LAURA JANE KENNY | staff writer
Jeff Johnson created the Themba project to bring help to children in South Africa.
The word Themba means hope in Zulu, the largest native language of South Africa and hope is exactly what Jeff Johnson is trying to bring to people in South Africa.He is using APU students and a popular passion on campus to do it. Senior theology major Jeff Johnson created the Themba project to channel his passion and allow others the opportunity to join with him in it. Johnson plans to set up a thrift store on Trinity lawn on April 14 and 15 for students to donate their clothes, which will then be sold back to other students. The money will be sent to a hospital and a mission organization in South Africa that Johnson worked with last semester.
“For me it is really encouraging to know I go to a university where I can have an idea and a passion that I am inspired about and people are going to support me,” Johnson said. “It is not going to get lost in the bureaucracy of it all and I don’t have to cut through a bunch of red tape, because people really want to see this happen, so that is a really cool thing to be a part of.”
Last year, Johnson was an RA in Smith Hall. One guy in his dorm consistently approached Johnson to tell him that he liked this particular T-shirt that he wore.
Johnson fi nally gave the boy his T-shirt. “Eventually I felt like it was a good idea, to let go of how cool I thought I was and how cool I thought my clothes were and just give it away,” Johnson said. This incident fi rst gave Johnson the idea for the store, but his passion deepened when he went to South Africa during the fall semester of his senior year. “You are exposed to the kind of suffering and poverty there that you will not fi nd anywhere at APU especially or in the U.S.,” Johnson said. Seeing the need in South Africa gave Johnson the idea to do something that would benefi t more people than APU students.
When Johnson saw all the need in South Africa, it left him feeling powerless. He came back to APU and wanted to get something started where he could really help someone. “I realize that I’m not going to be able to help everybody, but I need to try.” Johnson said. “I need to do something.” When Johnson returned to APU, everything started to fall into place. He received help from ASB, Communiversity, and the Offi ce of World Missions. ASB president Phil Brazell was excited to join with Johnson in this idea. ASB heard about the project and approached Johnson to help him with funds to get the idea rolling. “Jeff Johnson is an example of the ideal student response. He was exposed to injustice in the world, came back and said we as a community have do something about it” Brazell said.
Johnson hopes to work for Christi Medical Service and Relief and a mission organiaztion, both of which will recieve the money he raises, after he graduates. “That is kind of the cool part of this whole thing. Not many people get to see the results. I will actually get to hand these people checks and see where the money is going and to experience the lives that are impacted, which is a really special thing,” Johnson said. Johnson said the thrift store is perfect for the APU community. He hopes it is something a lot of students can easily get involved with just by donating their clothes.
He also hopes the project is something that can be sustainable over the years to come at APU. Johnson wants everyone to have the opportunity to get involved, but does not want anyone to feel pressured to give. “I don’t want to get legalistic about this. If you don’t feel convicted to give anything that you like, that’s fi ne. I’m really ok with that; it’s not my show,” Johnson said.
Johnson thinks that the Themba project is a way for people to get involved with something that so many students on campus are excited about—clothing. However, it is also a way for students to acquire a different perspective on clothing.
“It is the start of a process of learning that the culture we live in is one that will leave you empty,” Johnson said. “It will leave you always wanting more if you constantly try to buy happiness. I don’t expect this to be that big of a realization to someone, but it could be and it was the beginning of the process for me.”
