The Problem

South Africa is home to over 2.8 million orphans—14% of the total child population—and more than 44,000 child-headed households—16% of those are estimated to be led by children under the age of 10. These statistics are staggering and the state of the family in South Africa is bleak.

The need is great.

The biblical message is clear:

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this,
To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,
and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
James 1:27

The Target

Our ministry targets the youth of South Africa – specifically orphans and vulnerable children who have no living family able or willing to care for them. Children in our ministry come from a wide variety of backgrounds and family situations. Some come for less than 24 hours and others will be with us until adulthood.

Orphans and vulnerable children matter to God and therefore they matter to us.

It is our privilege to spend our days invested in the lives and futures of these precious children.

The Solution

The solution is for us to answer God’s call from Matthew 28 and go spread the gospel. At Onthatile, we aim to share the gospel specifically with our target audience – orphaned and vulnerable youth in South Africa and beyond – and with the community members and friends we interact with through our normal life rhythms. We do this by meeting the physical and tangible needs of orphans and vulnerable children through short and long-term foster care, adoption, and by providing a Christian education to the children in our care.

While meeting physical needs is important we know and firmly believe that the most important change in life is a change of the heart. The Bible calls us to action:

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only…
James 1:22