Warm and sunny South Africa is home to just under 52 billion people, and is one of the wealthiest countries on the continent of Africa. However, just as in other countries I have visited, the extremes in wealth are closely coupled with extremes in poverty. This diverse country holds some great opportunity with one of the highest rates of public investment in education in the world. Close your eyes….now what do you picture when you think “Africa”? I’m wondering how many of you saw giraffes, elephants, lions, etc. maybe with some tall grass, mountains, acacia trees, and a sunset in the background. Am I right? Well, I’m definitely looking forward to hopefully seeing some of these beautiful natural attractions! For those of you who are ready to burst my bubble, I do know that not ALL of South Africa looks like this. I’m just hoping to get a glimpse of it at some point!
The country is politically run under a non-racial democracy that was established in 1994. While Christianity is the largest religion for the country, the majority of those who claim to be Christian are not practicing or follow a mix of Christianity and other religions. There has been some great progression in aiding the disadvantaged, but still ample help is needed. One of the big health struggles in South Africa is the very high rate of AIDS/HIV, which influences all areas of life. There are around 500,000 new infections every year, and somewhere around 2 million AIDS orphans. That breaks my heart
I’m not sure where our ministry focus will be during our stay in South Africa, but I would like to invite you to pray for the following things this next week. There are 5 points for prayer, so I invite you to focus on one point each day during the week (or however else you feel led).
~Pray for godly leaders to rise within the government and fight against corruption. Pray for wisdom for South Africa’s leaders to work towards improving the use of resources for the good of all.
~There has been an escalation in violence and crime. Pray for ministries to have open doors to work with at-risk young people and prisoners, as well as working with the local police.
~Pray that people will commit to living a life driven by the eternal purpose of the God they claim to follow, and have a heart to make disciples.
~Pray for those who have been orphaned, widowed or lost a loved one due to AIDS/HIV. Ask that they would know God as their Father, their protector, their hope, their love, and the One who fulfills all needs.
~Pray that those affected with AIDS/HIV will taste and see the goodness of Jesus Christ that brings hope in spite of physical and emotional pain.
I look forward to sharing more first hand information sometime next year! Until then, praise be to our God who is there before, during and after and knows all and is in all!
Resources:
http://www.southafrica.info/about/facts.htm#.UfWvm43VCSp
Operation World book, 21st edition
