Living in South Africa

What does the situation in South Africa mean for us? First, let’s talk about the challenges.

Attacks against foreigners from other African countries have continued since last May, with 10 migrants killed in November in Cape Town alone. Although we are not threatened by this violence, several members of our congregation in Tableview (our suburb of Cape Town) have immigrated from other African countries. They and other members who live in the townships have seen this violence first hand and have ministered in its aftermath.

South Africa also suffers from one of the world’s worst crime rates, with high incidences of murder, rape, robbery and carjacking. Some citizens of Cape Town move to gated communities or install electrified wire around their block walls. And yet, this year record numbers of tourists came to South Africa from Europe and the rest of the world, and we personally have seen or experienced no crime.

Often when John or I talk to people we meet around Tableview, they express fears that the country is deteriorating. They wonder if South Africa is following the “Zimbabwean path.” Will South Africa be able to maintain a successful democracy on a continent where the will of the people is rarely respected?

In all this, Pastor Xavier and Heather, our pastors at Coastlands Community Church, remain optimistic and forward looking. He has convinced us that no matter what happens the church will thrive, that families will need ministry and that people will respond to the Lord. We admire the dedication of our pastors to the people of Tableview, whether in the hospitals, school system, community, or the church.

Hearing from us

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South Africa’s turn leftward

Upon majority rule in 1994, South Africa instituted many reforms, including prohibiting discrimination, outlawing the death penalty, and establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which I wrote about in my last post. These conciliatory measures smoothed the transition to majority rule. The situation today, however, appears ambiguous, with some South Africans questioning where the country is heading. Why is this?

Although Nelson Mandela began by leading the continent in peacemaking, in recent years subsequent leaders have turned decidedly leftward. At the United Nations, South Africa now routinely sides with China, Russia and other repressive regimes in blocking resolutions on human rights and supporting dictators such as Qaddafi, Castro and Mugabe. As well, South Africans are concerned about corruption charges against the man who may become the next president of the country.

Under majority rule, South Africans now appear to identify more with other African nations and less with the more prosperous West. A recent Economist article locates the problem in “South Africa’s ambivalent sense of identity, with one foot in the rich world, where its main economic interests continue to lie, and the other in the poor one, with which many of its people identify.” Its leaders seem to be reasoning that the world’s rich nations must decline in order for the poor nations to play a bigger part in ruling the world.

Next: What does this mean for the South African church and for missionaries living there?

Dealing with the uneasy past of our new home

In 1994, South Africa officially dismantled Apartheid (meaning “apartness”), shedding its racist past and granting political rights to all its citizens. This result was not achieved, however, without decades of violence and protest.

Attempting to deal with the horrors of the Apartheid era, leaders of South Africa established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Its purpose was to uncover human rights crimes, to provide reparations for victims, and to allow victimizers to earn amnesty. This process helped those who had suffered to be recognized and the guilty to find forgiveness.

During the years of the Commission’s work, which took place in Cape Town, 22,000 people testified of crimes against them or their families and 8,000 people were granted amnesty. As a result of this public purging, South Africans have been granted a measure of peace with their past and hope for living together as a “rainbow nation” of many races.

What do missionaries learn?

When missionaries gather to study, here’s a sampling of what they consider:
• What does it mean to indigenize?
• How do we work alongside missionaries from other countries?
• What happens if we need to evacuate from a country?

This week John and I gathered with Foursquare missionaries to improve our cross-cultural skills. It’s good to be associated again with Foursquare Missions, a mission agency where 100 percent of giving goes to the field.

Time Away

We’ll be away from our African home for a while as we fly back to the U.S. this weekend. It’s a time for us to connect with our missions department and visit some of the churches who follow our ministry. Look for us, and we hope to see you. To see our latest newsletter, please click here.

Historic Power Encounters

During our stay in Botswana last month, we traveled to a cave near Molepolole. It is known as Livingstone’s Cave. This is where the Tswana tribe challenged David Livingstone to enter the cave you see in this photo, where they said their gods lived. They told him he wouldn’t come out alive. With classical power encounter faith, Livingstone entered the cave and came back out praising God. The chief of the tribe then converted and proceeded to assist Livingstone and his family to settle near his people.

Here you see Pastor Adeniran standing in front of the cave. Together with his wife Christiana, the four of us prayed for God to again show His power to Botswanans.

For a similar American power encounter, read about Chiefess Kapiolani who defied the volcano goddess Pele.

Meeting with the Himbas

After last week’s convention, we drove 120 miles with Pastor Festus to meet with a group of believers from the Himba tribe. They are a famous tribe in Namibia who have not been much reached with the gospel. Pastor Festus was raised among them along with the Herero people, who have adopted modern ways and responded to the gospel more openly.

The grandmother of this group told us of her eye ailment, and we gathered around to pray for her. We enjoyed playing with the children and giving them small gifts, and one of the boys responded by dancing for us as we left. Because they are nomadic and the school is located a good distance from them, the children remain illiterate. The Joshua Project says the Himba people are less than 2% evangelized.

"Repositioning Ourselves" in Ovambo-Land

Under the theme “Reposition Yourself,” Foursquare pastors and leaders from cities in Namibia met for five days of praise, preaching and fellowship. John and Xavier were a dynamic team, demonstrating the prophetic gift and leading the pastors in stirring up their gifts.

On a scorching Friday afternoon I shared my wisdom booklets with the women. In an interesting sensation, I felt the idea pass from me to become their own. I haven’t experienced anything like this before—an impartation of grace, John says. The concept of mothers teaching their children wisdom is powerful in itself, but I’m hopeful that leaving the booklets in their hands gave it endurance.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about our trip to meet with a group of Himba believers last Monday.

What is a "maschal"?

Namibian churches will gather in convention the last week of August, and we will drive there to join them. John is the guest speaker, along with Pastor Xavier, who will travel with us. I will be teaching the women.

Here you see me compiling booklets showing mothers how to teach their children to be wise. Common items mentioned in the Bible are the focus of each maschal (this is a Hebrew word meaning “object lesson”). I hope to persuade mothers that they can influence their children in the tiny moments when their children accompany them in cooking dinner, walking to the market, working in the garden, or hanging out the wash. Did you ever notice how the Scriptures abound in homely parables and stories centering on everyday items and tasks?

Traveling "The Missionary Road"

Did you ever wonder what it was like to be a missionary 150 years ago? On our recent trip around Southern Africa, we traveled to the homesteads of the first missionaries to evangelize the interior of “The Dark Continent.”

In 1820, Robert and Mary Moffat established a base south of the Kalahari Desert, now a town known as Kuruman. After nine years, Robert baptized his first eight converts, whereupon he began building a church building to seat 800. It wasn’t long before the building was full and the ministry thriving. He was joined by various missionaries over his 50 years of ministry, including David Livingstone, who married his oldest daughter Mary.

From the Kuruman base, Livingstone and other missionaries began to spread the good news of the gospel to Africans. As the sign on the property indicates, from this place began “The Missionary Road to the Interior.” If you’d like to see more photos of the Moffat Mission, please click here.

Where the People Meet

What a trip! We’re back home in Tableview now, praying and planning for the next ministry season. Your prayers kept us healthy and safe.

On our six-week trip to Southern Africa, we preached in village churches and city churches, stayed in homes and inns, tried tasty foods, prayed in unusual places, and met many old and new friends. Here you see several of the churches where we ministered.

Healing Mass

Saturday night John spoke at a Healing Mass at Jubilee Christian Fellowship in Johannesburg. This is a service to reach out to the sick by means of traditional forms, including a dynamic choir, communion, a sermon on Jesus' power to heal, and prayer for the sick.

John preached from Mark about the man whose son was possessed by an evil spirit until he came to Jesus. Here's how the text explains what the father asked and how Jesus responded:

"...if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
"'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."
Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

A six-year-old preacher

Meet Mmabotswana, a six-year-old girl who attends the Gaborone Foursquare Church. She’s as spunky as her name and she loves the Lord. You should see her dancing during the worship service.

After she leaves church, she preaches the sermon to all her friends and hands out tracts. Once she gave a tract to a man drinking alcohol, and he poured some of it over her head! She just laughed about it, though, and came to church to tell everyone what happened.

Click here to see an album of photos we took in her home country, Botswana.

Christian School at Dynamic Namibian Church

The thriving Foursquare church at Ongwediva, Namibia, is pastored by Festus and Laina Negumbo. This photo shows their primary school, where they educate over 300 students. To read more about this church and an interview with Pastor Festus, please click here.

You can view an online album showing more photos of us with Pastor Festus and Laina, along with photos of the school here.

To see albums of the countries we have visited, please click here. In each album, you can view a slideshow by clicking on the box with the green arrow over the first photo.

A Day in Zimbabwe

Traveling the shortest route to Botswana meant crossing the entire country of Zimbabwe in one day. We filled two containers with gasoline and set off. A total of twelve police check-stops slowed us down, but our papers were in order, so on we sped.

We weren't able to visit our pastor friends in the capital city of Harare. Our presence might have threatened their safety, and we felt it best to avoid further scrutiny. When we stopped to fill our tank with the gas we carried, this boy with his donkey cart came along, and we gave him the enpty jugs.

We saw many donkey carts in use, because fuel is in short supply and expensive. With inflation rising by the hour, many people have lost their jobs. How do they survive? We saw people lining the city streets, standing hopelessly by the shops. Those who earn money from working and are able to find transportation run to the borders of the country to buy necessities.

God rescue the people of Zimbabwe!

Worshiping God

We enjoyed this youth choir that sang and danced yesterday at the Sunday morning service in Chimoio.

Here's a story that Simone Chen, one of the missionaries here, told us today: She was visiting a remote village in northern Angola. During the worship service, she watched a man writhe on the ground. Was it witchcraft in the church? After the service, she asked him why he did this during the worship. He said, "I used to do this in front of the witch doctor to humble myself and show respect, wriggling in the dust before him. Now that I serve Jesus, why should I not do this and more to honor Him?"

Three Missionaries at Work in Mozambique

You should have seen the road to Zimpinga! Our Toyota Verso impersonated an SUV today when we drove 15 miles by pavement, 15 miles by dirt road, and 10 miles by grass trail to the village of Zimpinga. Traveling along with us were Pastor Neva Meque and Missionary Fabio Chen. John preached in English, Fabio translated into Portuguese, and Pastor Neva translated the Portuguese into Sishona.

Pastor Neva is actually a missionary from the Chewa people, who with his wife Cita came here from the northern part of Mozambique four years ago. They learned the local Shona language and started a strong church here in the city of Chimoio. He now serves as District Supervisor of this region. Read about what the missionaries face in African traditional religion in Mozambique here.

Fabio came to Chimoio as a missionary from the Thousand Oaks Foursquare Church about a year ago. Here he met Simone, who had been sent five years ago as a missionary from Brazil to this Portuguese-speaking country. They married in December of 2007, and currently serve together as missionaries. You can read more about them on their blog.

See an album of our travels in Mozambique so far here.

Sunday School in Swaziland

In the capital city of Swaziland, Mbabane, Joseph and Gladys Botti are planting a Foursquare church. A church bus collects children from the neighborhoods. Here are some of the children singing with their teacher, Lola.

Compassion for the Needy

First stop on our southern Africa trip was to see Donna McDonald, a missionary sent out by our Arizona home church, Grace North. Donna ministers in the seaside village of Paternoster just north of Cape Town. The poor fisherfolk of this fishing village have been displaced by the tourism industry, which has transformed this lovely beach by building quaint guest houses and cafes on its shores. On the link above, you'll be able to see some of the development along with the houses and boats of the remaining local families, who still make their living by fishing.

Donna serves with Ian and Carmel Chalklin, who have devoted their lives to ministering to the poor. Here you see Carmel cooking pots of cabbage, carrots and meat to serve to local school children and elderly shut-ins. Ian and Carmel also manage a warehouse of donated clothing and household items, host a home group, and are planning to start a church soon in their warehouse. You should see Donna labor tirelessly with Ian and Carmel. The Lord will return blessings manifold on these workers in His field.