Ok, so it's been almost a week since my last post, I apologize for that, but it is because this week were not at the flats in Pietermaritzburg. I also apologize that since it has been so long between that this post may be extremely long. Hopefully it will read quickly for all of you.
This week we began our placement at a place called Walk in the Light, located in a township called Haniville, which is not far from Edendale which we visited last week. Walk in the light was started by a man named Bruce who felt that the Lord was calling him to do more than just sit in church, especially after all the horrors of townships that he saw while he was serving in the military. Bruce was a software engineer who made a lot of money on software that helped farmers' sell their crops. After feeling his call he sold the rights to his software and with the money that he earned he started up Walk in the Light. Walk in the Light does a lot of the things that Masimbubane and Ethembeni do such as home vists, youth programs, gardens, and transportation to clinics and hospitals. What really excites me is the potential that Walk in the Light has to grow. Bruce is a very organized and well planned guy yet at the same time he allows room for the spirit to work. For example he says that Walk in the Light now functions strictly off of donations and that week to week he has no idea where the money will come from, yet he still plans for big things, and usually it still works out.
One pleasant surprise about Walk in the Light is that there are three college students from Azuza Pacific University in California named Ali, Alysa (sp?) and Kim who are spending a semester at Walk in the Light. It is really nice to have people who understand Jamison and my sense of humor because the locals don't really understand sarcasm, and those who know me know that sarcasm oozes out of my pores, and Jamison may be even more sarcastic than I am.
Our first experience at Walk in the Light was that we were going to go watch a Zulu funeral. After picking up the family from the township and driving to the other side of town (after many hassles), we arrived at the funeral home, which was a small building in the back of a junk yard. It's odd to have dead bodies surrounded by dead cars. The problem was that when we arrived the body was not there and neither was the coffin. After Niels (one of the Walk in the life staff) talked to the workers at the funeral two men left in a truck and came back an hour later with a coffin in the back; however the body was not in the coffin. This family had already been given the run around by the morgue and had not been able to bury their mother for two months already and now their mother's body was lost. The saddest part was that the family acted as if they were used to this type of injustice. Niels was irate, yelling at the funeral home staff, "If this was my mother I would be devastated, and you don't even care." This is even more meaningful now after Bruce told us that Niels was a huge racist before getting involved with Walk in the Light, and now he was defending these people that he really didn't even know. At the end of the day the body was never found, and the family was taken back home unable to bury their loved one. At the beginning of the day I was excited to see a Zulu funeral, but looking back I think that this was a more valuable lesson, because I got to see firsthand the injustice that is still present in this country.
The rest of our activities for the week were normal mission/pastoral activities. For two of the days Jamison, Joan, John, Kim and I painted a house at Walk in the Light that was going to house the pastor and a member of the staff. The five of us also walked around the township of Haniville with Pendi and made house visits, much like we did at Ethembeni, but the visits were a little shorter and there was no scripture read, though we did pray for each person. Let me tell you about Pendi; Pendi is a lady that Bruce hired from the township to help run Walk in the Light. Over time she has gained more and more responsibility, and now besides Bruce is the major leader of the organization. She is quite a character; she is so friendly yet so sassy at the same time. The other responsibilities that Jamison and I had during the week was to organize and lead bible studies for both elementary school ages kids, and young adults. Both programs went really well, and I think that Jamison and I make a very good team because I am so methodical and he is very free flowing.
On Friday, Bruce took us to a piece of land that he bought for Walk in the Light. We drove up a hill and stopped at the edge, and witnessed a breath taking view. There bellow us was Pietermaritzburg sandwiched between rolling hills, and directly below us was the whole township of Haniville. Bruce talked about his dream for a Community Center to be built at the spot and he showed us the blueprint for the building. The building would have a care center in order to nurse critical patients back to health, a craft and coffee shop to bring jobs and money into the community, a chapel for worship, and classrooms for educational programs. He also talked about his dream to put a large cross in the middle with lights so that at night all of Haniville and all of Pietermaritzburg could see it. It instantly made me of the cross at Junaluska, and this cross has the potential to be even more powerful of a sight than the one there. Bruce said that this idea for the center came to him after looking at a constellation called the Southern Cross and the Bible verse Matthew 5:14-16, "14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. After talking with members of the community he found out what they wanted and needed and had the plans drawn up.
Next to the site where this center will be built, are fields of Rose Geraniums. Rose Geranium is the plant used as the base for most perfumes, so Bruce harvests these plants and has them distilled into the oils and sells the oils to companies around the country. He has even purchased his oven vat for distilling so that the whole process can be done by Walk in the Light. The great thing about this enterprise is that he hires people from Haniville to work the fields and the money made from the work goes to pay for the ministries at Walk in the Light. Essentially he is creating jobs and putting money into the community simultaneously.
Finally for the weekend we returned to our flats with the seminary. Today, Jamison, John, Joan, David (an Anglican priest from the UK who I believe I have talked about before), and I walked to an event in the park called "Arts in the Park". There artists from all over South Africa came to display and sell their artwork. It was a great experience, the art was so beautiful and some were very unique. We then walked around downtown Pietermaritzburg. There was a smaller park downtown that had local vendors selling some very interesting handmade pieces. We then went to an art museum in town, and though the gallery was closed the coffee shop was open; however between the coffee shop and the entrance were the galleries and there was nobody to stop us from going in so we looked at the gallery anyways (Shhh, don't tell anyone). The collection of art was very impressive, at least to me, and the more knowledgeable members of our group seemed to agree. The day was a very pleasant day and wonderful day of experiencing a different type of culture in the area.
Next week we return to work at Walk in the Light, so depending on internet availability it may once again be a long time between posts. I can't believe it has been two weeks here already. What an experience.God Bless.
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