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South Africa

Program Details

Dates: September-June

Cost: $15,500

Location: Port Shepstone – KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

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Spiritual Heritage & Climate:

  • Though Christianity is present in many parts of the region, the gospel field remains active and open. The local church behind the partnering ministry (Norwegian Settlers Church) mobilizes through its outreach arm, Genesis Hope South Africa, to serve communities holistically—meeting not only spiritual but also physical, educational, and social needs. And while the coastline and tourist-town energy bring global culture in, many neighborhoods still face deep need: poverty, youth unemployment, disrupted families, and relational fractures.

  • This context offers students the chance to engage in real-time mission: not simply “visiting” but entering a community, building relationships, learning local culture and language, and serving alongside trusted locals. Port Shepstone thus becomes both a place of leisure and a landscape of purpose—where your presence can both soak in the scenery and step into someone else’s story.

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Ministry Opportunities
The core focus areas of ministry are: care, sports & education, and social justice. Through these you may:

  • Serve at the Genesis SafePlace or El-Roi Baby Home, offering love and mentorship to children in vulnerable circumstances;

  • Join the Music Academy or Community Gyms initiative, using sports, music, and creative arts to engage youth in township or beach-town communities;

  • Support school-investment programmes: tutoring, English lessons, leadership development, and community clubs in local schools or outreach centres;

  • Engage in social justice/outreach efforts: assist with food distributions, family-care initiatives, holiday-programmes, and relational evangelism in under-served neighborhoods.
    Across all these, students are encouraged to learn local language (Zulu/English), build authentic friendships, serve in culturally appropriate ways, and participate in weekend/team outreach trips to the rural hinterlands along the KwaZulu-Natal coast. This is a year to live simply, serve deeply, and learn to live missionally.

Cultural Experience

  • Nestled on the scenic South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, Port Shepstone sits where the Mzimkhulu River meets the warm Indian Ocean, approximately 120 km south of Durban. The town offers a vibrant coastal lifestyle, surrounded by beaches, riverine scenery, forested hills, and tourist energy. At the same time, it serves as an administrative and commercial hub for the surrounding rural settlements—creating a unique blend of holiday-town vibrancy and meaningful community need.

  • Situated in this region, students will live and serve amidst a rich cultural mosaic: Zulu heritage, English-speaking coastal culture, Afrikaans and Xhosa influences, and communities navigating tourism, development, and socio-economic change.

  • In Port Shepstone, you’ll immerse yourself in everyday South African coastal life. The region is a crossroads of culture: Zulu language and custom remain strong, while English is widely spoken; daily life stretches from beachside cafés and tourist zones into neighbourhoods shaped by historic migration, tourism economies, and local agriculture/hinterland life.

  • Students will have opportunities to learn basic Zulu, engage relationally with youth and families in diverse neighbourhoods, and experience firsthand how the South African coastal context is both breathtaking and complex. The mix of natural beauty, recreational rhythms, and social-economic pressures creates a rich missional environment.

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