Visit to Perseverance Township by Judi

Visit to Perseverance Township, Sinethemba, and Centre for Human Dignity by Judi Owens

Yesterday was a day to remember!
We first visited the township at Perseverance where the south African shanty town sprawls over a vast area sprinkled with goats, litter, dogs and children.

Many of the homes in this area are made of corrugated iron and plastic and boards. When we pulled into the “Jesus is Lord” ministry and training centre in the middle of the township, a petite older woman emerged to welcome us and show us around. She and her husband had started 17 yrs earlier with just a guitar, an amp and a tomato box on which they preached. Today they feed almost 1,000 people once a week, have a children’s service for almost 600 children every Friday and a woman’s craft morning every Thursday. We arrived when the women were finishing up devotions and then broke into small groups to work on their projects.

I was so impressed with the quality of the crafts and also with the program. 40 women commit to one year of learning and creating crafts to sell and at the end of the year they split the proceeds between them taking out only a small amount to cover the cost of beads and other materials. The rest is divided between the women and is calculated according to their attendance during the year. One woman was able to buy herself a home, another a bed and wardrobe and chest of drawers, another woman used the money toward her children’s school fees and uniforms for one year. Each one of these woman look forward to the end of year when they get to split the proceeds but more than that they have developed a deep relationship and community and also begun a journey with God.

Next we visited Sinethemba where Signoria housed 66 children who had previously lived on the street. She clothed them, fed them, drove them to school and grew vegetables to feed them. As my family climbed out of our car the children swarmed around us delighted to have visitors. Justine immediately attracted a crowd who were mesmerized by her hair and skin and children clung onto her like barnacles on a rock. She was in her element.

Our next stop was the Centre for Human Dignity. When we entered an Aids support group of about 20-25 woman were meeting as were the children who are pre=school age. These children are the poorest of the poor. They live in the informal huts next door to the informal shanty town. The parents cannot afford to feed their children let alone send them to school. Intially the centre would send food home for the children, however once they discovered that the children didn’t receive any of the food they changed the plan to feed the children both breakfast and lunch at school. They also provide second hand clothes for the children. We arrived just as the children were sitting down to a hot lunch. They all filed over and washed their hands before sitting down at their bright plastic lunch tables and shouted their grace with tightly closed eyes. Afterwards they ran outside to play before run’t spning home. At this point they decided that Zac was the best thing since sliced bread and followed him around at a cracking pace. Everything he did they copied and very soon they were playing their own version of Simon says. They don’t speak English and Zac doesn’t speak Africaans or Xh’osa but language didn’t seem to matter.

Something about this day impacted us profoundly. We met people who have committed to pouring out their lives for others in need and are making a change and seeing a difference in their lives and of course they are being transformed in the process.

Annatjie and Boet Walker who started 17 years ago by risking their lives to set up a ministry in a black township have seen amazing success but still battle with overwhelming odds. Right behind their hand built ministry centre a “shebeen” (illegal liquor store) has opened up. This liquor store sells home brews that will kill you. One of the more popular brews is known as “Chavalala” which means “fall down and sleep”. This concoction is made up of brake fluid, fruit and vegetables mostly cabbage, and an old leather shoe that they boil up to make this mixture. Of course this toxic mixture causes major damage to most organs and many have died. Many crimes are committed when under the influence of chavalala just before the perpetrators fall down and sleep. Recently a 4 year old girl from the childrens church was raped by 6 men who were intoxicated. The Jesus is Lord ministries battles to rescue people from the despair of poverty. I was able to celebrate that women of this community had begun to have some independence and earning power thru their craft expertise.

May God use our lives to impact others the way these firebrands have done!!