Light in Darkness

Today was my first full day in Capetown.

 I left our SEMC team at Seed of Hope yesterday afternoon as they were serving among the people at the centre. They have some stories that we shared together at our FaceTime meeting this morning, hopefully we'll get them posted on here before long. 

Here's a couple things you should know about our how the Lord has used this team: they are serving the Lord with humility and excellence. In fact, the CEO, Carl Waldron and I had a wonderful conversation about the character of our team as we drove to the airport. He has appreciated their level of preparation (almost 18 months) and their willingness to learn and to serve. That kind of feedback is a reflection, not just on the team, but on our church family. 

Before leaving the team, I had a chance to talk to one of their leaders, a local man, Mosu. He works with teen boys, mentoring them and helping them discover their gifts and abilities. He shared with me the story of a young man who had recently graduated metrics (high school), with rarely having missed a day. He was ready to go on to the next step. He was told when he started, that if he came to school, he would be able to be a doctor. So he came to school. Unfortunately, that's all he did. He didn't actually learn anything. Worse still, the teachers hardly taught him anything. In fact, it's not unusual in the rural communities where these boys live, for teachers to be regularly absent from the classrooms. 

That's where Seed of Hope is making a necessary difference, bring the Light of Jesus into the Darkness of complacency, mediocrity and hopelessness of this densely populated HIV positive community. This community development centre is going into the schools and providing instruction with integrity that is much needed and making a difference. 

Through the mentoring process, this young man is discovering that while he may not be able to be a doctor (right now), he does possess skills and talents that can be of benefit in his community and even give him the opportunity to work for a living!  

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Today (in Capetown), after a long day of walking through District 6 in Capetown, an area that was demolished by the Apartheid government; who also sent the 60,000 residents to segregated areas - breaking up families and friendships. Damage done, only because of the colour of people's skin.  

We also visited Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and all the other "political prisoners" were sentenced to cruel, inhumane imprisonment. (the cell is about 6.5 ft x 7ft, the mat is the bed, the bucket is the toilet).

Hopefully, stories about that visit can be shared with you later. 

We ended the day, debriefing with a man named Walter Fieuw. He works with an organization that seeks to advocate to the government the needs of NGO (non-government organizations) regarding the actual needs of the people, as the country continues to heal from the deep post-apartheid wounds. 

He made two statements that caught my attention, as he talked in particular about the disparity that still exists in many rural townships: 

• "How do we position ourselves to contend with the issues in our communities?"
• "The church can bring a redemptive element that is missing in our community." 

I share this because it causes me to process three things: 

• Seed of Hope is an organization that is asking those questions and seeking those solutions, here in South Africa. How can we encourage this to continue?
• The SEMC is beginning to ask those questions and is more willing than ever before to seek those solutions. Who will be willing to give themselves to further this?
• the theory of his observations, are not just theory, they are reality and our team has been blessed to walk among the story that God is unfolding. The darkness will never win against the Light, how do we mobilize more people to shine the Light of Jesus in their communities, both here in SA and in Sarnia?

Oh, and I also saw real live penguins. :)

Thanks for continuing to pray.

Deve