Bless Africa is an NPO registered as 037-009-NPO in 2005 with Section 18A status, thus allowing those contributing to it a tax-deductible receipt for tax purposes.

The focus of Bless Africa is to provide funding for its varied projects across South Africa in the categories of:

• micro enterprises like sewing centres for unemployed women and brick-making for unemployed men,
• vegetable tunnels for whole communities to grow and sell the product of their own industry,
• day care centres for children in townships and informal settlements,
• caring places for orphans and feeding schemes to build up vulnerable children with pre-biotic and pro-biotic foodstuffs.

The success of Bless Africa’s projects is well-known, and samples of these projects are described below.

Humanitarian projects supplied by Bless Africa in the last few years:

In the vicinity of Soweto, the focus is very much on family as Pastor Johannes and his team reaches out to both adults and children. There are four centers, each with a Day Care Facility which doubles as a venue for meetings, like family seminars which touch the core of family issues. Extended families like Zanele’s. 5-year-old Zanele would probably not have made it to school without the day care in this region. She is now in Grade One, and progressing very well! See below for her story.

In the township of Cork, Mpumalanga, Bless Africa helps this project to care for the many orphans in the area. Through our partnership with a ministry there, two buildings were erected for the orphans and we help feed them every day. Just recently, we helped build a computer room for learners to attend after school each day. A young girl, Dineo, and her siblings lost their parents and home in a fire while the family slept. They were orphaned at an early age and Dineo took on the role of mother. Without this project in Cork, Dineo and her siblings would not have had a place to stay. Today they sleep in warm beds, with care givers taking good care of them. See below for more.

A ministry near Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, is also growing mightily, with the help of Bless Africa. A stretch of land is used for the care of orphans and daily feeding. With reading and writing lessons, sewing and beadwork, the elderly also have a place here. Maggie is an HIV positive mother who had nowhere to go when her husband rejected her. This project welcomed her and she is now a key player in their ministry, helping with chores, and she is a star bead worker! Read more of her story below.

Cape Town has a range of activity – orphanages, veggie tunnels, computer centres, clock-making centres and feeding schemes. Communities are able to make a good income and support their families while, along Bless Africa, hundreds of children are fed daily. In dire need, Fungai fled her home in Zimbabwe in search of a job in South Africa. At first, neither she nor her husband was successful, but then one of our facilitators helped her start a vegetable business. She is now able to provide for her family. Read her full story below.

In the community of Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, Pastor Peter heads up many different projects funded by Bless Africa. We help these projects to reach out weekly from this nerve centre to many thousands through Media Ministry Centres in every province of the country, showing Christian movies and seeing thousands of lives being transformed each week. There are also other centres for adults and children's fellowship. Lerato is one of the leaders in Royal Kids, one of the children’s projects within this region. As a result of traumatic experiences, Lerato had no vision or sense of belonging, but once she joined Royal Kids her life turned around. She now travels the country, ministering in song and dance, and sharing the love of God with other young people. See more of her story below.

Zanele

When 5-year-old Zanele was just one, her mother abandoned her. She left the little girl with her father, but he too didn't want to raise her.

So Zanele's grandmother stepped in. She says that malnutrition and negligence had turned the little girl into just skin and bone. She was frail and weak. But Granny did not have any finance, and knew she would be unable to manage. However she knew that Waterworks Care Center – a Bless Africa supported centre – would help.

Waterworks Care Centre accepted Zanele – and offered her free day care! Zanele received good meals, education and learnt about God! The centre often had food ready in the afternoons too – so supper was taken care of!

Soon Zanele's appearance improved; she had put on weight, and had a healthy glow. She had enough energy to run and play with other children. Finally, Zanele could enjoy her childhood!

Recently Zanele graduated as one of the top students at the day care centre, having earned a good report, and she has now entered primary school. This would not have been possible without the intervention of Waterworks.

Thanks to Bless Africa, Zanele's circumstances are so different today.

Dineo

Dineo, at 13, was quickly forced to care for her siblings when she was orphaned by her parents' death years ago. Dineo tried her best to raise her sisters. With nobody working, relatives would often support the struggling family.

They reckoned, however, that they would make it as long as they had a roof above their head.
Other necessities, like food and decent clothes, they sometimes went without. "One thing that we were used to going without, is a school uniform”, Dineo manages to explain. "Food, and clothes too, we often lacked”. Hence, the children often went to bed on empty stomachs.

One night, their only guarantee was taken away. They were woken as smoke filled the house. They rushed out of the house, leaving the very little they owned behind and before their eyes the place they called ‘home' burnt to the ground.

But they were left destitute, with no shelter but relatives who would be burdened by their stay. Dineo, and her sisters Cardisha and Nokwanda had no place to go.

They found comfort in Hope in Christ Ministries. They now sleep easy, knowing that a plate of food is guaranteed. While the centre struggles to keep up with the pace of growing children, God's grace is sufficient.

The girls go to school, and play with the many friends they have at the orphanage. They have built a new life on the ashes of their past. And with joy, they look towards the future – dreaming of the day they own their own house and "furnish it with nice furniture”. If Dineo continues toward her dream of becoming a lawyer, and her sisters a nurse and teacher, this dream will indeed become a reality she believes.

At the orphanage, they are blessed with the guidance and support to see it through, thanks to the family of ministries that support Hope in Christ – viz. CBN (700 Club), Operation Blessing, Bless Africa and Go-Tell Communications.

Maggie

Maggie is an HIV positive young mother with a passion for people. As a result she volunteered at a care centre supported by Bless Africa, and became a care-giver for other people living with AIDS.
But soon the disease turned into full blown AIDS and Maggie became weak and unable to work. Maggie says that her condition prevented her from walking and even feeding herself.

She was admitted to hospital and doctors had only negative reports.

What made Maggie's situation worse is that her husband had rejected her. He had taken a second wife and, while Maggie was critically ill, he did not once come to see her.

Yet, this woman of God did not give up on her faith. She asked women from the Centre to pray for her – believing that God would restore her strength.

And soon, her breakthrough came. Doctors found that she had regained her strength and was in good health. She was released from hospital.

As a result of her husband's rejection, Maggie had no place to call home but the care centre Ebenezer in Shatale, near Bushbuckridge, where she has been volunteering. They welcomed her and together they rejoiced for the miracle in her life.

Not only did Maggie have a place to sleep and eat, but she was offered a family. Maggie's young daughter is able to live with her while she is able to make some money, working at the centre and taking part in activities such as bead work.

"This is a good place,” Maggie says. "I come here, and there is always someone to welcome me. God really is a healer”.

Maggie still lives with AIDS, but she lives! She is not idle, but makes use of the opportunities given to her, through the Ebenezer Care Centre.

At their Thursday prayer meetings, she testifies and speaks to other broken people. Without this centre, Maggie says, she would not have survived. She received the support she needed, and is thankful to God, to Ebenezer and to Bless Africa for it.

Fungai

Fungai Gavajena is a mother of three. All of them fled Zimbabwe in their time of crisis. She was determined that she would not be idle, so she became a volunteer at the Vegetable Tunnel supported by Bless Africa in Mandela Park, Hout Bay, Cape Town.

She explains that the situation in Zimbabwe grew unbearable and that there was no employment for her family. The economic crisis caused many to leave the country. So South Africa became a safe haven for Fungai, and presented a chance for her to find a job and support her children – who are in their early teenage years.

Fungai also tries to provide financial assistance for her parents and her husband's family.
She found a job in South Africa, but the wage she earns is not enough. As a volunteer at the Vegetable Tunnel Project, Fungai is able to earn extra income through the sale of the veggies and olives she cares for. She says, "I grew up working in the garden and I love doing that”. She is responsible for all the olive trees adjacent to the veggie tunnels.

Truly passionate about it, she earnestly works in the gardens. This did not go unnoticed, and she recently received training and is now supervising one of the vegetable tunnels in the area!

Furthermore, Bless Africa has assisted Fungai in starting her own vegetable tunnel! She now has a personalized, branded business selling her produce!

Fungai recognizes that without the opportunity to volunteer at the project, she would have been unable to make a difference in her family's life.

Lerato

Lerato is a fourteen year old girl living in Orange Farms, Johannesburg.

Her parents were divorced a few years ago and the separation was violent and messy, leaving Lerato traumatized. But life had to go on for the young girl. She lived with her mother, never having any contact with her father, and they tried to live past the hurt. Then Lerato's life took another turn – her mother died.

Lerato lost all sense of belonging. She grew rebellious, always cheeky and stubborn. Her grades also started to drop. Then her grandmother, whom she now lived with, brought her to one of the Royal Kids centres supported by Bless Africa. Granny had heard about their great work and knew that they would be able to help Lerato.

Here, Lerato learnt about Jesus and accepted Him into her heart. He has made everything new. Today, Lerato depends on the ONLY true father. She no longer tries to fill a void by seeking attention, but realizes she needs to take everything to Jesus.

Lerato's vibrancy is no longer over-shadowed by an urge to rebel. Instead, she has joined the Royal Kids arts program – dancing and singing. She has proven herself to be a leader among her peers – never shying away from responsibility, and helps to facilitate activities at Royal Kids. She has traveled with the group, on mini road shows – performing and sharing the love of God with other young people. As a result of her new attitude, her grades have also improved.

Lerato has new confidence, and a place in which she belongs and feels comfortable. Without Royal Kids, she probably would have continued devaluing her life. She feels restored as a result of the love she receives, and her future is brighter than she could have imagined!
Lerato has a good meal at Royal Kids, both for the body and the mind!