DStilled

Think Globally. Act Locally.

AIDS doesn’t kill people; it makes the body so weak that almost anything else will.  AIDS develops from having HIV in your body.  HIV is passed from one person to another through mixing of bodily fluids.  The most common way HIV is spread is through unprotected sex.  Sex is a part of life of so many people in the world and those in South Africa are no different.  In fact, South Africa has some of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world.  This is due to many factors such as unimaginable poverty, very cramped living conditions, paternalism, and the country’s leadership in powerful denial about the problem.

All of this has led many, many people to want to solve this pandemic.  Primarily through religious institutions and social services, different prevention and treatment centers have sprung up all over the country to assist those in need - often helping themselves or someone very close to them.  The past three days here in Cape Town, we have visited several ministries that are doing their best to alliviate the pain and suffering of the tens of thousands in the community with HIV/AIDS. 

One of the pastors at the JL Zwane center/church reminded us to think globally and act locally yesterday.  This stuck in my mind because I see this as some of the best advice one human being can give to another.  It is one of the main reasons I am on this trip, why I travel and experience as much as possible, and why I will never stop learning.  I want to know what humanity is.  I want to be able to know as much as possible and much of this knowledge is only available through others or learned in communities.  The better I understand humanity as a whole, the better my foundational assumptions will be for any given human in particular.  This allows me to see what unites us as created images of God and indeed see God (Himself).  Acting locally is enabling us to think about the situations we are in and start small.  I do plan on acting globally one day but I just see that as expanding the local to include all of God’s creation.

From the depths to the heights

I left you before the weekend had hit and we were on our way to one of the oldest and most interesting townships in South Africa.  It’s name is Gugelethu but often goes by Googs.  For those of you unsure of what I mean by township, it’s a shantytown.  It’s an area of “informal settlement” where people are forced to live due to political or economic circumstances.  There are sometimes actual houses but even they would fail any construction inspector’s code in the states.  It’s a place of desparate poverty, trash, overpopulation, occasional epidemic or fire, and yet hope is not lost.  Like many experiences I had in similar situations in Guatemala, the people are still people and as a whole, people are resilient.  These Africans are no different.

One other quick thing I wanted to share is that race is an obivious and overt thing to these people down here.  For the past 100 years race has been at the forefront of discrimination and power in South Africa.  The Afrikaaners are the remnants of the white Dutch colonists from the 15th and 16th centuries.  The term ”whites” includes both them and other people of pale skin, often Europeans.  The term “blacks” only refers to native Africans of dark skin.  Everyone else is “colored.”  Yes, you will find colored people that are physically darker than blacks but that’s not the point.  It’s a continuum of power and privilege.  It’s a way to place value on people like things that are not made in the image of God. 

Because blacks were discriminated against even before aparthied, they already had townships established.  In Cape Town there wer three reserved for blacks and Googs is one of them.  We arrived knowing we were going to spend the night but other than that, didn’t really have a clue.  It ended up being a home/hotel sorta.  Not the worst place I’ve ever slept by any stretch of the imagination.  We were treated with amazing hospitality and incorporated into their family.  The best part was when after dinner we all stood around in a garage with other people from the township and sang songs.  The blessing of music transcends all barriers.

The next morning was Sunday so we decided to stay and go to a local worship service.  The one we picked was a tent church with one of the loudest church environments I’ve ever been exposed to.  It was small and the energy was reserved but present.  One of the most interesting parts of the church was that people kept coming in from 30 minutes before service “started” to just up until the service “ended.”  The rest of my group I think really enjoyed it and saw what worship was happening was genuine and powerful (albeit too loud).  I have a little beef with this. 

Logically there’s no way to tell authenticity on one visit to any church.  You have to assume what you observe is average unless told otherwise.  We come from mostly quiet, reformed, reverent churches that have different values when it comes to worship style.  That’s right, I said that we place morality on aspects of HOW we worship God.  I do it all the time and I can almost guarentee you do as well.  Generally believers want or allow their worship style to reflect who they are and their theology.  When we are in our own churches, we can tell when authenticity is acheived and when people are simply going through the motions.  I argue that we should not romanicize the little known people and ways of living because they are different, quaint, novel, or whatever.  If we are to truly to become citizens of God’s Kingdom and of this planet of humanity as a whole, romaniticizing the “other” trivializes them.  It is by nature a stance of power viewing from on high to “understand” the other.  My perspective, or more accurately the perspective I seek to ascertain, is to learn through humility and logic.  Humility keeps us in our place and logic makes sense of our world.  Humility creates understanding through empathy and compassion while logic creates understanding through order and reasoning.  This worldview facilitates growth for both my right and left brain.  It allows me to connect with anyone and everyone.  It makes me see the detail and the big picture at the same time.  I have been on a journey since CPE two years ago towards this Christ-like growth and get excited simply thinking about how even this part of my identity is evolving.

After church we came back to the “nice” part of town and went out to the beach.  It was the arguably the Indian ocean but I don’t count it.  I won’t say I’ve been to the Indian until I’m on my own and travel past the most southern tip of Africa, about 100 miles southeast of here.  Today we went to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point.  I got to climb around and do some running and it was great.  I miss physical activity so much and look forward to getting back into it when I return.  I will also return with a nice winter tan.

God is alive and kickin’ in Cape Town

For the past two days here, we have really dived into the spiritual aspects of our journey of learning here in South Africa.  Two places especially were very wonderful sites to visit and hear about what they are doing in the area.  Since my life is motivated and quite possibly will be run by Christian mission, this had particular interest for me.

The first stop yesterday was called The Warehouse.  We didn’t know what to expect but when we showed up and it was indeed a warehouse, we understood.  About 5 of the ministry leaders came and talked to us shared what programs they were a part of.  We heard stories of miracles happening in peoples’ lives, overwhelming compassion for brokenness and reconciliation, and humility that makes me want to cry.  The Warehouse epitomized the sense of humility and effort.  They wanted to help people more than anything but they see their mission as facilitating local churches with the resources and the empowerment to help those around them.  They want to be invisible so that the love of Christ through the church is what people run to.  It felt like a place I could belong in.  Oh and as a group, they pray an hour every single day.

Today we went to a church called Jubilee Community Church that has jumped in hook, line, and sinker to embrace multiculturalism and really break apartheid through loving people.  They are grounded in scripture and as an evangelical church, they believe (like The Warehouse) that more than anything they can do and give to people, Jesus is the true provider and source of everything.  It also felt like a place I could fit in nicely. 

In addition to these two places, we also went to Desmond Tutu’s church for afternoon liturgy (Tutu wasn’t there) and met with another retired pastor who was part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commision.  He has such a wealth of knowledge that I could have learned from him for days.  Sadly he didn’t discuss the TRC really at all and instead spent his time painting the theological and political background for why apartheid happened in the first place.  It was wonderful for me since it was closer to how I think but it was difficult for everyone to be engaged in a two hour middle of the afternoon lecture. 

I think I’ve officially adjusted to the time difference.  Last night was a wonderful night of sleep and although I took a nap today, I anticipate good rest tonight as well.  It helps that we are on the move and constantly listening to people; it is exhausting at times.  Also, I’ve been planning my extra trip time and it looks like the way I’m going to travel around is by hiring (renting) a car.  For maybe 20-30 bucks a day I can drive myself around for the extra eight days and see more of what I want to see.  The cars are right hand drive and we drive on the left side of the road so for that, I’m quite excited.  I hope in the next couple of days I will find out if I’m really staying extra or not.

Traveling Abroad

So I’m in South Africa right now.  Cape Town to be precise.  We got to the airport Monday morning at 9am and We left the airport at 11:30pm local time.  Did I mention we arrived on the next day?  Yep, nearly two days (minus the 7 hours lost) of just getting here knowing full well it’ll take just as long to get back.

For those of you unaware of what I’m talking about, how about I say.  At Louisville Presbyterian Seminary there are currently three traveling seminars:  Israel, South Africa, and Brazil.  I opted for the South African one.  It is technically a class that one gets a grade for and everything but I am auditing it.  I don’t need the credits and there’s no sense in paying the extra thousand bucks.  After fundraising and over a year of anticipation, around 15 of us set off for the adventure. 

As this is the first year LPTS has had the SA trip, there are lots of unknowns.  The “final” draft of the itinerary had almost half of its items as “not confirmed.”  We got down here and all one has to do is have an open mind for scheduling.  I think for the most part, that’s the kind of people we have down here which is from what I hear closer to African time.

After the long and stiff flights we crashed at the Mountain Manor in Cape Town.  It’s a neat little bed and breakfast that is well suited for our group.  There are a few other tenants but not many.  Our amazing tour guide and bus driver met us as the airport and I believe are our local connections for most of the trip.  Today we went to the fancy-pants mall where we exchanged money, we toured historic Cape Town, the Slave Lodge, and Table Mountain.  The mode of transportation opted for most going up Table Mountain is a big cable car with a rotating floor.  It’s one of three in the world like it and certainly added to the enjoyment of the trip up and down. 

There were many moments today that I just sat back and realized how broken and beautiful this world is.  It is in our weaknesses that Christ’s strength makes us strong.  Even the reason I’m up right now typing this is an example of using a complaining-worthy situation (intense snoring of my roommates) for positive.

I’m hanging out with some new friends from Jo-burg now, so I’ll type more tomorrow.