{“TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO,AND WHEN HE GROWS OLD,HE WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT”}
Psalm 22:6
Sabrina is a 27 year old George local with a heart for the marginalized youth of South Africa. After completing her studies in consumer sciences at the North West University,she realised that her true calling lies in working with the youth.
During her discipleship training year with Ethnos Movement International, she realised that so many youth programmes only focus on pre- and primary school children and saw the massive need to work with and minister to teenagers. This would include building valuable,long lasting relationships with the youth in order to point them to Salvation and help them reach their potential. And so Local Motion, a non-profit organisation, focusing on discipleship and reaching and uplifting the hearts and minds of marginalised high school students, was born.
Like so many other things in life, it was not necessarily an easy process: Sabrina started out as youth worker at Parkdene High in January 2020, focussing on building relationship with the children at school, and then the Covid 19 pandemic hit.
Amazingly enough, Sabrina managed to keep on investing in the students’ lives all through that difficult year. She recalls how they went on hikes into the mountains between 06h00 – 09h00, when the public was allowed to go out for exercises, using breaks to fellowship and pray together.
Today, three years later, they have a vibrant, holistic youth programme, running four days a week from a premise in Borcherds. The programme includes homework assistance with maths, art sessions, which exposes the students to different art mediums and also provides a valuable counselling opportunity, adventure activities, surfing and attending a youth service at Shofar George once a week.
Most of the youth attending the programme comes from George High and Parkdene, although they also have a couple of dedicated grade 7 students. The programme is completely free, but students need to show commitment and obtain an academic pass rate of at least 50%.
Apart from the above-mentioned activities, Local Motion also help learners think ahead and plan for their future, whether by helping them apply to university and bursaries or placing them in internships positions at local businesses, or even assisting students with getting licenses.
When asked about the NGO’s financial and physical needs, Sabrina responds with a testimony that humbled me: of how the Lord has always provided enough money for salaries to be paid and new volunteers, when old ones’ season come to an end.
However,organisations like Local Motion always need funding in order to reach more of the youth and expand their offering. The same with volunteers: the more volunteers,the bigger the skill sets that they will be able to assist the students with.
If you feel moved to get involved with Local Motion and sow into the hearts and minds of our town’s youth, please visit their Instagram or Facebook page or mail them at info@localmotionza.org. They also host weekly prayer meetings at their youth centre (9 Thomas Street, Borcherds) on Mondays between 13h00-14h00, where those who feel called, can come and join in praying for our youth and the organisations impact in the community.
You can also have a look at a short video about Local Motion below
The article is from The Harvester follow them at
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