Christian Aid visit to South Africa

The team, Deborah Doherty (Christian Aid), Louise Monroe (MCI), Lesley-Ann Wilson
(PCI), Alf McCreary (religion correspondant), Bishop Patrick Rooke (CoI)

So I’ve been in South Africa for four weeks now and it has certainly been an amazing and varied experience!  From the few days of project visits with Christian Aid in Pietermarritzberg and Johannesberg, doing the touristy thing in Jo’berg and three days holiday in Cape Town.  Then Bishop Patrick went off to Swaziland, the rest of the guys flew home and I continued on to the rest of my Big Adventure.

The project visits with Christian Aid gave an opportunity to really see the work that Christian Aid supports.  But also a chance to see where some of the money we raise as a Church really goes and actually meet some of the people who benefit from it which was a very humbling experience.

We had the chance to meet with three organisations; Church Land Programme (CLP), Kwazulu-Natal Christian Council (KZNCC) and Bench Marks

Here I am just going to give some of the highlights of the experience for me as there are too many things to note here.

Kennedy Road informal settlement

With CLP we met with some the shack dwellers who live in an informal settlement called Kennedy Road in Durban.  The group of people we met are a committee that have been put together to try and improve their life conditions.  

Bishop Patrick presenting the cross to Mama Zodwa

Graham Philpott the Director of CLP

But the CLP visit I want to talk about was to Ladysmith, home of the famous Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing group!  We were taken out to a rural settlement where the residents had been forcibly removed during apartheid.  Sometimes it was because it was rich fertile ground that could be used for farming, sometimes to create residential areas.  But more often than not the land was not used for anything and just left vacant after the people who had been living there had been removed and their livestock shared out among the local white farmers.  This was the case in the place we visited and met a lady named Zodwa, who had experienced the violence and humiliation of the removals back in the 1970’s.  She shared her moving story with us but her real pain was the loss of her Church.  The Church building was just a little way from her home and it had been destroyed during the removals, and when they were allowed back to their land in the 1990’s there were all sort of promises from the government about restitution for these losses but she is still waiting for her Church to be rebuilt.  She took us to the rubble, showing us the original foundation stone and where the pulpit would have been.  There was a very moving moment when Bishop Patrick gave Zodwa a St Bridget’s Cross on the site of the pulpit.  This was very poignant because of the very deep links that cross has with women within the Church and the link with the woman at the well.  What made this all the more poignant was the image of a well in the background.  We then held hands in the rubble of the Church and said the Lord’s prayer together, a very moving moment.

The church does still meet in a makeshift building in Zodwa’s homestead, proving that God’s people will never be kept down.  It did, however bring up questions for me about the importance of a building, something I will perhaps share at another time! 

We all went into to the Church building were we met ladies who were representative of a number of groups around the area who are involved in income generating projects.  In this case it was mainly bead work.  These groups of ladies work with beads making beautiful jewellery and craft work which is then sold giving them a small income.  So often when you are in African countries you see beautiful local crafts and you are told the proceeds go to those who have made them.  Often you can become cynical about this, but it did my heart good to actually meet these people who make crafts and sell them to make ends meet.  It was such a humbling experience to meet with them and to be able to buy some of their crafts directly from them.  Although most of them were actually working to orders.

Now on to KZNCC.  With this group we had the chance to see some of the work they are doing to help the huge problem of AIDS and HIV that plagues South Africa.  We met with an HIV support group who meet frequently to share with one another, to find friendship and understanding which quite often is not available anywhere else.

Very sadly this can also include the Church.  One lady shared with us that when she discovered she was HIV+ her husband left her, leaving her with children to feed.  Sadly she found only discrimination from her Pastor and Church.  So when she was put in contact with this group she found people she could confide in share her problems.  Sadly at the minute that is all they can do as they are struggling to get funding and help to get food which these groups all have a right to.  But it can take up to a year to register a group for a certificate which allows them to receive bread and various other small items.  The problem is when taking meds, like the ARV’s you need food to take them with and if you have no income you can’t buy food.  They would be keen to start a vegetable garden which would provide fresh healthy food, but again there is the issue of money for seeds etc.  But yet the group is still vital for these ladies as it is a vital lifeline for them.  You may have noticed I have only talked about ladies here, that is because men are reluctant and often refuse to be tested for the virus which means it will continue to spread due to ignorance and naivety.

One of the toxic tailings

And so our final visits were with Bench Marks and a very intense and full day was spent with them on the ‘Toxic Tour’ of the greater Jo’berg area.  They are involved in many social campaigns and advocacy work and one of the main things they work on is the issues of the local Gold mines.  The waste that comes from mining for gold and other precious metals are dumped in large areas that become known as tailings. In many instances there is toxic material in that waste mainly due to the uranium that is often present.  This causes issues with the water system, rivers can be seen to flow bright green or a deep red.  With high winds the dust can be blown in to residential areas which are dangerously close.  The worse case we seen was an informal settlement which was built pretty much on top of one of the tailings and children play daily in an area that has been registered as dangerously radioactive on a Geiger counter reading taken by Bench Marks.  Many local people are totally unaware of this very dangerous issue.  The next project which Bench Marks is taking on is a health survey within Soweto which is surrounded on at least two sides by tailings.

A river running green

So this is a little bit of what I got up to during the Christian Aid visits before our short trip to Cape Town which is a beautiful city.  But I would ask you to pray for the people I have mentioned above, people I have met and listened to their stories first hand.  But also for the many many others in this country who are in exactly the same position.  A beautiful country but one of such division, diversity and extremes.

Another Big Adventure

This time next week I will be on my way to South Africa.  Another Big African Adventure which I am really looking forward to.  I am spending July and August there and so I thought I would pull out the blog once more to keep everyone updated with what I'm up to.

The opportunity came through the Methodist World Development and Relief Committee, of which I am a member, and which works very closely with Christian Aid.  I was offered the chance to go along as a representative of WDRC along with a couple of other denominational church leaders.  We will have the chance to visit some of the projects which Christian Aid support in South Africa, aome of which WDRF support.  This trip lasts for 10 days, so I figured if I'm going as far as South Africa I might as well make it worth while.  So i took the opportunity to make it a placement for my ministerial formation, so along with my tutor and the WDRC officer I put together a placement, which involves, helping at a youth residential run by the Vuleka Trust.  I will then spend some time at Phakamisa a ministry of the Pinetown Methodist Church.  Some details are still to be put in place which can be a little frustrating and stressful but TIA (that is Africa) something which I am going to have to get used to once more!!

So I am looking forward to this next adventure to another beautiful African country, but most of all I am excited to see what surprises God has up His sleeve this time, and what work he is doing in the people I will be visiting with.  So if you want to keep up to date with what I'm doing keep and eye out here and on Facebook and I will try to keep them updated with my big adventure.

Punch in the stomach

'Every time I sin, I am spitting in God's face, insulting Him by my insistence on living apart from Him' Glenn Packiam

Wow...they are strong words. The kind of words that hit you like a punch in the stomach

...and sometimes we need that punch!

Come, let us join our friends above

I was pointed towards the following hymn by Charles Wesley as it was thought it may be helpful in my dissertation.  And it was extremely helpful in a discussion around Ancestor Worship in West African traditional religion.  But I love finding a new (old) hymn and the words just jump out at you and really speak to you...

1.
Come, let us join our friends above
who have obtained the prize,
and on the eagle wings of love
to joys celestial rise.
Let saints on earth unite to sing
with those to glory gone,
for all the servants of our King
in earth and heaven are one. 
2.
One family we dwell in him,
one church above, beneath,
though now divided by the stream,
the narrow stream of death;
one army of the living God,
to his command we bow;
part of his host have crossed the flood,
and part are crossing now. 
3.
Ten thousand to their endless home
this solemn moment fly,
and we are to the margin come,
and we expect to die.
E'en now by faith we join our hands
with those that went before,
and greet the blood-besprinkled bands
on the eternal shore. 

4.
Our spirits too shall quickly join,
like theirs with glory crowned,
and shout to see our Captain's sign,
to hear this trumpet sound.
O that we now might grasp our Guide!
O that the word were given!
Come, Lord of Hosts, the waves divide,
and land us all in heaven.

I just love this.  How easily we forget those saints who have gone before us, the cloud of witnesses from throughout time who cheer us on in the race...those who are now in glory from time immemorial, many known to us and many more not known to us.  But every time we worship we join with their unending song of praise in heaven.  May we never forget that we are only a small part of a much much bigger Communion of Saints who paved the way for us.  And may we not forget those who will come behind us...how are we doing in paving the way for them?

sacrifice and relationship

I've been doing some Old Testament research for my dissertation and came across this passage about sacrifice in Ancient Israel and its importance in relationship.  Not something i've ever really thought about before...

Sacrifice – in many ways sacrifice is simply assumed by the biblical texts as the way of being in relationship with God. That is the relationship between God and the people of God is the basis for making sense of sacrifice, rather than the reverse.


Sacrifice does not create the relationship; rather sacrifice maintains or strengthens the already existing relationship. When humans perceive the relationship as torn or broken, sacrifice serves as evidence of the human desire to repair and restore it.

There is rarely the sense of appeasement of an angry deity through sacrifice in the biblical texts; rather, sacrifice serves as concrete evidence of human acknowledgement of the ruptured relationship and of the desire for restoration. In theological-speak, restoration of the divine-human relationship is atonement, to highlight the purpose of bringing the relationship back into equilibrium.

(C) Marty E. Stevens Theological Themes of the Old Testament

I personally think it's so easy to take for granted our relationship with God, is it too simplified to say he's not angry, but just disappointed with us, I think there must be times he gets angry when he looks down on his perfect creation and see's what humanity is doing to it.  Yet he does want us to come back into relationship with him when we mess it up.  But we dont have to go to the temple to perform a sacrificial rite.  The Ultimate sacrifice has been made on our behalf through Christ our atoner, we just have to reacknowledge that and humbly come before God asking his forgiveness to repair and restore and ruptured relationships with him.

What a merciful and gracious God we have.

What do you hear?

I’m trying to get back out walking again as I’ve gotten out of the habit. So this morning I headed out to my usual place, Hillsborough Lake, which is just beautiful. As I came back around the lake I took a seat for a short time just to soak in the beauty of all that was around me and what struck me was the mixture of manmade and natural noises.

By the side of the lake there was a family of geese with their brand new goslings soaking up the sun, splashing in the water, the chatter and quacks of a couple of ducks nearby, the tweeting and chirping of birds in the trees, an aeroplane passing overhead, a fly buzzing past, the wind in the trees, a truck driving past, a dog barking in the background, the clink of glass as someone recycled old bottles, the honking of geese across the lake, the noisy engine of a truck passing by, the flapping of a swans wings and the splash of water as it runs across the top of the lake, chatter and conversation as other walkers come past, joyful shouting and laughter as a child sees the ducks and throws bread, another truck.


So many different noises breaking through the silence but each one breathing life into a place of beauty that was created so wonderfully by the Master Craftsman, a place of silence but yet a place of a wonderful sound track of God’s creation.

Lent 2012

This year over lent I'm following the BRF devotional lent book once more and this year it has been written by Andrew Watson and follows the Israelites journey through the wilderness.  There are many wonderful insights in it and I would like to share one from todays reading which has been thinking about the name of God...I AM WHO I AM...something which I find particularly powerful.

That story of Yahweh's faithfulness and Israel's failings is our story, too, as we humbly take our place in God's great history of salvation.  Many further chapters of that history have been lived and published:  the stories of Joshua and Samuel, of David and the Prophets, of Jesus' incarnation, life, death and resurrection, of the Spirit who prompts us to cry out 'Abba, Father', and of the Church that bears his name, each chapter better fleshing out the person of the great I AM in the face of human courage or human fallibility.  Yet there is always more to come...
(pg69, Andrew Watson)

What is there still to come in each of our stories...that's the exciting bit, we don't know, but we can be sure that God does and will always remain faithful, guiding us, leading us along our journey.  No doubt there will be surprises along the way andthe destination may not be what we expected but it'll be a fun, interesting and exciting journey none the less.