Gqerbera July 2021
Gqebera, known as the windy city, is home to a population of 1 254 000 (2020 census). As an organisation, we have spent the last few years in prayer, building relationships and planting seeds throughout Nelson Mandela Metropole.
So it is with gratitude that we share the fruit of this work in terms of partnering with Joy To The Nations Church. The focus on restoring dignity to the unemployed began after Glenn Weiss became the lead pastor of the church. Glenn has spent years working in recruitment while simultaneously in the ministry. This led to a deep passion for helping the unemployed, a passion he and Kaya Nkumbesi of Izenzo shared over several conversations. They dreamt of making the region around their church an unemployment-free zone.
This desire has led to the birth of an annual event aimed at empowering young people as well as the launch of a job club to help the plight of the unemployed in the church and the surrounding area.
So it is with gratitude that we share the fruit of this work in terms of partnering with Joy To The Nations Church. The focus on restoring dignity to the unemployed began after Glenn Weiss became the lead pastor of the church. Glenn has spent years working in recruitment while simultaneously in the ministry. This led to a deep passion for helping the unemployed, a passion he and Kaya Nkumbesi of Izenzo shared over several conversations. They dreamt of making the region around their church an unemployment-free zone.
This desire has led to the birth of an annual event aimed at empowering young people as well as the launch of a job club to help the plight of the unemployed in the church and the surrounding area.
Legacy Young Adults Gqebera
Young people often find themselves having to try and figure out how to do life on their own. This often causes stress and difficulty in taking the next steps in their lives. With that in mind, Izenzo, Joy To The Nations Church and the Kusaidana Trust held an event named the Legacy Young Adults Equip. The goal of the event was to help youth and young adults to get organised and plan the next stage of their careers.
The sessions ( which are available to watch if you click on this) covered several areas that included spiritual disciplines, finances, work matters to God, career guidance, how to go about finding work, mentorship, and entrepreneurship
The outcome of this event has been a mentorship program. The young people pair with a mentor, who is on a similar career path, who will walk with them and help them apply some of the things that they learned from the workshops. The hope is that exposure to someone experienced in their future career path will aid them.
The sessions ( which are available to watch if you click on this) covered several areas that included spiritual disciplines, finances, work matters to God, career guidance, how to go about finding work, mentorship, and entrepreneurship
The outcome of this event has been a mentorship program. The young people pair with a mentor, who is on a similar career path, who will walk with them and help them apply some of the things that they learned from the workshops. The hope is that exposure to someone experienced in their future career path will aid them.
J.E.S.U Club
A further outcome has been the establishment of a job club known as the J.E.S.U. Club which stands for Joy Employment & Skills Upliftment Club. The goal is to help the unemployed in the area and ultimately create an unemployment-free zone. The club has some key contributors who have helped bring it together. Glenn Weiss, Gerald Munemo, and Ashleigh Cerini are the staff at the church and facilitate the club. Adriaan Vermaak is the “connector” who is helping develop local partnerships with businesses and government groups. Jaco Nel has helped with setting up a database for the unemployed and local businesses. He has also worked on social media and design. Kaya has helped in an advisory capacity and personally through those he knows.
Invitations were sent to job seekers, local business people, local NGO leaders, and the local ward councilor To meet on Wednesday 9th June. Glenn gave a talk on the vision of the club and the way that it will work. Jaco explained how the various databases would work. Adriaan spoke about the various initiatives the government is working on that some of the unemployed could participate in. Finally, Kaya prayed over the event and the future of the club.
The club continues to meet every Wednesday although a break for Level 4 lockdown is taking place. There has already been some success with 3 people having found work despite the restrictions. The club has also helped launch a small business (a car wash). They have also seen two members begin a plumbing course which will lead to them being certified plumbers.
We continue to pray for the growth of the JESU club. If you know of any people within the city who would want to partner with this group feel free to reach out and we will put you in contact.
Invitations were sent to job seekers, local business people, local NGO leaders, and the local ward councilor To meet on Wednesday 9th June. Glenn gave a talk on the vision of the club and the way that it will work. Jaco explained how the various databases would work. Adriaan spoke about the various initiatives the government is working on that some of the unemployed could participate in. Finally, Kaya prayed over the event and the future of the club.
The club continues to meet every Wednesday although a break for Level 4 lockdown is taking place. There has already been some success with 3 people having found work despite the restrictions. The club has also helped launch a small business (a car wash). They have also seen two members begin a plumbing course which will lead to them being certified plumbers.
We continue to pray for the growth of the JESU club. If you know of any people within the city who would want to partner with this group feel free to reach out and we will put you in contact.
Piloting Izenzo’s work in Schools
Unemployment amongst school leavers is exceptionally high and as we have noted before the national statistics do not reflect the regional differences with 80% unemployment in some communities quite common.
At the Solomon Mahlangu school in KwaNobuhle, Kariega the matric pass rate has increased from less than 40% to over 80% due to a dynamic school principal working hard with community support. But the matrics now still face a hopeless future of unemployment. In light of this, Kaya Nkumbesi has been in conversation with the Kusaidana Trust led by Ilse Terblanche about how Izenzo can help them with the work they do at Solomon Mahlangu. The trust has helped students who have matriculated at the school to do further studies. Yet the principal has had it on his mind to help those former students who haven’t had this chance of further study. After a few rounds of meeting it was decided that we should train up two former students to run a Job Club for the former students. They will take part in our upcoming Job Club facilitator’s training.
Izenzo is also researching and using various tools to help students to discover which career best suits their preferred skills. This is because many students tend to have a limited idea of what career paths are available to them and how to achieve those paths. The idea is that we will work with a class of grade 10s and 11s and help them discover how they can pursue their life dreams and integrate them into a Job Club at an early age..
We ask for prayers in this process as this is an exciting opportunity to help young people find meaning in their lives and work. This is in stark contrast to the hopelessness surrounding them..
At the Solomon Mahlangu school in KwaNobuhle, Kariega the matric pass rate has increased from less than 40% to over 80% due to a dynamic school principal working hard with community support. But the matrics now still face a hopeless future of unemployment. In light of this, Kaya Nkumbesi has been in conversation with the Kusaidana Trust led by Ilse Terblanche about how Izenzo can help them with the work they do at Solomon Mahlangu. The trust has helped students who have matriculated at the school to do further studies. Yet the principal has had it on his mind to help those former students who haven’t had this chance of further study. After a few rounds of meeting it was decided that we should train up two former students to run a Job Club for the former students. They will take part in our upcoming Job Club facilitator’s training.
Izenzo is also researching and using various tools to help students to discover which career best suits their preferred skills. This is because many students tend to have a limited idea of what career paths are available to them and how to achieve those paths. The idea is that we will work with a class of grade 10s and 11s and help them discover how they can pursue their life dreams and integrate them into a Job Club at an early age..
We ask for prayers in this process as this is an exciting opportunity to help young people find meaning in their lives and work. This is in stark contrast to the hopelessness surrounding them..
