In July 1965, an organisation by coming together of three organisations.
According to Francis Richards, one of the ladies that are responsible for the organisation said, the movement was designed to provide weekday activities for members of Sunday school churches and an opportunity to developed mind, body and spirit preparation for life.
The motto of the organisation is to ‘seek, serve and follow Christ’.
The girls’ brigade helps girls to become followers of The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and through self- control, reverence, and sense of responsibility to find true enrichment of life.
There are currently 5 girls Brigade companies in Johannesburg namely in Eldorado Park, Kliptown, Westbury, Newclare, and Coronationville.
The required amount of girls in a company should be ten or more, all different companies have various amounts of girls from the ages as young 6 to 14 years old.
The girls’ brigade operate in a 4 square program namely the first square is spiritually where they do bible studies, prayer, worship and they spread the Gospel.
The second square is physical where the girls go out hiking, swimming, camping, drilling and band practice. The third square is educational for example the girls will embark on home and community projects, they receive drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, and HIV Aids teaching.
The fourth and final square is the service the girls provide to the community, the girls visit old age homes, children homes, they participate in marches for the community against drug abuse and other courses.
The Girl’s get badges as a reward when they complete the four square programs.
The difficulties that that Girls Brigades have is that they are a non-profit organisation and therefore they have problems with funding and sponsorship, as most girls parents are not working or they are single parents and they cannot afford to buy the required uniform they wear.
Some churches in the community provide donations when they march for them. With the little income, the organisation uses it to purchase uniforms and to help repair damaged instruments.
Another difficulty that the organisation faces is that some parents are afraid to send their children to the brigade as there is a lot of violent in the community as especially in the Westbury and Eldorado Park areas.
Lessons learned by the organisation are that “God is in control of this organisation without him, we are nothing, his words say ask and it shall be given, seek and shall find, knock and the door shall open” said Richards.
Stay Informed: For the latest news follow us on
