Tuesday, March 18, 2008

"They invited us into the tent!  Regular tourists wouldn't get to see this part of South Africa." That was the most apt description by one of our travelers of the reception that was organized by our South African brothers and sisters from the churches of Christ in Tshwane. 

We visited the Church of Christ  in the Atteridgeville Township for a welcome reception after a long day of travel and relocation from Cape Town to Pretoria.  The former townships are now incorporated into the metropolitan government council.  Yet the township citizens still experience a deprived life.  Much progress is being made, but the churches are still struggling.  This congregation worships in a tent, and they are working hard to raise the funds for construction of a church building. 

                                    

 

Brother Ernest Cato delivered a Gospel message of support and encouragement with the aid of interpretation from Brother Tebogo Ramatsui, the minister in Atteridgeville.   We were entertained by a choir of young South Africans, and their melodic a capella voices brought some of our travelers to tears.  Darien Flowers, one of our teenage travelers said, "I wish I could bring all of my classmates here to see the real South Africa."

 

Just when we thought the trip couldn't get any better, we were lifted to a higher level of connection with our African heritage.  Even though it is not likely that any of us are direct descendants of the nations of Southern Africa,

South Africa is the Land of Ubuntu. When challenged to build a new nation following the end of Apartheid, Nelson Mandela challenged the nation to embrace the spirit of Ubuntu. This challenged all people Black and White to work together to craft a better future for everyone. The result is that the people of South Africa ask all visitors with a warm smile, "How do you like our new South Africa?"

Our community at iZania is inspired by the spirit of Ubuntu - an African concept of unity and sharing with other people that celebrates the success of others because I can only become the person I am because of who you are. This concept is important in a highly connected world built on the kindness of strangers. Ubuntu refers to the spirit of our community.

For the next ten days I will be traveling with a group of people from the USA representing the South Africa Outreach Program, a missionary outreach group formed by my wife and me in 1996, during the three years that we lived in South Africa. We have been helping disadvantaged people in South Africa and assisting with cultural exchange visits and church growth for over 12 years. This is the 4^th group that we have hosted on a trip to the motherland of Africa. I will be sharing our experiences in my blog post. Please check daily, or subscribe to this blog to receive my daily updates .

Friday, March 14 

                                         

We gathered from places far and near at our rendezvous at Dulles International Airport in