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