more psalms for lent...

As I have shared in some previous posts, I am reading a Psalm a day during Lent. I am using a suggested reading schedule from a book I found here in Cape Town. Here is another series of Psalms for the days ahead for some of you reading along with me!

Wednesday, 2/28 – Psalm 51 (yes, again)
Thursday, 3/1 – Psalm 138
Friday, 3/2 – Psalm 130
Saturday, 3/3 – Psalm 119 (Whoa, a long one today! Not sure if I will read the entire thing.)
Sunday, 3/4 – Psalm 27
Monday, 3/5 – Psalm 79
Tuesday, 3/6 – Psalm 50
Wednesday, 3/7 – Psalm 31
Thursday, 3/8 – Psalm 1
Friday, 3/9 – Psalm 105
Saturday, 3/10 – Psalm 103

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted...

Today Psalm 34 speaks of God’s love, comfort, and care for those who fear Him and call out to Him. The Psalm is full of amazing promises and images of God’s faithfulness.

Today Noah and I once again visited one of the poorest informal settlement communities here in the Philippi township. There is quite a spectrum of the poverty that exists in the Cape Flats townships. The primary township communities were established decades ago during the apartheid government. Some of the communities were even started before the apartheid took strong hold here. So, by now, much of the townships have established homes, paved, roads, community services, shops, etc. It is on the outskirts of the townships where even more desperate poverty exists. The informal settlement of Sweet Home Farm if one such settlement. Here the people still live in shacks. Just a year ago the government brought in public toilets, water faucets, and more defined dirt roads. The conditions these people live in stands in stark contrast to the wealth and homes you find in the hills of Table Mountain and along the coast here in Cape Town.

Noah and I walked spent time shadowing a man named Joy, who truly represents his name well in Sweet Home Farm! Tonight as I read Psalm 34, my honest initial response is to question just how God is close to the brokenhearted and how he saves those who are crushed in spirit, when I see the poverty and suffering I saw today. BUT! Then I am quickly reminded of people like Joy who are the hands and feet, eyes and ears of God’s comfort, love, and care promised in this Psalm and throughout scripture. His relationships and compassion for people living with HIV/AIDS, the seniors of the community, and the young children are visual demonstrations of God’s closeness to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit. It was a good reminder to me tonight that I too am called to be an instrument of God’s compassion and love.

The past few days with Noah have been awesome! It is good see Cape Town through fresh eyes and ears, especially from Noah who is another incredible example of sharing God’s compassion and love to those in desperate need. I am thankful for his perspective and voice in this discernment process. I look forward to more days with Noah, as well as David Chronic who arrives on Thursday night.

noah joins me tomorrow!

First things first….HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! Love you and wish I could be there to celebrate with you! Looking forward to talking on the phone later today!

David Chronic (WMF Regional Coordinator for Europe/Africa) and Noah Tullay (Sierra Leonean Field Advisor) have been planning to join me here in Cape Town for a week this coming Thursday night, March 1. I have been looking forward to their visit to share all I have experienced and learned here so far and listen to their input and questions in the discernment process. Both David and Noah had planned to travel to Zambia before arriving here. You may remember I mentioned helping Noah with his visa applications when I was in Sierra Leone last month. This is quite an extensive and complicated process for a Sierra Leonean with no Zambian or South Africa Embassies in Sierra Leone. Noah had to go to Guinea to get his South Africa visa.

Well, after a ton of time and effort, Noah’s visa was denied yesterday from the Zambian Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa (mostly because of timing issues). They never received the faxed information we sent a month ago. It is disappointing news for David C. and Noah. So, “Plan B” Instead of traveling with David to Zambia, Noah will join me here in Cape Town a few days early! It will be great to have a companion and friend to join me for an extra few days here! While I have met a lot of great and hospitable people here, I have really missed a community of others to experience and discern these day-by-day steps with me. It was fun to think about having Noah here next week to introduce him to Cape Town and some of the people I have met. I value and look forward to his questions, fresh perspective, and input.

I first met Noah almost four years ago on a summer WMF Discovery Team (two weeks) to Sierra Leone. At that time, WMF staff, Jared and Julie Landreth, had met Noah and began serving with him in a slum community, Kroo Bay. Noah was pretty much single-handedly running a Bible Club for 200-300 children in that community. I can still vividly remember Noah singing and teaching all those children during that first visit. Needless to say, I was impressed with him and his example! He has been a valuable part of the WMF community in Sierra Leone. I know my time with him will be yet another voice in the discernment process.

Above is a picture of Noah and I that we took when I was in Sierra Leone last month.

Just a quick update other events this past week. First, I continue to be impressed and encouraged by The Warehouse ministry (see below post). On Thursday, they let me sit in on a two-week course they teach once a year on “Christian Social Development and Transformation.” Besides learning a lot from the great content of the course, I was able to meet some awesome people serving in township and settlement communities here in Cape Town! I continue to be grateful for the peeps I have met at The Warehouse.

Secondly, on Friday, I went back to the Salesians ministry for street youth and spent more time in the metal working shop. It was cool to go back and see some of the same guys I spent time with a week ago. This time I wore pants and shoes, so one of the guys began to teach me some basic welding stuff. We started making a metal stool! We’ll see how things go next week with that.

So, that’s the word from here! Have a great weekend all!

the joy of your salvation...daily psalms for lent

This morning I started a book for Lent, The Joy of Your Salvation: Reflections on the Psalms of Lent by Deborah McCann. The title of the book is taken from Psalm 51, the first Psalm of Lent this Ash Wednesday. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation…” (Ps. 51:12). In the introduction the author of the book recognizes the importance and value of the season of penitence and introspection during Lent, but she also recognizes Lent as a “season of profound, abiding joy, a time for celebrating God’s overwhelming mercy and love for us.” She goes on to say, “Through these songs [Psalms] of yearning, loss, repentance, and triumph, you may hear you’re your own voice, and can join in praising the wonder and glory of a God who restores to us the joy of God’s salvation (Psalm 51).”

Here are the Psalms for the rest of the week, if you are interested…
Ash Wednesday – Psalm 51
Thursday – Psalm 1
Friday – Psalm 51 (again)
Saturday – Psalm 86
Sunday – Psalm 91
Monday – Psalm 19
Tuesday – Psalm 34

I am looking forward to listening and praying with these Psalms during these 40 days of Lent. I pray that they will renew the joy of God’s salvation afresh in my own life this season of preparation for Easter.

Beginning Ash Wednesday w/ the Psalms and Jesus

Eugene Peterson in Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading provided some good stuff for me as I begin Lent this year…“The Scriptures are our listening post for learning the language of the soul, the ways God speaks to us; they also provide the vocabulary and grammar that are appropriate for us as we in our turn speak to God. Prayer detached from Scripture, from listening to God, disconnected from God’s words to us, short circuits the relational language of prayer.” Peterson goes on to share how the Psalms and Jesus specifically help shape our personal and relational practice of prayer…

The Psalms “speak for us…and oh, how they speak. They don’t simply say, ‘Yes, God, I agree…No, they argue and complain, they lament and they praise, they deny and disclaim, they thank and they sing.” Peterson calls the Psalms a “school of prayer, praying the prayers we get a feel for what is appropriate to say as we bring our lives into attentive and worshipping response to God as He speaks to us. Virtually everything human is appropriate as material for prayer: reflections and observations, fear and anger, guilt and sin, questions and doubts, needs and desires, praise and gratitude, suffering and death. Nothing human is excluded.”

On Jesus Peterson says, “If the Psalms are our primary text for prayer, our answering speech to the word of God, then Jesus, the Word made flesh, is our primary teacher. Jesus is the divine/human personal center for a life of prayer. Jesus prays for us – ‘he lives to make intercession for us’ (Heb. 7:25)…Prayer is shaped by Jesus, in whose name we pray…God, revealed in the Scriptures that we read and meditate upon and in Jesus who we address, gives both form and content to our prayers.”

What is really cool is that I read these quotes yesterday after already deciding to focus on listening to the Psalms and Jesus in the Gospel of Luke this Lenten season! This afternoon I will attend my first Lent service ever at Saint George’s Anglican Cathedral here in the City Bowl. Later today I will post the Psalms I will read and meditate on this week, in case any one wants to join me.

an encouraging day!

Yesterday I was feeling a bit discouraged. I have just about exhausted my list of ministry and church contacts here. I have really met some great people who I plan to spend more time with in the weeks ahead. But, I was still looking to connect with more churches and ministry happening in the township and settlement communities. Today God continued to go before me in connecting with a ministry called “The Warehouse.” The heart of these people and ministry beats closely with mine! Their primary focus is to “serve the church in its response to poverty and justice.” They work closely with churches in both the wealthier suburb and the poorer township communities to “enable them to make Christ known through sound, effective, practical acts and changed attitudes that change the lives of the poor.”

Through the churches they care for orphans and vulnerable children. They also work with high risk youth in gang dominated areas and have a new program to help create jobs for people by connecting them with churches to help their businesses grow.

Today I went with one of the men, named Joy, who works with The Warehouse to visit an informal settlement community called, “Sweet Home Farm.” This is one of the poorer communities in the township area. Joy spent a year getting to know this community and building relationships with the people there. Over time, he has now started a support group for people living with HIV/AIDS, a support group for seniors (including a garden), and a preschool with 60 children. It was special to spend time with Joy today as he loved and cared for the people in this community. I look forward to spending another day with him next week! I also am realizing that need to learn a few Xhosa phrases and greetings for my time in the townships (the first language of the black South Africans here in the Cape region).

On top of all this, the combined ministry warehouse (where they collect and store food and clothing donations) and office space included a sweet prayer room! A space set aside for prayer for the communities and rest with God. There was a wall size map of the entire continent of Africa on the wall with requests for specific countries. I will also look forward to spending some more time in that prayer room!

To learn more about The Warehouse check out…. www.warehouse.org.za.

the news from here...

Where has the week gone? I guess time flies everywhere! I am already into my third week here in Cape Town. Sometimes I feel so dependant on others here to dive into ministry. I have met some great people serving in some amazing ways. So far, I have decided on a few ministries where I will spend some of my time….

- Shade – These are the first people I met here in Cape Town last year. They have been so helpful getting me grounded here! The ministry office is located in the neighborhood where I am living. They have a Friday youth program for young kids and teenagers every Friday afternoon. I will volunteer to help out with that each week.

- Salesians – Today I went back to the Salesian ministry for youth on the streets. I spent time in the welding and leather-making workshops. I know these kids see many visitors pass through all the time, so I am hoping that returning back at least once a week will give me some opportunities to connect with some of the boys. Today I spent some time with “Sticks,” “Gift,” and “Ricky” (obviously, some of the boys go by a nickname). They are part of the 18-month “Learn to Live” program and hostel there. Prayerfully, I can connect with them a little more next week. But, I need to wear pants and shoes in the welding workshop.

- Anele in Khayelitsha Township – I spent a day with Anele last week in the township where he lives. He will come pick me up on Saturday and we will take the bus back to his neighborhood. I will have a better opportunity to meet some of the youth he invests in there on a Saturday, when they are not in school. Some of them have a car wash to earn some money.

- There are also some homeless families living in a park just down the street from me. Whenever I walk by I say hello, smile, and wave. The other day an older man invited me to see his tent. Since I was on my way to meet someone, I told him I would return another time. There are also a couple of sweet little girls that live in another tent with their mom. Today, I ran into them on my street. They immediately recognized me and waved hello with their sweet smiles. My plan is to make some time this weekend to visit with these people who live in the park.

I am spending the rest of my time wrapping up preliminary visits with people and ministries serving here. Still so much to absorb and consider! It can be overwhelming at times. My big desire and prayer request is for more opportunities in the townships.

Well, that’s the news from here. Thanks for reading and praying!

lent web site links

As I said in a previous post, I have been trying to find resources for Lent this year that begins this Ash Wednesday, February 21. Both Advent and Lent are pretty new to me, as my church didn’t typically observe these church calendar seasons leading up to Christmas and Easter. I am still a novice in my understanding and observance of Lent, so I wanted to pass on a few web sites that I have found helpful. I was able to find a book for Lent at a Catholic bookstore here in Cape Town. The book focuses on a Psalm each of the forty days of Lent. This was a perfect find for me, as I am trying to spend more times in the Psalms - joining the Psalmists in worship, lament, prayer, and thanksgiving to God. I am learning and experiencing how the Psalms can often provide a language to our prayers. So, I am really looking forward to my Psalm of the day during Lent!

Here are the web sites on Lent that I have found helpful (if you are interested):
- CRI, Christian Resource Institute on “The Season of Lent” - http://www.crivoice.org/cylent.html

- CRI on the “The Stations of the Cross” –
http://www.cresourcei.org/stations.html

- Mark Roberts, a pastor from Southern Cal, wrote a blog summary on Lent last year (This blog is becoming a favorite of mine, so I assume he will have some good stuff to say about Lent next week, as well) –
http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/lent.htm

- Anglican Lent & Easter Resources, a web site that has some cool Lent links -
http://anglicansonline.org/special/lent.html

Here are some other possible reading & prayer web sites:
- The Daily Psalm (From Pastor Mark Roberts) –
http://www.thedailypsalm.com/

- Praying the Gospels (From Pastor Mark Roberts) –
http://www.praythegospels.com/

- Book of Common Prayer Readings for Lent (For Year One) -
http://www.crivoice.org/lent1.html

- Sacred Space, a prayer site run by the Irish Jesuits –
http://www.sacredspace.ie/

lent begins next wednesday

Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I think I will go to an Ash Wednesday service here in Cape Town...a first for me! I had a book all picked out on the Stations of the Cross to read this year during Lent. But, somehow it didn't make it into my bags and sits at home on my dresser. I guess it will still good next year!

Anyway, I am looking for any good internet resurces, daily reflections, scripture readings, etc. to read during Lent this year. Any ideas out there? Post a comment or email me. Early next week I will post what I found to share with you all!

this weekend...

This weekend turned out to be a full and good one. The weather was cool, cloudy and rainy, which people here weren’t too happy about since it is still summer! I even wore long pants and shoes! I am just beginning to experience the big swings in weather here. Here are the weekend highlights…

Friday – Friday afternoon I volunteered a ministry called Shade to help with a Friday program for youth. This week was the older teens, ages 12 and up…95% girls. It was the first meeting since Christmas and the new year, so it was a chance for the volunteers to reconnect with the youth and consider ideas and direction for future weeks. This coming Friday will be the younger children’s turn.

Saturday – On Saturday I hung out with two teenagers from Congo, along with their aunt and cousins who are here from Congo for awhile. Tony and Constante have been here in South Africa for about four years and now live with Philomene, a woman who has been a huge help to me here in Cape Town. It was a fun few hours getting to know them a little better. Constante is an artist and loves to draw, paint, and create. Tony is also an artist and likes animation art. I brought them both art books….I got lucky with Tony’s Manga Japanese -style animation book. He was blown away by how I knew that was exactly the kind of animation he likes to draw. Cool how God works that way! Tony and Constance took me on my first train ride here to get some pizza for lunch. Another step in learning public transport here! Then, Tony helped me trace and cut out 30 shield/crests for the Sunday school art project I was teaching on Sunday. HUGE HELP!

Sunday – I taught a Sunday school lesson at a local church here. The lesson was on being a disciple of Jesus. The children had already learned about Jesus calling Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow him and be fishers of men. I shared about how God was working in my own life to call me to serve the poor, possibly here in Cape Town. I then was able to share about abiding, loving one another, and bearing fruit (What else, right?). The shield or crest was an opportunity for them to draw things that would remind them of the three priorities.

Sunday afternoon I went to town and the Waterfront for coffee at “Mugg and Bean” and some reading. I started a new book, Eat This Book: A Conversation In the Art of Spiritual Reading by Eugene Peterson. The first two chapters gave me some great stuff to think about and consider! Peterson takes the title from a biblical metaphor for reading scripture found in Revelation 10:9. The apostle John writes, “I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, ‘Take it, and eat; it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth.’” God used similar “eat this book” language to Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Peterson goes on to say, “Eating a book takes it all in, assimilating it into the tissues of our lives. Readers become what they read. If Holy Scripture is to be something other then mere gossip about God, it must be internalized…assimilated into our nerves and muscles and put to work in speech and action.” BUT, I’ll save more on this book in a future blog post.

Sundays here in Cape Town are very quiet and deserted….almost an eerie deserted. Most everything is closed, which is why I went to the Waterfront where things are still open for the tourists. While I was waiting to catch the bus home at the bus station, a few boys immediately caught my attention since they were inhaling glue or solvent which is very typical for kids on the streets. I was immediately flooded with feelings and memories of my friends on the streets in Rio, Brasil. I did not have time to talk to these boys, since the bus was coming and I needed to get home before dark. But, it was a good reminder to keep my eyes open at this bus station for opportunities to possibly talk to these kids. During the week it is a very busy place, so the kids probably blend into the crowd more and went unnoticed by me. Something to pray about, for sure!

My weekend closed with some prayerful planning for the week ahead and listening to some worship on my ipod (Chris Tomlin’s new one, “See the Morning”).

abiding!

5"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing…. 9"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10"If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11"These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
~ John 15:5, 9-11 (NASB)

Most of you know that an important part of my journey these past couple of years has been a retreat process called The Journey led by The Leadership Institute in Southern California. The retreats are a two-year process of joining together with the same people to share in the inner and outer journey of life and ministry. I can’t imagine this season of sabbatical and discernment with this process! I highly recommend it! Check out www.theleadershipinstitute.org.

A key passage for The Journey process is John 15, when Jesus teaches on the vine and the branches. In that passage there are three priorities that become clear in Jesus discipleship: 1) abiding in His Love, 2) loving one another, and 3) bearing fruit. ABIDING comes first! I have blogged and emailed on this before. But, lately I have been trying to grow in my understanding of all Jesus meant by “abide in me” (or “remain in me” in the NIV).

- The Message paraphrase says it this way: “Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love” (John 15:9-10).
- In Krio, the language in Sierra Leone, abiding translates into "de insay" or "stay inside," often accompanied by the motion of putting your fingers of one hand inside your cupped other hand.
- My friends Greg and Jana emailed me that the verb “abide” in Czech is “zustat" or "remain in my love and be faithful."
- Journey mentor, Chuck Miller, shared with us the analogy of picher/cup…saucer/plate. Abiding is the “pitcher and cup” relationship between God and I. The pitcher represents all God is and all He wants to pour into my life. The cup is my life. The goal is to abide, remain, and stay under the outpouring and relationship of God’s love. That love should then overflow into my relationships (saucer) and ministry (plate). The above picture is a pitcher/cup…saucer/plate that I used when facilitating a day retreat in Sierra Leone. (I had to improvise with a thermos instead of a pitcher.)

I would love to collect some other understandings of abide in other cultures, translations, and languages. Please add to my list by commenting here or emailing me! My prayer is that we all may give priority to remaining, staying inside, and making ourselves at home in the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

thursday...

Today was another great day here in Cape Town. I spent the day with a young man named Anele who lives in one of the Cape Flats township communities, Khayelitsha. I met Anele last year when I went on a tour of the townships here. Anele was a person I wanted to met up with again when I returned. Anele is a leader in his neighborhood, Mandela Park. He is compassionate and cares deeply about the future of the youth there. He volunteers and pours his life into others, often sacrificing his own needs and desires. Anele’s has vision for great things, but has limited resources and assistance to make them happen. Yet, he presses on investing in the lives of youth in his community. During our day together we stopped many times to talk to the countless people he knows. Anele’s goal is to go to afford business college here in Cape Town to learn hotel management and hospitality services.

I plan to visit Anele a couple more times during my stay. I want to go back on a weekend when many of the youth have a car wash to earn money. Anele helped them get this business started. If I am able it would be great to go back on a Sunday, so I can attend church with him. Please pray for Anele as he presses on under difficult circumstances. Pray he would experience God’s strength, encouragement, and hope for the future! I pray I can grow my friendship with Anele during our limited times together.

Anele is pictured above on my left. The other young man is a friend and neighbor who joined in the picture! Anele's blog is: www.anelenunu.blogspot.com.

wednesday...

Today I have been here in Cape Town one week. I feel like things are beginning to kick into gear, as I have arranged many ministry visits in the days ahead. (Lots of connecting via phone and email my first week here.) I am going to try and share a daily update this week ahead. I am looking forward to the people and ministries I will meet in the days ahead, so it will be good to share and process with my “blog peeps”!

Today I went to “town” (what people here refer to as downtown Cape Town). I am slowly learning my way around public transportation. There are larger buses and vans (called shared taxis). Both are pretty convenient options to get to town from where I am living. Not too far at all! I had an appointment at 10:00, so I left the house early to be sure I allowed enough time. I ended up having about an hour extra time, so I walked around the downtown area which was a first for me. There are a couple walking “malls” or streets with shops and restaurants. There is also one long stretch with some gardens and museums. I’ll look forward to taking a Sabbath day in this part of the city in the near future!

I met a man named John who works with children and youth here in Cape Town. What an amazing visit I had with him! He works with a Catholic order here called the Salesians. John spends most of his time on the streets with the kids. Spending many years on the streets himself, he is very aware of the realities of these kids lives. Gangs and prostitution are very common realities here among these youth. I was impressed with his heart and insight into ministry among these youth here. The program at the Salesians youth center includes workshops for the kids to learn a trade or skill like working with leather, welding, auto body work, construction, brick laying, etc. This is the entry point for the kids to demonstrate commitment and desire for more. One of the next levels is an 18-month hospice (live in, residential) program for the kids to learn life skills and get grounded in a life off the streets. There is also a school for the kids that serves as a bridge for them to integrate into public schools here. I was also impressed with the partnerships and networking that seems to happen among the several ministries and programs for street youth. I look forward to learning more about this process and ministry during my time here!

Instead of going with John to the streets, I will volunteer to spend time with the boys in these workshops. This opportunity is an answer to prayer, because I was somewhat hesitant to go to the streets during my short stay here. I hate to be another person in and out of the kids lives, who already experience so much abandonment and loss on the streets. Plus, it sounds like I would just get in the way of John’s relationships and the things he deals with. So, I think this will be a good entry point for me to learn more about this ministry to street youth.

I am encouraged and hopeful about how this ministry will further shape my heart and understanding of ministering among these kids.

A few random things to add…
~ Today was probably one of the hottest days here (in the 90’s). But, not India, Brasil, or Sierra Leone hot (i.e. - HUMID!). I am spoiled weather-wise. The weather here changes very quickly. Tomorrow a cold front is supposed to come in and include cooler temps, rain, and wind. But, it sounds like the forecast changes a lot…it is very unpredictable.

~ I am blessed with a side view of Table Mountain from where I am living! I will post a picture sometime soon. One of my favorite times of day is right before dusk when the breeze or strong wind picks up. A layer of clouds then gently rolls over Table Mountain…this is called a “table cloth” for good reason!

~ Finally…once again, I am thankful for TV on DVD! Since it is not safe to go out much at night, especially on public transport, I am thankful for my DVD Christmas gifts! Loving “The Office: Season Two” right now! Thanks Jared O…..you got me hooked! “Lost: Season Two” is also waiting to get started soon!

Tomorrow….I will finally get to the Cape Flats townships. I will meet up with a man who I met during my visit last year. He lives in a township community and just opened a restaurant out of a larger shipping container. He also has a real heart and passion to help kids in the townships. So, I look forward to the day with Anele!

snapshot of cape town....

Well, it looks like I will be somewhat internet challenged during my time here. I will not have internet access at home, which may be a good thing and force me to focus my internet and email time. I'll get down to an internet cafe down the street about once a day. But, I sure do miss the convenience of 24/7 internet access! Bear with me, as my postings may be scarcer then usual. I am still going to try my very best to blog a couple times a week. Sharing this journey with you all is important to me!

Here is just a snapshot of life in South Africa and Cape Town that I have compiled from several internet sources, as well as personal observations here. I have shared some of this before, but some of the statistics and numbers are updated from some recent information I found.

South Africa is a beautiful and complex country. South Africa is often referred to as The Rainbow Nation as a metaphor to describe the country's newly-developing multicultural diversity in the wake of separatist apartheid ideology. South Africa is in many respects a developed country, but much of its population lives in poverty. If you want to understand the country, you'll have to deal with the full spectrum. With its post-apartheid identity still in process of definition, issues of poverty, the AIDS pandemic, racism, and violence remain a problem.

Cape Town is a place of great contrasts - characterized by spectacular physical beauty, historical significance, and tremendous economic inequalities. In this city of approximately 4 million people there exists wealthy suburbs, extravagant shopping, world-renowned vineyards and hotels, and tourists from around the world. However, the reality is that for the bulk of Cape Town’s population, these are an illusion. A majority of the people live in the Cape Flats townships. The term Cape Flats refers to a flat, sandy stretch of land which is located on the outskirts of the city of Cape Town. It has been described as the "dumping ground of apartheid" and it is here that the non-whites were relocated to, in terms of the infamous Group Areas Act.

“In this city: 40% of the labor force is unemployed, 69% of the population does not have access to adequate housing, 33% of the population is HIV positive and the number of orphans is expected to exceed 75,000 children by 2010.” (http://www.warehouse.org.za/)

Sources: www.wikipedia.com; www.unaids.org; www.capeflats.org; www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu; The Economist, April 8, 2006

the Lord goes before me...

“But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” Isaiah 52:12

I have now been a Cape Town a couple of days! Once again it is obvious how God has gone before me in this journey! As I was reading Isaiah 52 this morning, I was reminded of how God’s promises to the Israelites remain true for us today, as we seek God’s best for our lives. These promises remain true for me today, this week, the month here in Cape Town! I tend to get worried and anxious about the unfamiliar and unknown, but I must remember the countless ways God has gone before me. I must trust that He will continue to do so, each new day! I take comfort in this promise!

God has definitely gone before me in logistics and getting settled into life here. The place where I am living is perfectly located for this season of exploration and discernment here in Cape Town. I am a couple short blocks away from Main Road, which is a major street for public transportation. There are is a grocery store, internet cafe, shops, restaurants, and ATM machines all within walking distance! God went before me in my visit last March, when I met some wonderful, hospitable people working with a ministry called Shade. Philomene and Greg have been so helpful getting me started here.

God also went before me in Sierra Leone. My time with Cami, Faye, Noah, and other new friends there was so good. I am thankful for their hospitality and friendship. It was a sweet time of sharing life together and catching up! I have much to learn from their leadership, heart, and example, as they serve and grow closer to Jesus there in Freetown.

This is only the beginning….I know there are many more ways God has gone before me! I look forward to seeing it all unfold, as I take things one day, one step at a time here in Cape Town! Thank you for your prayers as I continue to get settled in, find my way around, and connect with people and ministries serving here.