ANNUAL REPORT 2018/2019
CONTENTS Report from the Chairman of Trustees
Partner Page
Letter from CEO
Capital Campaign
written by Mark Slessenger
written by Tim Tucker
written by Tim Tucker
Impact Report in Numbers
Looking Forward
Message Enterprise Program
Academy
Christ Centered Enterprise
Higher Tour
Community Transformation
Urban Hero Awards
written by Mark Slessenger
written by Mark Slessenger
written by Tim Tucker
written by Gavin Wessels
written by Naomi Engelbrecht
written by Anja Morkel
written by Mark Slessenger
Creative Mission
23
written by Naomi Engelbrecht
Finance Report
Be A Hero
written by Luleka Domo Report designed by: Dayne Myles
Staff Development written by Luleka Domo
The Message Trust 61 - 65 Main Road Mowbray, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa +27 21 685 5354 www.message.org.za *The Message Trust Staff at our annual retreat.
Message South Africa
@message_sa
@message_trust_sa
Charitable Trust IT4/2014 | Non Profit 133-638-NPO | Public Benefit Organisation 930046622 | Section 18A Status Trustees: Stephen Van Rhyn (Chair), Andy Hawthorne OBE, Timothy Tucker, Eben Welby-Solomons (Treasurer) and Warren Lodge (Secretary)
DEEPENING OUR ROOTS A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR OF TRUSTEES STEVE VAN RYN If we are to see more youth choose life in Jesus over death through gangsterism and crime, then we need to go deep, deepening our own roots in Jesus so we can help others grow in faith and life. In this past financial year, The Message Trust has deepened our roots to reach more youth at risk with the gospel in a number of areas;
1. Deepening our roots by purchasing our own Message building; In August 2018, we finalized the purchase of our new home, The Message Trust Leadership and Enterprise Centre. Since launching The Message Trust in February 2014 the Lord has given us many prophetic promises that he would give us a home with space to thrive. To put our roots down through owning our own property will enable our team to offer greater care and support to the thousands of young people we work with. What a blessing this has been, and we are thankful to the Lord for his provision.
2. Deepening our roots and celebrating our 5th birthday; With the current economic climate causing many nonprofits to close down and cut back we are truly thankful to God for his provision and goodness to us over the past 5 years. In organizational
development they often say that it takes ten years for any organization to build a strong foundation and establish themselves before moving onto further significant growth. As we look back over the past 5 years, what God has done through our team is nothing short of miraculous, and we are excited for the next 5 years.
3. Deepening our roots through sound Board governance; It is a joy to chair our board meetings and have a board that seeks the Lord and is never afraid to step out in faith. However, faith needs to be grounded with practical wisdom that comes from good governance. I am thankful to have a board that loves Jesus and loves people, but also a board that has professional skills that provide sound oversight for our work in South Africa. This past year we have strengthened our board and governance structures, enabling us to provide greater strategic oversight for The Message Trust.
4. Deepening our roots with stories of transformation; Finally, one of the highlights for me and many others this year was our first ever Urban Heroes Awards (UHA) in November 2018. The best way to explain UHA is that it is like
the Oscars… but for youth at risk! It’s an amazing evening where people from all fabrics of society come together to celebrate lives transformed by Christ. One thing this evening illustrated is that there are no quick fixes in our South African context. We need to go deep to see lasting change and these stories of transformation were a result of our team giving of themselves week in week out for the past 5 years. It’s this kind of commitment we need to see our nation change and raise up more Urban Heroes in our communities. I would like to thank you for reading our latest Annual Report, and I am sure you will be encouraged by all the Lord is doing through our Message team. Our vision requires more prayer, financial support and partnership and you will have many opportunities to do so. Let’s deepen our roots through prayer, financial support and partnership so we can collectively see many more lives changed by the gospel in 2019/2020. Blessings,
Steve Van Rhyn Chair of Trustees
MEET THE MESSAGE SA BOARD MEMBERS
Steve van Ryn Chairman (Trustee)
Andy Hawthorne Message Trust International CEO (Trustee)
Carolyn Chalmers Governance
Eben Welby-Solomons Treasurer
Warren Lodge Secretary
REPORT FROM THE CEO Dr. Tim Tucker reflects on 2018
When we launched The Message Trust South Africa in 2014, we received a very specific promise from Genesis 26:22 where Isaac says, ‘Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.’ this was a promise that God would give us physical space to establish our Leadership and Ente September 2018, this dream became a reality as we took occupation of our building in Mowbray. We God for His provision and we threw a big party to celebrate.
However, as you will see in this year’s annual report, The Message Trust is not about bricks and mort lives that are being impacted through the gospel. It’s my privilege to once again thank all our partner prayer partners, for standing with us throughout the past year. I trust you enjoy reading this report and visit us at our Leadership and Enterprise Centre to enjoy a coffee at Gangstar Café, and experien God is doing through The Message.
Here is a brief update on the progress we made towards our big five goals last year:
To be in purposeful relationship with 50 churches across Cape Town As I often say, we are the biggest fans of local churches and have the privilege of seeing so many incredible things that God is doing through His church in Cape Town. In 2018, we extended our network to include over fifty local churches and conducted direct ministry alongside over thirty churches. A highlight of the year was when we gathered leaders from each of the churches we’re in relationship with to share our vision for the next five years of Message ministry in Cape Town. There was an incredible sense of support from the leaders to say that we’re on the right track!
To host our first Urban Hero Awards Thursday 1st November was a special night for The Message Trust as we hosted our first Urban Hero Awards. Hosted at The Ritz, it had all the glitz and glamour of a prestigious event as we celebrated incredible stories of transformation that inspired hope amongst all those who attended. You can read a full report on this amazing evening later in the report.
To see 50 n men throug Proc
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new young gh our MEP cess
our in-prison, s and reintegration ad 28 new young P system – both in on. Although we rget, we were able MEP programme in ase see the report e information.
To launch an Eden team in Parow
To launch a fully fledged Gangstar Cafe
Despite hosting a number of events to recruit volunteers to form an Eden Team in Parow, we did not manage to form a complete team. Therefore, our plans for an Eden Team in Parow are on hold. However, we did manage to form relationships with three churches in the area – including a church planting team. We are working alongside these churches as we continue to seek God’s direction for how we can have a sustainable impact in this neighbourhood.
Building upon the start we’d made in 2017, in September 2018 we were able to rebrand our café and launch as a fully fledged Gangstar Café. This coincided with us taking occupation of our own building. It has been great to see our customer base grow and how they interact with our Gangstar employees.
13%
MESSAGE ENTERPRISE PROGRAM #PRISON
3
MEP RECIDIVISM RATE
VS
NATIONAL AVERAGE RECIDIVISM RATE
STUDYING FURTHER
25
EMPLOYMENT PLACEMENTS
25
OF MEP GRADUATES HAVE FOUND EMPLOYMENT
#NYANGA
21
49
NEW YOUTH IN CHURCH
GIRLS IN WEEKLY MENTORSHIP PROGRAM BOYS IN WEEKLY YOUTH AND EDUCATION PROGRAM
38 IN REINTEGRATION PROGRAM
66%
INMATES IN PRISON PROGRAM
16
80%
60
ATTENDING DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE EVENT
200
KIDS ATTENDED KICKSTART FOOTBALL EVENT
COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION
IMPA REPO
#SALTRIVER
8
YOUTH IN DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM
SAFE HOUSE FOR ABUSED WOMEN LAUNCHED
8
YOUTH IN ADVENTURE CLUB
CHRIST-CENTRED ENTERPRISE
3
3
TV INTERVIEWS
19
2000
RADIO INTERVIEWS
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
REBRANDED & RELAUNCHED GANGSTAR CAFE
STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION
SHARED WITH CHURCHES, YOUTH GROUPS, NON-PROFITS, CORPORATES AND THROUGH EXTERNAL BLOGGERS
4
ACT ORT
60
REACHING
6
TRAINED AT GANGSTAR CAFE
EX-OFFENDERS EMPLOYED
10,000
RESPECT ME SESSIONS RUN IN SCHOOLS
REACHED THROUGH CHURCHES, YOUTH GROUPS AND SCHOOL PROGRAMS
640 CHILDREN
32 80+
YOUNG PEOPLE WEEKLY AT GENETIK SESSIONS
SCHOOLS WORKED WITH
38
8,500+ REACHED THROUGH KINETICIV’S MUSIC AND MESSAGE
YOUNG PEOPLE REACHED THROUGH GANG AWARENESS COURSES
CREATIVE MISSION
Message Enterprise Program Our Message Enterprise Program (MEP) is our focused prisons programme that helps prepare young men in prison for reintegration with society, once released. We provide one on one support for each offender, helping them find employment, safe accommodation and a foundation within a Christian community. Seeing the fruit of this programme has been a highlight for the financial year. The biggest challenge within our programme, for offenders and our team, is when an individual is released from prison. Many of our young men have become institutionalised within the system and require constant mentorship and one-on-one care after release. This has led MEP to develop a more intensive one-on-one coaching philosophy for each ex-offender, guiding them holistically in eight key areas of their lives. Our key finding has been that ex-offenders who have completed the reintegration programme are less likely to reoffend, whereas the reoffending rate has increased significantly where individuals decide to drop out. We are excited to trust God in the goals given to us for the next financial year: To see forty more young men come through our reintegration programme To extend our one-year MEP Youth programme into a women’s prison. To launch The Oaks halfway house, named after Isaiah 61.
38 Completed reintegration programme
of MEP graduates
66% found employment
13%
Recidivism rate for MEP
Recidivism national av.
80%
VS
“It was a surprise for to me to see Clint in our Gangstar Café in November 2018. I first met Clint in Pollsmoor prison in 2004/5 where he participated in a prison football programme I ran. We both felt such joy being reunited after 14 years, following his release. Clint had signed up for our reintegration programme and through this process he began to grow in faith and life, being earmarked to be sent on a barista training course, afterwhich he would be enrolled for training at Gangstar Café. Mark Slessenger, Deputy CEO
Inmates in our 25 prison programme
Christ Centred Enterprise Gangstar Café is the social enterprise initiative of The Message Trust. The Café employs young men who desire to leave a life of crime and gangsterism and have decided to grow in faith and life, becoming stars for Jesus in their families, communities and nation. This past financial year was the most significant for Gangstar Café as we expanded in a number of areas:
Gangstar Café Mowbray Through The Message Trust purchasing our building, we were able to renovate and expand our Mowbray Gangstar Café. The café has provided a great platform to offer ongoing training to young men coming through our prison reintegration programme. This year we have offered training opportunities for five ex-offenders with two progressing to full time employment. The most exciting development has been seeing how the café has provided an environment to engage the local community. Through sharing their stories, our Gangstars are engaging students, businessmen and women, local churches and the general community, on a daily basis. This often leads to people leaving our café encouraged and inspired to make a difference in their own sphere of influence.
Gangstar Café Durbanville Towards the end of the financial year we received the incredible opportunity to open our second Gangstar Café in Durbanville. The café will give us the opportunity to expand our reach into the northern suburbs, which is one of our key goals for the upcoming year. Please contact us to find out more about all that is happening with Gangstar Café and how you can support our growing social enterprise”. This illustrates that Gangstar Café does not only offer employment opportunities for young men out of prison and gangs but also a platform to inspire and engage society, creating a ripple effect of hope and transformation.
Shepherd and Thembinkosi first engaged The Message Trust shortly after being released from prison. Alongside the mentorship of our prisons team they were both placed on barista training courses & subsequently employed at Gangstar Café. When we launched the Durbanville cafe, they were both asked to relocate & manage the store. Both rising to the challenge, it has been exciting to see how quickly these young men have progressed, knowing they are now managing a cafe.
2000
STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION SHARED IN DIFFERENT PLATFORMS
4
EX-OFFENDERS TRAINED AT GANGSTAR CAFE
NEW CAFE LAUNCHED IN DURBANVILLE
Community Transformation With a sharp focus on the most deprived neighbourhoods, our community transformation strategy aims to impact tough neighbourhoods from the inside. For the first five years of The Message Trust in Cape Town, our strategy has centred around recruiting and mobilising Eden Teams to serve in neighbourhoods where gangsterism, poverty, crime and unemployment are rife. Eden teams are always in partnership with local churches as we seek to develop a strategy that responds to the specific context that we’re working in. In particular, one of our Eden teams has continued to serve in Salt River and make a tangible difference to that specific community. As we’ve continued to engage with communities and consider how to adapt our strategy for the Cape Town context, it has become clear that many churches across the city are already doing an incredible work in neighbourhoods across the city. We believe our task is to come alongside
more churches and take hands with them in the task of community transformation. Therefore, we’ve developed a new initiative of planting ‘Message Hub’s’ to be able to serve at community level and facilitate long-term outreach and discipleship among many young people. These community hubs will be satellite offices that are run by The Message Trust staff and volunteers, able to serve multiple churches in any given community. Our first hub grew out of an Eden Team in Nyanga and will be fully launched in 2019.
#NYANGA
Mustard Seed House An exciting project to take effect during this year was the launch of The Mustard Seed house, birthed through Jubilee Community Church and our Eden Salt River team. The home currently houses three women who were previously homeless. One of our residents recently finished a barista training course and is now working towards getting her high school diploma. This year we have been setting a family culture in the home, eating together and building strong relationships. The Mustard Seed home has become a pillar of hope in the community and we look forward to all the Lord will do in this next year.
49
New Youth in Church
200
KIDS FOR KICKSTART FOOTBALL EVENT
16
GIRLS IN WEEKLY MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Creative Mission This past financial year for creative mission has been all about going deeper, deeper in communities and deeper in relationships, which was achieved whilst interacting with over 10,000 young people through our programmes. Our team has grown this year, by gaining a new missions team as well as the recruiting of 5 interns as an introduction to ‘The Message Academy’. We have seen multiplication with our Genetik sessions programme, which is now working in three communities. There is one pilot Genetik Session in schools, two established Genetik Sessions hubs and we have begun the preparations for our third hub, in Nyanga. A big highlight for our music team, KineticIV, was a school’s week in Citrusdal where they interacted with over 3000 young people, in 4 schools. Kinetic IV has shared their music and message of hope with over 8500 people. A beautiful illustration of the work we are doing was seen when one of our interns started a
38
SCHOOLS WORKED WITH
60
RESPECT ME SESSIONS RUN IN SCHOOLS
10,000+
REACHED THROUGH PROGRAMS
32
YOUNG PEOPLE WEEKLY AT GENETIK SESSIONS
Quotes from learners a part of the respect me program. “I learned about bullying and that I am powerful and if someone bullies me then I must tell teachers, mom or anybody bigger than me.” “I learned that I am valuable” “I learned that I am a masterpiece”
placement at a local church at the end of the financial year. He was introduced to a young boy, who had arrived at the church as a result of being challenged through a Respect ME and gang awareness workshop facilitated by our team at his school. Subsequently, KineticIV had also ministered to the same youth group through music. As our intern has continued to walk alongside the young man, we learnt that as a result of this journey, he chose to commit his life to Jesus. It showed us the impact of our work, but also the wider relationships being formed through our team.
FINANCIAL REPORT The financial information presented below is a consolidated picture of The Message Trust and Gangstar CafĂŠ. Over the financial year from March 2018 to February 2019 the organisation received a total income of R 11 568 437, including contributions towards a building and vehicle fund amounting to R 4 568 223. The increase in income (excluding the building fund) from the previous year was 27%. Donations and sales increased by 22% and 25 % respectively, however, the greatest increase can be seen in the fundraising income which increased by just less than 150% in the year! The total income breakdown for the organisation is as follows:
Donations and grants
6 058 962
Sales and services
405 405
Fundraising and other income
535 846
Building and vehicle fund
4 568 223 Total 11 568 436
39.49%
52.38%
4.63% 3.5% Expenditure for the financial year amounted to R 6 231 702, an increase of 24%. The largest expense and the one with the highest increase, is personnel costs, which makes up 70% of the total expenditure, and increased by 33% as a result of key staff appointments. The project and operational expenditure increased by 8% which is in line with inflation.
7.2%
1.7% 3.4% 1%
1%
0% 1.1%
0.1%
PERSONNEL COSTS PREMISES AND EQUIPMENT OFFICE COSTS COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONAL SERVICES GOVERNANCE AND PROMOTIONS TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT GIVING TRAINING AND EVENTS EQUIPMENT AND DEPRECIATION EDEN SEED FUNDING VEHICLE COSTS MESSAGE INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTION
5.1% 1.3% 3.4% 4.7% 69.5%
Expenditure by category
The expenditure is spread fairly evenly between the Creative Mission, Community Transformation and MEP projects. The Gangstar Café expenditure has increased slightly from the previous year as the Café has become more established.
13% CREATIVE MISSION COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION
10%
10% 7%
CENTRAL MISSION FUNDS MEP MINISTRY GANGSTAR GEAR AND CAFE
60%
Expenditure by project category The surplus is R 5 336 734, which includes the building and vehicle fund of R 4 568 223. The cost of the purchase of the building and a vehicle are reflected on the balance sheet. Therefore, after adjusting for the capital purchases, the surplus in real terms is R 768 511. The organisation has solidified its projects and activities this year, and firmly established itself within Mowbray through the purchase of a building, out of which both The Message Trust and the Gangstar Café can operate. Donations and grants, on which the organisation relies, continue to grow as more people catch the vision of the Message Trust. *All figures are unaudited
Prepared by: Michelle Davidson, Director of Entrepreneur and Management Solutions (Pty) Ltd
Staff Development Our people matter! One of the things we value at The Message Trust is our people. We have invested in improving our HR policies and offered regular training and development sessions for the team. As a commitment to our staff, we have implemented a staff development fund which enables us to fund training events and offer support to our team. This has enabled some of our team to attend important conferences, upskill themselves in areas like project management and monitoring and evaluation. The staff development fund is available for staff to apply for further training and support but has also helped us run general training for our whole team in important areas such as child protection.
and we want to ensure that our team is cared for and able to work efficiently. This coming year we have introduced a pension saving scheme for all our staff that will be matched by The Message Trust. We will also be looking at new training opportunities and upskilling our team so they can continue to serve some of the most vulnerable youth in our society. I want to sincerely thank all our staff and volunteers on behalf of our executive and the board for all their incredible hard work and dedication, also all our sponsors, donors and prayer supporters for standing with us. Because of your support more lives are impacted by the work we do in Cape Town!
Our team is regularly in contact with vulnerable urban youth, giving their time and energy, often with little thanks from our beneficiaries. As an executive we know that our mission is only as strong as our people MESSAGE INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS MANCHESTER
Yours thankfully, Luleka Domo
TRUSTEES Stephen Van Rhyn (Chair) Andy Hawthorne Warren Lodge Tim Tucker Eben Welby-Solomons Carolyn Chalmers
Andy Hawthorne FOUNDER AND INTERNATIONAL CEO
Tim Tucker CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Annalise Petersen (Assistant)
Mark Slessenger DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Candice Alben (Assistant)
Luleka Domo
Vacant
MD Finance
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
MISSIONS DIRECTOR
FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
Bookkeeper Kudzai Ndudzo Admin Assistant Makani Chingati Cleaning Staff Linda Nzala
COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION
CREATIVE MISSION
ADMINISTRATION
Christina Tucker (Creative Development Coordinator) Naomi Engelbrecht (Respect Me / Internship Coordinator)
Mkhululi Letsatsi (Nyanga) Grant Porthen (Salt River)
Mark Harrison (Manager) Gangstar Cafe Xola Dingiswayo Shepherd Pani Thembinkosi Matimba
Kinetic IV Gilead Engelbrecht Jabulani Majola
MEP
Higher Tour Anja Morkel
Staff Statistics
CHRIST CENTRED ENTERPRISES
19
Gavin Wessels (Manager) Shaun Pretorious Mthetheleli Ngxeke John Palm Luvuyo Madani
2
2
6
MEDIA Dayne Myles (Manager) Alexis Horne
Report from Deputy CEO As with any vision, you need people to come alongside and help you achieve the goals that God has placed on your heart. This past financial year we have been blown away by the faithful giving of so many people. The unseen heroes are those who give to us on a monthly basis, often sacrificially as they believe in what we do and the impact we are making in the lives of young people in Cape Town. We have also had individuals who have given large amounts to help us achieve what you have read about in this report. Lives won’t be the same again because of people’s big hearts and willingness to give to see young people hear and know that there is a God who loves them and has a plan for their lives. As well as giving financially we have seen many of our partners diving in and getting their hands dirty, sacrificially giving
personally of their time and resource, whether going in to prison with our prisons team, or into a school or coming and teaching bible studies in our Nyanga hub. We are so thankful to each and every person who has given of finance, time and resource. If we keep this going and continue together to reach young people in this city I have no doubt we will see a culture shifting movement of urban heroes who will create a ripple effect of hope and change in our communities and nation, its already happening! I can’t name everyone in this report, but I would like to just name and thank the organisations that have supported us over this past financial year. Yours thankfully, Mark Slessenger
A big thank-you to our partners LegalWise Omni HR Consulting Top Floor AddLife The Premium Group Gunston Attorneys CCFM DG Murray Trust TNA Valcare Trust Power Group Charitable Foundation Community Chest Salty Print Counter Point Asset Management Austen Dundas Properties XL Transit Mergon Foundation Ralf Trust Cromwell Trust Sowers Trust Haggie Trust John James Trust Olive Tree Capital Gro Lord Trust Developers
Dorothy Molyneux Ecclesiastical Trust Cheam Baptist Church (UK) Christ Church Ewell (UK) The Message Trust UK Jubilee Community Church Common Ground Church Church on Main Hope Community Church (UK) Ridgeway Community Church (UK) Lighthouse International Ministries (UK) United Evangelical Fellowship Grace Chapel
3258
Building Campaign One of the most exciting projects we have at The Message Trust is our newly launched building campaign. As you have read in this report, the Lord has blessed us with our own building that will provide a platform for us to serve young people, churches and communities across Cape Town. This is a significant step in resourcing our team and ministry in Cape Town. Since launching The Message South Africa in 2014, we believed and trusted the Lord for a space for our ministry to grow and thrive. In 2018 we began a project to secure all of our accommodation needs in one transformational space called The Message Leadership and Enterprise Centre. This centre will serve as the following: The HQ and centre of operations for The Message Trust South Africa. The centre will provide all the operational/office support to The Message Trust staff, mission teams, community hubs and volunteers. Host our social enterprise, Gangstar Café, through which we provide employment and training for young people who need a fresh start. The café is a meeting point for people from different sectors of society and a space where social transformation can occur. ‘The Oaks’ discipleship home: offering bridging accommodation for ex-offenders who cannot return to their communities because of family dysfunction, gangsterism and poverty.
Current building
The Message Leadership and Enterprise Centre comprises of two buildings that are being purchased and renovated to form a unique and cohesive environment for social transformation to take place.
The Message Leadership and Enterprise Centre comprises of two buildings that are being purchased and renovated to form a unique and cohesive environment for social transformation to take place. In order to complete this project we need to raise R8,3million over three years (2018-2020). In 2018 we raised over R4,8million and were able to secure the first property. In 2019 we are seeking to raise a further R3,4million and in 2020 we will need R4,9million which will be used to fully renovate the building for our long-term requirements. To accomplish this goal, we have embarked upon a ‘sponsor a brick’ building campaign and are approaching our supporters and friends to help us. Our goal is to sell 400 bricks for each phase of the development at R10,000 per brick. We are therefore asking that you consider helping us to build this wall of support by pledging to donate one or more bricks for each of the phases. Each donor/company name will be featured on our “wall of support” on our website and on a physical wall once the renovations are completed. Every donation will also receive a Section 18A tax certificate if you are based in South Africa and Gift Aided if you give in the UK. If you would like to support this campaign and invest in long term sustainable mission in Cape Town then please contact me, I would love to discuss this further with you. Kind Regards, Tim Tucker Tim.tucker@message.org.za
The Goal
Looking forward to 2019 Goals
To Launch our first Message Community Hub in Nyanga. Nyanga is one of the toughest communities in Cape Town – known as the ‘murder capital’ of South Africa. We have had an Eden team in Nyanga for a number of years, partnering with New Crossroads Baptist Church. We now feel it’s time to establish a Hub office of The Message Trust that can serve the community on an ongoing basis. Mkhululi Letsatsi has been appointed our hub leader and will be continuing to develop relevant programmes to disciple young people in Nyanga. Our goal is that this first hub will be a prototype of future Message hubs so we can extend our influence at grass-roots level across the city.
Our 2019 ‘big goals’ have been develo and help us scale our impact for the yea
Hold our first Community Higher Tour in Parkwood impacting more than 5000 young people with the gospel In partnership with 10 churches and 10 schools, we will be holding our first Higher Tour for 10 days in August/September. This is the first Higher Tour we will run in South Africa with a view to run a city-wide Higher Tour in 2022. We believe Higher Tour will be a catalyst to see culture-shifting disciples emerge who will be able to make a long-term difference in their communities.
Launch the Enterprise P with 20 priso
Over the past five team have w exclusively with ma year we want to ext to a women’s facilit opportunity for y benefit from the M discipleship proces
Please continue to pray for us at The Message T also includes ways in which you can partner with ‘Be a Hero’ and Capital Fund campaigns. We ar every contribution – it really does make a huge lives of those we’re reaching on a daily basis.
The verse that we believe God has given us for 2019 comes from Isaiah 60:22; ‘The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly.’ Our prayer is that God will multiply the impact we’ve had over the past few years as we prepare for a harvest of culture-shifting disciples to emerge in Cape Town.
oped in order to prepare us for growth ars ahead. We have five main goals:
e Message Programme women oners.
e years, our MEP worked almost ale offenders. This tend our influence ty and provide the young women to MEP training and ss.
Trust. This report h us through our re so grateful for difference in the
Extend the ministry of The Message Trust into the northern suburbs. Increasing the scope of our impact is a key goal for the year ahead, and a number of new relationships have been formed that will enable us to extend our work in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. Firstly, in partnership with Valcare, we have recruited a satellite worker who will be based in Paarl and be involved in our ongoing work in Drakenstein prison. Secondly, we received an invitation to open a Gangstar Café in Durbanville. This is our first café in a shopping mall and has created three new employment opportunities. Thirdly, we are continuing our work in Parow alongside three churches that we are in relationship. These three bases will create exciting ministry opportunities in the years ahead.
To launch the Message Academy with 12 students in January 2020. As ministry opportunities continue to develop, so does our need for more young people who are available to lead pioneering and innovative youth work across the city. Our Academy will be a 10-month training programme that will offer young people a unique blend of practical mission, biblical instruction and serving in communities/churches.
In 2020, we will be launching our first ever Message Academy. The Message Academy is a 10 month training programme for 18-25 year olds in Cape Town who are passionate about pioneering youthwork, evangelism and mission. Academy students will receive teaching, practical workshops, creative training, hands on experience on placements and as part of The Message Trust family, they will be immersed into a culture that creates and cultivates innovative mission. We believe the good news of Jesus must be shared with truth and with tears; with creativity and compassion. So whether a young person feels called to the stage or the streets, to work in a school
“The culture of the Message encourages me to thrive in what I do,its culture of professionalism has impacted my leadership. As a result of this, I have grown in my personal journey and feel as though I am thriving.” Darren Douman - 2019 Intern
hall or the concert hall, to disciple in a youth group or a prison cell, our aim is to prepare and equip them to make a difference for God. This past year as we prepare for the launch in 2020 we have been trialing, discovering and learning what a training Academy could look like within the wider Message Trust team. We have had 5 young people intern with the creative missions teams and it’s been incredible to see a group of young people come together, learn and grow. We have seen them learn in the classroom and then put what they have learned into practice within their churches, placements and communities. In 2020 our goal is to see 12 young people join our Academy class of 2020!
“The Message Academy has equipped me for missions, going out and knowing how to work and impact different people. The training has helped shape the way that I share my story, I love being part of a storytelling movement that has equipped me for this. I have loved being in prisons, communities and schools.” Michaela Vollenhoven - 2019 Intern
For more info contact: academy@message.org.za
Raising up a generation of culture-shifting disciples The Higher Tour combines large-scale gospel proclamation events with innovative schools work and discipleship resources. We passionately believe that the transforming power of Jesus is not just for one evening at an action-packed event, but is meant to make a lasting impact – so we want to see new Christians become rooted in a local church to continue their journey of faith and engage in long-term discipleship. The Higher Tour begins in schools. Our mission teams will spend a day in each school taking lessons and assemblies, seeking to represent the Christian faith clearly and authentically in an educational context. Following the schools’ days are evangelistic events – perfect for inviting young people and their friends. These will feature a clear presentation of the gospel and an opportunity to respond and be connected to a local church. The local church is at the heart of the Higher Tour. We long to see young people engaged in a healthy Christian community as they begin their journey of discipleship. After a young person makes a decision to follow Christ during the Higher Tour, our goal is that they would be quickly connected with a youth worker from one of our partner churches.
Higher events are preceded by evangelism and discipleship training of youth leaders and passionate young people in the area, with the hope of equipping and mobilizing hundreds of young people to make an ongoing difference in their spheres of influence. The dream is to increase our capacity through multiple Higher events in communities across Cape Town between 2019 – 2021, culminating in a citywide Higher Tour youth outreach in partnership with churches and youth organisations in 2022. The first community event, Higher Parkwood, will be taking place in August 2019 in partnership with 10 local churches in the area. In addition, plans are underway to partner with Love Cape Town Cityfest, African Enterprise and the Luis Palau Association in hosting Higher Drakenstein – the first Higher Tour event to be hosted in a South African prison context – in November 2019.
For more info contact: higher@message.org.za
Lives that were the problem are now part of the solution On the 1st of November 2018 we hosted our first ever Urban Hero Awards (UHA). UHA, as described in the Chairman’s report, is the Oscars for youth at risk, celebrating lives that have been transformed through the power of the gospel. An Urban Hero is someone whose life was previously caught up in destructive behaviour but has found Christ and is now being used by God as part of the solution.
Our second Urban Hero Awards have been booked for The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, on November 5th. This is one of our major events of the year and a key fundraiser for The Message Trust. We are expecting 300 guests and are asking corporates, trusts and individuals, to buy tables of ten to come and celebrate what God is doing in the lives of the young people we work with.
The event was a formal dinner hosted at The Ritz Hotel in Sea Point and it was a wonderful evening full of inspirational stories and performances from our Creative Mission teams.
To book your table please contact: Candice Alben Candice.alben@message.org.za
On the night we gave out seven awards to young people we have worked with over the years since The Message Trust South Africa was founded in 2014. Over the past five years we have seen each young person move from a place of hurt and brokenness into fulfilling God’s purpose and plan for their life. As with all of us, each one still has many hurdles and challenges to overcome but we are so proud of their journey and who they have become in God and believe the best is yet to come!
Xola Dingiswayo received the Mission award, for his commitment to sharing the gospel. Xola was also named our 2018 Urban Hero!
#URBANHERO
Achiever Award Sheldon Heuvel
Special Leadership Award Mkhululi Letsatsi
Ubuntu Award Melissa Titus
Catalyst Award Thembinkosi Mbelu
Servant Leadership Mthetheli
Our goal at The Message Trust is to raise up a generation of Urban Heroes, someone who has overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges to begin to make a tangible difference in South Africa one life at a time. They are young people who were once the problem in society, but are now contributing to the solution. The full-time team of Message staff is working in partnership with churches across the city in prisons, tough communities and in schools, in order to identify young people who simply need the right platform in order to fulfil their potential and join the mission of bringing hope to young people. As the work of The Message continues to grow, so do our financial needs. That’s why we’d like to invite you to BE A HERO and join our increasing team of monthly donors who faithfully give and enable us to continue to raise up Urban Heroes like Shepherd and Mk.
Mkhululi after reading The Purpose Driven Life while in prison, felt convicted to turn his life around, and then had a dream to go back to Nyanga and invest in the children of that vulnerable and dangerous community. In 2019, the dream has become a reality, as MK now leads the Message Nyanga hub and impacts dozens of children on a weekly basis through our aftercare programme.
#URBANHERO
At one time Shepherd could neither read nor write and ended up in a jail cell. In prison he committed his life to God and began to educate himself. Upon leaving prison he joined The Message reintegration programme, became trained as a qualified barista, and is now working for Gangstar Café as a junior manager.
#URBANHERO Be a Hero by becoming a monthly donor & receive a partner pack full of amazing resources to help you on your own mission in life R50
R100
R200
For more info contact: mark.slessenger@message.org.za
JOIN US! To get involved or for information on a specific program, please contact the relevant person below:
For general enquiries: 021 685 1535 or info@message.org.za
www.message.org.za