August - English - Doxa Deo

father “wrote her off.” When thePrincipal finally decided to expelthe girl, the youth worker asked foran opportunity to work with herinstead, to see if any improvementwas possible.At first the youth worker struggledto gain the girl’s trust, but after awhile she started opening up andadmitted that stealing was wrong.Her life changed drastically andshe is now serving as a leader ofthe TREE gathering at the school.Instead of stealing she now sharesher testimony with other learners,friends and family, proclaiming thelove of Jesus and the impact He hashad on her life. The youth workerconsiders it a privilege and a veryfulfilling experience to witness thislearner’s continual spiritual growthand healing.There is so much opportunity tomake a Christ-centred differencein schools! This is a story of onlyone life that underwent a drasticchange – can you imagine theimpact if TREE could get involvedin every school in South Africa? It isthis vision of touching and healingyoung lives that continues to inspireus as we press forward to expand tomore schools in South Africa.Inspiring Story #3How God provides for His DreamAlistair Westcott (POPUP Ministry Coordinator)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------POPUP (People UpliftmentProgram) is a Doxa Deo projectthat provides the unemployedand destitute with market-relatedskills training. Not only do learnersreceive skills, but they are restoredholistically in every area of theirlives. Learners receive so muchmore than just skills: they receiveJesus who touches their lives in anextraordinary way. Being a FaithBased Organisation (FBO) POPUPrelies on God’s financial provision totransform the lives of people whohave lost hope.This is a story about God’sABUNDANT provision. On 14January 2012 an incident ofheavenly provision unfolded whenPOPUP received the followinge-mail from Germany (translatedfrom Afrikaans to English).Subject: Greetings from Germany“Hallo AlistairI hope you still remember Dorothy and me. You married us on the 13th of April 2007 at Diamond Hill. We have beenliving in Erlangen in Germany for 2 years now (on a three-year-contract at Siemens). We are doing well and God is trulyblessing our married life together. The background to this email is that for some time now I have been looking for theright opportunity to re-invest myself.I set three criteria for myself:• I want to make a contribution where I can support under-privileged people, but it must be people from both theblack and white communities.• The support program must have a long-term focus and not just be a “once-off”, i.e. support where both educationand training are involved. (It would be preferable if we could personally contribute by using our talents and beinvolved with the organisation at some future date.)• We want to ensure that wherever we become involved, clear Christian principles and foundations are applied andthat people are trained and educated in a Christian environment.page _ three