Plastic pollution significantly endangers ecosystems and human health, affecting wildlife and potentially compromising human well-being. One of the ways to combat this scourge is to recycle, but getting your recyclable waste to a depot can sometimes be a bit of a schlep. In an affluent suburb of Pretoria one church not only makes recycling easier for their community but they nurture partnerships with others because, as stated on their website, they’re, “trying to help where there is need, following Jesus’ example.”

Thabo’s story

Every month, Thabo Radzuma collects between 360 and 480 kg in waste consisting of glass bottles, papers, newspapers, and plastic containers from the communal recycling depot of the NG Kerk Stellastraat (Dutch Reformed Church Stella Street). He then loads the church’s truck and drives to three collection points in the city. During a good month, the task earns him, a father of two, between R1 000 and R2 500 – money that, together with the salary this congregation pays him for other church work, helps him provide for his family.

This work is a blessing for him as well as the church. He was unemployed five years ago when he heard the church was looking for someone to manage their recycling depot. “That’s why recycling to me is more than boxes … it is a blessing,” he says.

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Caring for the environment

The recycling depot is used by the whole community throughout the week. There are different stalls for plastic, paper, glass and plastic. People can come anytime to drop off bags of recyclables.

Having this facility accessible helps a lot, says Ané du Plessis, a member of the church, as she drops off a huge clear plastic bag full of already washed and cleaned recyclables.

The depot falls under the protection of the church’s Outreach Ministry Group.

Fay van Eeden, an “eco-warrior” minister who also blogs, is involved in the Outreach Ministry Group. She joined the NG Kerk Stellastraat congregation seven years ago.

For Fay, caring for the environment is a natural fit with outreach. As she puts it, “Loving your neighbour includes caring for the environment they live in.”

Since the climate crisis can feel overwhelming, her focus is on helping people take small steps towards greener living. She regularly shares eco-tips in their church bulletin and every September she does a sermon series on the theme of caring for God’s creation.

The church also does DIY projects around the theme of caring for your environment such as teaching people how to make bird feeders. Last year they invited young people to compete in making things out of recyclable waste.

Strengthening hands through partnerships

When Fay joined the congregation seven years ago they already had the recycling depot. Initially the project was started in partnership with PEN, a faith-based NGO that “for the past 30 years, has ignited change, rebuilt communities, and nurtured togetherness in the inner city of Pretoria”.

PEN later withdrew as waste collector (it was no longer financially viable for them) but the congregation is still involved with some of the NGO’s other projects, especially around helping with early childhood development (ECD) training and equipment.

The Stella Street church is a macro-congregation with approximately 3 000 members and four ministers who are part of a larger leadership team. Their modern church complex rests in a quiet, tree-lined suburb between Waterkloof and Brooklyn. There is no visible poverty here. As Fay says, “We are privileged and we live in a privileged neighbourhood”.

Fay acknowledges that getting people personally involved in the broader community and the challenges it faces remains a challenge – especially in a community like theirs, where people lead busy lives. Many also feel overwhelmed by the scale of others’ needs. Then the easier route for many is simply to give money.

However, she adds that most of their members are eager to use their skills to make a difference in the broader community. That, to her, is special. Their Outreach Ministry Group therefore actively seeks partnerships with other churches and welfare organisations and initiatives like PEN. They currently have 20 such partnerships.

Their philosophy is not to do everything themselves, but rather to join hands with an NGO that specialises and ask, “How can we strengthen your hands?” That could mean finances, supplies, or whatever is needed.

The aim, as stated on their website is, “trying to help where there is need, following Jesus’ example.”

The congregation also believes in creating opportunities where members can get to know their outreach partners and the people they help as people. Be it through Outreach Sundays with stalls run by their partners, visits to old age homes or children’s homes, or shared meals in Danville, a poorer neighbourhood about a 30-minute drive away.

Earlier this year, Fay took her five-year-old daughter along to such a meal. As they entered, the child’s voice rang out clearly: “Is this where the poor people are?” She says she was embarrassed as a mother but adds that they had a “most incredible” conversation on the drive home. These days, her daughter’s prayers sound different …

Fay says her experience is that the people they help “make us aware of God’s grace, how privileged we are, and of the invitation to make a difference.”

“That’s why we tell our people to come along. You won’t change unless you are in a relationship,” she says.

Create channels and spaces to make a difference

Some partnerships go back many years, such as with Jakaranda Children’s Home, where the congregation has been involved for 43 years.

One special partnership came about more recently during the Covid pandemic. PEN runs preschool forums that help unemployed women who earn an income from looking after pre-school children. Having very little themselves, many of these creches had no toys. Marlèse Nel, a Stellastraat member with a toy shop, facilitated a partnership with an American aid organisation Adopt a South African Preschool (ASAP). Since then millions of rands worth of educational toys have found their way to PEN’s preschool forums. Marlèse also trains the women on how to use the toys to teach lessons.

As Fay explains, “We’re just a bit of a channel … we give members the chance to make a difference.”

Even Spar is on board. The supermarket group donates one ton of maize meal every month (84 x 12,5 kg bags every two weeks), which members of the congregation divide among partners with old age homes and crèches.

Every May, on Outreach Sunday, the congregation’s partners set up stalls to show what they do. It was at just such a Sunday that two partners – Healing Hands and CMR – had stalls next to each other. A few months later, a CMR social worker asked Fay for their contact details. She wanted to know if they could help a poor girl with protruding ears. The girl had reportedly wanted to end her life because other kids were teasing her terribly. In September, Healing Hands performed a procedure on her ears. “These kinds of networking stories are beautiful,” sighs Fay, content. And she adds, “If we can just facilitate that, we’re already doing enough. Then we’re creating a space …”