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.

DURBAN, South Africa — When most people think of a mistake, a bad decision or regrettable action comes to mind. Few people think of a child as a mistake.

During a Holiday Bible Club at Pinetown Baptist Church in Durban, youth pastor Tyronne Eilenburg found some of the children have never been told the words “I love you” by their parents. Some were even told they were a mistake from birth.

Even as the club was coming to an end, the sound of the children laughing and playing did not fade — their voices only grew louder and they played harder. Troubled homes of abuse and neglect leave them desperately needing the love of God the Father as they struggle to understand why they were ever born.

At the close of the final day, Eilenburg offered the simplest demonstration of love, a hug, to children who have maybe never been given one. He affirmed them by telling them how much God loves them. At first many children were shy when asked if they wanted a hug, but with the eyes of the audience closed, child after child came down to the front to receive the offered love and affection. The difference one hug makes was seen on the faces of the children as they walked away beaming from the encounter.

Eilenburg then pointed them to Jesus and His great and endless love for them, and to God the Father, Who will never leave them or forsake them. While heads were bowed and eyes closed, Eilenburg asked children who had been abused and wanted prayer to raise their hands where they were seated. Hand after hand was raised in a heartbreaking testimony to the fact that so many precious children live unloved.

During his sermon the Sunday morning after the Holiday Bible Club was over, Eilenburg shared about one young boy who was kicking a ball and it bounced over a wall. Eilenburg jokingly told the child to go get the ball, and the response of the boy was to look at his feet and say, “Please don’t hurt me.”

Eilenburg’s passion is to have hurting children like this continue coming to Pinetown Baptist, where they can be safe and begin to know how beautiful and cherished they are to God and to the people of the church. He has a vision of going into local primary schools (i.e., elementary schools) and ministering to the children while encouraging them to come to church. This vision is in the beginning stages, and Eilenburg hopes to continue training his staff of leaders and rolling out his vision for the children of Pinetown.

Please pray for the children, that they would know the immense, unfailing love of their heavenly Father. Pray also for Eilenburg and his staff as they offer the perfect love of Jesus to the children God brings into Pinetown Baptist Church.

View more photos of the women’s training camp

PRETORIA, South Africa — Suicide. Grief. Abuse. These are some of the issues faced by the women on the South African national soccer teams. About 27 female soccer players from Athletes In Action (AIA) came from the United States and Canada to train with and minister to over 30 members of the South African teams — Banyana Banyana (the national team), Basetsana (the Under 20 team), and Bantwana (the Under 17 team).

A large part the training camp was spent on drills, skill building and simulation matches, while relationship building and group sessions aided in the women’s emotional growth.

During the sessions, some South African players opened up about their social and familial exploitation, such as rape and lesbianism, which they experience on a regular basis in their living situations. The young women are exploited through rape and sexual abuse from various sources, mostly family members, teammates or boyfriends. There is a very serious issue of the women exploiting the younger team members’ naivety, causing confusion about their sexual orientation through peer pressure and sometimes more aggressive methods.

However, as the week progressed, a number of the women began to truly sense the healing peace that is only found in Jesus Christ.

A strong wind blew through the camp as the women walked from their cabins to the conference room for the final morning session. On this, the last day of camp, many of the South African players were given a chance to accept Christ.

Just as the wind rushed across the field, the Holy Spirit blew through the lives of several athletes at the camp, who decided to commit their lives to Christ. Several others are now seeking Him more closely.

“To be a part of something like that, it’s indescribable,” said Brianna Roth, a student from the University of Alberta. “And these girls just are so excited, like after they gave their lives to the Lord, they were just jumping and dancing and so overjoyed.”

The new believers are now allowing Christ to help mend the hurt from abuse and violence that has scarred them. One element that stuck out to Roth was their joy: “They can have so much joy and laughter and smiles. They’re just so full of life after all they have gone through.”

It is a testament of God’s faithfulness, as well as a challenge to the North American women to see those who have been hurt show joy in spite of their hardships. Roth recalled one of the South African players, age 15, who lost her parents when she was 7 years old, and yet she sings, dances and praises the Lord for what He has done.

Please pray for the new believers and seekers, that they will pursue Christ more and more and look to Him for complete healing in their lives.

Angry.

Meena is angry, angry with God, wondering why He’s allowed such hardship in her life. Her husband left her three years ago, and life has been anything but easy.

“I cannot believe because of that,” Meena tells the women in the room. “Pray for me,” she asks.

We are hours away from the hustle and bustle of central Mumbai. The home we sit in is where Neha,* our translator, wants to put into practice the training she has received. For the past three days, Southeastern students have taught her how to share her testimony and stories from the Bible.

Heartbreaking.

Tears stream down Neha’s face as she continues to tell the stories the women are sharing.

Neha shares the story of the young woman sitting in the back of the small, poorly lit room, breast-feeding her child. Her husband beats her and drinks and gambles away their money, she says. As the young woman gently rocks her child, Neha tell us, “This woman was forced to marry a family member.”

A hush falls across the room. Then another woman begins to share her story.

“I pray, and my husband beats me. He beats me, but I still came today,” the woman explains.

Another woman, perhaps in her 30’s, chimes in, “I want to be baptized, but my family will not accept me.”

Stories of beatings, sickness and healing pour from the lips of the women.

“I felt all alone. I had no hope,” Pushpa* says. Raising her hands to gesture praises, she shares, “I thought I was going to die, but Christ healed me.”

“I believe Jesus Christ is the only God,” Pushpa says.

Hope.

As she cries, Rachel, a Southeastern team member smiles, nods and says, “Hope in eternity.” Rachel shares her personal testimony of hardships and encourages the women in the room to trust Jesus, even in hard times.

Then we take turns praying for the women.

Walking back to the main road to catch an auto rickshaw home, Neha turns to me and asks, “Are you happy?” Before I can answer, Neha says, “I am very happy. Today I talked about Jesus.”

*Names changed.

“I am taking you to the red-light district,” our translator says, “so we must pray because there is much spiritual battle there.”   We pray, then dodge auto rickshaws and taxis and goats, crossing the main road. We step around the corner, into a lane and I see them: women in front of narrow doorways on a dark street. Some just sitting and staring, others taking care of daily tasks—cooking rice, washing clothes.  Ordinary things. We stop to talk with them, asking if they know of Jesus and would they like to hear His story, asking how we can pray for them.

As *Martha and *Laura sit on a rope bed to share the Story with one lady, I find a bench nearby and sit beside two women who are engaged in animated conversation. They stop, greet me—and I try out Hindi phrases, much to their amusement. As they rise to go, a thin woman dressed in red and gold shalwar kameez is rushing towards me, speaking broken English nonstop.  “Hi mem. I am sick, mem. My body is paining me. I tell my madam I not want ‘work baby’. They take my baby.  I have TB…” When she stops to take a breath I quickly speak of Jesus’ love for her…and does she know of Jesus?  “Oh yes, mem. I love Jesus. I love Jesus.” Again the litany of troubles and she holds my arm.  I ask if I can pray for her in the name of Jesus. “Oh no, mem. I must go.” But what is your name? “Sudah.”  She runs off, down the lane. The dark lane. My brain that has been struggling to think of Hindhi words remembers another language from another time. “Sudah” in that language means “finished.”  Her life story feels like that—torn, bleeding, brief, finished. Lord, have mercy. Healer of the broken, touch Sudah and make her whole.

*names have been changed for security reasons