Two Weeks Later...

Making Sense of Life

I decided that it makes sense to update my blog here bi-weekly. And beings that I get Mondays off, it makes sense to try and update things every second Monday. So, if you are so ambitiously following this blog that you are checking it every day, you can now rest assured that I won't be updating it again for another two weeks.

Settling into Routines of Ministry

I've been finding that ministry takes a lot of self-initiative. Not to say that I was under the impression that I would constantly have some one looking over my shoulder, telling me what to do, but I was a bit surprised in how much flexibility I had in defining my own schedule and completing the tasks I knew were at hand for the week. So of course freedom can be an advantage, but it can also be a problem if I am not disciplined in making sure I'm getting things done. So I suppose that's a little insight into my thought processes as I continue to settle in here.


Life at Sea Point Evangelical Congregational Church in February

In South Africa February is the end of summer break and the beginning of starting up more officially again. A lot of my work the past few weeks has been helping break in the new year for the programs and events. I was given the honour of serving officiating for a communion service held by the Women's Association of the church. I was a bit nervous, it really is a humbling task. I could really relate to Luther, pre-conversion. I think it went well – though there is a lot of merit to knowing the script by heart, I think that will be my goal for the next time I officiate.

I'm also continuing in my routine of meeting with people in the church and just getting to know those from different socio-economic backgrounds. One of the most important strengths of our church here is the diversity which exists in the congregation, as well as the leadership. The deacons as well as the leadership of other committees is overseen by people from different backgrounds, which seems to be quite the miracle to me. So the past few weeks I've been busy meeting all sorts of people, hearing about their backgrounds and getting to know them better, I hope it has been a mutual blessing.


Heidi Jung

Last Thursday one of our congregants, Heidi Jung passed away. She had been battling cancer for quite some time, but her decline nevertheless seemed quite sudden and was very tragic. Just two weeks ago I met her for the first time, and while she wasn't in great condition, I certainly didn't think she would be gone in such a short time. We held the funeral on Saturday, and there was a small but emotional turn-out to bid Heidi good-bye. Everybody who you talked to about Heidi would say “she was such a character,” she was fairly blunt and up front, she wasn't afraid to tell you what was on her mind, so that made interactions with Heidi interesting sometimes. But she really had a good heart, when she met me she tried to give me a book that meant a lot her, it was one of the last pieces of reading material she had left, but she was ready to just give it away, that really struck me about her. I wish I could have gotten to know her better.


Political Fever

As you may or may not know, there is an election coming up in the very near future here in South Africa. It will be interesting to see what happens. From what I can tell most of those in the running are under suspicion of corruption, whether it is real or actual is hard to say. It's a lot of mud-slinging from both sides, and thus the general population is quite cynical. The general impression of politicians seems to be that are heavily biased by nepotism and that they are in politics really only to benefit themselves and fill their pockets. Sometimes it's frustrating to hear so much talk about corruption charges and scandals, you wonder why these politicians couldn't just get their acts together and rule on behalf of the people rather than simply chase money and power, ethics be damned. So we'll see what happens with that front. Of course I'll continue to keep you updated on the political situation as it heats up. It seems unlikely that any sort of violence will erupt because of it. Often I will hear some one remark on how 20 years ago all anyone in South Africa could talk about was politics and optimism for change, but now everyone is just cynical and apathetic towards the whole scene. So again, we will see what comes in the near future.


Refugees

While South Africa is quite stable for the time being, some neighbouring countries aren't doing so well, and thus South Africa is filling up with refugees. Of course there are millions of Zimbabweans, but also Congolese, Brazzavillan, Sudanese, and others. We actual have several refugee families at our church, some having arrived more recently than others. When they arrive the odds are very much against them, and depending where they are from there are risks of xenophobic attacks and just racist treatment generally. So we try to help them the best that we can, but it's not like we're abounding in money, so often we try to provide practical support – finding a job, housing, getting a cell phone, getting appropriate papers, etc. One of our current deacons, Carl, is actually a refugee who moved here several years ago. He now has a very good job and is an upstanding member of our community, but not everyone is as fortunate as him. Even if you are a hard worker and a good person there's no guarantee you won't fall on hard times, it's a difficult situation for many, to be sure.


New Friends

One of the biggest things arriving in a new country is, of course, loneliness. It takes time to meet people and to establish who your friends and peers are going to be, so for the first while when you're hanging out by yourself on a Friday night, things can get to be a little discouraging. However, recently I have had the good fortune of getting to know some of the people my age at the church. The over 21's Bible study at church is a really good group of people, though there's only about 5 of us right now. There's Pakamele, Ester, Arnaud, and recently two other guys, Nancy and Brem have been joining us as well. Nancy, Brem and I have been making a point of it to hang out together more. They are two brothers from Brazzaville here studying to be electrical engineers. I find myself constantly wishing my french was better, but they have proven to be very good friends so far. The two brothers and I, as well as Matthew Scarborough (Thomas and Mirjam's son) went to see a movie last Friday and had a good time. Matthew has also been a good friend, though he's only been around for a short while since I've been here. So in terms of making friends, I think I have been quite fortunate so far.



Final Thoughts

I think I'm really starting to get used to being here, though I'm still homesick every once in a while. Keeping a busy schedule is helping the time to really move by quickly – I can't believe I've already been in Cape Town for a month. I find that I've been looking forward to being in South Africa for so long it's been very odd to try and think of what's going to come after Africa. That will be another time of significant change. But for the time being I will just enjoy my time here, there really is a lot to learn and I'm enjoying all the challenges as well as the new friends.

So there you have it. I will update you again in two weeks.

Until next time,