A quick update...

I've joined a group of African leaders fasting and praying for Zim. Here is how they are steering their prayers...

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We seek the Lord for Zimbabwe
Pray for the pastors and ministry leaders to find renewed strength and hope to care for their own families and also the people in their sphere of influence.

Pray for Zimbabwean leaders to put aside their differences and interests and seek a path of humble reconciliation for the good of all Zimbabweans.

Pray for world leaders and their representatives that would involve themselves in the current crisis in such a way as to bring Zimbabwe’s leaders together in a peaceful manner for negotiation purposes.

Pray about the 24 hour ultimatum given by Mr. Tsvangirai to President Mugabe. So far they have not come to the negotiating table.

Pray for the June 27 “election” that is still taking place tomorrow according to President Mugabe and his ruling party. The opposing party is not participating in the election and has chosen not to cast their votes. Tomorrow is a day of grave concern and uncertainty.

Pray that the Lord would intervene in Zimbabwe’s situation in such a glorious and powerful way that there is no doubt that the Lord’s help and care was present.

Pray the word “Enough. The Lord is enough for the cries and needs of the Zimbabwean people.”

Pray that the physical needs of the people would be met and that international aid organizations/NGO’s would be allowed to return to Zimbabwe to help.

Pray for the SART team as we continue to minister and support our Zimbabwean ministry partners.

They are praying and reading through:

2 Chronicles 20:1-13
1 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat. 2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi). 3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. 5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard 6 and said: "O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.

Just thought it was good to pray together so wanted to provide a quick little update. They are urging people to pray through June 29th.

For a quick article on what is going on:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/143250

Calling the vigilantes...

Those who know this journey I'm on know that even though I am in South Africa, it is just a stepping stone to Zimbabwe as that is the place my heart yearns to be. I urge you to be vigilant in prayer for this nation now and for the next 72 hours...they are critical.

Rhodesian, Rhodesia Zimbabwe, and then Zimbabwe. How much can one country endure? How much can its people endure?

It used to be a land of plenty, abundance for all, providing to other nations from its storehouse. But the people were robbed of their land, ordered to leave. Lands were seized and a dictatorship was formed. A dictatorship that has been oppressing its very own people for 28 years now.

Elections.

The chance for a new opportunity, hope for the people that have been living with so little. You cannot imagine this type of poverty and the status of Zim's economic conditions. And there are so few resources to go around.

I can only imagine the hope that people have clung to these past few months, knowing they had an opportunity to see change and then, having voted to end the cycle of oppression that they are under by the governance of Robert Mugabe. And then to have that hope snatched away so quickly by a relentless, and corrupt leader whose own pride makes him unable to acknowledge defeat.

He demanded another election.

It is on Friday, June 27th.

With violence all across the country, Mugabe's opposing candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, announced he would no longer run against Mugabe because he could not stand the thought of his own people risking their lives to vote on Friday. He sought assylum in the Dutch Embassy.

Mugabe stated earlier last week, "Only God will remove me..."

How beautiful that would be.

One thing is happening, Africa is noticing. The land, its many people, its many tongues, are watching and waiting. Leaders from other countries, Angola, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania are making their statements against this ruler. Is it an awakening?

(There are many political systems in Africa, throughout the land that are corrupt. Will this situation help awaken the people? I wonder...)

Back to "Only God will remove me..." a strong statement indeed.

Please join in prayer for Zimbabwe throughout this next 72 hours. The brutality that people have faced and been subject to has been intense -- many murdered being burnt alive. The violence has not stopped and some are concerned about genocide.

Join me in praying...

that God will hear the cry of the oppressed and be quick to grant courage and mercy

that God will awaken men who intend to do violence in the early morning hours with
strong dreams warning them to turn from their evil and violent ways. that these dreams would torment and haunt.

that those who are in the ZANU (Mugabe's ruling party) would have the blinders removed from their eyes, that they see clearly the destruction Mugabe has caused in the land and recognize him for who he is and has been

for protection for all the innocent, especially for women and children and churches and shephards, and ministry organizations

for courage to vote, for protection in doing so

that God will have His way with Mugabe

Those are my thoughts for now.

Let the angels in heaven come down and be swift to do battle against the principalities of evil that have gripped men's hearts in Zimbabwe. May the spiritual strongholds that have gripped the land be shaken loose, may God's promises be alive and visible in Zimbabwe.

Please, please be vigilant in prayer.

Putting back on my GoGo Boots...

After some much needed time away, I am feeling refreshed! I needed a safe place to go clear my head of the past couple weeks and find the comfort and support of trusted friends to share with and journey onward alongside. God works in such beautiful ways. I think of my friends, the DiCocco's and how God has allowed us the past four years to journey together as we have both entertained the calling and God wooing our hearts to Afria. Getting to this point has been nothing short of it's ups and downs, but here we all are. God has brought us out here almost simultaneously, and although we have landed in different places and are serving alongside different organizations, we serve this larger place--South Africa--and its people together. So I spilled the beans and poured out everything that was in my heart. The good, the not so pretty things that happened, my sensitive emotional status, my personal struggles, and the questions of "where do I go from here?" And they listened, and encouraged, and walked with me as we have been doing this past four years.

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. There is nothing that compares to community, when you truly find it.

So now I am recharged for this last leg of my short stint here. I am beginning to grow a little sorrowful that my time (for now) out here is almost over. I am ready to head back home but sad to leave this land too.

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Today I got to spend time back in one of the communities with the tiny little Xhosa children. Ooh...there is nothing like a whole bunch of tiny wee ones delightfully gazing at you and grabbing onto your arms and legs saying a whole bunch of words in a language you don't understand. They were particularly curious of one part of me...

When I was 10 years old, I developed this odd capillary that began growing out of my skin. The doctor said that rather than growing underneath the surface of my skin it wanted to grow outward. I went through one laser removal process when I was 15 and it didn't work. At the time, I thought it was quite painful so I opted out of treatment number 2.

It is a peculiar sight and although I often wish it wasn't there, it is part of me that I have chosen to accept...:)

I now see exactly why God put it there on my neck.

Never have I seen children so delighted to look, touch, and gaze at my tiny red capillary in amazement, asking what it is and staring with fixed curiousity. Their delightfulness has also brought me many smiles and I realize I'm glad I kept my tiny little red bump.

Prayers answered

Most of the violence in and around Cape Town have come to an end. Thank you for praying about the events that have taken place in South Africa the past week. There is peace for the most part in most places right now, but many many homeless refugees. It is estimated that 70,000 people are now displaced from their homes. New communities have been formed for these refugees, however, the new land and space that has been sectioned for them is not large enough to contain everyone. Can you imagine being displaced from your home and having to flee, leaving behind all your belongings, your livelihood, and what little you had and having to start all over again with basically no money? Please keep these refugees in prayer, they could certainly use it as they have to start to rebuilding their lives.

On a separate note, I haven't really been blogging what is going on in my life. Right now I feel very spiritually attacked. There have been statements made behind my back and accusations made against me of things I have said but have not said and I'm very upset about it. This past weekend was extremely difficult, nearly unbearable. All I could do was pray. God brought me to Psalm 35...the very first verse reads, "Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me." Today I had a picture of the a battle being fought...I feel like I need strength to continue my journey here. Please pray for me.

Violence in South Africa

Chaos has broken out within the townships of South Africa and there is urgent need for steadfast prayer. I am within minutes drive from several informal settlements where there have been rumors of violence and groups assembling in masses together to hunt out foreigners, particularly those who had fled Zimbabwe to come find refuge and possible employment here in South Africa.

Police have been diligently patroling and doing what they can, churches within and nearby informal settlements have become refugee camps for those fleeing the communities. They need prayer for protection as do all foreigners living in the country. At this point it is hard to say how things may be in a couple days. We are all doing what we can to help those who need protection.

It seems history of Rwanda is in a way repeating itself here. Just last week there were individuals within one particular community going around to each persons shack asking where they were from and how many individuals live in the shack. This is what happened prior to the genocide in Rwanda.

There have been difficult decisions people have had to make today...like whether to risk their life going into the settlements to rescue foreigners who have become key community leaders and friends. I sat with colleagues today who were wrestling with this decision, deeply trying to figure out how to to help while yet exercising discernment.

At this point we don't know if things will get better or worse. I wonder about my safety as I am to be spending a majority of my time in these communities. What I do know is that I will exercise my own judgement and listen for when I hear the Holy Spirit directing me not to enter a particular place. I am hopeful I can finish out my time here without myself having to leave.

Please pray for South Africa and the foreigners who are now alienated in a place where they sought refuge from their own countries. Pray for peace. Pray too for Zimbabwe as the oppression of the people there is overwhelming.

The weeks that have passed...

Crazy how quickly the days can pass, how full they can be and how easy it is to become enveloped in the day-to-day. The last couple weeks have been quite busy and although my good intentions were to write at least a weekly update, obviously I have struggled. Here's to getting back to it!

The day after I wrote began my first day serving alongside the NGO I am assisting. I spent that week trying to figure out the goals they had for me while I'm here and it was evident that there were a couple things to sort out. All is now sorted and I will be spending the next two to three months researching the organization and all their programs, doing needs assessments and busying myself in each of the eight communities where they work. Last week (well 2 weeks ago now) I spent the majority of my time in the health care center, no longer a hospice as the patients who come do end up recovering quite well and returning to their homes where they will be cared for by family, most likely. A couple stories and food for thought...

Those who are terminally ill with a chronic condition are those who enter the health care center. On my first day observing, a new patient, Mr. A DeCock was admitted. He looked like a very gentle soul and was brought in on a stretcher. I felt a little awkward doing my observing, but I did need to learn the intake process and understand what each employee's job duties were. So I watched as they took him to a side room where they lifted him off the stretcher into a hospital bed, connected his fluid drip and tried to make him comfortable. The nurse, Vuse, explained to me that they would read through his paperwork, assess his condition and determine his treatment.

What I soon learned about Mr. DeCock was that no one in his family was very interested in providing care for him...maybe it was because it required too much physically to do so. He was pretty much bed-ridden and could no longer use the bathroom as his excretory system was shutting down.

The nurses continued trying to make him comfortable and were struggling to get the bed rail attached to the bed. While they struggled I smiled at Mr. DeCock and he smiled back to me as if he completely understood and was thinking exactly what I was. The nurses couldn't get the bed part attached and they left the room. I stood there for a few minutes longer and then left the room. That is when Vuse let me see Mr. DeCock's patient chart. I picked it up and began reading the letter from the hospital which had admitted him. The letter read that Mr. DeCock had had cerebral injury at some point that they thought was bleeding but he also had liver cancer and had renal bleeding. He had been referred over for palliative care.

My heart sank.

It is a rude awakening to realize that one has only a little while longer to live and that there is nothing that can help alleviate pain and suffering, that the only thing that can be done is to show compassion, try to alleviate as much pain as possible and provide the best few days, weeks, months left that one can. So there I was, awakened by this reality.

The time came when the nursing staff was to evaluate Mr. DeCock and try to get some information from him regarding his family and next of kin. It was just one nurse and myself. She asked Mr. DeCock if he had a wife. He nodded. The nurse asked him what her name was. He tried to say something but none of us could understand because he was deaf and it was difficult for him to speak well. The question was repeated once again. He tried to repeat himself...but we couldn't understand. We hung there in this moment of silent suspense, hoping and waiting for the moment we would realize what it was he was saying to us...we kept hanging there...a moment, a moment longer, another moment...it seemed like a complete failure of communication as though we wouldn't get the sender and receiver messages to connect.

Then Mr. DeCock's eyes sparkled and he began to move his hand and fingers...it took me a moment but I realized that he was signing the name of his wife. The only problem, no one knew how to interpret sign language. I wished immediately that I had learned. My goodness, I was so sad that here he was trying so hard to help us understand him but there would be no way that we could. We tried having him write, draw pictures, anything, but nothing seemed to work. The nurse gave up and left the room. I stayed. This time the question she had asked that he was trying to convey was his address.

He was exasperated from trying to recall it. He looked at me and said what I could make out as "It is going to take a very long time for me to remember." I told him that it was okay. He kept trying and finally looked hopelessly towards me and cried out asking, "Why am I so stupid!?!" I quickly told him that he was not stupid and that it was okay if he couldn't remember and that he had done a good job so far. He took the pen and began writing again.

He kept writing what looked like lower-case Q's. Finally, I got what he was writing...999, his house address. I asked him if that was it and he said yes. I patted him on the shoulder and said good job and went to tell the nurse. I spent a little longer with him later that afternoon and then had to tell him that I was leaving. I knew the next day I wouldn't see him because I would be out in one of the informal settlements.

Thursday I finally did get back to the health care center. I went to visit with Mr. DeCock who had been moved to the men's ward. I wanted to talk with him, but he was asleep. I was gone in the afternoon to another informal settlement. When I arrived Friday morning back to the health clinic I learned that he had passed away on Thursday at 4PM.

I was devastated that I hadn't another chance to sit down with him to talk, or try to talk. I had wanted to provide at least a little bit to brighten the day for him but that opportunity seemed to slip on by. It made me realize how quickly life fades when you get to a certain point. What was so wonderful to hear though was that Mr. DeCock's family had visited him earlier that day. I was grateful to hear that--that in the midst of his suffering they were there no longer distancing themselves. It was hard to lose another patient--to have felt the sadness of Nozipo's death and then another one so short a timeframe later. I can't imagine the work that the nurse and carers do and coping with the terminally ill and those in late stages of life. But they do such an amazing job and I was grateful they were there providing compassion when and where it definitely is needed.

There were other patients in the health care center that week that I chatted with. Many of them were HIV and TB+ and obviously suffering. Many of them will get better and return back to the community where they will continue their treatment regimine which includes ARV's and TB treatment. One such patient I met and got a chance to sit with for a while is Alletta. She has been HIV+ for 13 years and because of ARV's is doing quite well. She shared her story and told me about how her husband had infected her with the virus. Right now she is caring for a neighbor's little girl and has basically adopted this child as the mother is an alcoholic and would otherwise not care for this little one.

So there is Alletta, sick and caring enough to take care of a toddler. She shared about the passing of her brother a year earlier and how her parents do not know she is sick because they are still grieving the loss of their son. Alletta is afraid to tell them. Tears streamed down her face as she talked about her life and how difficult it has been. Then the social worker here asked if there was anything that the organization could do to help her.

Alletta responded, housing. She told us that her shack fills with water when it rains and how if it can't get fixed she doesn't think she will make it through the winter. And, I am finding that winters are harsh here.

Although there is no snow, the rain is heavy and the wind strong. At times it just howls. Imagine being chronically ill and having to live in damp, cold, wet, windy conditions all day long. My heart ached. All this woman stated she needs is housing. But the path to making that happen isn't easy. Yet, I wonder if there is something I can do? It seems that my long-term goals are aligning right alongside this area of need so it's just a matter of time before the two intersect...

I wonder if anyone wants to help???

The first few days...

It's taken a long time to finally reach this place, my home away from home in South Africa. Funny how you can be oceans apart from close family and friends and yet feel so close and not far away at all. The internet probably helps.

Well, after a long couple flights (each went smoothly without any issues for those who know what I mean ;) I was greeted at the airport by my new flatmate and made the long trek from the Cape Town airport to my new home. It's a familiar place and although not filled with the friendly faces who I once stayed here with, there are many other friendly faces and people I am really becoming quite close with.

The first couple days have been about settling in, recovering from jetlag and getting a bit acclimated as to where I am in relation to everything else. Yesterday my friend Jakes drove me around Chapman's Peak which was full of breathtaking vistas. I wish I had brought my camera but we were eventually heading to the waterfront and I didn't feel like taking it along. There will be another opportunity I am sure.

Today has been a quiet day...mostly me and the house. It's been nice though, I probably needed that to get even more settled in preparation for my first day tomorrow. Some sad news...on Thursday I found out that Nozipo, a woman who was in the health care clinic when I was out here last year, passed away at 2am that morning. I was very saddened by the news because I had so desperately been hoping I would be able to see her again and spend time sharing and telling stories with one another once again. Last year she told me that if I ended up coming back, she would come and visit me. It was extremely humbling...here she is HIV+, frail, without transportation, barely able to walk because of two previous strokes, wanting to come visit me if I returned back. Then I arrive, and that very night she passes away. At the same time, I am comforted knowing that she is no longer suffering. A friend of mine here who spent time with her in her last week of life said that there were days that Patricia (Nozipo's English name) said that there was no one to talk to so she would just talk to Jesus all day. I'm glad that she is now with Jesus and that she can talk to him face to face.

I'm concerned about Thembeka, my friend in Kayamandi. I emailed her letting her know I was back in South Africa and I haven't heard from her. Lord-willing I will head to Stellenbosch next weekend to spend time in Kayamandi and see if I can find her.

Until later,

Brenda