End of week one

So its the end of my first week in Muizenberg, Cape Town and I'm learning to like the place more and more.There's just this peace and joy in my heart that makes everyday a good day....don't get me wrong,as a Christian there are rough times ( for example my first two nights here ),times when you want to throw in the towel,times when you're dare I say, depressed.But one thing is for sure,the good times are gooood.

 

I think one of the hardest things has been people asking me "so what are you doing? " and having to explain what I'm going through over and over again ( hint hint please read this blog for answers to Frequently Asked Questions). Even though it feels like longer I have only been here for one week,no I have not led anyone to Christ,I have not rescued anyone from a lifestyle of desperation and poverty nor have I single handedly brought down any organised crime rings.But I will tell you about the things that I did get to do.

 

There is a ministry here called Justice Acts that does counter human-trafficking work (http://www.justiceacts.org/home/). I sat in on one of their training sessions and my eyes were really opened,opened to the magnitude of this industry that trades in human beings...fully understanding that it could honestly happen to anyone.Trying to understand why its so hard to get legislation passed that will make trafficking harder and most all of just sitting there and  getting a revelation of how much God loves these people,those who are trafficked and those who traffic.I also started to think of how many times ( sometimes just out of pure ignorance) signs are there that point us to something fishy but we just shrug our shoulders and ignore it or we simply think that it couldn't possibly happen in our country.It challenged me because now I'm thinking, its not ok for us to know where the prostitutes are,to here stories about women who are from Eastern Europe working in strip clubs and NOT care.I mean I won't tell you  a lie,in the past I kind of pretty much believed that  women in prostitution were there because they chose that lifestyle,I didn't understand the manipulation and treachery involved and if it was happening it wasn't happening in my country...sigh.

This training session was to prepare us for actually going onto the streets and talking to women who were in  prostitution. Initially I was anxious,well not just initially....I was anxious about it.What would I say? Would I really be able to cast aside all of my previous assumptions about these women and love them? or would I just stand there like a spectator at a zoo. Well one thing I learned is that just spending time in prayer changes a situation,its that important act of looking towards heaven for an example of what to do and when you do that you can't go wrong. We had a time of intercession before that night's outreach and by the time we hit the streets my heart was so tender I just wanted to hold these women in my arms I wanted to tell them they were beautiful and that Jesus loved them,my heart was just full with the love of God. These women are God's lost gemstones,each one precious and unique.

Many of them had come from other parts of South Africa looking for work,most of them had young children...most of them wanted to do something else.One girl told us she wanted to be a social worker,another..to work with people,her smile and personality could have lit up any room.The current recession affects us all,one of the women was a waitress back in her home city but like many people she couldn't get a job and and ended up in prostitution...she wants to be able to work as a waitress again. Another woman had come to Cape Town with a friend and somehow ended up in prostitution,she said it was a long story but from how she behaved and what she did say it she hadn't planned to be working the streets.

Wednesday I visited a discipleship house where refugee women were 'being discipled' but also had the chance to make jewelry to gain some form of income.Most of them were from Burundi.We spent the morning making jewelry,ate lunch together and then had a devotional time where a guest shared about the burdens that we as women take on in our lives. We're all the same,we all have the same concerns and desires and it was good to sit their as women,black,white,old and young praying for another and encouraging one another to keep on going.

Yesturday at a women's Bible study I met a girl my age who has had one of her children taken away,another one to take care of while having no job and yet is still able to tell me of the joy of being a Christian ( she'd been a Christian for six months) all I could think is wow.

The more I meet with people and hear their stories the more I'm realising  that there is no room for  a powerless,humanistic gospel.As Christians we need need need to offer the God who is an answer to the pain and brokenness in this world,the God who is alive and cares and is able to make impossible things happen,the God who can set free those who are in bondage,the God who heals people..inside and out.They are many of us who may be able to get through life without this God( or so we think),we have our degrees,comfortable homes,good families,good doctors to go to when we're sick...but what about those who have nothing,they need  a God who can be their everything,they need Jesus.

 Let's pray down the Kingdom of Heaven because they are too many who will not be able to make it in this earthly one.