SOUTH AFRICA JOURNAL

SOUTH AFRICA JOURNAL -DAY 6 (?)

Thursday July, 3 2009

Ouma’s Story:

So we were walking by this woman sitting alone on front stoop of her house beside the driveway. We met our new ouma (Afrikaans for grandma). Her name was Hermien (heir-MEEN). We said hello and started talking with her. After woefully explaining her plight in moving around through the years and the instability brought upon her family by gangs, violence, and unemployment; she invited us into her home. Unemployment in Cape Town is at almost 50%, and this was direct evidence of the hopeless circumstances around it created.

The four of us walked into a dark room with brightly colored curtains she proudly showed us she designed and created with the sewing machine she also proudly pointed out. “They are beautiful!!” we proclaimed honestly with surprise. She shared with us that this very sewing machine was her ‘bread and butter’, meaning it was what kept her family with a roof over their heads and food on the table. It was now broken, and she had been sitting outside contemplating ‘why’ the last hope she knew for her family was gone, as she held the small broken piece in her hand. The fix would cost her personally 500 Rand, about 70 Australian dollars but obviously not as easy to come by.

We asked her if we could pray for her. She said ‘please do’ in a very desperate worn out tone.

Funny as it was, Jeanie one of our team members, asked in Afrikaans if she had any anointing oil - chuckling to ourselves we settled for veggie oil because the poor woman had no clue as to what we were talking about. We felt to anoint her house. This sweet ol’ ouma, we had just met only ten minutes ago, was now watching these four strangers scatter in her house and ’anoint’ the windows and doors…

After that we left saying ’nice to meet you’ as she hugged us goodbye.

She didn’t know it at the time; but one of those four strangers had a tug on their hearts during the prayer to put the random 100R, put in their wallet this morning, under the sewing machine pieces on the table. Our prayer now is that God would multiply it.

This was only one of the many divine appointments we asked God for today. On our prayer walk, day 2 officially of outreach.

“God is the solution,… we will be his hands we’ll be his feet.” - Hillsong (acoustic)


July 4 2009

Another team went back to ouma’s house today. They came back with great news! Her ancient sewing machine was fixed - God answered our prayers! She apparently didn’t share how it happened, but we know what happened. While they were there this time they got to meet her daughters who also lived with her. One had been in a car accident some time ago and was still going through traumatic steps of recovery and surgeries to re mobilize her into the regular life again. They prayed for her and hung out with the family more.
Something in that house had changed, something was now fresh and new among them. Like a slight twinkle in their eye,it was a sense that there was a seed of hope now growing in their hearts.

Moments of Awe. Everyday we are here there is a moment in the day that just effects us all differently, individually, and intensely.



SOUTH AFRICA JOURNAL, Day 4
Wednesday July 1, 2009

After leaving our pleasant 2 days with Pastor Andre and Julie and my first impression of South Africa, apart from Jeannie-the-amazing on our team. They just let us stay in a small flat behind their garage until the rest of our team arrived. We walked around the community, prayed, and recovered from jet-lag. Sweet couple, insightful and colorful conversations round the dinner table with spicy-curry-chicken.

Today our second impression. Pastor Gordon, of the “Tabernacle of Praise” Church, a joyfully boisterous colored man from another side of town had all of us to his house for dinner. At this point our team was complete, having had zero complications at the airport. (yay!) Either way it was nice to be sitting around the table all together again, this time, with Pastor Gordon and his family. The conversation was about the current state of the community (around the church), about jet-lag, and at one point we each individually got grilled about our personal vision and calling. In praying for South Africa I felt privileged having learned of its history to be apart of something so distant from what I could fully understand. Stepping off the plane I felt awe, actually seeing the land and mountains of Cape Town in front of my eyes, but this moment was frozen in time for me. A colored pastor was speaking to me -to us- about the history of Apartheid that he lived through. I will share more about this with you personally as we go along but just being there personally to hear face to face really answered a lot of prayers I personally had.

None of us are here to ‘come in and rescue the day and leave when we feel like the problem is solved..’ We are here as available hands and feet, not just to bring encouragement, be helpful, or do a good deed; but to enable the church to be more active in the communities because they will be the responsible when we are gone to persevere with lasting fruit.