South Africa

This country of extremes, known for it's great potential and growth, is also a land of violence and abject poverty. Providing food for hungry school children, care and support for AIDS orphans and street children, and hope for families has been our ministry for over 10 years.

Johannesburg is very much like other large, modern cities of the western world, and it is faced with some extreme urban problems. Hillbrow, a densely crowded inner city area, has close to a million people. Hundreds of street children, many of them on drugs, and many are HIV positive, live without physical necessities of food, clothes, or shelter and are without any spiritual hope. We are partnering with a local church to minister to these children.

Thousands of families, uprooted from their villages because of years of drought and famine, seek homes and work in the big cities, but find neither. As a result, townships spring up. The living conditions in these areas are deplorable, with families living in make-shift shelters they call “home”. Food and clothing are scarce - the needs are great. Faith in Action has been able to establish many programs to help these needy people. Ongoing ministries include food gardens, where the people are taught to raise their own food; regular feeding programs at various schools and townships; distribution of relief aid, Bibles, and tracts; regular showings of the Jesus film; support of an AIDS orphanage; and the establishment of Community Bible Church.

Ekukhuleni, which in the local dialect means, “a place of growth”, is the name given to our mission farm outside Johannesburg. Here we have been able to establish day camps for local school children as well as the children from the Hillbrow district. The facility has proven to be a wonderful place for group training programs for teens and adults and will serve as a base camp for ministry teams. It is a working farm with great potential for future development of farming techniques and new ministry opportunities.

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