South Africa - Day 8 and 9

South Africa - Day 8 (Travel Day)

Today was primarily a travel day.  We started in Cape Town this morning.  I had a beautiful 8 mile run that went from the downtown area, out to the World Cup Stadium and then on the Promenade along the Atlantic coastline.  I had a great view of Robben Island and saw seals on the shoreline.  There were a lot of other runners out and it was cool and overcast this morning so it felt really good.  

After a quick breakfast, we met Alan Storey, the pastor of Central Methodist Mission to find the “best coffee in Cape Town”.  It is a local coffee shop that the church uses for its coffee.  As a side note, Central Methodist has a coffee shop in the back of their sanctuary.  It is open every day.   People don’t have to pay for their coffee it is by donation only.  As a part of that, they have cafe tables set up in the back of the sanctuary, as well as soft music playing and lit candles so that anyone can come in to have a cup of coffee, read the newspaper or pray, sometimes to do all three.  It is a great example of connecting the church and the community.

After getting some of the coffee, we did shopping in the large outdoor market just outside the church.   There are so many vendors and sometimes they are relentless, but if you are willing to haggle with them, you can get a good price on some things.  I can only do that for so much time.

After lunch, we made a couple of quick stops.  The first was to the District Six Museum in an old Methodist Church.  District Six is a part of Cape Town that was predominately black and during the apartheid days the government came in, kicked the residents out, and leveled all of the homes so that white people could build there.  The black residents were forced to move to the settlements and townships far outside the city.  The Methodist Church in District Six was at the center of the opposition to what was happening.  Today, the old sanctuary is a museum to the people of District Six and the injustice that happened there.

The second stop was to the Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town.  This is where Desmond Tutu served as archbishop.  It was a beautiful old cathedral with modern art.  It also had a used bookstore with a decent theology section.  I purchased a leather bound copy of The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kempis (once considered the greatest devotional book in Christian history…I still think it ranks right up there).  

We had a 4:00 p.m. flight to Durban.  Everything went great until just before Durban we ran into a huge storm.  The pilot tried several times to land but the weather was too rough.  We re-directed to Johannesburg and sat on the runway there for a little over an hour.  We met our host Roger and his wife three and a half hours later than we were supposed to, but made it here safe and sound.  

The place where we are staying here in Durban is the guest house at a Trappist Monastery.  In fact I am writing this from the balcony of my room here.  From what I can tell in the dark, it seems like a peaceful place, a good place to connect with God.  Tomorrow we visit a Methodist church, meet with the Bishop, and visit a ministry for people with HIV/Aids.  

God’s Peace,

Brett

South Africa - Day 9 (Durban)

Durban is much more rural than any are that we have seen yet.  It has a large downtown area, but there are townships outside the main city area.  Our day started by visiting Pinetown Methodist Church.  This is a church that has developed a couple of ministries making a difference in the community.  The first one is called Phakamisa (means “uplifitng”) which is a training program for people who have agreed to become caregivers for children who are orphans due to HIV/Aids.  They begin their morning with singing and prayers in the sanctuary (the singing was absolutely amazing), then they go to exercise classes and finally skill classes (gardening, language, sewing/crafts, cooking, etc…)  The idea is that this will help them as they care for HIV/Aids orphans and also empower the caregivers to go back into their townships and help others learn these skills.  

The second ministry is called Sizanni, which means “help one another”.  This is a two year class to teach basic and advanced sewing skills with the aim that students will go out and start their own business in the townships.  They make their own patterns and clothes.  One of our sister UMC churches, Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, has established a fund to provide sewing machines to the students so that they can learn to use, maintain and repair them.  They pay them off gradually over two years and then have the machines to start their business with.  

After this, we visited a pre-school called Wander that was started by one of the church members under a tree.  The school is in a small one room aluminum building in a very poor area.  I have to say I saw poverty and joy close up today!  We had the privilege of preparing and serving peanut butter sandwiches to the children.  My heart broke as we put peanut butter on the bread and the teacher said “too much”, the same when we poured the milk into the small plastic cups.  This would be the only substantial meal these children would have today and they only had a smudge of peanut butter.  Some of the children drank juice instead of milk:  some of these were allergic to milk, but others were HIV positive.  One little girl hid her sandwich in her shirt and the teacher said she was hiding it to bring home to her family.  

These children were so beautiful, though.  Their smiles and their laughter and joy moved me.  Some had learned to say “thank you” and when I responded “your welcome” as I gave them their sandwiches they would start laughing.  As I passed out cups of milk, I couldn’t help but think of Jesus words, “…when you give even a cup of cold water in my name…”  and “it is children like these who will enter the Kingdom of God!”  

I am noticing a common theme, many of these ministries were started by one lay person who saw a need and did something to meet it.  I am humbled by their faith and willingness to take the first step.  They have changed the world and will continue to do so.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  Amen!

God’s Peace,

Brett