Zambian boys at a future HANDS construction site

HANDS Teams now build schools in South Africa

Although the practice of apartheid ended in South Africa years ago, its shadow remains, reports MNN.

Worldwide Christian Schools' Dale Dieleman is the Field Director for Africa. He says they are part of the solution, planning to help with an elementary school in Soweto, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

Field partners Pastor Johnson Mncube and his wife, Nomsa, run a small Christian school called "Africa Outreach" in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Soweto. The school began in 1993 with ten children from church-going families in the neighborhood, and it has now grown to accommodate more than 70 students from the greater community.

The rapid growth requires larger facilities, so WWCS will be sending a building team this fall to help. Dieleman explains, "Hearing Pastor Johnson's vision for this school and seeing how it is appreciated makes it evident that his commitment to the community is strong. WWCS wants to be as supportive as possible in helping Pastor Johnson realize his dream of providing the first Christian primary school in this neighborhood."

Dieleman says because they're coming alongside this pastor, they're also building into the Christian witness of the school, further uniting the community. "It's a small, small taste of what the Kingdom can be like when brothers and sisters in Christ can come together and do something for the next leadership generation. It has a lot of symbolism, as well as the literal brick and mortar aspects of it."

However, the effort is not without its own challenges. First, they need people. Dieleman says, "We're recruiting for it now. [We] just got the final figures in, in terms of what the costs would be, so the strength of the U.S. dollar plays a huge factor. We're looking for a first team opportunity to go in October, perhaps November as well, and then spill over into 2009."

According to WWCS, teams are limited to 10 people for logistic challenges. Team member limits, therefore, require specific skill sets of each member to maximize project impact. Funding is also a hurdle. The total cost of the project envisioned is $80,000.

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[03/26/2008]

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