Last (Full) Day in Africa

And even that's not quite true.

Technically I will be in Africa all day Wednesday, but I leave Cape Town somewhere around 7:30pm, so that doesn't really seem like a full day here, beings that I'll be travelling. Whatever the matter, it seems my time in Africa has come to a close. Let me tell you, I am at least as shocked as you are. Where did the time go, after all? I was thinking this morning that in two days I will standing in the Toronto airport, thinking about December 26th, 2008 when I left for Africa. I remember that day so well, how as I was looking ahead, 11 and a half months seemed like forever, and yet here I am looking back, and it seems that it was so brief.

Today will actually be a fairly standard day. I still have some assignments that I have to complete for tonight, I have some errands to run and then I have a meeting tonight with Thomas followed by Bible Study. I'll have to think of something to do, it is my last night in town after all...

Review: 'A Celebration of Handel'

The Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town
Conductor: Antoinette Blyth
Camerata Tinta Baroca
Soloist: Magdalene Minnaar (Soprano)

Featuring
Occasional Oratoria Overture
The Coronation Anthems
Concerto Grosso
Selected Soprano Arias
Excerpts from Messiah

Last night was my final night singing with the Cape Town Philharmonia Choir, we ended the season off with a tribute to Handel, what with it being the 250th anniversary of his death this year. The material for the repertoire for the evenings performance was all very accessible stuff, mostly well-known Oratorio pieces and then the soprano arias, and because of this the show was almost sold out.

All in all the pieces were performed well, but there were a few things that stood out to put a bit of a sour taste in our mouths. First, when starting the Coronation anthems, the orchestra and the choir were mixed up as to which anthem they would be starting with, and so the orchestra proceded to start playing a different movement from which the choir was singing, and the piece had to be stopped and restarted. So then for the rest of the movement the choir was unsettled and distracted. Another thing was the staging. After the intermission the Camerata Tinta Barocca required a different stage setting for the Concerto Grosso, only to require a major stage shift immediately afterwards. This disrupted the flow of the concert and only added to the unsettled atmosphere.

But, that being said, the music for the evening went very well. The Camera Tinta Barocca was in fine form, Magdalene Minnaar was phenomenal (I had to constantly remind myself of the perils of falling in love with divas) and the choir also performed well (I thought the 1st baritone from the soloist choir during 'My Heart is Inditing' was exceptional). So, distractions aside, the music went very well. While the choir was a bit too unfamiliar with the 'Coronation Anthems' they made up for it with the better known 'Zadok the Priest' and excerpts from the 'Messiah'. The excerpts from 'Messiah' were the final pieces for the evening, a wise move in saving the most well-known, accessible pieces for last. And the final piece of the evening was the 'Hallelujah Chorus', which traditionally has the audience standing for the performance, and so with that being the ending of the show, we had a guaranteed standing ovation.

It was a memorable performance, I was very glad to be able to sing with such a talented choir that holds high standards for itself. Considering at the beginning of the year I was quite sure I would not be able to sing this year at all, I was glad to have this chance with the Cape Town Philharmonia Choir.

Braai and Farewells

Greetings! I realize it's been a while, I apologize, but with time winding down around here my schedule has become hectic!

Anyway, yesterday I went to a farewell braai that a couple of my friends had for me. Now, before you ask, a braai (procounced the same as 'try' but with a 'b' instead of a 't') is essentially what they call a Barbeque around here. A braai in South Africa is a pretty big deal, South Africans take their braais very seriously and pride themselves in the quality. That being said, my hosts last night were Brazzavillan, but nevertheless we had an excellent meal.

Aside from that I was also at a Farewell Party the youth program here held for me, which was very nice as well and more than I expccted. We had chips and cooldrink and they ordered pizza also. And on top of that they got me some very nice gifts, and two of the youth made speeches on behalf of the rest. I was a little bit blown away, kids often have a way of surprising you...

This week will be another week full of busyness and farewells, but I think I'm finally starting to wrap my head around the fact that I am, in fact, leaving next Wednesday.

Two Funerals

It was a rough weekend for our church community in terms of health concerns. On Sunday I received news of the death or near-death of three people affiliated with our church: Margaret and Monty both passed away, and Johann fell very seriously ill.

Margaret was a long time member of our church, a well respected and well loved member of the community. Her death was not so surprising, and I think it was something of a release for her, but still not easy for the family and friend she leaves behind. We had a memorial service for her yesterday at the care center where she spent the last years of her life.

Monty was another adherent of our church, he owned a successful billtong (South Africa meat product) business in the area and was always a very generous and well liked guy. He only got word of his illness three weeks ago, and that quickly he is gone. His funeral is on Thursday.

And then Johann is another fellow who is affiliated with our church, his wife Juliet has been a core member of the church for a good while, and he might have been were he not confined to a wheelchair, making regular attendance quite difficult. This weekend he suffered some major brain damage, I'm not sure the actual medical diagnosis, but he's left with very limited brain capacity and he may very well be toward his end.

I received word of all this in the past four days! And then to top that off one of our deacon's mothers fell quite seriously ill as well. To give some relative comparison, I've only been involved with two other funerals that we've had all year, so to have this number of incidents happen in such a short time is unusual.

So that's life around here right now, not to mention my still trying to get my head around only three weeks left here. Still unbelievable.

Bonne Fête

No, it wasn't anyone's birthday, but on Saturday our church held our annual Fête, which is a sort of market we set up each year, organizing booths to sell various goods. This year we had a used book booth, a white elephant sale, a used clothing booth, a sausage stand, a pancake sale (or I believe so, but I never actually saw it), a vegetable stand, and a cake sale. There may have been others, but I was busy selling vegetables until pretty late in the sale, so I didn't get to tour around while everything was still in full swing. All in all I believe it was a fairly successful event, raising funds for the church budget and drawing our community closer together.

It was nice to see different members of the community out and around browsing the church and enjoying themselves. In the midst of it all I actually gave one couple a tour of the church, it's nice to have people interested in who we are and what we're doing. We officially opened the doors at 9am, but there were people there well before that, I think our vegetables were all but sold out by 9:30 (though it took another two hours to sell off the excess cabbage and beetroot). The Fête was over by 11:30, but in that time we did well, I think everyone went away satisfied with the day.

Family Visit!

I suppose I've been rather silent for the past couple weeks, you'll have to excuse me, but I was on something of a vacation, beings that my sister and brother in-law came to visit me here in Cape Town.

Of course, I was very happy to have them here, actually, I was so excited when I was picking them up at the airport, I didn't even notice that Jon had an arm sling, due to a shoulder injury he attained a week earlier.

While they were here we toured around the various sites of Cape Town, going to the Company Gardens, Table Mountain, St George's Cathedral, Robben Island, all the mandatory sites of Cape Town. We also had a chance to get down to Hermanus, a coastal town that advertises fantastic whale sitings from the coast. And finally we also took a three day trip down to Port Elizabeth in order to spend an afternoon at Addo National Elephant Park.

So it was a very full 10 days, they went by very quickly. If you get the chance, I recommend you check out Jon's pictures, in fact, I think I could post the link to them right here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jonathan.hines/JonKristenAndPeterInSouthAfrica?authkey=Gv1sRgCPKo4O3KvJLxtgE&feat=directlink

You'll have to copy and paste that, but I hope it works. I dropped Kristen and Jon off at the airport on Monday, and it was sad to see them go, I'll admit, it made me just a little bit more homesick. Yet it seems I have such little time left here, there's not much point to being homesick. Six weeks.

Rossini's Stabbat Mater with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra

Tonight we (the Cape Town Philharmonia Choir) performed Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. The soloists were Nozuko Teto, soprano; Monika Voysey, mezzo soprano; Willem Bester, tenor and Patrick Tikolo, bass.

To start with, for the soloists, the piece is a difficult one. There's lots of chromaticism and some intricate syncopation, not to mention the a capella quartet in the eighth movement. So, the fact that none of them were really up to the task isn't too big a deal, but the reality is that they were not that great.



The conductor for the evening was Arjan Tien, a dutch fellow, and I actually really liked him. He was good to work with in rehearsals. I'm pretty picky with my conductors, but Maestro Tien was top notch, really passionate about the work and good humoured about his criticisms.

The choir itself did fine, but the basses were less than good on our solo a capella entry in the 5th movement, even though we cheated and got the note before-hand. But other than a few hiccups of that sort, our over-all performance was fine, and our a capella movement went fine (which I was the most nervous about), so I was satisfied with that.

The Philharmonic Orchestra was also fine, but they didn't seem to really respond to the passion that they were getting from Maestro Tien. During rehearsals he was often asking for more passion, more life, but in the end it didn't really come across so effectively as I wanted it to.

Anyway, that's my take, apparently I'm an critic now.

The Future is Now!

Yesterday Hawkesville Mennonite Church took a huge leap into the 21st Century, hosting me for a live video-chat as a special 'announcement' during their worship time. It was actually a great experience, though it was hard not to feel the disconnect, beings that I was talking to Hawkesville while sitting at my kitchen table in Cape Town. But I took around five minutes to give a bit of a snapshot of my ministry down here and what it's like to be in Africa. It gave me a small taste of what it will be like to get back home and try and give an account of what this time has been for me. Speaking with my family yesterday evening (also by skype) they indicated that the conversation at church had gone well, and that people had gotten something meaningful out of it, so I am glad of that.

It did get me thinking though. I am a self-professed 'Luddite' (if you want to know what a 'Luddite' is, check this wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite ) but here I am comfortably referencing wikipedia articles and promoting skype conversations. I think the key component to being some one who questions the value of technology for the sake of technology is asking what role the particular invention is playing. If it is something that is promoting individualization, advocating materialism, harming the environment or is just an unnecessary luxury, then it is worth questioning. Simply demonizing technology on the principle of 'all technology is evil' seems to me unwise, but I believe it is appropriate to question the extent to which we rely on technology to make our lives easier.

Take a look at this article on technology and fear to get another perspective on the discussion of a faithful approach to technology (it's also where I stole my idea about the true nature of a Luddite)
http://iamrevolting.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/confessions-of-an-irrational-fear-mongerer/

Mennonites in Africa

Yesterday and Saturday and I the opportunity to meet with some of the Mennonite Witness workers who are also serving in South Africa. Phil Lindell Detweiler was in town facilitating a conference on Conflict Resolution for church leaders in and around the Cape Flats in Cape Town. The conference is going to be held from the 7th to the 9th at the university of Cape Town, I felt fortunate that Phil was able to spare the time to spend with me, pulling such a conference together is no small task. Phil had me over to the place he was staying at in Observatory (another subdivision here in Cape Town) and made a meal for us to share. It was delicious! and very edifying conversation as well.

And then just today I had the opportunity to meet Karen and Andrew Suderman, the couple currently residing at 17 Croft Rd in Pietermaritzburg where Dan and Yvonne used to live. I would say they are Dan and Yvonne's 'replacements' but I don't think that's quite an adequate term under these circumstances. Each person that come through here on behalf of Mennonite Missions brings their own unique gifts to the table, and today I was happy to be able to get to know Karen and Andrew as well as to find out about their ministry in South Africa. They told me that they have been in South Africa for almost six weeks, and have already spent half of that on the road! So needless to say they have been busy taking in the country and discerning what exactly their time here will be all about. Having now had the opportunity to talk with them, I am optimistic for their time here and their ongoing contributions to Anabaptism in Africa, I'm sure they will be a blessing to those they come in contact with.

Priesthood of All Believers

Mennonites fall under the bracket of those denominations who confess the 'priesthood of all believers.' I remember growing up every week in the bulletin at my home church there was the contact information for the pastor, all the elders, and just underneath that it said: "Ministers: All the congregation". It's one of those things you don't notice until you understand what it means. The idea of your whole congregation being part ministers or priests in the church implies that everyone who is a member contributes to the life and ministry of the church, that it's not one leader, bishop, priest, synod, dominee or whatever that 'runs' the church. This is the policy of the Mennonite Church, this is also the policy of the Congregational Church.

In that vein, on Saturday Thomas and I gave a young woman, Thato, a crash course in worship leading. By 'worship leader' I refer to the one who facilitates the service, introducing the call to worship, hymns, prayers and etc. I can tell you it's a nerve-wracking job if you've never done it before, but I believe that Thato will be more than capable. She performs her debut on Sunday the 18th, the day I'm preaching, so we'll see how it goes!

The idea of getting different people involved with worship in the church, I believe, contributes to this idea of the priesthood of all believers, making the congregation generally conscious that each person can serve the church, that we are all called to contribute our gifts to the church community.

Over 21's Retreat

This past weekend seven of us from the church headed down to Gordon's Bay for the weekend to enjoy a weekend away from it all at a retreat centre just outside town. Despite pretty crumby weather, spirits were high and I think the weekend went really well. We spent the weekend meditating on the theme of friendship, studying the stories of Ruth and Naomi as well as David and Jonathan. And the retreat there were three girls and three guys, and then Mirjam led the proceedings. It worked out nicely, as the girls were able to lead the discussion on Ruth and Naomi, while the guys led the discussion about David and Jonathan, and through that we had some great discussion.



But there was more to the weekend to Bible studies and discussion. We went down to the beach on Saturday (when it wasn't raining) and played in the sand and took a walk on the beach. Then at night we were entertained by spontaneous power outages and challenging each other with nonsensical, unsolvable riddles (ie. 'I have no arms and no legs, what am I? Answer: an apple). The other major thing about the weekend was that we had WAY too much FOOD. Every time we opened the fridge it seemed that it became more full. We ended up buying containers to take the leftovers home in, there was so much!

A good weekend all in all. I'll have to talk to the official photographer for the weekend and see if I can't get some photos up here from the event.

Mental Health Hospital

I was down at the mental health hospital today, a place called 'Valkenberg.' I was helping to take home a woman from our church who has been admitted there, but goes home on weekends. From her reports it was difficult to get an accurate assessment of the facilities there, but it's safe to say they are not exactly ideal. I was reluctant to take pictures, it didn't seem quite like the proper thing to do. The place is set in a nice location, but because of budget restrictions the whole health system in South Africa is feeling the crunch, especially public hospitals such as Valkenberg, so the quality of care suffers. Yet for people such as the woman from our church, it is the only help available.

Yet even in ideal circumstances with state of the art treatment, mental illness is a very difficult thing to live with. I suppose that's not such a profound or new thing to say, but having been exposed to the difficulties that some deal with in terms of the mental well-being, I am reminded of the gift that good health is.

September 13th 1989 - September 13th 2009

On September 13th 1989 religious and political leaders in Cape Town organized a peace march to protest the 'white only' elections that had been held the previous week. The march marked a significant transition point towards the end of apartheid and the beginnings of mass democracy in South Africa. Here's the link to the wikipedia article that gives a good summation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town_peace_march

Yesterday there was a service held at St George's Cathedral to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the march as well as to remember the 23 people who were killed during the march. Although I didn't go to the memorial service (I really wish I had) I did make it out to the vespers service in the evening and talked to a friend who had attended the memorial service, but was also there 20 years ago for the march. One interesting thing she said was that at the commemoration service it was mostly 'old people' which was indicative of a trend in South Africa where the youth have a difficult time understanding the significance of the change between pre-apartheid and post-apartheid. While it would be easy to be appalled at the ignorance of these generalized 'youth', one could also say that it is important to move on and not be forever living in and lamenting the past, being unable to move on. There is still a need for change in South Africa, but it is not the same change that was needed in 1989. Yet to forget our past and where we came from would also be foolish.

It is complicated issues like this that the future leaders of South Africa face in the years to come.

New Pictures?

Well, it has been a while since I've added to my Flickr site, but I have posted some pictures I took at The Arch yesterday. Follow the link on the right here that says 'Peter's Africa Pictures' and then note the group that says 'the Arch'.

Enjoy!

The Arch - St. George's Cathedral

Every Wednesday from 9am to 2pm I volunteer at 'the Arch' a social ministry program run out of St George's Cathedral in downtown Cape Town. It's a really neat program and I enjoy my time there. The program's intent is to provide food and a place of peace and rest for those who need it, as well as to provide them with practical training sessions for anything from basic reading and writing to craft making. The thing with the practical skills is that they have no one to teach them at the moment, so the current ministry is simply food and a place to rest. Food and rest are important things, but from the perspective of us serving the food, it's a little disheartening to be giving to the same people from week to week without being able to offer them any help of perhaps improving their situation.

Regardless, it's a program I'm happy to be a part of, whether my motives are selfless or not, I enjoy being able to help people out in circumstances such as the ones I am faced with at The Arch, and I'm able to meet some really neat people while I'm there. Mary who is more or less the administrator of the program is a wonderful person, full of compassion and warmth. And Damien who is more or less the floor supervisor is an exemplary story of some one who made it off the streets from the lifestyle of a 'gangster' to some one who helps those who are currently in that position.

As I continue to explore places like the Arch at St George's I continue to get a feel for the conditions the homeless face in Cape Town. With these issues of poverty and social justice it seems that the more you learn the more you realize how complex it all is. All told I don't have that many Wednesdays left at The Arch, but with those days I do left I look forward to continuing to develop relationships and learn more about the circumstances that allow and necessitate it's existence.

21st Birthday Celebration

(The Picture is, From Left to Right: Ester, Phakamile and Arnaud)


On Sunday a few of us from the over 21's group at our church had a small birthday party for one of our own, Phakamile, who is turning 21. Phakamile (I call her Pax) is from the Eastern Cape and is Zulu in her background. In her culture (and a wide variety of others in South Africa) the 21st birthday is a very important event, marked by a very big, and often very expensive birthday party. For some of the more extravagant birthday parties (I am told) the whole family from all of the country is invited, a banquet hall will be rented, the women will all get fancy/expensive dresses, etc. The whole process really seems more similar to a wedding than to how I would be familiar with celebrating a birthday party.

As for our group, we simply had a nice lunch at a local restaurant, and afterward we headed to the church where some one had made up a table for a lovely dessert party. And from there we headed to the local mall to watch a movie ("the Proposal" - I can't say I'd recommend it...). A nice day all in all, but in terms of extravagance and style - it didn't even come CLOSE to the party her family threw for her.

Women's Breakfast

This morning the women of our church held a breakfast with the intent of celebrating the benefits of their sex, learning what it means to be Christians who also happen to be women. Now, you would think that I would be inherently disqualified from this gathering, left to ponder the mysteries of that fair sex - but they needed somebody to mind the younger ones, so thus I was able to attend, albeit in a more detached and practical role, that of 'creche keeper'.

By the end of it, all agreed that the morning was an outright success. The speaker was excellent (or so they told me - that was one part I missed), the food was exquisite (I was sure not to miss that part) and the company was edifying. I can only hope that at some point those of similar sex to me will celebrate a similar day, but alas, as of yet such a day goes unplanned.

Unfortunately once again I failed to remember to bring along my camera so as to capture the events of the day in photographs. It seems that always having a camera in my pocket is a habit I have yet to acquire, something hope to remedy before too long.

Renee Fleming and Co

Well, last night was the big performance, something I've been anticipating for a while. Renee Fleming came to perform at the Cape Town City Hall. The show sold out in the first two days that the tickets were on sale, there was such demand that they accidentally sold the seats where the choir was to be seated! So the place was PACKED, not an empty seat to be found. The performance itself was phenomenal, imagine some one singing all of your favorite pieces, absolutely perfectly, I'm not much of a critic, but I was blown away (except at the spots where she forgot the words, but it was in Italian, so not many people noticed). The program itself went like this:

1. Rossini - Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Overture
2. Handel - "Danke Sei Dir Herr"
3. Handel - Rodelinda "Ritorna, o Caro e Dolce mio Tesoro"
4. Handel - Semele "Endless Pleasure"
5. Verdi - I Limbardi "Gerusalem, Gerusalem"
6. Verdi - La Forza Del Destino: Overture
7. Verdi - Otello: Ave Maria
8. Verdi - I Vespri Siciliani: Merce, Dilette Amiche

INTERVAL

9. Bizet - Carmen: Suite No. 1
10. Massenet - Cleopatre: "J'ai verse le poison dans cette coupe d'or"
11. Gounod - Faust: "Jewel Song"
12. Saint-Saens - Samson et Dalila: Bacchanale
13. Puccini - Gianni Schicci : "O Mio Babbino Caro"
14. Puccini - Tosca: "Vissi D'Arte"

ENCORES:

1. Zandonai - Conchita: "Ler Dalla Fabbrica"
2. Gershwin - Porgy and Bess: "Summertime"
3. Loewe - My Fair Lady: "I Could Have Danced All Night"
4. Verdi - La Triviata: Brindisi

Quite the program! I said yesterday that I'd try to post some pictures, well, believe it or not it's pretty difficult to take pictures while performing, and the press managed not to have any pictures of the actual performance posted as of yet, so sorry, you're in the dark for now, but I will see what I can do.

All in all it was a fantastic night, one of those concerts I'll remember as long as I'm remembering concerts.

Concerning September

So, after doing some research and viewing some of my colleagues blogs, I have decided to change my format here a bit. Rather than updating things bi-weekly, I am going to start adding updates as events happen, making a more regular effort of things. I think it will be a bit more effort on my part, but I also think it will be worth it. So this post is simply to whet your appetite for things to come, and hopefully pictures will be on their way as well!

Tonight Renee Fleming is performing with our choir here in the city, so I will update you on that tomorrow, and hopefully there will be pictures as well!

Also please note the relevant links I have posted to the right here, they are all related to my work and ministry here, and I encourage you to take a look!

Spring Comes Swiftly

I'll admit, it's becoming increasingly difficult to think of creative yet applicable names for my entries here. The reality of the matter is that every two weeks I sit down at the computer and say 'has it really been two weeks already?' South Africa is full of count-downs, and count-ups. Here we are counting down the days to the world cup (297 days, today) and counting up the number of days that President Zuma has been in office (today marks day #100). Whether counting up or down, it has become apparent to me that when this year does come to an end, it will surely have been the quickest year of my life. They say years speed up as you go on in life, but really I think circumstances have also allowed for this year to move on very quickly.

Into August
With the beginning of August I once again started a more structured schedule. However, starting this month Thomas added a practical assignment to go along side with my weekly academic assignments. This was in an effort to address areas I could still stand to improve on, for example public speaking habits (mumbling, rushing, etc.) that I still have. Also included in the more practical realm of things is the opportunity to go visit an NGO and a different local soup kitchen (or something of the like). I had been hoping to have opportunities such as these for a while, but I had not yet got around to plotting it out, so it's nice to have an excuse in my schedule to get things done.

And of course this month I will be continuing with the usual array of visits and counseling sessions and general ministry things. One highlight for me was that yesterday I got to teach our church a song from back home, "God of the Bible" it is called. Here at Sea Point Evangelical Congregational we are in the midst of updating our hymn supplement books, so hopefully this song will contribute to that process. Often the songs a church sings say a lot about what they believe, so choosing songs can be a pretty important task. During our search for a new director for our choir Thomas pointed out that in the Old Testament the song leader or director of music was a very important person in public worship, not just to be given to whoever wanted the job. So preparing this song seemed to me a good opportunity to reflect on the role of music in worship.

Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town
It seems I mention the Cape Town Philharmonia Choir that I am a part of quite often on this blog. Well, this month we got some VERY exciting news. Renee Fleming, the American soprano is coming to South Africa and doing three shows, only one in Cape Town, and OUR CHOIR has been asked to sing with her! So for the past two weeks we have been having extra rehearsals on Saturdays in order to learn a few selections from some of Verdi's operas. The performance is one September 1st, so we only have another two weeks to get ready, but everyone is so into it, I'm sure it won't be a problem. Now, I have been very excited about this for the past month, but really unless you follow the opera world you probably have never heard of Renee Fleming. Well, rest assured, this is a big deal, not just for our choir but to have her come sing in Cape Town is a big treat for a city where it is sometimes difficult to attract big names. The show sold out in minutes, good news for art music in Africa.



Looking Ahead in August
I think the rest of August will be good couple of weeks. I will be looking forward to the Renee Fleming concert, but in terms of my work here I am looking forward to getting around to the NGO type places that I have in mind to visit. On Wednesday I head down to St. George's Cathedral to check out what ministries for the poor they are working on there. St George's is the church Desmond Tutu served at while he was Archbishop of Cape Town, so there's a lot of history at the church, I'm looking forward to have the opportunity to visit there and see what they are up to by now.

Then it Will be September
Once again that is a brief glimpse of the highlights of the past two weeks, before you or I know it, it will once again be two weeks later, and I wil tell you how the rest of August was, and what I am looking forward to in September. About a week ago I booked my flight home, December third it will be - it is already approaching more quickly than I am able to comprehend right now. Whatever the matter, I will talk to you again in two weeks.

Until next time,

July, In Summary

Hey Everyone,

If you were curious as to my absence for the past month, it was due to the fact that I took a month off from writing on this blog of mine. That is to say, I guess, that I skipped one of my bi-weekly entries, and so it has now been a month since my last entry. So here we are, a month later, and of course July was another month full of activity here in Sea Point.

For me the tone of the month was set by the fact that rather than having daily assignments, I was assigned general assignments for the month that I was set to complete by managing my time accordingly. This flexibility allowed for me to set my schedule as I best saw fit, which was nice. Actually, in a way it reminded me of being back at university, being given assignments and projects to complete by a certain date and then having the rest of the time to do what you deemed best. So I tried to make the best of my time, I got a lot of reading done, and I also had a week's vacation. It was a good month.

Three Weeks as Pastoral Minister
Something I've been mentioning a lot in my prayer letters as well as this blog has been the time I spent with the responsibilities of the pastoral ministry at Sea Point Evangelical Congregational while Thomas was on vacation. I guess for me it was important experience beings that it was my first time have some sort of executive leadership in a church setting. And though it's kind of silly to think of any leadership as 'executive' in a church setting, however you want to call it, I was the one addressing the spiritual concerns of our church while Thomas was away. Thomas is back now, so that three week period is over, but reflecting back on those weeks, I think they went well. During this time Una Couchois, one of the woman at our church was admitted to the hospital with heart problems and later she had a pace-maker put in, and I went to visit her a couple times (a challenge when you don't have a car), and Angela, a woman I've been counselling, was admitted to the psychiatric hospital, so that required some special attention. It was these sort of 'crises' that gave me just a glimpse of what it is to be charged with the ministry of a church community. It was a good experience.

Michael McNally
And then, on the morning I was set to leave for my week's vacation, I received word that Michael McNally, a member of our church, commit suicide. Upon hearing that I was tempted to cancel the vacation and stay behind for the family, but I was encouraged to go nevertheless. So that news gave some tone to the rest of my week, though it didn't define it completely. The funeral wasn't until the Tuesday when I got back, so I was able to attend the service. Suicide is so difficult. Michael was an older gentleman, but not so old, he definitely went before his time. He left behind a wonderful wife, two sons and grandchildren as well. Michael was also well respected in the community, for his funeral the church was more full than I had ever seen it.

A Vacation Nevertheless
So with the thoughts of Michael McNally in my head I left for a vacation outside a town called Hermanus. I went to a Christian community called Volmoed, which is a small community set up on the coastal hills about two hours down the coast from Cape Town. After spending straight months in the city, I didn't realize how much I missed being out in nature again. There were some great hiking trails on the property, I think I did all of them by the end of the week. I was there for the week and the only responsibilities I had were cooking for myself, I had the whole rest of the week to myself. It was very nice. Every morning the community met for prayers and then they had coffee or tea together afterwards, it was so good to be among a close-knit community as they were.

While there I also had a chance to meet John De Gruchy and is his wife Isobel. John was Mirjam's supervisor while she was writing her thesis for her Ph.D, himself having many ties to the Mennonite world. John was also one of the chain of connections that enabled me to be placed in Sea Point in the first place, so it was nice to have a chance to meet him and his wife. On the last two days I was there Matthew and John from church joined me at Volmoed and we enjoyed some time off together, it was a great ending to the week.

From the End of the Vacation Until Now
I got back from vacation on July 20th and it was right back into things with Michael's funeral the next day. However, other than that funeral the following was pretty subdued, which I was thankful for. I continued to get some reading done and just did some miscellaneous visits and projects that I hadn't done before I left.

Then, last weekend Phil Lindell Detweiler from Pietermaritzburg came down to visit in order to check up on some of the projects they are working with down here, and he was able to set aside some time for us to connect once again. He proposed that we hike up Table Mountain, and that turned out to be an excellent idea. We left a little late in the afternoon, so it was dark as we descended the last of the hill, but it was a really good time. We had some great discussions on his ministries and experiences in South Africa as well as what I'm doing down here in Sea Point. It was good to be able to get his perspective on some of the issues and ideas that are going through my head. And then the hike itself was fantastic and beautiful as well, the icing on the cake really.

Finally, this past Saturday I went to visit Valkenburg (sp?) Psychiatric hospital where Angela, the woman I have been counselling, admitted herself. I was expecting it to be pretty dire conditions, so when I got there it wasn't as bad as I was expected, but then I didn't really get much of a chance to investigate the conditions of the place, I just took a walk to and from the grocery store near by while talking with Angela. I was once again struck by the frustrations and difficulties of mental illness and depression specifically, and how it is so easy to lose hope in such situations. Angela formerly had be convinced that admitting herself to this hospital would all but solve her problems, and how she's there and all she wants to do is leave, refusing to make decisions to help change her situation. So we pray, and we hope that Angela will persevere in seeing the positive sides of life.

There You Have it For the Month
Once again there seems like a million things I could say, but we only have so much time here I suppose, I will continue with regular updates in the future. Tomorrow Thomas and I will meet to set tasks for the next month, so we'll see what August will have to show.

Take care Until then

Two Days Late, I know

From the Land of the 'Winter Solstice'

I wonder if any of you who read this are actually as concerned with my keeping my bi-weekly Monday promise as I am. Seriously, it gives me stress!

About a week ago (I believe it was on the 21st in fact) we celebrated the 'Winter Solstice' around here, which struck me as odd. A) Because I was basically the only one who remembered, and B) because I am far too used to having my birthday in winter as opposed to summer. Another unusual thing was that almost nobody remembered that June 21st is also the first day of winter, am I the only one who keeps track of these things?

Towards the end of June and into July the schoolkids get three weeks off from school, and general chaos spreads on the rest of the population. Actually, it's not that noticable a difference at all. However, in terms of the kids we get at youth, having more free time on their hands probably isn't the best thing. We'll see how many we get at youth next week (yet somehow last week we managed to have record numbers again).

But around here things usually quiet down during 'winter break' even at the church. Many of our regular programs shut down for a while, so my schedule has been more relaxed the past few weeks.

The Pastor Goes on Sabbatical
However, with the come of winter holidays, our minister, Thomas also took a leave, heading off to the middle of nowhere (somewhere in the Karoo, I'm not even sure where exactly) to research and write a bit of a paper. So, while he's gone he left me with the pastoral ministry of the church. This is basically the visiting and the praying for and crisis intervention type of stuff, which is actually a part of the business I enjoy doing. Yet, as I was saying before, the winter break brings a bit of a lull in the church, and that seems to mean for pastoral cares and concerns as well. Though I should say there have been a few things I've dealt with thus far.

Sabbaticals also brings to mind my little break that I get to take in a few weeks. I've mentioned this before about my trip to Hermanus, but I really am looking forward to it, not even really because I'm aching to have some time off, but just because it sounds like a really neat, beautiful place and I think it will be a good experience.

It was My Birthday
For the fourth time in my life I spent a birthday away from home a couple Thursdays ago. I think as you go on in life birthdays become less and less of a big deal, but to my surprise a few people around here knew about my birthday, so I got a nice dose of birthday greetings. And then Mirjam took me out for lunch too, which was a really nice surprise. And to top it all off yesterday I received a package containing a nice pile of birthday cards from various people back home at my church in Hawkesville! Well, I was very surprised, but also really happy to get them. And then, the day before that I received some presents in the mail from my parents, 'Sing the Journey' and 'Sing the Story' , the two Mennonite Hymnal supplements! So though I wasn't at home to celebrate a few special parties (Side note - Scott, Andrea and Dana: 'Madenighwatzkestravaganza' is the correct spelling of that word), friends around here and back home definitely made the day memorable.

Keeping Busy
With Thomas being gone, there was a small concern that I would have nothing to do for the month while he was away. Well, rest assured, this has not been the case. Aside from the various readings and projects he prepared for me in advance, I've also had the chance to catch up on some of my own reading. But really, this month's assignment was actually very helpful in figuring out some of own perspective. This month I have been reading up on 'Narrative Theology', which is a branch of theology that Mennonites kind of more or less follow by. It's been really interesting and productive for me to read some of these things and again to be able to get a better handle on what I believe and why. Understanding the ideas behind terms such as 'Christocentrism' and 'open soteriology' and 'post-millenialism' etc., may seem a bit trivial, but actually end up really giving me some perspective on where I stand on issues that can sometimes seem overwhelming.

Again, Until Next Time
Well, I think that gives you a bit of an idea of what the past two weeks have been. Over here I'm doing well. I guess beings that it's July I have 5 months left here, from time to time I start thinking about what life after Africa is going to be like, it seems absurd that I might have to start planning for things on the other side of the ocean before too long. Ah well, such is life.

Until next time,

Half-Way Through June

An Eventful Couple Weeks

I'm not sure these past two weeks were in actuality more busy than weeks past have been, however these past two just seemed busy. I think this may be because of the Saturday I spent in Khayelitsha. For those of you who don't know, Khayelitsha is a township just on the outskirts of Cape Town, an area full of severe poverty and crime. The reason I say these two weeks seemed busy because of my day in Khayelitsha is because I spent a lot of time reflecting on that experience and how to deal with it exactly. Perhaps I could say I spent a lot of mental energy on Khayelitsha, but more on my trip to Khayelitsha a bit later. Another piece of important news for me, I think, is that last Sunday (the 7th) I led communion at our church. True, I did lead communion for the Women's Association my first week here, but this was my first time leading for the whole church, so I was pretty excited about that.

Khayelitsha
Well, I might as well hop into my time in Khayelitsha right away. Even though there were a few interesting and important things in the past two weeks, it was this experience that stands out in my mind. The Mayolas are friends with Thomas, and they are pastors at a church out in Khayelitsha where they said they would be happy to have me as a guest on a Saturday (which is when they have their service). So I was glad to have this opportunity to visit one of the most impoverished areas of South Africa. As I was saying earlier, Khayelitsha is a township, and townships are the areas that, during the apartheid era in South Africa, were designated for the 'non-whites' that worked in or near the larger cities (where it was illegal for 'non-whites' to live). Of course, since apartheid these laws have changed, but these townships have only grown in size and are still 99% 'non-white.' The government maintains that living conditions in the townships have changed since the end of apartheid, but many who live there maintain that they have not. In the townships people live in self-made huts, out of recycled materials - the resulting place of dwelling is barely adequate for protection from the elements, yet over one million people live in Khayelitsha.

Church in Khayelitsha
The Mayola's are pastors of a small church community in Khayelitsha. Small perhaps, but not lacking in energy or enthusiasm. I arrived with the Mayola's on time for the separate hour of prayer that they have with the other church leaders before the actual service begins. The service itself begins with an hour of 'praise' and then a separate hour for 'worship', both times are led by their worship leader and Pastor Mayola interchangably. After this Pastor Mayola gives his message in a spontaneous, led by the spirit manner for about an hour, and then they celebrate communion, closing with an hour for the Spirit 'to move among them', which means pastor Mayola inviting people up to the front to speak in tongues. All this was a good deal removed from what I'm used to in a church setting. I spent a lot of the time reflecting on the role that culture plays in defining how we worship, and what to make of the extreme differences in styles of worship that this church and my own practice. It was a good experience for me to be there. The church itself is a very devout, if not small, community, while there I felt very welcomed and I was treated as a guest of honour.

The Sickness Descends
And now for something completely different. The last week was also defined for me by an epidemic of sickness that swept the church. Each member of the Scarborough family took their turns being sick, beings that many of my interactions with the church are also led or co-led by one of the Scarboroughs, my schedule for the week was significantly reduced due to cancellations. Thankfully many folks are doing better now, but it just goes to show that wherever winter strikes in the world, it manages to bring a higher susceptibility to sickness. It was not just the Scarboroughs that were effected either; on Thursday our a significant amount of our deacons were sick, enough to postpone the meeting until this Thursday. So whatever the matter, it seems that winter, and all that winter brings with it, has descended up us.

In Other News
The past two weeks has also brought the usual assortment of interesting visitations and counseling sessions. Just yesterday Thomas and I went to visit a couple that lives right in town here Harry and Cynthia Berry. A few years ago Cynthia had a serious stroke, and since then Harry has stayed with her and done what he can to keep them together living at their apartment. The two were married just after high school and are now into their sixties (I assume). Despite their difficult circumstances they remain quite optimistic about the situation, though it has obviously impacted their lives quite substantially. I led a communion service for the four of us, and it was very good. I left their apartment feeling inspired by their faithfulness amidst adversity.

Recently Thomas and I also went to visit Brother Israel, another local pastor. Brother Israel 'converted' from Catholicism to being a born again Christian before starting his ministry, and now lives here in Sea Point and serves a small congregation. Brother Israel and his wife were very nice and welcoming people, and again I was treated as a guest of honour it seemed to me, but I was again struck by how different faith can be in different contexts. Brother Israel's spiritual hero was a televangelist from America whose name escapes me now (no, it wasn't Jim Baker or Billy Graham or anyone all too famous), yet whose theology seemed a bit suspect to me. Yet a kind and gentle man like Brother Israel had great respect and admiration for the man. It's not that I was so surprised by some one from a different context believing differently than me, but here was such a prime example of a different perspective, it stuck out in my mind.

All for Now
Life around here is still going really well, I would say. Again with these entries you only get a snippet of my day to day life, but trust me when I say that my time is passing well - and quickly! I just finished writing my 'mid-term report' yesterday. Unbelievable. Some other big news around here was that we recently got word that Mirjam passed her doctoral thesis, and on Friday she participated in graduation ceremonies! Very exciting news for her, she worked extremely hard to get here. And then yesterday was Matthew's birthday, so things have been a bit exciting around the Scarborough household the past few days!

Anyways, I hope you're all well. I think of you, my friends and family back home, often (but not too often...). Take care!

Blog Madness!

Today marks the second time so far this year that I get to write a prayer update letter as well as a blog write-up on the same day. I love you guys, but man, it's a lot of writing. But, this is coming from the guy who used to write all his year-end papers the week before they were due. So, in a strange way, writing far, far too much in a short period of time makes me nostalgic for my academic days. Kind of like tree planting: while you're there, you hate it, but when you think back about it, all you have is good memories...

It's Only been about 11 Days

Nothing really epic has happened in the past 11 days since I last spoke to you. Actually, honestly, I just spent the past 2 hours writing here, only to discover that I just reiterated almost the entirety of my last post. Awesome. There was some really good news from home I just received recently though – my sister is coming to visit this fall! Hooray! And hopefully Jon can come too! I'm pretty excited about this, it was really great when my parents came, it was only a shame that they had to leave so soon, so I'm looking forward to more visitors. Though by the time they come I'll only have a couple months left here! Which is ridiculous! I often reflect on how quickly time is passing here. Soon enough I'll be writing my half-way report, which seems almost inconceivable.

Homelessness in Sea Point

Speaking of homelessness (kind of) this month I have had one particular assignment on my mind basically the whole time. I have been assigned the task of figuring out how to address the homeless folks who frequent our church for help. Quite often these folks struggle with addiction issues or are refugees, and either way they're in a rough spot. So I've been doing a bit of research trying to figure out what other organizations in our area are doing. Often the answers are pretty strict, along the lines of not providing any help or support at all, which seems not to be the correct solution to me. So we'll see what I can come up with. No matter what, it's not an easy thing to process at all. Social services around here are painfully inadequate and often those with the least resources are left to fend for themselves, and that unfortunately often leads to crime. I mean, it's much more complicated than that, I'm still working on what to make of the whole situation.


Life Generally

I do get some spare time occasionally as well, in fact, I'm really happy with my schedule, I'm feeling really integrated with the church and it's ministry, and yet I have time to pursue my own projects as well. For me, 'projects' mostly means doing a lot of reading. I try to balance out literature and non-fiction in my reading endeavours, but I think for the moment literature is winning out. I just finished 'the French Lieutenant's Woman' by Fowles, and I'm looking to get started on something by James Joyce. My theory is that reading good books will help me become a better pastor. I haven't quite worked out that equation yet, but neverthless, I press onwards. In terms of non-fiction I'm reading Michel Foucault's History of Sexuality Volume I: A Will to Knowledge (or something like that). Another attempt on my part to get a better handle on the issues of sexuality always seem to be under debate in the church. Also, Slavoj Žižek's 'For They Know Not What They Do”, mainly because it has a cool title. I'm not sure if you're interested in what I'm reading, but frankly, that's how I fill a lot of my free time, that and movies (watched 'Magnolia' again last night, great movie), so now you know.

Anyways, that's about it for now. If there's ever anything you're curious about, feel free to let me know, it can be a bit of a challenge trying to figure out what to tell you from week to week, many things end up getting omitted. So, if there's some question you have, do feel free to post a comment.

Until next time,

Peter

Two Days Late

The Past Two Weeks

As time goes on here, with each passing week, I feel less like a tourist and more like an occupant. I'm not at a point yet where I can start making fun of the 'tourists' in a pretentious sort of way, but I'm certainly starting to feel settled in. For instance, I now have a pretty solid idea of the basic layout of Sea Point – it would be tough for me to get lost here at this point. Also, there's a coffee shop at the mall where I am almost familiar. I'm not sure what to think of the idea of being a 'regular' at a particular place (Stella's on Grant and Kenaston however...), but this is one of the few places close by where it's not unusual to get a coffee 'to go', something which isn't so common around here. And finally, I have a membership at the local movie store, as well as the local library. So, four months in, Cape Town is starting to feel more like home. Other than Canada, the longest I've stayed in a country was the 88 days I spent in Guatemala. That is interesting to me, because the three month mark here really seemed to be a turning point for me, from 'tourist' to 'temporary resident' it almost seemed. Whatever the matter, right now it seems that everything is clicking into place, I'm very happy to be where I am

Over 21's Bible Study

This past week I had the opportunity to lead the our 'Over 21's' Bible Study. This group represents a demographic which has been quite rare with any of the churches I've been involved with. After student graduates from high school or perhaps university they have tendency to slip off the church map until for a while, and then when they get married and have kids, some of the manage to reappear, yet almost consistently in churches across North America (I am told) this 'young adults' category is a bit of a mystery. At Sea Point we are very fortunate in that we have a number of folks who fit into that category attending our church. There are five of us who regularly attend the Wednesday Bible Study designated for us, and Mirjam normally leads. This past week however, I was invited to give a little presentation answering the question 'What is a Mennonite?'. Well, that's a good question isn't it? I gave a little presentation that I've give a few times, revising it each time, and then we looked at some select Bible passages afterwards. All in all it went well, I would say. It's always interesting for me when I'm confronted with the unfamiliarity that most people have when I tell them about what I believe. It consistently requires me to ask questions about my own faith, which has been good so far, but rarely easy.

Two Days Late, By the Way – Theology Conference in Stellenbosch

I'm not sure how many of you actually follow this blog day to day, so that if I'm late by two days you actually notice. However, if you do, you will notice that this post has appeared two days late. I hope that it will be worthwhile. The past two days were occupied entirely by a theology conference that I was fortunate enough to be able to attend in Stellenbosch on the nature of the missional church in the book of Acts. Mirjam is working with the International Institute for Religious Freedom, an organization definitely worth looking into, and one of her colleagues was presenting a paper at this conference, and I was invited to come along as well. The conference was very interesting, essentially it was a conference for Dutch Reformed pastors from in and around the Cape Town area, or at least that's 99% of whom attended. I was immediately struck by how white and male the attendants were, given the demographics of Cape Town. Beings that this was a missional conference, the issue of the lack of multiculturalism was raised, but not really in reference to the attending members on hand. So that was one thing. The other thing that struck me was how similar this conference sounded to other Mennonite conferences I have attended. The two main (seemingly) keynote speakers were narrative theologians from the US, one was even a self-proclaimed Anabaptist! I was shocked! The other was well-known Luke-Acts theologian Beverley Gaventa, whose text we used for studying Luke-Acts when I took the course CMU. So in terms of the theological dialogue I almost felt like I had a leg up, discussing the travel narrative of Luke, the critical importance of Acts 15 for a model of church conflict resolution, studying the 'choices of characters in the book Acts and what these decisions say about the nature of the Church in Acts.' Sounds very Mennonite/narrative theology to me (though 'narrative theology' and Mennonite theology' aren't always synonymous). So I thought the conference content was great, though the usual weakness of narrative theology did present itself in terms of it's lack of practical application. In my current context I'm seeing the need for practical theology especially these days, so the lack of practicality was something that stood out. Nevertheless, I was happy I attended the conference.

Visit from Phil

Just this morning I had the opportunity to meet with Phil Liddell Detwiler, a fellow Mennonite who is working out of Pietermaritzburg with his family. I had the good fortune of meeting them while I was up in Pietermaritzburg with Dan and Yvonne and at the retreat back over New Year's. It was great to talk with Phil again and hear more of what the Mennonites are up to in Africa on a more first hand basis. Phil had just come from Kylitsha (terrible mis-spelling), the huuuuge township in Cape Town. To my disgrace I haven't been there yet, and I was glad to fear from Phil what he's up to there and something about the church he's working with there. Phil and I had tea at the Scarborough house this morning, and it was very nice to have some discussion about our overlapping ministries and just the nature of ministry in Africa generally.

All for Now

I just booked my vacation at Valmoed, have I already told you this? It's probably not a great mindset to be looking forward to your vacation while it's still 6 weeks away, but nevertheless, I am excited. It's in Hermanas, a very lovely part of South Africa about an hour and a half's drive from Cape Town. The place where I'm staying is a religious retreat centre (if you're a minister you get a discount!) and I've been promised a week of rest and relaxation, which will be nice. Matthew and two of his friends will be joining me, but they are aware the main intent of the week for me will be to have some r 'n' r, so I'm not too worried about over-exerting myself.

OK, there you have it. I'm still very appreciative for all your thoughts and prayers. I miss and love you all as well!

Until next time,

Visitation Week

Actually, This Coming Week is Visitation Week

I often find myself a little bit amazed at how quickly this year is passing by. I'm already making plans for my vacation at the beginning of July, and by that time the year will be more than half over, which seems bizarre.

Election

The big news of the past couple weeks around here was the election. It was really interesting being a different part of the world for a national election, it sure gives you a different perspective on democracy. Even before the election, really, before even any of the campaigning, everyone knew who was going to win, The African National Congress (ANC). This is the party that Mandela was and still is a member of, this is that party that, in many ways, led the struggle against apartheid. They have a long history in South Africa and really, you can't blame the people for being attached to this party. However, from how I understand it (which really isn't well at all) democracy doesn't quite work with only one dominant party. This is evident here in that currently the ANC and their current leader, Jacob Zuma, are constantly plagued with corruption charges. Zuma himself just escaped trial under charges of accepting bribes, and most people aren't happy with the way in which the charges were dropped. Also, he has something like six wives, and a few years ago he was also very mysteriously acquitted of rape charges, and apparently he didn't graduate from high school, etc etc. But of course, most if not all of my information comes from The Western Cape, the province in South Africa that has the richest population and the whitest population, and could possibly be accused of being biased against black leaders in some cases. Let me just say that the political situation here is COMPLICATED. With all the propaganda and bias everywhere, often I find it's tough to get a solid grip on what is fact and what is rumour, it can be frustrating.

Election Day

So that was a pretty negative assessment, which perhaps is a little unreasonable of me. There was a lot of good to what happened on election day. There was almost no violence, and millions of people across the country voted in free and safe elections and were free to vote for the candidate of their choice without fear of repercussions. Compared to what elections have been in the past, or compared to what elections are in some of our neighbouring countries, things went off fairly well. Election day here is a national holiday as well, so everyone got the day off, which was nice (frankly, North America could take a lesson from that one). That night was also Bible Study for our Over 21's group at my house, so it was nice to discuss and reflect on the day. Beings that it was assured that the ANC would win, we were just hoping that they wouldn't get 66% of the vote, which means they would have the power to change the constitution. The provincial vote was also up that day, and in the Western Cape the dominant party is the DA (Democratic Alliance, I think). I'm not sure what to think of them, in the national elections they were also represented and ran on a campaign of 'Stop Zuma' which seems to almost be unnecessarily negative and polemic.

I'm very much still in the learning stages about the political situation of this country. The whole thing is very much wrapped up in historical and social dynamics that have been playing out in this country, really for the past 400 years. I suppose it's pretty much a given that the history and society will affect the politics of a country, but here those stories are so rich and diverse and tragic, it makes for a complicated and interesting political system.

But Yes, I Have Been Doing Work As Well

My past two weeks with the church have been dominated (at least in my mind) with the preparation of my next sermon, really getting back to the basics of sermon preparation. This has been a difficult but very beneficial exercise, I believe. I don't preach again until July, but I'm happy to have the time to work on it before then, to make it something really worthwhile, something that will convey the Word of God to the people. So in the past two weeks I've been doing a lot of reading a writing, pouring through Biblical commentaries as well as doing some of my own reading on the side, and then doing some writing exercises that Thomas recommended. I wrote 4500 words in two hours! I could quit my day job and become a scribe! Whatever the matter, I think the process is going well, we'll see what I come up with by July.

Church Fete

Just Saturday we had what we call a 'Church Fete', which is where we set up booths inside the church and sell various goods in an effort to raise a bit of money. It was a good time, I helped out with the used book sale, and we did pretty well. One man came by and haggled with us over a purchase of 34 books at one time, I think he bartered me down to R140, which is like, 20 dollars, so, he definitely won. We were also selling things like used clothes, odds and ends, some baking, as well as tea and coffee. I am told this was just a 'Mini Fete', so we'll see what a real Fete is like. We were also only open from 9-11am (which involved me getting up earlier than I have in about two months to help set up...not a good time), so it was a pretty brief ordeal, yet even the we raised a pretty good sum of money. What were we raising money for, you might ask?

We Were Raising Money for the Tax Man

If you get my prayer letter you may remember my appeal for funds in regards to a major tax bill we got recently. About two weeks ago now we got a letter in the mail telling us that (for the first time in 120 years) we were being taxed on our 'profits'. Being a non-profit organization this was a bit confusing. What we are being taxed on is the money we make by renting out some of our property to a doctor's office, but that simply goes towards paying our bills. Either way, it is a bit absurd to introduce this new taxation policy. Internationally speaking, almost no government taxes their churches in such a way, and even if they did, you would hope they would give you more than two weeks to pay the bill! If I'm remembering correctly the bill was equivalent to about 10% of our annual budget. And we're supposed to figure out how to pay that by yesterday. Right. So our accountant and properties manager and the gang are looking for loop holes, trying to figure out what we're going to do. Keep us in your prayers, unless we can get out of this bill, we're pretty much up a creek. Yet even then, we are faithful that God will provide. If God wants us to stick around, I'm sure we will.

So, Now It's Visitation Week

Maybe that's a bad title for it, 'Visitation' seems to imply funerals and such, and that's not really what we're doing, we're just meeting with people and doing some visiting that perhaps is a bit overdue. I'm looking forward to it, I like visiting people, it's a chance to catch up and really to get involved in people's lives and give them some support, or hope or maybe even conviction. Such as the week will decide I suppose.

OK, so, as usual I will update you again in a couple weeks. I'm sure the time will fly by as usual. It seems to be the way things go around here.

Until next time,

Vacation is Over

It always seems like vacations go Too Fast, Doesn't it?

I should say though, in regards to my vacation, it was very low key, some would probably almost say 'boring', for me it was perfect, I did a lot of relaxing and sleeping in, saw a lot of friends, caught up on a lot of reading, drank a lot of coffee - things like that. Really an ideal week for me. I also spent a lot of time discerning my time here, what it means and what my overall goals are, and what my progress has been. These are not always easy things to consider. It strikes me that before arriving I took many of my beliefs and opinions for granted as valid and obviously true, but here and now in a different setting around people with different opinions and beliefs, I'm forced to add some substance to my worldview. Believe me when I tell you it is a difficult task.

Enough of that, down to what has been going on. My goodness, it's difficult to look three weeks back, it seems so long ago! Since then we've had Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and the preparation that goes along with all of that.

Preparing for Easter
As I look over the past three weeks, it seems that the main bulk of it was spent getting ready for Easter, both practically and spiritually. My thoughts around Easter always seem to be focused on getting myself and others to remember that the Easter season is in fact the high point of the Christian calendar, and it is more worthwhile if you can actually participate in the lamenting and celebrating more fully. Sea Point Evangelical Congregational Church isn't really a place that gets into Lent so wholeheartedly, which is something that is slightly different from what I have come to experience in past years. In recent years the Mennonite Church has started something of a revival of these old Christian traditions such as Lent and Advent that (as far as I'm aware) we didn't so much celebrate in the past. I have appreciated these changes, so I had been trying to integrate it into my faith life whilst abroad as well. However, for the first week of April I was very busy with choir practices and getting ready for Easter, so, it wasn't always easy to be focused on what I wanted to focus on.

Handel's 'Messiah'
As I have mentioned several times before, while here I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the Cape Town Philharmonia Choir. Every year at Easter they do two performances of the Messiah. This year I was given the opportunity to actually sing in the performance which is actually quite an honour beings that not all of their new members are allowed to sing with the performing choir their first year, so I was grateful for that. If you'll read my last post I said something about the upcoming performance and the conductor - I don't want to bore you with reiterating myself. Suffice it to say the performances went very well, I was glad to have my friends there, and they did in fact enjoy it very much, something I was a bit apprehensive about beings that they had never really been to such a performance before, so, it was a successful evening, all in all.

Tenebrae Service
Here at Sea Point Congregational recognize the traditional Tenebrae Service (also known as the Maundy Thursday service) at church. I was very pleased with the format of this service, it did well to recognize the atmosphere of the situation, and I think those that participated were edified by the service as well. We started with a simple soup and bread meal and some lively fellowship, and then went to the sanctuary for a very sombre and atmospheric service led by Thomas in which celebrated communion. It was a moving service, I was happy to have participated in it.

Good Friday
Our Good Friday service was held in the morning, which was good, because I had a choir concert in the evening, so thought it was a full day, I didn't have to miss anything to which I was obliged. Mirjam led the service that morning, and of course she did a fine job. The service itself was quite simple, with the reading of scripture and the singing of hymns and another celebration of Communion together. It was nice to see so many people there.

The other thing about the Easter weekend for me was that my host was having her family in for the weekend, so I needed to find a different place to stay for a few days. It was a bit tight in finding a place, but eventually we found a perfect place at an apartment just a few houses down the street. A very generous woman was gone for the weekend and allowed me to stay in her place for the duration of the weekend - free of charge! Safe to say that was an answer to prayers.

Easter Sunday
Saturday was my day to relax, and good grief did I need it. Sunday proved also to be very busy, but very nice. We celebrated the resurrection together as a church, and the sanctuary was full, which is always nice. I was double booked after church, and I felt bad about leaving some friends behind, but I ended up having Easter dinner with Thomas, Mirjam and Matthew, which was very nice. Soon after that I headed out to perform at our second concert of the weekend. I would say the second performance almost went better than the first, which is a rare thing. I was just very glad to have my friends there for the performance. Afterwards we headed back to my friend Ester's house to enjoy post-performance discussion. And then I was on vacation.

Vacation Overview

I already went into my vacation details a little bit, really there isn't much to say other than that it was quiet and relaxed, though I did end up doing a lot of soul searching and reading and studying. I also went to see a few movies, and even an opera (the Met's performance of 'Madam Butterfly' - not bad, very minimalist stage setting, excellent soprano performance). The vacation was good, so good that I am a bit sad to see it go, but I think once I get back into the routine of work, that will be good for me as well.

OK, that will do it from me for now. I feel almost sure that I have managed to miss something rather significant, three weeks is a long time to cover. As usual, any questions just let me know.

Until next time,

Vacation

Hey, I'm now officially on vacation, and I have been ordered to not do any work. Frankly, Thomas warned that I was dangerously close to failing my vacation assignment, ie 'relaxing', so this is all you'll get until next week. This is going to set off my bi-weekly updating, I realize this, but really, that's just the way it's going to be.

Cheers,

Of Parents and Moving

The Time My Parents Visited Me in South Africa

These past two weeks have actually been quite full, but really, my parents coming for a visit was what the past 14 days have centered around.

They arrived on a Saturday afternoon, for some reason I had it all mixed up in my head as to when they were actually arriving, and how long exactly they were staying. However, through various communications we eventually figured it out, and I picked them up from their Bed and Breakfast place at 6:00. It was great to see them, but really strange and quite surreal also. The things I associate with home and the things I associate with South Africa are categorized separately in my mind, I do believe, and so having those two worlds collide was a tad bizarre, but also very nice. The tragedy was that they were here for a very short time, about 4 days in all, which was not nearly enough, but still quite good. We went to see all the mandatory things in Cape Town: Table Mountain, Robben Island, the vineyards (or at least some of them, there are very many). We also got to see visit an exclusive mansion-turned-hotel for lunch one day – it was absolutely ridiculous, the epitome of pomp and luxury, it really did bring to mind the dichotomy of rich and poor, and which end I end up on more often than not.

My uncle Don and aunt Dale were actually also there with my parents, so it was great to see them again, we went our separate ways on various points of the four days, but the time they did spend with us was very nice, it truly was a great four days.

Islamic / Christian Wedding
The day my parents arrived, right before I left to pick them up I was helping to officiate a wedding. It was interesting in the a) it was my first wedding that I was helping to officiate, and b) that the groom was in fact a convert to Christianity from Islam. And, if you’re keeping track, yes, there are places in which that decision comes with the death penalty. The wedding itself was quite nice, very simple, a bride, a groom and two witnesses. I served as photographer, musician, and Bible presenter and I was happy to help in that way. It’s always nice to help out with a wedding when you feel good about it and you genuinely like the people getting married, and this was the case here.

Week Off
Other than the wedding and a few smallish other things, I pretty much had the past week to spend with my parents, which was extremely generous on Thomas’s part. So the days I had with my parents I was able to spend with them, no problems, and then the rest of the time was fairly relaxed. I still did some work during the week, beings that I had the time on my hands, but it was a nice relaxing week either way. I got a lot of reading done (finished War and Peace – no small feat) and spend a lot of time with friends, so I was happy to have a bit of a rest before plunging into the Easter crunch.

Choir Concert
Speaking of the Easter crunch, I’m getting ready to perform Handel’s Messiah with the Cape Town Philharmonia Choir of which I am a part. It’s actually very exciting, we just had our first rehearsal with the man who will be the conductor for the performance, Bjorn Bantock. With that name you’d think he’s Scandinavian, but he is actually South African, trained in the UK. He seems quite capable, really doing some interesting things with the piece, he’s clearly not afraid to play with the dynamics and tempo, so some of the choruses sound quite different from what I’m used to. It’s actually quite refreshing for me, beings that I’ve been practicing the Messiah once or twice a week for eight straight months now. And you know what? I’m not even sick of it yet – they just don’t make ‘em like they used to... We perform the piece on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and I’m very glad to be able to have some of my friends from church attend the concert. A woman from our church was generous enough to donate money towards the tickets, and so four young adults who otherwise would not have been able to attend the service now are able to. It is definitely something to look forward to in a couple weeks.

New Place
Another item of big news for me around here is that I just moved yesterday. If you’ve been keeping close track of my updates here, you may be familiar with my laments of my former place, so I’m not too upset about a change of scenery. Really the last place was nice in terms of location and overall aesthetics, but just not well maintained, which made it frustrating for all involved – landlords, tenants and renters alike. Whatever the matter, I am now living at a Bed and Breakfast run by Norma Morgan, a woman from our church. She is a dear woman, treating me like her favorite grandson, which is quite the difference my last situation. So, it seems I’m going to need to start exercising in order to not swell up with the loving care of a (bit overbearing) interim grandma.

Tragic Side Note: we just received word last night that Norma’s housekeeper of 30 years(!) was killed in a car accident. It’s been very tough on Norma who had obviously developed a fairly close relationship with the woman, and now she is stuck to find some one else she can trust to help her out around the house. The public taxis around here are infamous for their dangerous driving, and it was while riding one of these on the way back from a funeral that she was killed. So, it’s been a fairly somber morning around here.

Wine Tasting
As you may or may not know, the Cape region in South Africa has a great number of quality vineyards, some of which I have had the fortune of sampling recently. First off with my parents, then with a new friend Paul who took me to a vineyard called De Grendel (Afrikaans for “the Lock” I’m told – or maybe that’s German…or Dutch). Just as we arrived they were starting their annual ‘Cellar Tour’, and so we got to sample the very first of their 2009 wines! They were pretty good, though it was mostly white wines, and I’m kind of partial to reds – but their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc was pretty good. A good time either way.

All for Another Two Weeks
This entry seems more condensed than previously, but I think I fit in all the important bits. For me the past two weeks have really revolved around my parents being here as well as preparing to move, so mentally I’ve been fairly preoccupied with that. However, life at the church continues on, if you’re interested I’ll be sending out my prayer letter in a couple weeks and will say more about our ministry at Sea Point Congregational when that comes out.

Well, until another two weeks, take care

Half-Way Through Lent

I guess it is almost that point, isn't it? I confess that I had a little Mardi Gras celebration a in February. I went for all-you-can-eat-sushi at a local (cheap) place. And usually cheap means sketchy in terms of sushi, but here it was actually very good. But Mardi Gras and feasting aren't the same without the company of your friends, and though I did invite some of my friend to join me, none could make it. Whatever the matter, here we are, a mere three and a half weeks from Good Friday.

Heat Wave!

I've shared my sentiments about the weather around here with several of you back home, and all you did was scoff at me and remind me of the weather back in Canada. Well, scoff as you might, it is HOT around here! Unbearably hot sometimes! 40°C hot! I think we can all agree that whether the temperature is far too hot or far too cold, it is uncomfortable to be in. And I know, I know – I did sign up for Africa of all places, so what was I expecting? But still, the heat will affect you, even people who have been living here their whole lives are remarking at the discomfort, so it's not just me. On the hottest days I find myself yearning for the more temperate climates of back home. But just as with the cold, there are ways to deal with the heat. Really, if I just stay at home and take it easy, it's not such a big deal, but then I don't get much work done, so, I can't take too many 'heat holidays', or else I'd get nothing done at all!

Dan and Yvonne

From the 5th to the 10th My aunt and uncle, Dan and Yvonne were here. For them it was a trip that would mark the last time they would be in Cape Town for a good, long while, so I was glad that they were able to spend some time with me. We enjoyed a few nice meals out, and it was very nice catching up with them, hearing about their work and their thoughts about my work. It was a sort of bitter-sweet meeting, they were anticipating their trip home, saying their final good-byes and tying up loose ends, and those are never really easy things to go through. With their being here, for the first time I contemplated what my own return home might be like, but it was still fairly incomprehensible, it really still feels like I just began here. Also while they were here, Dan and Yvonne had the fortune (misfortune?) of hearing me preach! It was my first time preaching at our church here in Sea Point, so it was interesting, but I'll get into more of that later.

Anticipating the Parents!

Having Dan and Yvonne here was a bit of a pre-cursor to having my mother and father here! I won't lie, I am looking forward to my parents arriving, I think it will be really nice to see them. For the past three weeks (or thereabouts) my parents have been on a thorough tour of South Africa, seeing many diverse parts of the country. I must say, I envy them a little bit. The most recently that I was able to talk them was right before they left Dan and Yvonne's in Pietermaritzburg three weeks ago, so I really can't give many updates on their behalf. I'm told their email isn't working, and they are a little distraught about that, but I doubt they would have had too many opportunities to use internet on the road anyway. So word on the street is that they arrive on Wednesday, but we'll see what actually ends up happening. They have my number, so I'm assuming they'll get in contact with me when they get in. Meanwhile it's up to me to be planning their events calendar while they have the time off, so we'll see what I can get up to. I should also say that my uncle Don and aunt Dale will be with them when they arrive, so it will also be great to see them!

As for the Preaching...

Yes, I did have the opportunity to preach for the first time at our church. I would have said it went well, my supervisor would have said otherwise, and beings as he's the one calling the shots...we'll go with his opinion. No, in all honesty I am well aware that my preaching has a lot of room for improvement, and Thomas is ready and willing to help me improve in that area, so I'm up to preach again in July, and hopefully I will have gained some ground by then. My sermon was about our call as the Church, and what it might mean to be the Church in this day and age through a reading of the Great Commission. It was probably too formal, academic and inaccessible, which makes sense, if you were going critique my writing at all (and I know, dear reader, it is difficult to imagine my writing having any faults) it would be that my writing is too formal and academic, and thus this is reflected in my preaching. So there you have it. I will be sure to update you on the sermon that comes about in July.

Argous Bicycle Race

The same day I was preaching there was also a bicycle race around Cape Town. And not just any bicycle race, but the biggest one-day bicycle race in the world, I am told! So needless to say, the town was all abuzz with the excitement of the race. And also, Matt Damon was in town to do the race, so there was some excitement around that as well. Unfortunately the conditions for the race were actually quite bad. Of course, it was clear and sunny, but the wind was relentless! I felt bad for those poor riders, biking approximately 150km uphill and downhill in conditions that had some people struggling to stay on their bikes. A good portion of the racers ended up not actually being able to finish the race,much to their chagrin. Many of the bikers were from abroad, so imagine spending all that time, money and energy to get here, and then not be able to finish what you can to do. Very frustrating, I am sure. But I got an opportunity to see some of the earlier bikers ride by (but not Matt Damon, shucks-darn) with Dan and Yvonne after church. Back in the fall in Ontario I did a 50km on a bike around in rural Ontario, I can't imagine doing 150km in the hills of Cape Town!

Friday Night Supper

I think one of my highlights of being here thus far was a dinner we had at my friend Ester's house last Friday. Ester is actually a domestic worker for a well-to-do Jewish family in Cape Town. They treat her very well and allow her to have mini-soirées for her friends when the family is away. So a group of five of us showed up for dinner at their place and ended up staying until 11:00! Ester prepared a feast that included barbecued chicken, lamb and sausage and many side dishes. I don't think we finished half the food. It was incredible. And the company and conversation was great as well. It was a real treat to get to know my friends around here a little bit better. We all come from pretty diverse backgrounds, so relating to each other is sometimes tricky, but it's also sometimes very interesting, and often quite comical. I do think of my friends back home from time to time, and I miss them, but I am very glad for friendships around here. Travelling is a funny thing, sometimes I wonder what good it is to go to one place and make good friends only to leave them in such a short time and miss them terribly when you're gone. I suppose that is part of what is sacrificed when you decide to travel.

Only a Taste...

Again, I must say farewell for now. I realize this is only a taste of my time here. If you would like more details or information, of course, feel free to send me and email or a comment on here. Either way, I remain -

Until next time,