View more photos from Westville Baptist Church’s Holiday Bible Club

DURBAN, South Africa — Partially-clothed children of all ages dart between people and cars, playing in the streets and alleys. The children are a mixture of European, Indian, African and Indonesian descent, and their eyes are striking, ranging from bold blue to jaded green to the deepest black. Playing outside all day trails dirt and mud across their faces, hands and legs, leaving decorative swirls on their bodies.

Coming from broken homes and distracted parents, the children are often left to roam the streets, learning how to live on their own. The “broken homes” in South Africa are often unlike the traditional American definition in which parents have split up; here, “broken homes” mean broken circumstances. Crime, drugs, alcohol and prostitution are only a few of the coping mechanisms many of these young people employ when trying to deal with physical and emotional abuse, rape, grief and parents who are drug dealers.

The situation is serious, as an entire generation is growing up on its own, with no guidance on how to approach life in a healthy, positive way.

However, God sees their pain and has called workers to begin impacting these young people. During the World Cup, Westville Baptist Church and its youth hosted Holiday Clubs for the children, where they played games, sang worship songs, and learned about who God is and how much He cares for them. Soccer was played all afternoon, since it is an integral part of the African culture, and the children loved having real soccer balls to play with.

The Clubs also served as a way to keep the children off the streets and prevent them from getting involved in many of the harmful alternatives (alcohol, drugs, etc.) that wait for them outside the walls of the school complex where the Holiday Club was held. At night, World Cup games were shown in the school to create a “safe zone” for the kids.

Pray for Westville Baptist Church and other congregations reaching out to broken homes and communities throughout South Africa. Pray the children of South Africa will realize how precious they are to their Creator God.

Evelyn Adamson is an intern writer for the IMB Global Communication Team. She is working on a degree in communications and travels as much as possible. She grew up on the mission field and is passionate about God and working with wildlife.