We left Cape Town too late…the traffic was simply absurd. But, as we have a rental, we also have music, so Brahms and Mahler helped calm the nerves and got us safely to our destination.
We enjoyed a peaceful evening dining with the Queen.
This weekend, Louise and I will gather our thoughts, go through all our presentation material, contact more contacts, write out an application for a new project to sponsor Growing the Church trainees through SAMS-USA, and rest. More later…
We leave for a two week trip to the Eastern Cape on Monday. In many ways, we are retracing the footsteps of my great-grandfather who left Cape Town for the Eastern Cape in 1873…only, he and his family went by ox wagon and horse, not by car.
In many ways, this whole area still needs the Gospel as much as it did in the 1800’s. Crime, violence, corruption, superstition, witchcraft, and any number of evils are still practiced widely. Poverty and disease, HIV in particular, plague the people. Many of our Christian brethren in these areas suffer hunger and need.
The southern most part of this area (George and Knysna more particularly) has been devastated by a recent raging bush fire and we wish to be an encouragement to these folks, not a burden. Pray for wisdom as we introduce them to the work of Growing the Church. Many people lost everything. Pray for Lyndon as he coordinates the GtC work in a Diocese which is about as big as South Carolina.
From there we move on to Port Elizabeth – a large coastal city that is key to reaching thousands with the liberating Gospel of Jesus. The key person there is a young man who knows and loves the Lord. Pray for Ulrught as he seeks to open the way for GtC to come into their Diocese to train faculty and Diocesan teams in disciple-making.
From there we move on to Port Alfred and Southwell, both in the Diocese of Grahamstown. Pray for Pen who will be hosting us, together with Cynthia, Basille, and Carol, who all serve in different ways in the area.There is a huge Art Festival taking place in Grahamstown at this time, so we may not be able to do our introductory talk there this time round…but, we will be able to visit the historic mission station where my great-grandfather worked and where my grandfather was born. We are making some good contacts in the area for future reference. Hopefully, on our return journey we will be able to meet folks in East London, another large coastal city.
Then on to Mthatha for a weekend of celebration…apparently, the entire Diocese is gathering for a “family” day on Sunday…so we will get to meet a lot of people all at once! They have promised to provide us with good music and dancing…looking forward to it! Pray for Bullie, our contact and coordinator there.
On our return journey we will meet with folk in another coastal town named Plettenberg Bay. Pray for Pam. There are a number of churches in the area and people are ready to start outreaches, but many folks here are poverty stricken. Training costs about R300 (about $25) per person (that barely covers our costs to print the booklets), so we may need to start a project scholarship fund of sorts.
The return journey is more flexible as some folk may ask for us to return…as I said, we are hoping to meet with folks in East London…but I am sure we will fill our agenda soon!
Please pray for:
1. Protection. The roads here are dangerous on so many levels…wild and domestic animals freely roam around and often cross the roads unexpectedly right in front of fast moving vehicles…uniformed persons have been known to stop cars saying they were speeding, with the hope of receiving a bribe…crazy drivers take huge risks and endanger the lives of everyone around them. Pray for our vehicle as well…no flat tyres or other mechanical problems.
2. Persons of Peace. We need to find spiritual, influential people who will catch the vision of disciple-making and run with it in their Diocese. Please pray for divine appointments all along the way.
3. Financing. GtC operates on a tight budget and has to charge folk for the training. We do not want to miss key leaders simply because they don’t have the wherewithall to pay for the training. Please pray for generous folk to step forward and offer scholarships.
4. Health. That the Lord will grant us good health and that we will not get sick.
Last week we woke up in the dark…our power was off. At first we thought our electricity had run out, as have been running a dehumidifier 24/7 since our flat was mildly flooded during the Mother of all Storms…but we still had enough left on the meter. (Yes, electricity works differently here than in the States.) I waited until the bewitching hour was over and WhatsApped (is that an acceptable verb now?) our Growing the Church group to see if their power was off as well…but then it came back on again…so, we thought no further on the subject.
But last night, we found out what had really happened. As you can see from the photographs, our block of flats has an electrified fence all around it with electric gates that work with remotes.
Louise at the main gate…the infamous power box is behind her.
The security camera that revealed all…
But, that did not stop two possible gang members from getting over it. It’s not hard to see why…there is a tree right next to a street lamp…even I, admittedly with some difficulty, could get over there. Apparently, one of our visitors scaled the walls of the building itself and attempted to enter our neighbour’s flat via their porch…but our neighbours woke up and foiled whatever plans he may have had…they sleep with the porch door open as they, like us, are on the second floor.
From the video footage they could see that the other visitor walked around the base of the building and then towards the gate where he found the main electrical switchbox and…yes, you got it…turned off the mains. Why this box was not locked remains a mystery, but there you have it. He then got over the electrified fence without any discomfort to him or his friend.
Gang activity in our area has apparently escalated of late and we have been warned to become increasingly vigilant. This is so sad as leads to profiling. For us, the only way forward is to treat everyone with dignity and respect regardless of whether they are digging in the trash or dropping their children at the school across the road off in a Mercedes Benz…but to be wise and not put ourselves in harm’s way. So, no more late night strolls unless we are in a group…sigh…this world needs Jesus…
Our flat is in the centre on the second floor…the neighbour’s porch is to the left in the picture…it is relatively easy to scale that wall because of the wood slats.
Louise and I boarded flight 110 to
Johannesburg on June 8 together with our newfound friend and mentor, Jeremy
Koeries of J-Life. We were heading back to Johannesburg to follow-up with those
we trained the beginning of May as well as to train a new batch of trainers.
We stayed in a lovely Convent by the Name
of Koinonia, in an area known as Bezuidenhout Valley.
The training, however,
took place in an area known as Sophiatown….one of the oldest racially mixed
communities in Johannesburg which was destroyed in 1955 when over 2000
policemen forcibly moved people to different areas according to their ethnicity.
Almost all the buildings were demolished, but the suburb was rebuilt, renamed
Tromf (Triumph) and zoned as a whites only area, until the name Sophiatown was
reinstated in 2006. The training centre itself was one of the few structures
not destroyed by the bulldozers. It used to be an orphanage, but is now the
Diocesan Headquarters for the Diocese of Johannesburg. Sophiatown was also home
to the much loved and respected anti-apartheid activist, Father Trevor
Huddleston. Jeremy, Louise, and I managed to visit a centre named in his honour
as well as the church he shepherded and where his ashes have been buried.
On Friday, 9 June, John Abrahamse, the
international director of J-Life, met with our May group for follow-up to see
how they had used the material they had learned previously. He also wanted to
show them how to coach their own disciples and how to teach others to coach
their disciples. All the training materials are designed to create a
multiplication effect in the Parishes, Dioceses, and the Province. To quote the
Apostle Paul, we seek to train those who “will be able to teach others also” (2
Timothy 2:2) until every member of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa has
been trained or equipped to do the work of the ministry.
Unfortunately, as it
was held on a working day, a number could not participate, but we have
encouraged them to form small support groups among themselves and to teach and
coach each other as well as to hold each other accountable. The J-Life leaders
have also graciously made themselves available should our faculty or teams need
assistance.
On Saturday, 10 June, we started training a new group, made up of representatives from the Diocese of Johannesburg and the Diocese of the Highveldt. Some will become Growing the Church Faculty for their respective Diocese, while others will become Diocesan Team Leaders who will serve to train Parish leaders who, in turn will train parishioners.
We returned from Johannesburg on BA flight
6407 on Sunday, 11 June, tired, but joyful. It was a wonderful training event
that we will remember for a very long time.
Between the years 1869 and 1873, my
great-grandfather, Arthur Lomax, served as a Missionary of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel, Curate and then Rector of St Mary the Virgin
Anglican Church, as well as Sub-Warden at the College and Industrial School in
Zonnebloem…all in Cape Town.
On Saturday May 20, Louise and I tutored a student
in the very same buildings Arthur must have frequented. In one sense it was
rather surreal, but in another sense we felt like we have come full-circle. In
our work here, we are continuing what was begun more than a century ago. I have
seen the church where he served, but we have not attended any services there
yet…we also intend to trace his footsteps through the Eastern Cape in the
future.
As you have no doubt realised, we hit the
ground running here, but it sometimes feels like we are running through mud.
South Africa, and Cape Town in particular, makes you think you are in a first
world country…and one is pleasantly deceived for a while until you try to get
something done. Then the lack of resources, supplies, and efficient time-management
dispel any doubts that you are no longer living in the instant get what you
want when you want US of A!
Add to that mix the recent wiki-leaks-like
revelation of government corruption, bold-faced lies, the mind-boggling theft
of billions, and the devastating effect of mismanagement on all different
levels…add to that the worst drought in living memory threatening to bring a
city of 3.7 million people to its knees if we do not get any rain soon…add to
that the glaring contrast between the abject poverty of many and the ostentatious
wealth of a few…and you find yourself rudely awoken to the realities that are
southern Africa.
We live in a lovely flat in an area known
as Upper Wynberg. In the 1600 and 1700’s this whole area was farmland…many
vineyards, hence the name. It is still a very beautiful and historic area and
we love it. The flat is tiny…you can swing a cat in it…barely…and it is
pricey, but it is a ten to fifteen minute walk from our offices in Kenilworth.
Marianne, Louise and the Queen in our flat.
Mike and Marianne, Louise’s sister and brother-in-law, have been helping us
make it home…hanging curtains and blinds, sharing their furniture with us, and
supplying us with cushions and paint at retail prices from their Décor Centre.
We will post photographs when it is complete.
Johannesburg, Christ the King, Pretoria, and Highveld Diocese
We have been learning a lot…as I said
before in our previous newsletter, a lot has changed in twenty years! And we
have been meeting a lot of people, both here and in Johannesburg where Wayne, one
of my GtC colleagues, and I participated in training men and women in how to do
and teach discipleship, based on the life and ministry of Jesus.
Louise has
been busy cataloguing our material, creating a Province-wide prayer network, preparing
teas and cooking meals for training events and the gathering of the GtC Board,
as well as caring for an ailing Queen. Louise’s mum injured her leg a while
back and the wound has become infected. It is not a good situation and she was
quite low the other evening. Louise is with her at present, so she has rallied,
but we will see what the future holds. This is the most frail I have ever seen
her. Please pray for her.
We are still trying to find our way around
here. At least we know where a fabulous Indian Restaurant is! We have yet to
find a home church, as we have either been busy over the weekends or away.
Hopefully we will find one soon. Both of us need to find spiritual directors as
well…but it is tough when you don’t know many folk. Pray for the Lord to lead
us to the right people.
Mannenberg Praise Band
Belhar’s Marimba Band
We recently celebrated GtC’s 10th
Anniversary! The event was held at St John’s Church in Wynberg, but many folks
came from all around to give thanks to the Lord with us. An amazing Marimba band
from St Mary Magdalen, Belhar, a praise band from Mannenberg (a place where
gang-warfare is a daily reality which made their joyful praise all the more meaningful),
and a stunning youth choir helped make the day a memorable one indeed! Wish y’all
could have been there!
Amici De Lumina Youth Choir
Louise and I are busy planning a road trip
up the eastern coast in June to introduce ourselves and our work to the Diocese
along the way. Please pray that things will fall into place soon. Louise is
planning a huge breakfast get-together for the Mother’s Union and Anglican
Women’s Fellowship on July 15, so all has to be squared away before that time.
So much of what we are doing right now is
ground work and foundational and is therefore extremely important…but, to be honest,
I can’t wait to start laying the bricks! I love this discipleship material – it
makes so much sense, it is so thoroughly based on the Gospels, and it is so
easy to internalise! I look forward to the day that it is being used in every
Diocese of this Province. Pray with us toward that end.
On a personal note:
We are still trying to get South African Driver’s licenses as our US
ones will expire in July and September. The wheels of the DMV here move slower
than in the US!
I have seen my doctor and she is very satisfied with my health, but
wants me to stay on my current meds for at least another year. Obviously, there
is no change in the thyroid meds and heart meds…sigh…getting old is not for
sissies!
We still do not have Internet access in our flat and so Face-Time
with our children and grandchildren has to take place in our office. Pray that
this might move forward as well.
We are still in need of a few more generous supporting team members
as far as our support through SAMS-USA is concerned. Ask the Lord of the
Harvest to supply supporters for His labourers in the harvest-field!
Crime is rather high here…theft is rampant, car hijackings are
commonplace in certain areas, together with murder and rape, and open gang
warfare is on our doorstep…pray for our safety.
Pray for open doors with regard to the discipleship training with
more dates than we can handle!
Please do drop us an email or snail-mail
from time to time. We LOVE to hear from you…we do pray for you and it would be
great to know more specific things to pray for!
