Cape Town, South Africa

CAPE TOWN Stats and Info:
These are verified and researched with people that we work with here at YWAM Perth that are from South Africa unless otherwise noted.

2-4 Million People (depending on where the geographical line is drawn)

People Groups :

• Whites - English, Afrikaner
• Coloureds (anyone that's a mixed race, 'coloured' is not a derogatory word)
• Blacks- Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, immigrants

Languages : Most people can speak English and Afrikaans or Zulu

History & Influences on Culture:

"By 1600 all of what is now South Africa was settled by indigenous Africans. European intrusion into the land began in 1652 when the Dutch established a settlement in the area now called Cape Town to resupply Dutch East Indies Company ships travelling between Holland and its empire in South and Southeast Asia. The indigenous Khoikhoi people are driven into the interior and their lands occupied by European farmers who use imported African and Asian slave labourers to work the land." (from a webpage I lost the address for -sorry)

Apartheid 1948-1994: Meaning 'separate' in Afrikaans. As enforced by the government, blacks were given no value, and had previously been slaves. This part of their history -though complicated and uncomparable to my nations history- still influences the entire nation of South Africa today. Think of all the effects on a society or people when they are told they have no value or purpose for living. Also think of the effects of a false identity of being told you have more value then someone else. This only ended within THIS generation, so the invisible lines are still drawn though out the city, businesses, and churches.

Key person to look at Nelson Mandela -First Black president, and the first democratic election 1994. NO one missed that opportunity at the polls that year. He is now retired, and has been replaced by another black president but this man was the key to opening many doors of reconciliation.

Social Issues:

Drugs- Absolutely huge problem with huffing of inhalant substances. Also 'TIC' or 'TIK', a new drug used like meth, with the effects of Meth and Ecstasy x10!!

AIDS/HIV-Still an epidemic in Africa. 'South Africa has the highest number of people infected globally, estimated at around 5.7 million, including 300 000 children under the age of 15 years, in 2007 (UN 2008 Global Report on the HIV and AIDS Epidemic). Although prevalence has reduced slightly, South Africa still has the sixth highest prevalence of HIV in the world, with 18.1% of the population estimated to be infected. The UNAIDS 2008 Global Report, estimated that in 2007, 350 000 people died from AIDS in South Africa. South Africa is regarded as having the most severe HIV epidemic in the world

Many factors contribute to the spread of HIV. These include: poverty; inequality and social instability; high levels of sexually transmitted infections; the low status of women; sexual violence; high mobility (particularly migrant labour); limited and uneven access to quality medical care; and a history of poor leadership in the response to the epidemic. ' (aids foundation/ http://www.aids.org.za/ -2009)

Abuse- 1/3 of girls under the age of 15 is domestically abused. In many ways this is no different then what we are aware of in the US, but staggeringly more apparent.

Abortion- It would be an understatement to say 'abortions are common, legal, widely accepted'. Teams that have come back have shared with us that although socially it is a regular occurrence, hundreds of babies are found in ditches and sewers every year. City workers that clean out those drains and sewers are having to receive counseling in mass, due to the obvious effects.

OTHER:

The culture is extreamely influenced by a mindset of fatalism brought on by their history of segragation of value and has seriously hurt the next generation of leaders. One of the teams that returned was working in schools, and a comment commonly heard from teens about HIV/AIDs was "We are all gonna die sometime, who cares if I get AIDs, who cares if I give it to someone else."

That team also reported that they worked in those schools for the full 3 months that they were there. If you haven't seen the movie "Freedom Writers" you need to. At one point the team there did the same thing that Hillary Swank did to speak to the class through their simalarities, instead of their differences in race, ethicity, or social class. They had the students stand on each side of the room and come to the middle when they answered yes to a question. "How many of you have have been abused? How many of you have been effected by AIDs..... How many of you has lost a family member to AIDs,.....how many have lost more than one friend, family member to AIDs?"

It was amazing to hear the stories of the hearts that were softened, the eyes that were opened. I was devisating to hear all the statistics first hand with stories behind each. All I can say is I am glad to live out a dream like this, and though it looks easy from a distance but the challenge is an everyday in-your-face reality. On the front lines, not just talkn' the talk,.. but fighting in the battle -being the hands and feet of Jesus.

Asking for a heart for CapeTown, South Africa

We are still raising funds to get to South Africa. You probably have more details if you get our emails, and if you would like to get our emails then throw us a line at oxygencandy@hotmail.com.

I was asking for Gods heart, how he felt for South Africa, I stumbled apon this article and felt led to put it on here to share. Its about HIV/AIDS and South Africa, this is at the heart of what we are doing.Bringing HOPE!!
(if you dont have time to read the whole thing skip to the yellow)



YELLOW JOY IN AFRICA

If joy was a color, it would be yellow. After living in South Africa for seven months, I experienced an overflow of joy in the yellowing eyes of my friend, Siyanda Mbebe. Siya, as her friends call her, is a radiant, yet frail 28-year-old victim of HIV. She lives in The Dignity House, an around-the-clock hospice center, in the heart of balmy East London, South Africa.
I spent hours in the company of this charming yet shrinking woman, gleaning from her the stories of a happy Xhosan tribal childhood in rural South Africa. I spent time listening to her as she mounted her soapbox on the political and socioeconomic status of her homeland, as well as her hopes and fears for its future. I heard stories of laughter and innocent childhood memories, as well as tales about the broken history of the “beautiful rainbow nation” during the struggles of the Apartheid era.As much as there was joy in Siya's eyes and words, the tragedy of her life and her homeland could not be ignored. Siya contracted HIV from a previous boyfriend, who neglected to tell her of his HIV positive status. She realized he was the carrier when she learned of his death a few years later. As a result of this, Siya only found out in 2002 that she was HIV positive. She pointed out that “the date you are tested is not necessarily the same date that the virus was planted. You may have been living with it for two years. The virus hides itself and you don’t see it immediately.” Unfortunately this is an all too common problem in South Africa. Being HIV positive carries with it an undeniable stigma and responsibility. As soon as you “out” yourself with HIV positive status, you become an outcast. Also, if you choose to take anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment (which does not cure, but simply sustains life), you must make a commitment to continue the treatment daily for the duration of your life because as soon as you stop taking the ARVs, your health will take a downward spiral for the worst, often resulting in death. Along with the responsibility of daily doses, there is the cost of medication (in Siya’s case her treatment is provided at no cost by the Sophumelela AIDS Clinic) as well as the abhorrent side effects, which can include: nausea and vomiting, "pins and needles" in the legs, headaches, skin rashes, stomach discomfort, nightmares, fatigue and diarrhea.
As a result, many people have a fear of testing. Some would rather not know they're HIV positive. In fact, people have told Siya she's brave for knowing, because it’s easier not to know. There’s too much reality and responsibility that comes with knowing.
“It makes people objectify me," Siya says. "They don’t see me as a person, but as an illness. They won’t touch me because they are afraid they will contract the disease. HIV is transferred from fluid to fluid, not from touch to touch, or conversation to conversation. My family sees me as a burden, and they don’t take care of me. When I am lying in pain, no one will rub ointment on my feet. When I mess myself, it takes several hours before anyone notices. And even when they do, they ask, ‘Why did you do this to yourself?’ I feel like a burden.” As devastating as it is to feel ostracized by your own family, HIV also affects every other area of life. I vividly recall the first conversation I had with Siya about her dreams. It broke my heart, and it was all I could do to hide the tears warming in my eyes because as she shared her dreams I realized we had so much in common. She wants to travel the world, to see the diversity of life and creation. We are women of the same age, and our shared longing in life is to love and be loved. But for Siya, she lives under the black cloud of HIV. “Will a man ever look past my status to see me for who I am? What about bearing children? Even if my body was capable, I wouldn’t want to bring a sick child into this world.”There’s something deeply profound about seeing people for who they are. Maybe it’s because God created us to be in communion with one another, or maybe it’s because it takes so much vulnerability to look beyond someone’s skin color or socioeconomic status or HIV label. But making that connection with Siya over the course of hours and hours spent with her for six weeks made something very clear to me: We are human. We have the capacity to love. We have the capacity to hope. We have the capacity to hurt for the hurting, to cry with the broken, to love the unlovable, to touch the untouchable, to sing with the tone-deaf, to write with the illiterate, to dance with the immobile and to befriend the friendless. We have the capacity to see others as we were intended to see them—as human beings—to value them as God values them, to love them as Christ loves them.Siya is my friend first. And then, and only then, she is also someone living a life ravaged by a disease that colors our world with pain, suffering, torment, abandonment, and untimely death. And even now, separated by thousands of miles and countries and time zones, she is my friend and she has left a smile in the hollow of my heart.“God knows that I dream of going overseas," Siya told me during one of our visits. "And because this condition is impacting my possibility to do so, He has sent you to me. You’ve seen the world, and now you’ve brought the world to me.”During our last heart-wrenching hours together in South Africa, Siya gave me an incredible gift. “Bethany, I am grateful for your friendship, and I want to give you the name Siyabonga, which means increased gratefulness. You have come to spend time with me and have become my friend. You have seen me as a person. Not as someone with a positive HIV status. Thank you.”

Siya lives life with joy, despite her circumstances, and with strength, despite her weaknesses. She may very well be robbed of life at a young age by tuberculosis (TB) or pneumonia because of the impact that HIV has had on her body, but ultimately this disease will not conquer her. It will not put out that yellow beaming light of joy because in her own words Siya says: “I am not sick. I have been healed through my faith in Christ. This is just a condition that torments my body, but it does not affect my spirit. My spirit is strong. My spirit is powerful. My spirit is invincible.”I don’t know about you, but I want her yellow joy.

*For more information about the Dignity House or the Sophumelela AIDS

Clinic, please visit: www.fightingaidsinafrica.co.za
Bethany Anderson is a 29-year old freelance missionary and writer, who has lived and worked among the richest of the rich in Ornex, France and Geneva, Switzerland, and among the poorest of the poor in East London and Cape Town, South Africa. She is passionate about seeing our world changed through hope, grace, love and friendship. She currently lives out of her suitcases in McKinney, Texas, and as of July will be residing in Sydney, Australia. For more, check out her website: www.jbethanyanderson.com

People Quotes:

"The fear of Hell and the Promise of Heaven is not the foundation of true discipleship the love of God is."1
"In dicovering Gods love, we discover his worthiness to be loved" 2

"How many of you find it difficult in view of your personal history to reflect honor towards Gods character." 3-Tom Hallas, New Zealand

"We need to release our imaginations to God." -Anna Heinrick, Outback Australian

"The messege should define the media, the media should not define the messege."- Richard Blake, English

"Mercy always costs something." Steve Aherne, Eastcoast Australian

"God is not interested in what we do for him if we do it without him."1

"Often we go to church to provoke a feeling instead of growing closer to God." 2-Shirley Browhill, Australia

"Heart attitude towards one person is like an infection toward the rest of the rest of the world" Ari Slooths, Holland

"He is no fool who looses what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot loose." - Jim Elliot, Author

"God is not afraid of our questions." 1

"We don't have to drag people through religion to get them to the kingdom of God." 2- Jeannine, YWAM-Palistine, Isreal

put on your armor

Since the blog has been a little jumpy so I started emailing more.

By the way this weeks study material is spiritual warfare. (if you don't know what that is read Eph. 6 for the inside track)

PRAYER POINTS: BASIC Practical- prayer points for Cape Town:

*AIDS crisis is still devastating the nation, and continent.

*'Apartheid' repercussions. This is like slavery in the US. Equal rights movement but in South Africa the freedom was only given to blacks in the 80's! So, the era we in the US went through in the 50's and 60's (with Martin Luther King.. and Rosa Parks) is what they are going through right now. Pray that our team would even influence the Christian's to love one another equally, and trust that in our diversity -as one body- there is strength.

*Huffing in really really popular among teenagers in the city.



Basic Practical Prayers for our Team: We have found out that we will be staying in churches and partnering with them with different ministries that we will soon be learning about. The 28th is when we will be leaving... whoa who! There are 3 DTS's leaving to go to Capetown. A regular DTS, a Media DTS, and a Surfers DTS. About 60 people in all. We have been divided into smaller groups with about 7-10 people per group including a couple leaders. Pray for our leaders. We will be coming in and taking the place of other groups that are there working now.We as a whole team are still waiting on 1/3 of the Gods provision (financially) to go.. its coming in rapidly but the miracle is most of it at this point people have no definite idea where it could come from. Our finances are due the 10th. God is amazing. We did some car washes this weekend and are waiting to hear back on how all those went. We have a promotional video for our team on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR_zoWWO5Lc and we also did some graphic designs for a website that people can buy things at www.cafepress.com/mediareach T-shirts and Thermos bottles and a lot of awesome stuff!! SPIRITUAL REALM direct battle prayer points. Relationships!

Matt and I,.. and our team... our 'family'--- We have felt God show us that he wants to hit the ground running and really just be whole hearted from the get-go. Ready to discern what he is calling us to do and just DO IT. We are expecting mountains to move and miracles to happen, divine appointments etc. Our heart right now is to allow God to be at the center of what we do, that we would just be the tools- the 'hands and feet'. And totally if you feel like God tells you ANYTHING... a scripture, a word,.. please pass it along. It is awesome seeing the body moving together in force from such a distance. Everyone is dependant on God in this scenario. You guys, and everyone else 'at home'. Matt and I. Our individual teams and our team as a whole. The churches we're working with.

quick note:

Sorry guys I have not wrote a whole lot on here, we have been trying to concentrate on emails because we have been so limited on time. We practically work, study, and research 6 days out of the week,.. and sunday is alot of recovery and reflection for our journals. Good stuff.

If you have seen our 'face book' we leave for CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA THE 28TH.

HERE IS AN EMAIL I was just sent from the director of our local base here in Perth, Australia.

Greetings from YWAM Perth!

I believe we are about to witness extraordinary happenings on the earth through very normal, “ordinary” people.

Peter, Jesus’ disciple, appeared to be the least likely to champion a cause. He was an ordinary fisherman who didn’t always catch fish but filled with the Holy Spirit he saw 3000 become believers, went on many missionary trips, and shaped a movement known as the church—which is spreading rapidly.

Earlier this week I sat down to read an email I had just received from a young student with the Discipleship Training School (DTS) on outreach in South Africa. He and a fellow student were out in the community walking the streets and praying when he saw a drunken man in pain. He had bad hip and back pain, they asked if they could pray for him. He said yes, so they eagerly began to pray and the man was healed. Another man in the same community saw what had happened and wanted prayer too. This man’s back was injured so they began praying for him and he was also healed. He asked them if they could come to his house to pray for his mother. He was explaining that she was crippled with arthritis and blind. As they prayed for this man’s mother she could move her body around and she was immediately healed of her arthritis—she could walk again. They continued to pray and her left eye was healed. As they prayed again her right eye was healed too! An amazing story, don’t you think?

I share it because God used two young people who had no experience in prayer ministry. They simply responded to need and God did the rest. He used two ordinary, inexperienced people to bring His healing power to a community in South Africa.

We don’t have to be big and powerful or the world’s greatest expert in a field; all we need to do is get involved. God made us to be and do our part.

Remember the boy who took on the giant warrior? It is in 1 Samuel 17, his name is David and the giant was Goliath. The odds of David winning that fight were hugely stacked against him. Picture the best of Israel’s army “paralyzed” with fear on the side line and little David standing beside them with no “real warrior” fighting weapons or protection, just a slingshot and a few stones. He would have looked like he was about to commit suicide or hugely annoy a giant and then be killed. But we all know it was different to that, wasn’t it?

God took this little guy David’s loyalty and faith, powered his little slingshot to super sonic velocity, and killed a giant. Who was he? Just an ordinary teenager, loyal to an extraordinary God! Young David only saw God. He acted because of the God he knew. By what standard do we measure our lives? David measured his life by the greatest, most powerful standard of ALL—God.

God asks a question in Isaiah 6:8 – “Who shall I send, who will go for us?” Isaiah overheard God saying “Who will go for us?” He volunteered, “Here I am, send me.” It’s really as simple as that to do things with God.

My prayer is that we hear our marching orders from God; that we do not allow our “size” to be a limitation in attempting great things for God. I’ll be praying that God’s mighty power will enable you to do exceedingly above what you have hoped or ever expected.

Thank you for being such incredible friends. We love to receive your mail. Many thanks for those who have been able to write and encourage us. It is a huge privilege to hear what you are doing and how God is leading you. If there is anyway we can help you, please contact us and we will do our best to serve you.

Blessings,

Shirley Brownhill
YWAM Perth