In January, I had the opportunity to visit South Africa to witness the progress of Zimele in South Africa. It was a wonderful trip where, in the midst of the destruction, I saw so much hope in South Africa. I was amazed to see the great work that Zimele is doing. Rosetta Heunis, Executive Director of Zimele South Africa, is doing a terrific job of empowering the people of Kwazulu Natal to stand on their own two feet. The vision of Zimele is to help people in Africa who have been ravaged by poverty and the AIDS pandemic to regain hope and a purpose by becoming self sufficient in every area of life.

It was encouraging to see the impact that Zimele is making in South Africa. I had the opportunity to meet Zulu people involved in Zimele’s savings program and the arts and crafts projects, and I learned that Zimele is doing more than just helping people make money. More importantly, it is restoring hope one life at a time. Through Zimele, communities are being created, interpersonal trust is being built up (which rarely happened before), and racial reconciliation among tribes is taking hold. I know this sounds too good to be true, but it is happening among thousands of people in Kwazulu Natal. I want to thank the Zimele USA staff and the people of Metro Community Church who believe in what we’re doing in South Africa.

So many of us at Metro are supporting Zimele with our time, talents, and treasures. And I am happy to report that our efforts here in the US are transforming lives in South Africa by the thousands. In a few years, our impact will be in the millions. There are not too many people in this world that get an opportunity to be a part of something this exciting and rewarding.

For me personally, Zimele is very near and dear to my heart, and it has been my privilege and honor to be a part of this great organization. As the Senior Pastor at Metro, my hope and prayer is that we can continue to grow in our outreach to not just South Africa, but to other African countries that desperately need Zimele to empower them to build economic self sufficiency in their community.