Beginnings at Junction Church

One of the church partners where I have been most involved is at Junction Church. It’s so neat to see the excitement that is currently surrounding the program there. They recently had their first weekly meeting and 23 individuals showed up to receive continual business and biblical training. The most encouraging sign? Over 16 of these individuals received microloans! Microloans are usually just a small part of the Paradigm Shift Program with only about 25% of weekly attenders qualifying for a loan. With almost 70% of weekly attenders at Junction receiving loans, it demonstrates the quality and talent of the entrepreneurs in this cycle at Junction.

Here is a quick bit on a few of the entrepreneurs at Junction:

Marcia runs a car wash/café in Diepsloot, plans to use the money to fix a broken water drain that has been giving her trouble for months.

Jans, founder of a production company doing a variety of lighting, sound, photography and event planning, will use the loan to buy his own printer to give clients quicker customer service.

Simon, a driven chicken farmer, is planning on using the funds to expand production from his operations in the North West providence nearer to the larger market of Johannesburg.

I’m excited to spend the next three months to walk side-by-side some of these entrepreneurs, helping them to develop their business skills and also challenge them in their faith. 

Spiritual Warfare in South Africa

While Africa may seem like a very Christian nation when looking at the plethora of churches, there exists a lot of syncretism in African’s worldviews with animism and ancestral worship ingrained in them. Whether it be consulting witch-doctors, owning wooden masks or wearing certain bracelets/necklaces, there exists many ways that false and demonic forces have distorted their view of the gospel. This syncretism has caused spiritual warfare to be elevated compared to what I’m familiar to. While not yet having completely experienced this battle yet, I believe this morning I got a brief taste of the devil's schemes against our mission.

We were running the 2^nd, all-day, Business Experience Course (BEC) in Zanspriut and we had 34 entrepreneurs register for the event. It’s typical that only about 2/3rds of entrepreneurs who register will actually show up but regardless, we would be ecstatic if 20 entrepreneurs attended considering last week’s 9 attendees. But when we arrived at the community center this morning, only 4 of the 34 entrepreneurs (12%) of those registered actually showed up. Considering the lack of turnout, we had to regrettably cancel today’s session.  In all the BEC courses that Paradigm Shift have run, there has never been this few entrepreneurs that have shown up. After talking to the few entrepreneurs who attended, it was revealed to us that this Saturday, particularly, was a tough day for the community because off the unusual amount of funerals. Many who originally signed up, could no longer make it as they needed to attend to their grieving family and friends.

While this situation may not overtly scream spiritual warfare, I do believe that Satan, as the ruler of darkness, does use death to try to thwart God’s plans of redemption. This opened my eyes to the truth in Ephesians 6 that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Pray that I take seriously this battle, that I put the Armor of God as I interact in these communities and that I can ultimately be one of the MANY agents of redemption that the Lord uses to bring the glorious name of Jesus to these dark and broken communities.