Violence Rips Apart South Africa

It is a sober time in South Africa. Violence has swept through the nation like a wild fire.

I have to tell you about the terrible events unfolding in South Africa, and what God is doing in the midst of tragedy. But it is a long letter. I understand if you are in a rush....

You've seen the news: Unbelievable racial violence has broken out all over the country. There are xenophobic riots taking place in every major city of the nation. Much of the violence has actually been under-stated for a change. It is worse than any one TV network can cover.

It is a case of the poor attacking the poor in the townships and shantytowns and squatter camps. No one knows how it actually started, but it has spread from one part of the country to the other, until tens of thousands of people are homeless and hundreds of people have been killed.

It is mainly jobless, homeless poor people turning against political and economic refugees from Zimbabwe, Malawia, Mozambique, Angola, Somalia and the Congo. There are 3,000,000 refugees from Zimbabwe alone in South Africa! South Africa is looked upon as the breadbasket of Africa, a safe haven for the destitute and oppressed. There are ruthless dictators in Zimbabwe and the Congo and other countries close to us that squash any sign of criticism or freedom of speech. So people come from those countries to South Africa looking for jobs so they can survive and send money back home.

Massiphumelele, or "Masi" as we call it, was spared from the violence. Many people worked tirelessly to stop the violence from breaking out. We held prayer meetings, worked with the local pastors and community leaders and police, and did what we could to help.

Community meetings were held in Masi, foreigners from neighboring countries were invited back to the community (many had fled in fear for their lives), and people went door-to-door recovering the stolen property of the refugees who had left in haste, fearful for their lives.

I spoke with some of our Malawian friends in Masi, and they were frightened for their lives. About 25 Malawians, Somalians, and Zimbabweans fled Mai and spent the weekend sheltered in our team house. Vuyo, who is part of one of the little churches we have started in Masi, got assaulted - he is a local but was in the wrong place at the wrong time - he got hit  twice on the jaw and head.

Last Saturday night there was a joint community and police effort to recover all stolen property by going door to door, and Sunday morning people were still spontaneously bringing stolen stuff back. A national Television news station reported on how local Masi community pastors and leaders acted to stop the violence. In effect they were saying the violence was not acceptable in their community. They condemned the violence, acted proactively to stop it, and set an example for the rest of the country!!

Sun afternoon the premier of Western Cape Province arrived in Masi to congratulate the pastors and community leaders. A deputation took a memo to the refugees to invite them back to Masi. More than 70 foreigners were welcomed back to Masi with a KFC supper late last Sunday evening!

But things were much different in the refugee camp just a few minutes walk from where Sally and I live. This is the camp for the foreign refugees driven from other communities by the violence.

I would like to quote from a report I read about what the conditions were like in the camp:

"There was Alvin from Angola, whose brother was killed on Friday, and who was so traumatized by the guilt of leaving the body to save himself, he could barely speak. There was Maria (not her real name) from the Congo, who was raped on Thursday, didn't know where her teenage son was and just wanted to be given a pair of panties and a place to sleep. There was Noor-Ali from Somalia, a very smart young man in a stylish leather jacket, who had spent years working his way up from cleaning cars for change to owning his own business, only to have absolutely everything he owned snatched away from him in minutes. They, and most of the estimated 1500 people there, were in an extreme state of shock

Helpless? Hopeless?

In recent weeks we've been encouraged by things that are happening here in South Africa.  At the same time, we've also been overwhelmed by the wave of upheaval and violence that has shaken our nation.

Some of the things that have blessed and encouraged us have been taking place in Red Hill (the community that was destroyed by fire in Feb.).  Every week there are individuals who are coming to personally know Jesus.  There are now 7 small house churches started......most being led by new believers as students from CPx (our church planting school) coach them.  Namandla (a former bar owner), David (a well known drunkard in the community who was saved & delivered of his addiction), Shepherd (who was touched by the story of Zacheus), and Archie (captain of the soccer team)........all are new believers and growing in their faith.

Just as we've been rejoicing in these wonderful testimonies of new life, some very distressing events have taken place.  They call it "xenophobia."  Many of the poor in the nation have turned in violence upon the foreigners, the refugees in our midst, from other African nations.  Many have been beaten and killed.  Others have lost all their possessions.  The spirits of hatred and fear have run rampant through the poor communities.

The events of recent days have been "shocking," to say the least.  "Unbelievable" would be more like it.  "Heart-breaking" only touches the surface of the emotions we've experienced.

Our workers have helped house and feed the refugees who are, yet again, trying to find security and safety.  We've joined with community leaders and pastors in trying to quiet the rising violence.  We've supported those who are trying to recover all the possessions that have been stolen.

Through it all, and indeed in facing so many of the needs/problems that we've encountered in South Africa, I find myself feeling helpless, even hopeless.  How can we meet such huge needs?  How can we see things changed?  How can our small efforts make a difference?

The conclusion I've come to is this.....we can't - but God can!  We may feel helpless, but we aren't hopeless.  Seeing the need confirms to us the importance of what God has called us to do to make a difference.  The hope of Africa is a new generation of leaders who are not caught in the grip of greed, hatred, or fear.  God is up to something!  He's at work!  The enemy would have us see the needs, the problems, the bleakness.  God would have us keep our eyes ON Him, our trust IN Him.

We don't have all the answers, but we can live here, love and serve those around us, pray, share His goodness, and be faithful in the things we face each day.  These may seem like small actions, but in God's sight they are powerful weapons.

There IS hope!  In fact, the tide may already be turning - we just can't see it yet.

"When everything was hopeless, he hoped anyway."  Romans 4:18  The Message

Good News From Red Hill in Cape Town

I am so excited to send you news about our ongoing work in Red Hill. We are deeply encouraged. The report below is written by one of the students who attended our leadership/discipleship program. Take a few moments and be encouraged with us, will you?

Blessings,

Floyd and Sally

"These last two weeks we've felt so humbled and honored, like Jesus said, "These fields are ripe for the harvest! I sent you to reap what others worked for. They have done the hard work, you are reaping the benefit of their labor." With the same enthusiasm that we saw for getting the nicest shack and filling it with the best stuff, people are hungry for Jesus! About seven house groups are meeting now! Also, Nick + Paula + I (Liana) are finally moved in to Red Hill! We felt we must move in and believe that "all these things shall be added". Specifically, we're hoping for electricity, beds, and warmth to be added at some point...

A few highlights:

+ Paula has been meeting with a woman named Namandla. (Floyd wrote briefly about her- a shabeen/bar owner before the fire, she realized that God still loved her when she saw the skit that some CPX students did.) She's gathered her friends and is excited about leading the bible study! She's had such a revelation of God's grace towards her and is getting a vision to share/pray for her friends and neighbors. Paula meets with her before the bible study and helps her prepare.

+ David, the notorious drunkard, has renounced the drink!! Late last Thursday the Spirit of God spoke to him. We sat with him as he prayed to ask Jesus to help him quit drinking, then exclaimed, "There will be no more drinking for me!! You will come to my house and study the bible, and soon I will be the one leading it!" God plants his vision in his people.

+ Shepherd, after hearing the story of Zacheus and how his heart changed just by being with Jesus, pressed Alexander, "It seems like there's a difference between believing in Jesus and in following Jesus. Tell me about it." After presenting the basic gospel, Alex asked if they'd like to consider these things for awhile. Wonderboy said emphatically, "I need this change in my heart NOW. I don't want to wait until next week." Shepherd agreed. "I want to follow Jesus now."

P.S. Thank you for your love, prayers and financial support for Sally and me. We are very grateful!

On the Edge of the Kingdom Among Rastafarians in Cape Town

God is doing some amazing things through our people as they serve on the edge of the Kingdom:

Baby Safe project for abandoned and unwanted babies: Bethany has been meeting more people about  "baby safe" project. She has been really encouraged by the feedback and advice received.  Her desire now is to have a drop off place staffed.
Child headed households: We are doing a survery to confirm how many child headed households there are and how we can serve them.

A Man knocks on the door and asks to know more about Jesus: Tim had someone from his street come to his door Tue. night asking to be saved!  Tim was really encouraged by the man's desire to "have what Tim had".  He wants to get plugged in with the rest of us that are working in Masi also.  I think that is really encouraging for Tim and also for Jeremiah, who has really been praying for that street.

Meeting with Rastafarians: From Stephen Taylor, one of the team members: "Jonathan and I had a great meeting with the Rasta's on Tue. night.  I felt that we had built a strong enough relationship with them that I could be more bold than I would normally be, and we shared openly with them.  I challenged the leader of the group to ask the Almighty if Halal Salassie really is the Christ.  He believes in the Holy Spirit and His power to teach us, so we ended the meeting praying that God would teach us the truth.  I am confidant that he will come to the right conclusion." PLEASE PRAY FOR THE RASTA-MEN!

Xenophobic attacks against refugees taking place all over South Africa: Our workers are meeting with different refugees and foreign workers in South Africa, including Zimbabweans, Malawians and Somalians and have built a relationship with them. LAst night some of them came to us for help because of attacks against them.

Simple church during the week: Two of our CPx students, Jonathan and Jeremiah, had a great time with a guy who was really discouraged that he wasn't able to 'go to chuch' because he works on Sunday.  They discipled him and empowered him to start his own church.  He is friends with people from a number of different countries, which makes his potential to be a example to others even greater.

Floyd and Sally

When Opportunity Knocks

When I was growing up, I often heard my mother say - "when opportunity knocks, answer the door."  My mother had sayings for just about everything - I only wish I had wrote them all down!  Common sense, fun, amusing phrases of wisdom!

In my mind, the word opportunity has always had a positive meaning or connotation to it.  It's an unexpected benefit or possibility......a chance for something because of some favorable circumstance.

The idea of "opportunity knocking" has taken on a different, and much less positive, meaning here in South Africa.  Crime has been rising, and some of the most common crimes are what they call "crimes of opportunity."  Someone may not be planning a specific crime (usually robbery), but when they see an opportunity, they go for it.  Usually there is an open door or window that is right there in front of them, so they reach in or walk in and grab what they can get quickly.  The most popular items seem to be lap top computers, cell phones, money........but anything is fair game.  I heard of one person who had a vase stolen that was sitting by the window, and another person lost a jar of peanut butter.  It doesn't seem to matter how valuable the item is.......it's just there ready to be taken.

A friend of mine has been trying to save her extra rand to buy bricks to pave her walkway.  Whenever she has a little extra, she buys a few bricks (R.7 - $1 each).  She was getting a nice sized pile of them and was ready to make her walkway.  Then one day she looked and the pile had almost entirely disappeared.  She found out people had been taking them 2, 3, 4 at a time from her yard and just walking away.

I would like to suggest that we pray for this trend to be reversed........that we ask for eyes to be blinded to these types of opportunity!  I think we should pray for a greater fear of the Lord in people's hearts.  Fear of the police or of being caught doesn't seem to be working!  I remember hearing testimonies of the revival that came to the Hebrides islands.  When revival came, most of the bars were closed because no one was going to them!  The move of the Spirit was so great, and the fear of the Lord was so strong in people's hearts, that they left the bars and knelt in the fields crying out to God in repentance.  I believe that type of move of God can happen again!  Would you join with me in praying for a miracle like that here in South Africa?  Let's believe for a revelation of God and His righteousness, a birthing of the fear of the Lord in people's hearts, that will begin to break the stronghold of crime.......all kinds of crime, including the ones of opportunity!

"The fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil."  Psalms 8:13

Home

The months seem to be flying by in a blur.  We've been here almost 19 months now.  For most of that time I've seemed to constantly be running around just to trying and keep my head above water.  To say it's been busy would be a gross understatement!

We've just had a week in the African bush.  It's been heavenly.  I feel as if I've finally been able to take a deep breath!  The warm, dry climate - the stillness - the wide open space - the gorgeous sunsets - all have been so refreshing.  Even Sossy, our dog, seems to have a new lease on life!

During the busyness of these past months, there has been so much I've wanted to write about.  I'm going to attempt to still do that.  There's never a dull moment, day, week, month here!

One of the things that's become very evident to me here, it that this has truly become "home" to us.  When you make such a big/major halfway-across-the-world move, well, you wonder if it will "work."

Almost immediately it "felt" like home.  When we moved into our own place and then unpacked our stuff, our memories - we were surrounded by home.  Now it feels like we've been here forever.

It is a wonderful testimony to us doing the possible (we moved), and God doing what seemed impossible (even away from family, friends, the familiar - it's home).  He is so faithful!

Home is where the heart is, and I guess my/our heart is here now.

"God gives.......a home."   Ps. 68:6

Did We Fail Red Hill?

I sat with a group of our leaders yesterday, debriefing our efforts for the last three months to plant churches in Red Hill, and other communities where we work among the poor and needy. It was an honest discussion about whether our efforts have really made a difference.

One leader said, "If we had sown more seed of the gospel we would have definitely reaped more fruit. Did we do enough?" Another commented, "You encouraged us to reproduce our church with new converts in the last three months. I think we may have failed."

Around the circle set some of the most awesome, Godly, dedicated people I have had the privilege of working with in the last 45 years of ministry. Their humility and passion challenge me deeply.

The one leader who felt she may have failed to reproduce themselves as a church, was the team leader for our work in Red Hill. Red Hill is where we have done the emergency relief work the last three months (all of the shack homes in Red Hill except two were burned down in terrible wildfires three months ago). We have rebuilt 78 homes in three months, held several out door celebrations, prayed with countless people, developed very deep and meaningful relationships, been a voice for the people to the government and to citizens groups, and prayed for deliverance for people fearful of harassing demons and "spirits." Many in Red Hill live with continual fear and hopelessness.

One lady in Red Hill commented that she never thought Jesus would take her back because she ran a "shabeen" from her home. A shabeen is a township beer hall, and usually a center of violence and prostitution in the community. After seeing a drama about a father forgiving his daughters for their drunkenness, this lady had hope that God will be merciful to her.

The battle to plant a church through holistic discipleship amongst the poor is a tough battle. One key, the most essential key, is leaders who are trained with the skills and attitudes to know how to overcome the cultural and spiritual obstacles of working with the poor.

Africa will not be changed without developing a new generation of leaders who are not fixated on authoritative, hierarchical power over people. That's what CPx, our training program, is all about. And by the way, we graduate 68 leaders today from the teaching phase of CPx!!

As we held our debrief with the leaders, I helped them gain perspective on how well they had done in Red Hill.We asked the question,  "If our goal is to plant a church that produces lasting fruit in Red Hill, when do our relief efforts start counting? Only when the church is up and running? Or do all the hundreds and thousands of hours of love, prayer, fasting, hammering nails, listening to the people tell their stories, does all this count as well?"

On a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of amazing success stories, Red Hill is probably a 5 or a 6 - now. But the story is not over. In terms of faithfulness, love, service, wise and humble leadership, I would give our efforts a ten.

Not just a ten for good works, but a ten for wisdom and skill in working with the people. The people of Red Hill were blown away by the fact that our team is a multi-cultural team of whites and blacks. Our team members speak local languages.  They took time to listen. We did a lot of things right.

Africa Does Not Need More Foreign Aid

I learned something this past week that really impacted me and confirmed that we are on the right track to make a lasting impact on Africa. I learned that between 1980 and 1988 the US government pumped $83 billion dollars of foreign aid into Sub-Saharan Africa. $83 billion dollars! During that same period of time living standards dropped and infant mortality rose. Once again, we learn that foregin aid does not disciple the hearts and minds of people. God uses people to disciple people.

After forty years of traveling all over the continent of Africa,  I am convinced that the hope of changing Africa is a new generation of servant hearted, disciple making leaders. Leaders who think Biblically and act like the New Testament followers of Jesus.

Sally and I are giving our lives to train such leaders who will help lead this continent out of the morass of pain and poverty it is experiencing.

We are greatly inspired by the students who are gathered from 15 nations for CPx, our leadership school here in Cape Town. There are 68 amazing students in our school, 43 from all over Africa. They are the hope of changing Africa!

In three weeks time one of these leaders is launching 'Explore Africa.' Explore Africa is an initiative of short term and long term teams throughout the continent...the vision is to change Africa through making disciples, training leaders and planting simple, disciple making, leadership empowering movements. A big part of this will be abstinence "clubs" on university and high school campuses...the clubs will empower and encourage young men and women to live lives of sexual purity, to be disciplined followers of Jesus Christ, and serve as simple disciple making churches on their campuses.

If a new generation of young leaders do not disciple the nations of Africa, the nations will disciple the young leaders!

Another goal of "Explore Africa" is to raise up a new generation of servant leaders who are equipped to disciple nations. Sub-Saharan Africa has been evangelized many times but it has not been discipled. Outsiders can inspire temporary behavior modification in Africans but unless their minds are renewed from animistic world-views to a Biblical world-view the changes are only superficial. Animistic world views combined with poverty imprison people in dependency, hopelessness and a paralyzing victim mentality.

Red Hill By Headlights

Last night we were in Red Hill, the community where we have been working to do relief work after the fires that swept through there. One of our teams did a gospel drama by the light of cars shining on the actors. The wind was whipping sand in our faces, but the people of Red Hill were drawn into the simple drama story portraying a father who drove out his daughters for prostituting themselves (a big problem in disadvantaged communities: very poor people do desperate things), then took them back at the urging of a man with a message of forgiveness. Several people accepted Christ.

Our teams have labored long hours in Red Hill, but they now near the end of "Phase Four" of the relief work. We are transitioning to longer term development work and to planting simple home based churches. We are dreaming about Red Hill experiencing transformation.

One man in Red Hill named Sydney was convinced there were demons or spirits under his shack home. He believed these spirits were more powerful that God. His little son work up every night screaming from bad dreams. The local sangoma (witch doctor) promised to take care of the problem for a lot of money. But one of the couples on our team offered to pray with Sydney, and since that day his son has not experienced one bad dream. Sydney has opened his heart to Jesus in a new way, and poured a concrete floor in his shack home!

One of the keys to transformation in Red Hill is servant leadership. It is the key to changing Africa. There is a desperate need for a new generation of leaders and a new expression of the church of Jesus Christ, making disciples, training servant leaders, and planting holistic church planting movements that preach good news and live good news to the poor and needy.

Thank you for standing with us to make a difference in Africa,

God Is Building A New Kind of Leader in Africa

Spirit-filled and Spirit-led young African leaders know only too well the giants of poverty, sickness, foreign domination and failed leadership at work to destroy their great continent. They also have a vision of what God can do through them as servant leaders to turn things around in Africa. Floyd McClung, leader of All Nations in Cape Town, South Africa, invited some of the young African leaders attending CPx to share with the other students some of Africa's beauty and pain.

In his introduction to the special session, Floyd set the tone for what followed, "I believe God planned the nations, tribes and peoples of Africa. God planned each individual and God planned each "nation" of individuals. God made Africa and Africans. How will we serve Africa, and how will we respond to the challenges of Africa?" he asked. Floyd believes that Africa, once enslaved, now needs to be served. "The beauty in Africa will be set free by people with serving hearts," he says.

The All Nations CPx has brought young leaders together from several countries in Africa and from other continents as well, to learn what it means to be servant leaders, especially in Africa. The majority of these sixty-six men and women are from African countries where the words 'servant' and 'leader' are often polar opposites.

Africans Speaking About Africa

Three of the African leaders in CPx, Bruce Chitambala and Sydney Musonda from Zambia, and Vakele Dlamini from Swaziland, opened their hearts and shared what they see are the bright spots but also the shameful realities in Africa. Bruce described the good news about Africa and the bad. Africa is the most "Christianized" continent. It is a continent of amazing natural beauty. "Her unique and colorful peoples are hospitable and gracious to strangers. Her vast natural resources can feed the world."

However, Africa is a continent ravaged by HIV and AIDS, wars, crime and poverty. Bruce talked about his crushing loss when his favorite aunt died from complications from HIV and AIDS. Most of the African CPx'ers raised their hands to show they had lost a friend or relative to HIV/AIDS. Bruce wept as he described how his mother would cut up her dresses to make shirts for her children and how he had to sell colored iced sugar water to help buy food for the family. "And we would be described as one of the privileged few," he said. How Does Africa Break the Cycle of Poverty?

How does Africa break out of the cycles of poverty and disease? Bruce, Sydney and Vakele agreed: "Africa's most compelling need is servant leadership. Our leaders must learn the difference between significance in God's eyes and success in man's eyes. Sadly, many of our leaders are more interested in how much they can acquire than how much they can give. Africa has enough to meet the need, but not the greed, of all her peoples," one said. Sydney explained that most African men want an education and with it, the perks of a good life, cars, money and clothes. "Naturally, a person wants to take care of oneself first," he said. "But we must raise up young men and women with a bigger vision, who will make a difference, to go back to their countries to impact the young generation with new role models. Everything rises and falls on leadership." Bruce and Sydney and Vakele have given up good paying jobs and careers to invest their lives to train and equip other African young leaders.

Child Headed Households in Africa

"Africa is sick, and we need a healing message," Bruce declared. "Everyone knows about HIV and AIDS but one result of this pandemic is the massive number of child-headed households. The family, though highly esteemed, is endangered. It is plagued by poverty, ignorance and unfaithfulness among partners. We have to speak about purity and abstinence to men, since this is not the norm," Sydney says.

Bruce shared his conviction that many Churches in Africa are weak and dependent. "Those planted by international aid agencies are often enslaved in dependency. This is why I am excited about the simple church model in which everyone learns to love one another, studies the Word of God together, and take responsibility for each other," Bruce says.

Sydney spoke about the need to disciple believers. "If Africa is so highly Christianized why it is also so highly infected with HIV/AIDS? What is wrong?" he asked. "People need to be discipled," he said. Bruce, Sydney and Vekela voiced their conviction that Sub-Saharan Africa has been evangelized but not discipled.

A New Kind of Leader - Courage to Be Different

All of the African leaders in CPx see themselves as part of the new thing God wants to do in Africa. "It is time to rebuild Africa," Sydney says. Floyd McClung also believes this.

"This is the one of the main reasons we moved to Africa. God wants something new to be birthed in Africa," he says. "We sense God birthing something new through CPx in the hearts of these young leaders. God is longing for His people in Africa to break free from hierarchical models of leadership. God is longing for African leaders to break free of the old ways of dominance and control, and to unleash the potential of Africa to bless the rest of the world. We are dreaming and working toward holistic church planting movements all over the continent. God will not be satisfied until Africa is ready to come to the party!" he says.

"What is God's response to these huge challenges? Do we continue to do church the way we have in the past? Will old ways of thinking solve the old problems we face?" he asked. "Perhaps the old problems have been caused by the old ways of thinking about church and the kingdom of God. My heart is exploding with longing to empower the bright young leaders of Africa who see the problems of Africa and are open to change," he says.

What about Women in Africa?

It takes a special bravery for an African woman to speak up, but Vakele Dlamini is willing to be that kind of woman. "We have experienced love and acceptance on all fronts here," she told her fellow CPx'ers. "We are free to share our brokenness, our same struggles." As a woman in Africa, there are many struggles. "Women are almost non-exsistant," Vakele says. "We are raised to listen to men, respect our culture and traditions, and be silent. Men are customarily allowed several wives and mistresses, and a woman, out of fear, must submit to this," Vekela says. She said this practice contributes to the rapid spread of HIV and AIDS. Even for women in churches, this is a "huge difficulty," Vakele says. "Like many women, I do not know where to find my place." Vakele believes the African men and women at CPx hold the key. "Guys like ours need to embrace change, and target other men to help them change," she says.

Light on the Red Hill

I want to tell you what God has been doing here in Cape Town, especially in CPx and Red Hill.

We have 70 outstanding students enrolled for six months IN CPx, our leadership training program. Actually, they are not students in the normal sense of that word. All of them are leaders with varying degrees of experience. They come from 15 countries, 43 of them are Africans.

Every single student feels called to be involved in some way long term to make a difference in Africa or the Middle East. It has been a big faith challenge for us to hold this school. It takes a lot of money to rent housing, provide good teachers, organize transportation, feed, and do set up for so many students. We don't have permanent facilities so we have had to work hard to find temporary housing.

The students are fantastic! And we are very encouraged by the fact that more than half of the student fees have come in through the a few sponsors, but mainly through the students themselves working and sacrificing to cover their own fees. We still need a big release of finance. I would appreciate your prayers as we need another R250,000 to pay for the remaining housing, food, and tuition costs. Tuition, board and room for one student costs about R10,000.

It is a worthy investment. These are emerging leaders that will change nations. God is using CPx to impact their character through teaching on servant leadership, their understanding about simple church and church planting movements, and their skills to be more effective leaders. We are empowering them to advance God's kingdom in every sphere of life. Quite a few of them feel called to the Muslim world. All of them are learning how to do church in a holistic way.

Regarding the work we are doing on Red Hill (wild fires burned down the shack homes of 78 families a few weeks ago and we have gotten deeply involved), a lot of progress has been made. We have completed "Phase one" of our relief efforts. That involved helping everyone who lost their home to rebuild at least a one room simple home. We have been able to help several families rebuild a complete "beautiful shack" which costs about R20,000 plus labour. We are trying to hire local guys from Red Hill to provide jobs and job skills through the project.

We are busy now making sure everyone has windows built into to their home, and new galvanized metal sheets for roof and walls. Next we will try to make sure everyone has concrete floors. We are hiring guys who live in Red Hill to build beds and cupboards. We begin skills classes this Saturday teaching carpentry and other skills. We are studying how to turn this into along term sustainable endeavor.

We are also very focused right now on visiting every home in Red Hill to make sure everyone has a personal presentation of the good news of Jesus and what he has done for them. Without the transformation of a person's heart, they will not have the spiritual and moral strength they need to overcome addiction to alcohol, drugs and abusive relationships in their families.

About ten days ago we held a big celebration on Red Hill with pap and chicken and lots of music and dancing and celebrating. It was the first time since the fire destroyed the homes of the people that they had time to rejoice and be happy. We presented new soccer uniforms to the "Red Hill Attackers" soccer team because their uniforms were all destroyed in the fire. Since then we have held two football tournaments with our CPx guys and teams from Ocean View. This has brought a lot of life to the men.

Would you pray about helping us meet the big financial challenges we face right now? By investing in a scholarship for one of our students, you are investing in the people of Red Hill. Our students are involved daily in people's lives in that community. We will be grateful for anything God leads you to do. And please pray for a spiritual breakthrough on Red Hill. The spiritual atmosphere is changing - but we are longing to see a huge breakthrough that results in a new church born there. It will be a light on the Red Hill!

Yours for the lost,

Floyd

Urgent Request

Dear Friends,

The relief work in Red Hill continues. As you read this we are completing the task of getting all of the 72 families in the two burnt settlement camps into a shelter so they are out of the wind and rain. The people did a lot of work themselves but we supplied about R100,000 worth of building materials, including wooden posts, zinc sheets for roof and siding, and windows and doors and frames for the windows and doors. This initial effort just got the several hundred people out of the rain. It did provide a proper decent home, no matter the size.

Now the long term work of people building begins. We have established relationships with many of the people. We have worked beside them the last 8 days to build trust. Now we want to invest in their lives and into the community long term. We would love to see every family have a "beautiful shack" with a floor and beds and stoves for cooking and a fridge for keeping food so it does not spoil.

One friend recommended simple Wendy houses. That would be a huge blessing.

Please pray about sponsoring a Wendy house for a family would you?

Thank you for your love and support!

Yours,

Floyd

God Stopped the Fire - God Stopped the Rain

During a 24 hour prayer watch in the early hours of December 17th, somewhere around 3:00 AM in the morning, while standing on the back deck of our team house here in Cape Town, one of the young people working with us saw flames shooting high up into the sky a couple kilometers away in a community called Masiphumelele. 'Masi' is one of the communities where we serve the poor.

The young lady who spotted the fire quickly woke up others on the outreach and they began to pray for God to stop the fire. Within minutes it began to rain and the fire was quenched.

But the damage was already done to people's small shack homes. The fire burned 160 homes and left 600 people homeless. Within two hours the young people participating in "Ten Days for Jesus," a Christmas outreach during December, were on the site of the fire. But the rains were hindering the help they brought to the people forced out of their homes. So the team prayed again. This time they prayed for God to stop the rains. Once again, God extended his hand and the rain stopped. Rescue operations got under way.

It was a long weekend of removing rubble from the home sites, distributing blankets, food and materials to begin rebuilding, and working besides the people to reconstruct their tiny shack homes.

And it showed 30 young people on the outreach that God answers prayer.

It was a tragedy that the fire happened in the first place. Sadly, fires in the townships are common on Friday and Saturday nights. Mostly they are caused when someone is drunk and accidentally turns over a kerosene cooking stove.

We are committed to long term solutions to the housing problems of the poor here in Cape Town. We can't do much to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged people, but we can help one family at a time, one life at a time.

And we can serve beside people in their times of tragedy. Listening, getting involved, serving where needed, and praying expresses the love of Jesus. We understand in times like the fire what Jesus felt when it says of him,

"Jesus was moved with compassion for the crowds because their problems were so great - they didn't know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd." Matthew 9:36

Click here to view a slide show of some pictures of the damage to Masiphumelele.

Willow Creek Update

I used the wrong language in my recent post about Willow Creek. I described what they are learning as "repentance." I apologize for that. The word "repentance" was not the right word to use about the study they called "Reveal." Below is a blog posting from Greg Hawkins clarifying what exactly did happen at Willow Creek in regard to what they are learning about spiritual formation and participation in programs and cell groups.

I want to express my respect and appreciation for Bill Hybels, Willow Creek and the huge contribution they have made to the body of Christ. If you have not read the  story of Willow Creek, I urge you to add ‘Rediscovering Church’ by Bill and Lynn Hybels to your reading list. It is very inspiring and instructive.

“The Truth About REVEAL - October 26, 2007

I'm thrilled to see the high level of interest and energy behind the blogosphere comments about REVEAL. But I've read enough postings to think that it might be helpful to provide a few facts on three issues that keep coming up. Trust me. I'm not into "spin control" here. I just want to fill in some gaps.

1. It's Not About Willow
REVEAL’s findings are based on thirty churches besides Willow. In all thirty churches, we’ve found the six segments of REVEAL’s spiritual continuum, including the Stalled and Dissatisfied segments. And these churches aren’t all Willow clones. We’ve surveyed traditional Bible churches, mainline denominations African-American churches and churches respresenting a wide range of geographies and sizes. Right now we’re fielding the survey to 500 additional churches, including 100 international churches. So, while REVEAL was born out of a Willow researcch project in 2004, the findings are not exclusive to Willow.

2. Willow Repents?
The Leadership Journal blog started with this question, and the answer is NO. Repenting, in my mind, deals with confessing sin. There is absolutely no sin involved in this deal. Just good old fashioned learning. What you are seeing is a set of leaders coming to grips with some new facts and deciding to do something about it. This is nothing new for us here at Willow. We are passionately committed to learning. Redeeming this broken world through the love and power of Jesus Christ is just too important for us not to be in a constant state of learning. We’ve always been a church in motion and REVEAL is just another example of Willow trying to be open to God’s design for this local church.”

Willow Creek Leaders Repent of Program Based Church

Rarely I have been more proud of a church leader than when Bill Hybels recently repented for doing church the wrong way. I love Bill's honesty and respect him even more than I did before his repentance.

I also found his confession deeply affirming. I have been endeavoring to teach, write, model and call pastors and leaders and fellow believers to do simple church by focusing on the basics.

Excellent programming and systems was the Willow Creek claim to fame. What Bill Hybels did was issue a public statement repenting for some of their leadership practices. After an in-depth evaluation of the success of their programs they had concluded that much of their programming had not resulted in true spiritual growth. Their conclusion was that a church that builds a dependency on programs for discipleship will ultimately fail. Bill and the Willow Creek team concluded that Bible study, prayer, discipleship and missional community are all practices that must be instilled into people in a way that makes them depend on God for growth. It always just comes back to the basics. You can't program the basics, you have to instill them into people through one-on-one personal discipleship in a small community of outward focused people.

Reading about Bill's repentance confirmed to me that we are on the right track in emphasizing the following three "basics" as the only foundation for training and discipling leaders and workers in the kingdom:

1. Love for God by cultivating a lifestyle of prayer, fasting and reading the Word

2. Love for each other as members of the same community by intentionally investing in and discipling one another

3. Love for those who do not yet follow Jesus

May god strengthen us all in our commitment to live a life of simple yet focused obedience.

How To Pray For Africa

A young man wrote to me this week, asking how he can pray for us in Africa. Here is what I wrote him...would you join him in praying for breakthroughs and releases for Africa? We don't ask for ourselves, but for Africa's 860 million people and 54 countries to be transformed by Jesus.

Thank you!

1. We are launching our first  All Nations CPx training program in Africa in February. We have over 80 applicants, all of them bearing fruit and proven in ministry, but most of them are living by faith and cannot afford the school fees. We need sponsors for the students - the fess are $1500 for three months of lectures, plus their outreach costs. (See www.all-nations.info and www.floydandsally.org for more information on CPx and All Nations).

2. We have found a building we believe will be great for All Nations offices and classrooms for our training programs. Please pray for a release of finances to lease it long term and for favor with the owners for negotiating for the lease. We are trusting for $250,000 long term to help buy land and build.

3. Please pray for male converts in the township of Ocean View - many of the men are addicted to drugs, alcohol, are unemployed, and don't take responsibility for their marriages or families. A revival among men!

4. There has been a breakthrough among young men who have come to the lord in Masiphumelele, another township where we work. Most of these guys came to Christ through a sports programs we have initiated. Pray for these young men to be strong, to lead their friends to Christ, and for a movement of righteousness to spread among the men of Masphumelele.

5. Ten Days for Jesus. December 10-20. Ten days of intense, extreme all-out intercession and worship and outreach. Ten Days for Jesus. Partnering with 24-7 prayer. "TDJ" is for students ages 18-30. Pray the right ones will come and be changed forever!

6. We are allies with a sister ministry and together we are launching a project we are calling Africa Challenge. The vision is to send teams into every nation in Africa, and every high school in every nation. The mission is to bring a message of abstinence for AIDS prevention. Those who sign a pledge will be formed into clubs, then taught to live a holy life through the power of the Spirit. The vision is to see a movement of student disciples making disciples. We need workers to lead, organize and spearhead Africa Challenge. PRAY for workers with God's heart for Africa. With God's help, we can help stem the tide of AIDS and raise up a generation of militant lovers of Jesus who will lay down their lives to see Africa brought to the feet of Jesus.

7. We are yearning to see a army of 1000 church planters to go north from Cape Town into the unreached people's and Muslim areas of Africa, then further into the Middle East, Central Asia and North India. Pray for laborers.

Thank you!

With gratitude,

Floyd and Sally

An All-too-Common Problem

When we were preparing to move here to South Africa, we talked about the problem of crime in the country. I wanted to work it through in my heart so that I was prepared for whatever we would face. If God was calling us here, I wanted to live in peace, not fear. I believe that everyone who follows Jesus should live where they live because they are called to be there. I believe we're all called "full time." Sadly, a lot of Jesus followers don't know that, or live that way. The sad result is they don't live like they are called, with a sense of destiny and passion. And of course, they don't have grace for what they do and where they live because they are doing it on their terms, not God's. I was determined to prepare my heart for our new location.

We talked about the fact that we would probably face a robbery or something worse someday. Unfortunately, it is all too common-place. It's rare to talk to anyone who hasn't been effected by crime in some way. Well, the anticipation is over. We've faced our first......and second experiences.

One of the crates containing some of the things we shipped over was broken into while in the locked customs warehouse, and boxes of our things were stolen. Very sad after making it half way around the world!

We also had a man attempt to break into the house where we were living with our friend. We were very suddenly woken up at 3 a.m. one night when a burglar was prying open a window and broke the glass on the window. Fortunately no one was hurt, and he ran away. After dealing with the police, etc. we were all awake for the rest of the night.....and slept lightly for many nights afterwards.

During the same few weeks, there was a shoot out at a grocery store nearby when some men tried to hold up an armored car picking up cash from the store. A coffee shop was held up the next night. A friend who had also just moved here had quite a few valuable items stolen by a workman in her home. It was not only a financial loss, but each piece was a symbol of a special time, season, place, event. Very sad for her!

Two guys on one of the visiting outreach teams were robbed at knife point and threatened one evening. They weren't hurt, but it was a frightening experience.

I'm sure all our guardian angels work overtime watching out for us here!!

The poorer people in the townships suffer even more. They face crime and risk to their lives daily. They live with the threat of danger and violence constantly.

It would be easy to become "accepting" of this problem - to see it as just a part of life here. I've instead been feeling the need to rally prayer support that the "stronghold" of this crime spirit would be broken and contained. And that faith for the country to be changed would invade the hearts of believers. I know we can't do that alone. We need hundreds, thousands! to do that. Would you join us in praying for this?

"One shall put a thousand to flight, and two put ten thousand to flight....." Deut. 32:30

Great Faith? Or Wishful Thinking?

When we moved to South Africa it seemed like a huge impossibility for us to buy a home. Many reasons - lack of funds, very high prices, not being able to get a mortgage (a "bond" in South Africa), etc. We looked at places to rent, but found that to be a very discouraging process. There were few places available, and the ones that were on the market were too small, too expensive, or too awful!

Through a series of God-ordained events, we found "our home." It's a house that had been on the market for quite a while, but because of it's different, not really South African style, had not sold. The owners had lowered the price considerably, but it was still too high for us.

At the counsel of a wonderful Christian realtor (the father of a young man in one of the All Nations house churches), we made a very low offer. Unbeknown to us, the owners had also received a full price offer, but they would have had to move out right away. They are retiring to England, and wanted a longer process for their move. We could continue house sitting/living with our friend Maureen, so that was fine with us to wait longer. They countered our offer with a price slightly higher than our low offer, and we had a deal. It was really quite remarkable. It all happened in 4 days.

Meanwhile, the dear realtor had investigated and found out we could get a mortgage on the type of visa we have, so things moved speedily ahead. The Lord wonderfully provided the down payment........and here we are now renovating and hoping to move in in a few weeks.

Early in the process, a missionary friend shared how the Lord had provided a home for her and her husband. They had been blessed in such a way that their home was paid for before they moved in! When I heard this, something stirred in my heart. I've felt an urgency to pray daily for a similar miracle for us - because that's what we would need......a "mighty miracle!"

There are days when I don't know if my heart is stirred with great faith or just wishful thinking - but I can't seem to get away from this impression in my spirit. I haven't been able to just shake it off.

So I'm wanting to ask if you would pray with me/us?! Maybe God has a "mighty miracle" to encourage us all! Whatever happens, we are so grateful for His guiding us, opening doors for us, providing for us in all the ways that have led us to this home in South Africa. As a 16 year old when I went on my first missions trip, I would never have dreamed of all that my life would have in store. God has been so good! How faithful He is!

"God gives.....a home to dwell in." Psalms 68:6

A Day of Miracles

We've had some pretty big things we've been praying for recently - both personally and for our workers.  We've needed to see some "impossible" things happen!

A family has been making plans to come from Germany to join the ministry here.  Although the Home Affairs department in South Africa had granted their visa, the embassy in Berlin repeatedly refused to issue it.  The flight they were booked on was leaving in about 48 hours.  They needed a miracle!

A short term team was working in Masiphumele, one of the townships nearby.  In a split second, the bag with all their camera equipment and other valuables was stolen.  They needed a miracle to find the thief and retrieve their things before it was all sold to buy drugs.

We were scheduled to get the keys to our new home on July 1.  We've been anxious to take possession and do some renovation work before we move in.  We'll have been in "transition" for 15 months by the time we unpack our boxes.  I'm very ready to "settle."  Unfortunately, we've had a nation-wide strike of government workers going on for a number of weeks.  There was a backlog into May of transfer papers being processed.  The lawyer said it was absolutely, 100% impossible for the papers to be issued by July 1.  We needed a miracle!

We prayed, friends prayed and in a matter of hours we saw all 3 impossibilities become possible!

The family went personally to the embassy in Berlin, and, after much discussion, were issued their visas.  They were able to catch their plane as scheduled.

Some of the local young men found the robber and retrieved all the stolen items.  The thief had planned to sell the whole bag for 100 rand/$14!  It was a miracle that he hadn't already sold them, and that we found him!

Then the lawyer emailed and said she didn't know what happened, but our transfer papers were processed.  She was stunned!  They were still waiting for the ones from May to be processed, and ours went through!  It was an incredible miracle.

God had definitely been at work in answer to those prayers!  We won't soon forget our day of miracles!!

"It is time for the Lord to act."  Psalms 119:126

George.....and friends!

I recently had quite a surprise when I looked outside on the living room deck and saw a large baboon walking along the railing. I had heard of "George," as he's called by everyone in the neighborhood, but this was my first time to "meet" him. Baboons normally move around in large groups called troops, but George had gotten into some kind of trouble and was dismissed from his troop. He now travels alone.

I called Floyd to come see George, and by this time Sossy, our dog, had spotted him too. She was barking furiously while pawing at the door trying to get outside. George just sat and looked at her while munching on berries he'd pulled off one of the bushes. He obviously didn't feel threatened at all by this barking house pet!

This week we were visited by the whole troop of baboons. Fortunately, at the house where we're living, all the doors and windows were closed. They only managed to get into the outside garbage can and scatter rubbish all over the yard and driveway.

But, later in the afternoon, they visited our team house! They walked right by one of the girls who was sleeping on the deck - and headed straight for the kitchen. They made quite a big mess while enjoying a container of homemade muesli. Then they headed for the guest apartment over the garage and caused more havoc there. They surprised a mother and her 4 children! The toddler spotted one of the baboons and said "doggy." The mom took the children and left.......while the baboons checked out the fridge. They ate 20 eggs!!

I love having guests and visitors, but I hope these "visitors" don't come back too often!

As I've said before, every day is an adventure when you live in Africa! You can never tell what might happen next.

"And God made.....everything that creeps upon the ground." Gen. 1:25