Ever since I saw the “Israel and the New Breed” South Africa DVD, I’ve always wanted to go to South Africa. We were told that we would be working with troubled teens, so I expected to be tired. But what I’ve come to realize in the first week here is that this time will be used to pray for South Africa. There is so much division between the white (Afrikaans) and black South Africans.
When going to different areas of the city of Pretoria the division is so evident. We’ve spent most of our time in the area of Mamalode during ministry. There are a handful of people that get along and are very kind to each other, but I guess coming from a country where most of our division is due to political views and not so much about the color of our skin, it’s different. In the United States all different races live amongst each other, in the same neighborhood, but that’s not really the case here.
Beam Africa is the organization that we are working with for the month of February. The husband and wife team who are Afrikaans work mostly with the black South Africans. This ministry is trying to bridge the gap between both the Afrikaans and the black South Africans. The ministry here consists of helping a local pastor build a church, teaching life skills programs, mentoring youth with substance abuse, working with the elderly by granting wishes, and participating in construction building projects.
Every other Saturday we spend time with the substance abuse children ( 6-17 years old) and career guidance students (14-18 years old). As I was sitting down with a group of girls, one of the girls asked me, “Why when we go to “their” (Afrikaans) we must learn their language and yet they don’t want to learn ours?” While she was saying this she was pointing at one of my teammates. I then told her that you should also be pointing at me because we are both from the same country. She started to laugh and I told her think about it, yes the color of my skin is black and he is white, but we are both from the same country; we are Americans.
There are 11 official languages in the black South African culture, while the Afrikaans speak English and Afrikaans, which is derived from their Dutch heritage. The common language for both parties in South Africa is English. I told her that there are many different nationalities in US and that English is our main language. “In order for us to understand each other we all need to learn English; it is the universal language. The reason why they want you to learn English when you go to “their” school is so that you can communicate with each other. I don’t believe the Afrikaans don’t want to learn your language. It’s just that the easiest way for you to communicate with one another is to learn a universal language. But learning different languages is a huge benefit in our world because you have a greater chance of getting a job, and, most importantly, you will not be misunderstood.” Talk about an ice breaker! After this conversation I told them that I would like to learn their language and so we spent the next hour learning Spedi and Zulu.
The first week at Beam we helped with the a Life Skills class, which is a six day course for young adults seeking employment (19-28 years old). The class began with the movie “Faith Like Potatoes,” a cultural diversity discussion, and personality testing. The following day was a teaching from Myles Munroe called “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.” This was one of my favorite days, exploring our purposes in life and realizing that the only way to know our purpose is to ask God.
The next four days of Life Skills class, we discussed communication, conflict management, stress and time management, financial planning, job preparation, and HIV/AIDS. At the end of the six day course the students got a chance to go to a retail store who has partnered up with Beam for job training. If they did well the manager asked them to come and work for the store.
The last day of the class was spent helping the students get prepared for the retail test (a test they had to pass in order to be eligible for the on-site retail training). A lot of the students needed help calculating percentages and a handful did not know how to do basic math problems. It broke my heart to see some of them struggling with simple addition and subtraction. Those that have a hard time have an opportunity to participate in a program that helps them learn basic education – to at least help them get a foot in the door.
We also went to visit Mama Maurine, who is an elderly woman whose wish was to go and be with her family. Mama Maurine came to Pretoria 30 years ago and never had the means to go back to her family. During the time that Beam was getting things together to grant her wish, she was assaulted by some of the young men in her community. Mama Maurine is very old and lives alone, and because of this, the young men believe she is a witch. They broke into her home and attacked her. Her property is being sold right from under her, but Beam has been there with Mama Maurine to help her through it all. She is a very sweet lady and has a smile that lights up the room.
During our time in South Africa, God has opened my eyes to so many different things. There has been a yearning of prayer for this country like no other. There are so many hurting people, so much division and so many being deceived. While here, God has been working on my heart. He has brought to light some of the things that happened in my birth family. Things I’ve kept hidden away. I had to revisit some of the most painful times in my life; it was as if I was going into surgery without being put to sleep. All my life I’ve held on to being strong and putting things to the side, and God says it is time for healing. The worst thing about healing is the pain we face before healing comes. I have to go to the places that I‘ve shut away. This road is painful and the wounds are deep, but I know that with God I am not alone and surgery has to began.
Jan. 29- March 2
