IsiSkills course graduates first students

By Julianna Jones

One local ministry that had to pause its work during the Covid-19 pandemic has restarted and finally completed its first course.

IsiSkills, which trains young people in practical skills alongside discipleship, started its first training course just before a strict lockdown hit South Africa. They were finally able to restart the course and finished with a graduation 17 November of their first five students. The students learned more about following Jesus while also gaining valuable skills. And this first course is only the beginning.

“For next year we plan to do many different courses, where some of our teenagers can be part of it, so they can learn skills and also have a place where they can process some of the things they go through in life, where they can learn more about God,” said Machiel Teekman, the founder of IsiSkills and All Nations Cape Town member.

This woodworking project is part of IsiThembiso, or Children of Promise, one of ANCT’s local ministries. Started in 2008, this ministry has focused on reaching the young people of Masiphumelele with the love of Jesus. A few years ago, the team started a new initiative, IsiThembiso Skills, out of a desire to equip the teenagers in the program with important job skills. As the children in IsiThembiso began to finish their high school education, many weren’t able to pursue further education or find a job in a country that experiences almost 30 percent unemployment. But the team is convinced that the young people they have worked with over the past eight years are full of character and potential. So IsiThembiso Skills was launched. Machiel Teekman, an ANCT member from the Netherlands, began teaching woodworking and construction skills to a few young men who had been part of IsiThembiso for years. He spent time teaching them practical skills, but also talking about life, bringing the truth of the gospel into every area of these promising young men’s lives. And at the beginning of March, the isiSkills program expanded in a big way. They were able to take over a workshop right next to Masi.

Although it was postponed owing to lockdown, the course was finally able to continue. The isiSkills team, which now includes the young men who have been working with Machiel over the past years, taught classes to young people in the afternoons. These young people spent time learning about tools, safety, and how to build things. But built into the curriculum also was time spent talking about the real issues of life, learning from the Bible about how God wants us to live. This is holistic discipleship — practical and spiritual needs being met together in the context of real relationship. We at All Nations Cape Town are excited to see the long-lasting results of IsiThembiso Skills as the team continues to disciple and raise up young leaders.

Check out the IsiThembiso Skills Web site here: www.childrenofpromiseafrica.com/isithembiso-skills/

Planter boxes made by the students in the isiSkills course