JYWY Dispatch (July 07)
In the space of 3 weeks, thieves almost got away with stealing 2 cars from our hosts family's driveway (WY & I use one of the cars); and there was a potential break-in to our little flat. Fortunately, one car had a flat battery and couldn't start, whereas the other had a gear lock which dissuaded the thieves from persisting with the theft. Both cars suffered some damage to the door lock, car alarm system and ignition during the incident. On Sunday early morning (3:45am), John heard some men speaking around the driveway/roadside. To his horror, the voices approached our flat and then he heard a loud creak (insufficient grease) as the front door handle was turned. The door was locked so they left.
Welcome to Africa??!! The South African newspapers reported that petty crime has dropped but aggravated robbery and murder has increased by over 2% this year. In the townships of Gugulethu, Nyanga and Khayelitsha alone (Cape Town area), 662 people were murdered last year. Even now, there is a war going on in the townships where rival taxi gangs are assasinating each other on the roads and at home.
So why are we sharing all this? (I can just imagine how large our parents eyes will grow when they read this) Sure, Malaysia is much safer but we are convinced that God has placed us here so we can pour our sweat, tears and heart into Africa's transformation. Africa needs leaders. Men/women with deep unswaying moral character and practical competence accorded by mentoring, life skills development & formal education. The sooner we begin the process, the better our chances of success. Our window is small and growing smaller, the World Cup begins
in less than 36 months. We need to create a structure-movement-network-momentum that has to prevail long after the World Cup has become a distant memory.
Sometimes when we allow ourselves to think about the enormity of the task, Wan Yi & I just feel choked up. We catch ourselves doubting what 2 foreigners can do for/in Africa? "God, please help us! We can't do this alone." has now become our mantra. "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. If it is the Lord's will, we will live ..." (James 4:14-15) If this is God's will, Ubabalo will succeed irrespective of what we can do. But with God's strength we will press on. Thank you for your support (prayer, fellowship & financial).
By the way, we have one Hub Church in Gugulethu and two Hub Churches in Khayelitsha. We have both visited Khayelitsha and last Friday, we met with the Hub Church Champion for Gugulethu. One step at a time ... one step at a time.
As continual equipping for our work here, both of us will start language classes at the Stellenbosch University for one semester beginning end-July. At this juncture of the project, Wan Yi interacts with mainly Afrikaans speaking nationals. During the Apartheid years, South Africa had 2 official languages: Afrikaans and English. After Apartheid officially ended in 1994, the new constitution gave official status to 11 languages: English, Afrikaans and 9 indigenous African languages.
Francophone Africa consists of 29 of the 54 countries - 18 where French is the official language, 6 where it is one of two official languages, and 5 where it is not an official language but still has a powerful presence. Almost half (400million) of the population of Africa (8xx million) speak French. No prizes for guessing which course John will apply for ...
Finally, John's sister and bro-in-law has relocated to Melbourne, Australia. With his parents staying put in Malaysia, we now have to deal with 9 hours time difference & communication challenges spanning 3 continents.
Prayer:
Welcome to Africa??!! The South African newspapers reported that petty crime has dropped but aggravated robbery and murder has increased by over 2% this year. In the townships of Gugulethu, Nyanga and Khayelitsha alone (Cape Town area), 662 people were murdered last year. Even now, there is a war going on in the townships where rival taxi gangs are assasinating each other on the roads and at home.
So why are we sharing all this? (I can just imagine how large our parents eyes will grow when they read this) Sure, Malaysia is much safer but we are convinced that God has placed us here so we can pour our sweat, tears and heart into Africa's transformation. Africa needs leaders. Men/women with deep unswaying moral character and practical competence accorded by mentoring, life skills development & formal education. The sooner we begin the process, the better our chances of success. Our window is small and growing smaller, the World Cup begins
in less than 36 months. We need to create a structure-movement-network-momentum that has to prevail long after the World Cup has become a distant memory.
Sometimes when we allow ourselves to think about the enormity of the task, Wan Yi & I just feel choked up. We catch ourselves doubting what 2 foreigners can do for/in Africa? "God, please help us! We can't do this alone." has now become our mantra. "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. If it is the Lord's will, we will live ..." (James 4:14-15) If this is God's will, Ubabalo will succeed irrespective of what we can do. But with God's strength we will press on. Thank you for your support (prayer, fellowship & financial).
By the way, we have one Hub Church in Gugulethu and two Hub Churches in Khayelitsha. We have both visited Khayelitsha and last Friday, we met with the Hub Church Champion for Gugulethu. One step at a time ... one step at a time.
As continual equipping for our work here, both of us will start language classes at the Stellenbosch University for one semester beginning end-July. At this juncture of the project, Wan Yi interacts with mainly Afrikaans speaking nationals. During the Apartheid years, South Africa had 2 official languages: Afrikaans and English. After Apartheid officially ended in 1994, the new constitution gave official status to 11 languages: English, Afrikaans and 9 indigenous African languages.
Francophone Africa consists of 29 of the 54 countries - 18 where French is the official language, 6 where it is one of two official languages, and 5 where it is not an official language but still has a powerful presence. Almost half (400million) of the population of Africa (8xx million) speak French. No prizes for guessing which course John will apply for ...
Finally, John's sister and bro-in-law has relocated to Melbourne, Australia. With his parents staying put in Malaysia, we now have to deal with 9 hours time difference & communication challenges spanning 3 continents.
Prayer:
- For our personal safety & alertness to danger.
- For John's family as we learn to handle the distance separating us.
- For Wan Yi's grandma. Her health status remains unchanged, which is good.
- For our friend Rene (main organizer of the 3-month International Sports Leadership School) who was involved in a car accident. She is suffering from whiplash and various physical pains due to the accident. Further, pray that she will find good admin support during this period of convalescence as ISLS begins end-July.
- Thanksgiving for great health.
Labels: newsletter, south africa
posted by thewallah at 1:24 PM
1 Comments:
if you tried emailing this to me, it didn't work. but if you keep posting your newsletters up on the blog, i'll see it (eventually).
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