Palpable fear...

Louise and I did another introductory presentation for the Disciple-Making program last night, this time in a suburb called Gugulethu.

The name is a contraction of igugu lethu, which is Xhosa for our pride. (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gugulethu) It was established in the 1960's to deal with overcrowding in Langa, the only other area black people were allowed to live at the time.

Today, Gugulethu and the surrounding area is ruled by local gangs and crime is rampant. (See: https://www.crimestatssa.com/precinct.php?id=1067) Murder, rape, beatings, theft, even cannibalism in one case. People live in fear. I can't remember when last I was in an area where fear was almost tangible...palpable. You could see it, smell it, feel it...

One of our priests who serves in the neighbouring suburb of Mannenberg told us that he was returning home two weeks earlier with a few colleagues in his car when he saw a group of young men in the road ahead. He decided to turn left to avoid them and as he did, one young man pulled out a gun and started firing...only nothing happened. Either the gun was not loaded, or the shots were fired over the vehicle - either way, they managed to get away without being shot. Nevertheless, they are all struggling to overcome the traumatic experience.

Sirens were blaring during the presentation...apparently, this is normal. When we left, a young man went out with us and made sure we got away safely. Driving past the local police station, we saw crowds of people standing outside waiting to get in. What kind of life is this?

Please join us in praying for the gang members in particular. Pray that the Holy Spirit would convict them of their wickedness and turn them to Jesus. Pray that our Lord will raise up new leaders...new authority figures in the lives of the young people there. Pray for our brothers and sisters who seek to reach out to those who promote fear and those paralysed by fear.

Pray...please...

Please wear red tomorrow...

Christians are now the most persecuted people on earth....so please wear red on Red Wednesday 22nd November 2017 to show solidarity with the Church of the Martyrs, for we are united by the ecumenism of blood.

http://archbishopcranmer.com/religious-persecution-houses-parliament-uk-floodlit-red/

Disciple-making: taking the pressure off our clergy

This is one of the reasons Louise and I teach disciple-making. If all our parishioners are empowered and enabled to make disciples of their neighbours, friends, and acquaintances the pressure will be off the clergy who will then be free to do what they have been called to do: equip the saints to do the work of the ministry!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/14/pressure-grow-congregations-leads-clergy-self-harm-says-christ/

Substitutionary Confession

In our staff devotions this morning, we read from Nehemiah 9:26-38. While I was reading, two verses stood out to me. "Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that You gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruits and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. And its rich yield goes to the kings whom You have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please and we are in great distress." (vs. 36-37) 

A lot has been said about the rampant corruption and violent crime epidemic in South Africa for a while now as well as about the crippling effects of the worst drought in decades. If we take some of the warnings in Scripture seriously, we may conclude that these seemingly separate subjects are actually linked by the collective sins of our people...we are told that peace and prosperity is a byproduct of God's blessing upon an obedient people...strife and struggle and suffering is a byproduct of the withholding of God's blessing. And, according to this reading, the rulers we have are those whom God places over us because of our sins...

The chapter as a whole is about confession, contrition, and covenant commitment...in it the Levites recited the nation's history from creation to their present day to point out a pattern of disobedience that eventually culminated in the nation being defeated and exiled. Now, they had returned to their land after 70 years in Babylon, but still they were not entirely free...indeed, they were never really free again, save for a short period under the Hasmonean Kings. 

But what struck me in the reading of this passage was the willingness of the people to confess the sins of the nation as if they were their own. We see this in Daniel chapter 9 as well, where a man described as faithful to the Lord and His Law even to the point of dangerous civil disobedience, confesses the sins of the nation as if they were his own with "prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes". "We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from Your commandments and rules. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets..." We...not they.

It is so easy for us to point fingers at others and to blame them for the current state of affairs in South Africa. We can look back in time and blame our ancestors...we can look across the political spectrum and blame each other...but the blame game does not solve anything. It just serves to deepen the gulf that divides us from each other and to perpetuate the resentment and bitterness that robs us of the dream of unity as the rainbow nation. 

But to confess the collective sins of the nation as a whole...to confess the sins of our ancestors and our contemporaries as if they were our own, may help to bring us together at the foot of the cross where the need for forgiveness, grace, and mercy places us all on level ground. And who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from His fierce anger, (Jonah 3:9), and may well hear from heaven and will forgive our sins and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14b).

Mozambique: Day Three

Bang! Bang! Were we the only people in the guesthouse? Did no one else hear the sound? Bang! Bang! A wind from the ocean, only 20 km east from here, started blowing during the early hours of the morning and, as all windows are left open here, doors were being blown open and shut. Bang! Bang! I heard the voice of Lynn Bouterese of SAMS saying, “Earplugs, Johann! You need to use earplugs!”

Bang! Bang! Finally, I decided to get up to close the offending door. But the power had gone off sometime during the night as well, and it was so dark I could not see my hand in front of my face. Walking with my arms outstretched, I found our door, walked out into the courtyard, and towards the banging door. But first things first…I needed to do what men my age often have to do during the night…but the bathroom was pitch dark as well. I had to make sure I located the correct receptacle. Bang! Bang! Blast that door. Having succeeded in my quest, I slowly found my way to the source of the sound and closed the door. But oh, stuff and fluff! It had no clip and would not stay closed. The only other option was to open it all the way to the wall and hope that the wind would keep it there.

After having relocated our bed, I tried in vain to go back to sleep. After Louise and I had tossed and turned for what seemed like an eternity, she finally got up to make coffee…they had used Cassava branches to make the fire, so the water had a distinct sweet fire flavour. Hmm…Cassava flavoured coffee…

The cooks arrived as I was making our second cups at 5 AM. “No power?” she said in Portuguese. “No…no power,” I replied in sign language. Obviously she knew where the problem lay as it came on soon after. Our hot water for bathing arrived in a kettle…hmm, Cassava…now we smell like our coffee.

Morning Prayer was at 7 AM…and, praise God, one clever soul decided that we need to go directly to the conference room rather than wait for breakfast to arrive. Moving along.

The teaching was difficult today. This is an unusually large group. 45 participants plus spouses and visitors…some come, some go. People seemed to be tired and often nodded off. We had to take a lot more breaks than usual and we did stretching exercises and sang songs in an attempt to energise folks. Also, there seemed to be a tendency to go off on rabbit trails…this is quite normal when there are priests in the room (J), but unfortunately, in this case, it appeared to reveal a lack of unity and some dissatisfaction within the group itself. Some political questions came up as well…we tried to dodge them as tactfully as possible, bringing people back to the manual before them.

I also experienced a first today. One of my translators was checking his emails while he was translating and answering questions! Talk about multi-tasking…and he is not even a woman!

It started raining just before lunch…lunch that was not on time again. Have I said that this training has been very different and difficult? Not just because of the logistics and the inability to plan ahead. Not just because of the need for translation. Not just because we have English manuals and they have Portuguese manuals. Not just because this is actually a family getaway weekend for clergy families. But everything seemed to be in slow motion. At one point, during my teaching, I sensed that there was some spiritual disturbance going on. I looked over to Louise to ask her to pray and do spiritual warfare. She did and the air cleared. Strange…but real here.

The rain was wreaking havoc with the electricity throughout the day. On, off…on, off. And then, when lunch arrived we experienced something of a missionary nightmare. The dish is obviously a local delicacy, but not something westerners would normally find palatable. An acquired taste and smell, to be sure…like the Filipino fruit, Durian..or like Livarot cheese. It appeared to be the stomach of a goat…and you know what they say…if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…sigh, and we were doing so well.

The rain brought cooler weather to Maciene. For us, this was welcome, but for the locals this was catastrophic. Everyone went searching for woollen scarves and caps and jackets and sweaters. Windows and doors were closed…which created a bit of a problem with the goat, but that’s another story.

Then Bishop Carlos arrived together with Bishop Allen from Pretoria who was accompanied by two Archdeacons and a non-stipendiary priest…at this point the wheels came off the training bus. They addressed the group for about two hours. Then we had Evening Prayer and two choirs. Needless to say, no one was looking forward to another whole session of training…so we improvised as best we could and shortened it. I took the life of Peter and condensed it into a story, which, for some or other reason became a comedy. But through the laughter the penny dropped and I once again heard the Lord say, “You see? Leave it to Me and I will see that my children understand the message. I am still the One Who makes Fishers of people out of the most unlikely people in the most unlikely situations.”

So, yes…ultimately this was a very good experience…in spite of the many hiccups along the way, the overall message was comprehended. Bishop Carlos reminded us and everyone else that this was just the beginning…many people said they could not wait for us to return. Hopefully, next time, the groups will be smaller.

I gave my old clergy shirts to Padre Campira, our Growing the Church coordinator, and for one panicky moment I thought the man was going to kiss me. He told us that he only has one shirt…a shirt that was given to him when he was ordained many years ago. These priests and deacons have sacrificed so much to be labourers in God’s Vineyard. This was a humbling moment for us to be sure.

Their family time continues but our time has come to an end. Tomorrow we leave for South Africa…

Mozambique: Day Two

What is that awful smell? Something is clearly rotten in the state of the guesthouse kitchen! I hope it isn’t our lunch!

Day Two has begun.

Our night had been interrupted periodically as folks were arriving all hours of the night and morning. Nobody seemed to have received the “Please be quiet, people sleeping” memo. The birds apparently had not received it either. Needless to say, our day started in the early hours of the morning. Thankfully, the kitchen had left hot water in flasks so we could make coffee. And then that rotten smell invaded the guesthouse…

Thankfully, we had to attend early morning Eucharist and could escape from the powerful, pungent, pervasive pong that hung over the whole house. It was a full-on Eucharist with testimonies, prayers for healing, Choirs, and a possible demonic manifestation included for good measure. Then there was breakfast, which took a long time. Needless to say, we started late…but as everything we say has to be translated, we will skip the Dann Spader videos and make up time that way.

We had to stop at noon for prayers, but thankfully there were no further unexpected events. Lunch was from one until two, but as folks had been falling asleep throughout our teaching in the morning, we were not expecting anything better after lunch! Singing lively songs and doing stretch exercises did help to revive the group when the heads drooped too low…but we are still behind our usual schedule.

We had Evening Prayer, followed by two choir groups…stunning singing, that’s all I can say…even though I wanted desperately to get on with the teaching! Some times, one just has to chill and let God be God, no?

We decided to show two of the Dann Spader videos as we figured out that about two thirds did understand enough English to follow the message. Everyone seemed to appreciate them and applauded at the end of both.

Supper and bed…thankfully it is much cooler and we hope to rest well.

Mozambique: Day One

Voices…I heard voices…loud voices…and it was as light as day. I jumped out of bed, thinking we had overslept, only to find that it was 3:45. The city of Maputo never sleeps. From then on I tossed and turned until it was time to get up. Not a good start to our first day in Mozambique.

Bishop Carlos, his dear wife, Hortensia, and his daughter (a medical doctor) Graca, went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Even though it was so late and we were all very tired, they presented us with a lavish feast. Maputo is a port city, so fish is a staple diet…and oh the scrumptious spices!

At 8 AM we went to the Diocesan office and met up with Padre Campira. He and I met at the Growing the Church coordinators meetings back in December last year. Deacon Mauricio could not meet us because he had had a very bad accident just last week…he is fine, but his car is in bad shape…but, unlike in the US, cars are not written off or totalled here…there are merely knocked back into shape. As long as they can move, they are back on the road in no time. He told us that he had stopped skidding a few inches short of a deep ravine and that he believed the angels were looking out for him that day.

Padre Campira drove with us to show us the way. We picked up Chico, the J-Life representative, further down the road. Traffic had prevented him from getting to us on time. Maputo is very much like Addis without the livestock. Driving here is not for the faint hearted. But it is hot…not as hot as Gambella, but enough to make you feel uncomfortable. Even the locals were complaining.

The speed limit along the road varied from 60 km to 80 km and even 100 km in one spot. For the most part we drove 60 as there are traffic police everywhere and they will apparently stop you on a whim. Needless to say, it took us a long time to get to our destination!

Maciene is a rather small, rural village nestled among tall coconut trees and date palms. The Anglican centre has mango and orange trees as well as manioc fields…all in all, a picturesque place. We settled into the guesthouse, scouted out the place, had Evening Prayer where we heard some wonderful singing (cantare!), introduced ourselves to those present, and had supper. Deacon Mauricio had joined us earlier and we chatted about his accident. I told them that we had had a sense of a spiritual battle going on in the heavenly realm regarding this visit. They all agreed. Chico told us that two nights ago, their gas line mysteriously started leaking while they were asleep. His wife woke up because of the smell and alerted him to the fact. He turned it off, but could not find the source of the leak. I told them that we had many intercessors praying for us and for this training course.

When Satan goes out of his way to hinder the advance of the Gospel, something great must be waiting down the line. We are all anticipation. Come, Holy Spirit…come…