Sangoma Salvation

I shared in a recent blog that sangomas are, at times, overwhelming.

Here is a God is good all the time story!

Yesterday I received a phone call from Aaron (the pastor of the Good News Baptist Church in Braamfisherville, Soweto). He asked if I could do a baptism for him today. I was thrilled, but confused why it had to be on a Thursday. He related the story of Elizabeth, an ex-sangoma, who was saved earlier this week when her sister shared the Gospel with her. Elizabeth said she could not wait several weeks to be baptized. Her excitement was contagious and I was honored to be a part of the special occasion.

Please pray for her as she grows in her faith! 

Sangomas on my street

On Saturday, as we walked the streets of Soweto, a sangoma passed us on the street. A sangoma is most clearly explained as a witch doctor. When I mentioned the sangoma to Janna Kay the person we were walking with said "they are everywhere." I asked them to clarify the word "everywhere." They pointed to each finger on one hand while naming a name. Then they started over. Finally they said to me there are 8 on my street. I was shocked! Honestly, it took away my breath. I was trying to grasp this so I asked them - how many houses are on your street? After a very short pause they said "20." I am still finding the answer very difficult to understand. 

8 of the 20 houses on this person's street are inhabited by sangomas! That is 40%. 

Can you imagine if almost every other house on your street was home to a witch doctor? Unfathomable!

That could be a major reason why we struggle to plant churches in Soweto. 

Your prayer are greatly appreciated. You can find my weekly prayer requests at our WGET blog. 

Red Bakkie Chapter 2

To keep up with the saga of crime and evangelism in Soweto see the WGET Blog link.

Red Bakkie

On the Second Saturday of every month members from 3 local churches go into Soweto to hand out evangelistic newspapers and the Gospel of John. We are working in an area called Thulani or Snake Park where we have started a Bible study. Today we had almost 20 people (half were teens!) participate in the outreach. 

As we returned to the vehicles after our ministry we noticed that the church van had been broken into.  A purse was stolen and the ignition was broken. 

We did not have a rope or chain to tow the van back to church and it appeared that we were stuck. The problem was simple - we couldn't take the people home and come back with a chain to tow the van because the van wouldn't be there when we returned. But, "Someone knew someone" who could help. Sure enough in a few minutes a red bakkie stopped and offered to help. Within 2-3 minutes the van was running and we were about to head back to the church when someone pointed out that they saw a red bakkie speed away from our vehicles as we approached them after our ministry. Let me see if I have connected the dots correctly.

1) While we're doing ministry someone breaks into our church van and tries to steal it.

2) Our prayers are answered when a man with the ability to hot wire a van just happens by.

3) The man drives a red bakkie - the same vehicle that was seen at the scene of the crime.

if I am not mistaken . . . the guy that tried to steal our van helped us hot wire it so we could get home.

The same thing makes you laugh makes you cry!

Taxi!

This is a picture of Karabo. Our new church in Thulani (Snake Park) meets in his mom's house.  He is pretending to be a taxi driver - complete with honking the horn and yelling for passengers. He even used the specific local hand signals.  

 Taxi driving may not be such a desirable occupation for this young man.  Last week, in one location, the police in Joburg arrested over 100 taxi drivers for deliberately breaking the rules of the road.  One of the local papers, The Sowetan, ran this headline, "Defiant taxi drivers tell cops they will break all rules of the road to make money."  Explaining the new hardline policy, Sergeant Mabaso told The Sowetan, "We will push this campaign until they comply."  Mduduzi Xulu, a taxi driver, was also quoted in the article saying, "We won't stop.  The police won't be here forever."

One wonders how long this operation will have to continue to be successful. 

Forever?