve in April 2008.

 

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MINISTRY 

Luc and Petunia are respectively involved in sports and health-related ministries in Soshanguve.

Petunia Kabongo

Petunia is part of a HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). She is the nurse for the latter. The NGO was started as a response to the community’s need for medical care to serve an overwhelming number of patients who were in the terminal stage of AIDS and living at home. There are only four government clinics in our township to serve a population of more than 1.5 million people. These clinics are technically in charge of providing healthcare to the whole population of Soshanguve. They are so busy that a home-based organization, like the one Petunia works for, is of great help. Petunia not only works as a nurse for the 213 patients the NGO cares for, she also teaches basic nursing skills to the NGO’s 23 caregivers and 25 volunteers.

One of the good things this NGO is doing is that the staff is able to build relationships with the patients, as they see them four times a week. Most of the patients are lonely. Some have been abandoned by their families because they have been sick for a very long time and people are tired of them.  Others are abandoned because the family’s long working hours prevent them from being able to be at home caring for their sick family member.  Those who work leave home very early in the morning and do not come back until nighttime. The NGO staff is doing a good job at befriending their patients, although it is still a challenge as each caregiver, assisted by a volunteer, has to help eight plus patients everyday.

Petunia also does after school activities with the children of our neighborhood.


 

Luc Kabongo

Luc coaches basketball for some local teenagers.

 

This is a fun activity for him as he played a lot of basketball in high school and university. Basketball is also something that helps the youth channel their energies toward positive things, one of them being acquiring a skill. In general, residents in the township do not have much to do outside of school or work. Basketball and other sports provide an outlet for positive activities.  

 

 

 

 

 

Luc is also involved in playing soccer with the young adults in their section of the township. Soccer has made it possible for him to meet a lot of his neighbors and to make friends with them.



 

 

 


IC South Africa is looking to recruit potential team members.

What kinds of people would we love to have on the team?

  1. Those who feel called to work among the urban poor in a cross-cultural environment.
  2. Those who are flexible.
  3. People who can pioneer new ministries, and those who would not mind being a part of the on-going ministries listed above.
  4. Men and women who value people and relationships over tasks and activities. A fine balance between people and activities would be ideal.
  5. People who value living in a community focused on mission, and continual learning as the followers of Jesus.
  6. Those who desire to use their skills, talents and gifts as a blessing to the poor for the sake of the Kingdom of God.