times, even with all the gang violence. My mom goes there every week, knowing it’s dangerous, but she doesn’t care, because she knows they need help. The Lord has been telling my parents that they’re here for a reason. So YWAM is basically people telling other people how Jesus had changed their lives. We also go on outreaches. The group that danced at Worcester Gym recently, well, they are going to go on an outreach to Brazil.
What do you love the most about being part of YWAM?
An Interview with a Youth With A Mission By Jacomi Breytenbach
Whenever we hear the word, YWAM, we immediately picture a group of incredibly friendly individuals who simply radiate warmth. Yet, there’s so much more to these individuals than their infectious smiles. YWAM is a group of people who come from all over the world to spread the word of Jesus and serve the people of the community. The Circum decided to find out a little bit more about this group, by interviewing one of the YWAM-members, Isabelli Fontes Azevedo (above).
How long have you lived in South Africa and where did you live previously? I have lived in South Africa for about 6 years now. I moved to South Africa from Brazil when I was 8. What exactly is YWAM and what do you do? YWAM stands for Youth With A Mission. It is people that go around with passion for the Lord and Jesus and have the courage to tell everybody else about His love. YWAM has been changing a lot of lives in the communities. My mom and dad have been in Avian Park many
The fact that at YWAM we try to see everybody’s different cultures and we celebrate all the different ways everyone lives. We have something called “Nations to Nations” where we try to show each other the many different cultures we have. It’s amazing how we respect everybody’s differences and how we stay together. I know people from China, America, Madagascar, everywhere! How does the South African culture differ from that of Brazil? It is very different, for example: The w ay we dress, the way that we celebrate different things... In school, especially, it’s very different. We don’t have uniforms, we mostly just wear jeans and a t-shirt and we only have one break. The school days are very short. In Brazil, the school days end twenty minutes after first break in Worcester Gymnasium. So it’s really, really short. Yeah, and we can wear our hair down, we can wear earrings, make-up, everything. What is your favourite place in South Africa and why?
I love Table Mountain and I love Cape Town. I like looking at it, climbing it and seeing all the different animals. What Afrikaans word do you like the most and why? My favourite Afrikaans word is ghandskoene. [Interviewer: You mean “handskoene?”] Yes! Because if you translate it, it’s hand shoes, and I always wondered how you could have shoes for your hands. Like, what?!