Sometimes in my spare time I like to check-out the CIA World Factbook : ) The Factbook is a compilation of all kinds of information on every country in the world, ranging from population demographics to world maps to country flags to the latest stats in economic development. I was looking at some stunning photos of South Africa when something else caught my attention. And I don’t mean in a good way.

The life expectancy of the average South African is a shocking 48.98 years. This puts South Africa in 212th place out of 224 countries ranked. Alarming indeed. That number leaves South Africa several notches behind Sudan…and secures its place right between Somalia and Guinea-Bissau. The United States, far from the top of the list, has a life expectancy of 78.11 years–nearly 30 years longer!

Worse yet, Southern Africa includes 7 of the lowest 13 nations… South Africa (212), Swaziland (214), Zimbabwe (217), Mozambique (221), Lesotho (222), Zambia (223) and Angola (224). Just to give you a frame of reference…Afghanistan ranks 219.

Sometimes, in South Africa’s beauty and first-world amenities, I forget that there is a whole other part of the country suffering from rampant HIV/AIDS and high crime rates. [Note: South Africa has the fourth highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in the world. More than 18% of the total population is HIV positive.] It’s easy to lose yourself in all of the wonderful things about South Africa, and forget all of the terrible injustices that occur around us every day.

My prayer is that we’ll be able to rally together as a country, and start to provide practical solutions to these very real problems.

Full disclosure: There are not actually 224 “countries” ranked on the CIA’s list. Macau is listed as number one, despite being a “special administrative region” of China. And the European Union comes in at 41; however, last time I checked the EU wasn’t a country (not to mention they rank all European countries independently…). Puerto Rico, a territory of the United States, ranks 42nd–and the list goes on with these types of “non-country” examples. Nevertheless, it still doesn’t change the fact that South Africa ranks 13th from the bottom.

Last Tuesday we began our second Loan Cycle and corresponding business training and discipleship courses. This is the first group of entrepreneurs who have applied for a second round of loans with our program–so it’s particularly exciting! We’ve known some of these entrepreneurs for nearly a full year, and they’ve really welcomed us into their lives.

During the Pursuit of Purpose Course (the discipleship portion of the evening) the entrepreneurs were asked to share with one another one of the greatest moments of their life. We suggested examples such as your wedding day, when your first child was born and the day you begun your business. Through asking this question, we wanted to help our entrepreneurs understand that oftentimes who we share these special moments with is equally as important as the moment itself. Life wasn’t meant to be experienced alone–and neither is God. We can experience God through relationships, through family and through our communities. 

One of our entrepreneurs was asked to share with the group what one of her greatest moments was and at first she was reluctant. She can sometimes be a little shy, so it’s not at all uncommon for her to avoid speaking in front of the group. But without further provocation, she proudly proclaimed:

“Graduating from Paradigm Shift and getting my business training and discipleship certificates was one of the greatest moments of my life. I finished my coursework for my matric (high school graduation) but never got my diploma and didn’t have a celebration. Graduating from Paradigm Shift has taught me that the sky is the limit. You are never too old to do what you want to do and to accomplish your dreams.”

As I sat in the back of the room, my jaw dropped to the floor. I could hardly believe my ears. In some way, in some small way, my being here in South Africa and working with Paradigm Shift has contributed to one of the greatest moments of someone else’s life. One of the greatest moments in someone else’s life! Not something they enjoyed. Not something they thought was useful or beneficial. One of the greatest moments in someone else’s life! Wow.

By earning her certificates, this entrepreneur proved to herself that she IS smart and that she CAN do anything she puts her mind to it. At the core, our program is about empowering individuals to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. I have never felt this concept so deeply as I did last Tuesday night.

As the Johannesburg Training Manager for Paradigm Shift, a large part of my job is helping to train local volunteers to serve as Business Trainers within our program. Business Trainers facilitate all of our business training materials for our entrepreneurs, including: the Business Experience Course, the Business Growth Course, and the Business Advancement Course. Our Business Trainers are all business professionals with a wide range of business experience and an incredible heart to serve the poor entrepreneurs of Johannesburg. It has been such a blessing to work with them and to play a part in this ministry.

Starting this month, I am sending out a monthly publication called, Business Trainer Times. The purpose of this newsletter is to help the trainers feel connected to one another, to suggest facilitation tips and to serve as a reminder of why we do what we do.

Below you will find the first issue of the Business Trainer Times : ) Click on the image to read the newletter!

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

This brief passage was recently discussed at the cell group I attend. The part of the verse that struck me the most was where we’re commanded to act justly. Naturally, this begs the question, “What does it mean to act justly?”

My understanding of justice is rather simple. But in order to fully comprehend…we have to go back to the beginning. Genesis 1 tells us that God created the heavens and earth; He spoke light into existence; He produced living creatures; He created man. Verse 31 tells us, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

Unfortunately, things didn’t stay the way God created them. Genesis 3 tells us about the fall of man and the curses brought upon humankind as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin. Those of us who are alive today don’t know the world as God intended it to be; we only know a world that has been corrupted by sin.

So there’s a way that things were supposed to be. And then there’s the way that things actually are. Justice, then, is restoring things that have been twisted and defiled by sin back to their original, God-intended state.

God did not intend the world to include poverty, hunger, suffering, inequality, abuse, pollution, or people taking advantage of one another…all of those are a result of sin. Therefore, erradicating poverty, feeding the hungry, banishing inequality, preventing abuses, stewarding our environment, and loving one another are all forms of justice. They are all actions that bring us closer to the way things were meant to be. Closer to bringing heaven to earth.