. Race separation is a big deal here. It's not violent, it's not
Blacks- pure race (Masi and middle camp Red Hill), Xhosa speaking,
males pay marriage 'price' to the woman's family, traditional African
stereotypes (what you see in movies about African tribal people)
Colored- mixed race, lower-class (Ocean View, Capricorn, Overcome
townships), less traditional than blacks in South Africa
. My ministry is to the Life Skill Educators as much as to the
townships. Just living the Christian life whole-heartedly around those
that I work with is huge ministry. Here are some examples:
- Time with Shagmie in office, talking about life and Christ's will for us.
- Natalie (Capricorn Clubs Team Leader) opening up, honest with me
about work and view of ministry.
- Teens Team- encouraging their leadership, building up confidence,
equipping their ministry through my small marketing skills
- Constantly in conversations about spiritual things and cultural application.
- Everyone's curious about why I'm here, how I got to this place…
allows me to tell my testimony and God's faithfulness to call and
send.
- Just being around a lunch table or driving in the car with one of
these native South Africans leads to conversations that lead to
ministry time, pouring into people, encouraging, listening,
counseling…
. Transportation is ALWAYS an issue here. A very small percentage of
people I work with have transportation. Living Hope has a car that's
for the group to use; that gets tricky too- when 10 people on the team
need to be in different places at the same time, arguments break out,
frustrations rise, people are late to schools they're teaching in, and
it's always because of a lack of communication. Mornings and
afternoons are hectic when everyone is trying to arrange a ride. Those
of us with cars often take our team to the bus stop or pick them up to
get to work; it's not an inconvenience, it's ministry.
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