Not that long ago, 13-year-old Sinesipho wasn’t getting any schooling at all.
Disability that resulted from contracting meningitis as a baby meant she couldn’t go to her local school on the outskirts of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), but instead she has been welcomed into the Intsika project.
Intsika is run by two churches that are part of the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa, or REACH, which began working in the Kuyga community in 2011. It now runs a school readiness class, homework clubs, a discipleship group, youth-group style outreach and a Bible study for adults.
“It’s such a beautiful and encouraging project, and it’s a real picture of the impact of love,” says Molly Baker, a project officer with Anglican Aid – which has supported Intsika since 2016. Church members initially came to Kuyga to ask what the community needed, and the most common answer was education support.
“There’s a local school in the township, but it’s incredibly under-resourced,” Mrs Baker explains. “The ratio of students to teachers would be very high, and it’s a short school day where you’re not getting attention or intentional learning, so the kids just struggle to progress.”
Intsika means “pillar of the community” in the Xhosa language, and over the years that is just what the ministry has become. Kuyga is a poor community with high crime rates and unemployment, many single-parent households, and regular periods without access to electricity or water.
The project provides a crucial early learning space for younger children to prepare for school, have some fun and learn about Jesus, while the older kids come after school to do their homework or other work prepared for them. There’s a real sense of community for those involved, and mentoring or extra support for those who need it.
Sinesipho and her cousin Michaela, who also has disability, are both part of the extra assistance group. Laura Goosen – the project manager at Intsika – says that “each Friday, both girls arrive full of joy – listening carefully to Bible stories, sharing answers and smiling all the time. Sinesipho’s voice is soft, so you have to listen closely, but her excitement and understanding shine through”.
She adds that, since Sinesipho joined the group about eight months ago, the other children have welcomed her fully: including her in games, helping to push her wheelchair and adapting their activities so she can take part.
“During playtime, they place puzzle pieces so she can fit them with her two or three working fingers,” Miss Goosen says. “When writing or colouring, we use felt-tip pens because pencils and crayons are difficult for her... She is learning letters, forming words, beginning to read, and participating in maths, shouting out answers with pride. Other children help by placing her worksheets in her folder, just like everyone else.
“Our hope is to keep helping her learn to read – opening doors to new opportunities and a world that has been largely closed to her... Sinesipho is discovering more of what she can do, while also inspiring the other children to be caring and inclusive.”
Adds Mrs Baker: “Laura keeps coming back to the fact that these people just need love. The community see her as family – as one of the locals.”
The dream of a church plant
Another part of the project that has been very successful is the adult Bible study. Forty to 50 people, mainly women, meet at the Intsika cottage each Friday morning, and one of the church pastors leads the study.
Mrs Baker, who visited the project in 2022, describes the joy this group has at “being spiritually fed in a way they have never experienced before”, and how hungry they are for more Bible teaching. There is also a discipleship group of about a dozen young people who meet each week to learn more about the Bible and how to live as Christians.
She says the REACH churches have wanted to plant a church in Kugya for years, but they also wanted to do it right: becoming an accepted part of the community first, through their love of Jesus and love of the people in the township.
Moves are now afoot to buy the property next to the Intsika cottage, which would enable expansion of the project as well as a church plant.
“They have rightly recognised the spiritual momentum is there for a church,” Mrs Baker says. Although it will take more time to come to fruition, she adds, “it has gone from being an idea and a dream to something with plans.
“The impact they’re able to have because they’ve consistently loved, and shared generously, and shared the gospel, is really cool.”
To find out more about the Intsika project, see [url=https://anglicanaid.org.au/projects/intsika-community-outreach/]https://anglicanaid.org.au/projects/intsika-community-outreach/[/url]
