So this past week has been pretty busy. Let me let you in to the life of Ali and Doug at Cape Town
Last Friday night we had youth group over at Casey and Sarah’s house. At seven oclock, about 6 or 7 youth from Ocean View Methodist church came over to their house, where an introduction of the new adult volunteers to the youth group were being introduced, as well as Ali and I. Sarah had asked us earlier in the week to share our testimonies to the youth on Friday, so we prepared them earlier in the day to present to them. We were told that the kids could really relate to our testimonies and that a lot of life lessons could come from what we shared. I’m so thankful that those youth could hear my testimony and Ali’s testimony. God has done some pretty powerful things to bring us to where we are today, and I hope that God uses our testimonies to speak to some of the youth so they can grow as we have grown. Can’t wait for this Friday night’s youth. The girls are having a sleep over at the house, and the guys….well, we still have to figure out what we’re going to do. We’ll figure it out that night. No worries. haha
Lesson #3: Do not leave the lights on in the car… again. Drained the battery again, and actually had to have a mechanic come out and exchange the battery in the car because it was completely dead. Not the best impression I’ve made in Ocean View haha. I think I’m remembering now.
Sunday was such a long day. For some reason, every church in the area loves to have 8 am services. Why do you wake up so early!?!? Anywho, had 8 am service at Ocean View, then drove to the 11:30 service at Hillsong Church in Cape Town. Both are good churches and have something special about them, but worship at Hillsong is just so good. Anyone want to start a Hillsong church in Raleigh? Any takers?!
Just to give you some background information on this idea that Sarah has and had us work on earlier this week: Sarah has decided to make a website called “Look Listen Love”. Basically, the goal of this website is to provide information to anyone who would like teaching tools, articles, resources, videos, etc. on how to live. She wants to use this website and these teaching tools to inspire people missionly and inspirationally. Brilliant idea if you ask me. But there is a lot of planning and details that will have to go into this to make it work. So what she had asked us to do this past week is to walk around Ocean View and “Look”. Basically, take notes of what we see. Here is what Ali and I saw in Ocean View this week:
Alison
This past week we were given the task to look around at our surroundings and really try to absorb as much about Ocean View as possible. There were a couple of patterns that really stuck out to me about this place. The first thing is that the polychromatic stereotype about Africa is definitely true here. Time is a very vague concept and relationships are a much higher priority than getting everything on the to-do list done in the day or making it to a meeting on time. Going along with this concept, many people seem to lack motivation or work ethic. A lot of this seems to come from the mentality from apartheid. Rather than taking responsibility for one’s own actions, its common for a lot of people to blame others for their circumstances without looking for ways they can change their situation. The youth and men of the community seem to have the hardest time with this. Some of the women, especially the older women, are the ones that are carrying this community. They are the ones that are working to provide for their families, taking care of all of the household chores, and parenting their children and grandchildren. The mentality that the man needs to provide for the family and really be the leader seems to be lacking here. The last thing that I noticed is that people seem to be more spiritual. They are more comfortable talking about God and spiritual realms and are faster to attribute things to God and show their dependence on Him than most people back home seem to be. Overall, I think I’ve just started to scratch the surface of the lives of those who live here, but I’m really looking forward to getting to know them better and learning more about their lives.
Doug:
When I walk through Ocean View and look around, I have a mixture of emotions. From what I've heard, Ocean View is a pretty poor and helpless place. But since I've been here, I have found that it doesn't fit that description soundly. Yes, Ocean View is "poorer" than Cape Town. Yes, Ocean View does not have the best looking houses or flats. Yes, there is poverty. But overall, the people here aren't too poor, if you consider that running water, food, and a place to stay at night isn't a description of poverty. When I walk the streets, I see a lot of independence, and it saddens me because some families aren't tied together as they should. The streets here are filled with teens and adults who seem to "waste" their time and are comfortable with doing nothing productive. They may not like where they are living, but most people or families don't do much about it to change.
When I walk through Ocean View, I see a community that knows each other but shares the same bad situations and doesn't help each other break of of these situations. I see individuals. Individuals who are stuck in their position or lifestyle because of lack of community that lifts each other up and delivers each other out of the situations that strikes every family. As a result, when I think of sharing the gospel here, I don't think of a community uprising that is willing to stand for a cause or change for the better. I see an individual change. A change that needs to strike one individual that affects him or her enough to change, then personally pursue a relationship with another to see a change in their life. Ocean View needs leaders. Leaders who are motivated. Leaders who are accepted. Leaders who want a change. Leaders who will not settle for less. Leaders who, most importantly, are willing to truly live for the Gospel and give their life to something thats more than themselves
Check out Sarah and Casey’s blog if you are interested in seeing more about the life they live and learning about who we are helping: http://caseyandsarahafrica.blogspot.com/
Work with Ubuntu Sports Outreach is going well. This week, Ali and I have some more work to do with preparing for some of the events going on and preparing some videos that they would like to use for their organization. Cant wait get some of these videos done. Andrew, we could use your skills right now…especially that Mark D2 you have.
We have plans to meet up with some other organizations in the area later this week. Tonight, we will be going with Treswell (one of the coaches of Ubuntu) to share the gospel to a family living in one of the poorest areas in Cape Town. Pray for their acceptance of the good news, and praise God for what is happening in Cape Town and Ocean View!
No comments:
Post a Comment