Rhinos Poached

Rhino Poaching is a huge problem in South Africa. The number of Rhinos killed recently is unbelievable. In 2008 - 83 rhinos were poached. In 2009 - 122 rhinos were killed. Last year the number stood at 333. To date - 5 have been poached this year.

WHY?

According to The Times (27 Jan 2011) they are worth a lot of money.

"The price of rhino horn has reportedly increased to R400, 000/kg, making it more expensive than gold at around R300, 000/kg."

Soccer World Cup 2010

70 year old Zulu warrior spears an ox at Soccer City.

He slaughtered the ox yesterday in order to bless the stadiums used for the World Cup matches. This ceremony was attended by around 2,000 people (roughly the same amount of North Korean fans expected to watch their games). During the ceremony the stadium was blessed by 300 sangomas (witch doctors) who "invoked the spirits of our African ancestors to usher in their wisdom and energy."

If you would like to keep up with the ministry going on during World Cup 2010 please check out world soccer journeys.

If you would like a prayer guide for the participating countries check out Siya Thandaza.

Happy Birthday?

Happy Birthday!
As I was drinking my 3rd cup of coffee this morning I read this headline in The Times . . .

Life expectancy now 47.

It got my undivided attention because I was born in 1962 - You do the math.

The newspaper said "Aids makes SA 'like a war zone.'" Comparatively, the life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44.

In 1990 the life expectancy in RSA was 63 and in 2005 it was 51.

Thabo Mbeki's administration was blamed for the current trend.

Also, . . . TB deaths were up 335% from 1997-2005. The "cure rate" for TB in most of RSA is 60% where the world cure rate is 85%. Kwa Zulu Natal has a cure rate of only 40%.

From 200-2007, of the more than 4,000 mothers who died while pregnant, 46% were HIV+, 12.5% were negative and 41% were not tested. That percentage is terrifying!

The health minister responded to the question "Is it reversible?" by saying certainly!

Won't you join me in praying that God would be gracious and merciful and enable this to happen for the glory of His name.

Prosperity Gospel

I found this blog to be very interesting. The video doesn't feature South Africa but it's message is not limited to the countries it covers. The health and wealth Gospel is easily found in Joburg and Soweto.

In the video, the folks in Ghana were initially asked to give $100 US Dollars.

Who can get their hands on US currency in Ghana? If they can - who can afford to give $100?

How many USD did you give last Sunday?

Man weds four brides simultaneously

Milton Mbhele showed up for his wedding today in a white limousine -with four brides.

South African law recognizes traditional polygamous marriages - even President Jacob Zuma has three wives. Yet while polygamy remains common among several tribes including the Zulus and Swazis, simultaneous weddings are rare.

Milton Mbhele, 44, tied the knot pledging his undying – and equal – love. Milton said that marrying all four was better than committing to one and then cheating on her, “It doesn’t help to have 1 wife and 30 girlfriends . . . it will drain you – you will end up with no money.” He also said that marrying all four on the same day saved costs. The brides were each honored with their own wedding cake. He spent R150,000 (and 32 cows) on the event. Mbele claimed that this is “The day I have been waiting for all of my life.” Mbhele has 11 children (7 of them with the 4 brides).

You're late!

I was honored to be invited to preach at Troyville Baptist Church in Joburg's inner city last Sunday morning.

As I walked into the sanctuary I was told - "we should have started 5 minutes ago." I am highly event orientated so I was deeply hurt . . . but, I have a very good excuse.

As I approached the church (according to my GPS) it was obvious I had to "make a plan." The GPS informed me that I needed to turn left at the end of the street. As I stopped at the stop street (stop sign) I noticed the street to the left was closed. There was a guard rail across the entire street. As I started forward (now looking right - searching for options) my front left tire disappeared and the car came to a crashing halt. I felt as though I rose about a meter in the air. Low and behold - I had driven into a hole (literally a manhole).

It seems as though someone had taken the manhole cover to the scrap yard to sell the metal for cash. Needless to say that left a hole in the middle of the street! The cover is not there but the hole is not missing - I FOUND IT!

Soon after I planted the car a lady walked by and (bless her heart) instead of laughing at me she prayed aloud - "In the name of Jesus - send some men to help get that car out of that hole." Within seconds, literally, before she stopped praying 6-8 big boys came up to the car and lifted the front end out of the hole. Praise the LORD! Since they were there very quickly we were only 5 minutes late to church.

On the Road Again

Yesterday, in Soweto, I had two interesting encounters both involving the drivers of vehicles. Both reminded me that "truth is in fact stranger than fiction."

As soon as we arrived in Soweto a small car pulled up where we were standing. Seems like a small group of white folks stand out and are fun to chat with. Anyway the car was decorated with stickers announcing that it was used to teach students how to drive. It is a very common sight in Joburg. The car had a big red L stuck on the back window. The reason I share this story is because we chatted for several minutes and eventually the driver got out to chat. When the driver (teacher) got out of his car at 9:30 a.m. he was holding a large bottle of beer in his hand.

I think JK and I will use a different teacher to help RAH get her license.

After an hour or so of handing out Challenge Newspapers and sharing the Gospel we came upon a young man being pushed in a wheel chair. We chatted to him and his group for several minutes. A half hour later - several blocks away - we saw several folks from this group fighting as they walked down the street. Another long story! When our day was done - as we waited by the car for a few of our team to finish - another car pulled up and stopped to chat. The man in the drivers seat (Sibosiso) was fairly antagonistic. He demanded to make an appointment with me. He wanted me to come by and discuss his religion. He promised me that once I understood his religion I would run from mine to his. AINT GONNA HAPPEN CAPT'N. As we exchanged phone numbers I suddenly realized that the three folks in the back seat were the 3 people who were fighting a few minutes earlier. Then- and to to my great surprise I realized that the driver was the very same young man they were pushing in the wheel chair an hour before.

I have seen so many things in Soweto that I am usually not surprised - but, yesterday I was shocked not once but twice!

Fast Food

I took a friend to eat at McDonalds last week. 

One of the nice things about living in a huge international city is the availability of "American" fast food. Maybe I should have put food in parenthesis. I digress . . .

After finishing my Quarter Pounder With Cheese I made polite conversation as I waited for my friend to finish his meal. It took him forever. Actually, he never finished. After an extended period of time he packed the rest of his burger and chips in a bag to take it home with him. I was surprised because I knew he could have consumed all of his meal faster than I finished mine.

Eventually he told me that he was taking some of his food home - not to have something to eat later - but as a "trophy" to show off. His family and friends would never believe he ate at the golden arches if he didn't bring something home to prove it. 

I take so many things for granted. Honestly, I never really enjoy Mickey D's. It is a lot more fast than it is food. So to have a friend who cherishes the experience illustrates how good I have it.

I need to stop taking "little things" like McDonalds for granted.

Thank God for Quarter Pounders With Cheese!

RED CAKE

I love Raspberry Zingers! 

They are so good that I never considered Twinkies to be in the same league with the wonderful red snack coated in coconut. 

I admit I also have a soft-spot for Sno Balls. 

I was thrilled the other day - on the way to Soweto to have Bible study with a friend - when I saw "Red Cake."

My mouth watered as I stood in line with my purchase!

Words can not express my utter disappointment. The African version of raspberry zingers is horrible! Not that is tastes bad - it doesn't. The fact is - it doesn't taste. That's the point. It looks beautiful, all red and coconut covered . . . but there is no flavor to be found or enjoyed! 

Janna Kay says "there is absolutely no taste - it's like water. It is a waste of calories."

Even though she considers Snickers bars to be sin - her opinion is absolutely correct.

That leads me to make another observation. 

Snickers bars are not sin - Red Cake is sin! 

That is to say, Red Cake is just like sin in that it looks really appealing. It looks like it would be worth whatever it costs, but in the end it leaves you frustrated. It does not satisfy, in fact it leaves you wishing you had not spent the time or the money or the energy. 

I need a Milk Tart!

 

Sushi

Joshuwa turned 7 this week. 

As per our family tradition, Joshuwa got to pick the restaurant where we celebrated his special day. We headed to the Cape Town Fish Market so he could eat his favorite meal - SUSHI.

I DON'T LIKE SUSHI.

In fact, I don't enjoy any seafood at all. Nevertheless we headed to CTFM because it had a conveyor belt which continually rotated with different kinds of sushi, giving Josh ample choices. Needless to say he had a great time and I enjoyed the meal - because I saw him enjoying himself. I tried the vegetarian sushi and it was good - but not great. The meal took a decidedly upward turn when the conveyer belt brought dessert  . . . I helped myself to brownies! That was a mind changing selection. I actually enjoyed the experience.

I DON'T LIKE SUSHI - I LOVE IT!

Vote

Wednesday 22 April is Election Day

South Africa is tasked to elect its next president. 

The ballot is interesting in that it offers the ability to vote for any one of 40 parties. There are the more well known parties such as ANC - African National Congress and COPE - Congress of the People and DA - Democratic Alliance.

But they are joined by others such as "A Party" - "KISS - Keep it Straight and Simple" - "SAPP - South African Political Party" 

I would ask you to join me in praying that the elections would be free, fair and without incident. Please pray for the Independent Electoral Commission. 

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?