I am having a very difficult time realizing that Christmas is getting closer, but here in Cape Town it is everywhere. They started putting up decorations in early Oct. It just seems so wrong especially when it is sunny and warm and people are laying out at the beaches. I went to my first Christmas party on Saturday at the centre. It was a Christmas lunch for the "Old People". Yes, you read that right, old people. They don't call them senior citizens like we do and I am too afraid to ask what constitutes "old". There were about 40 women and only 2 men! They had little Santa's on a table with candles and a little decorated tree. They passed around little candies and chips. Christmas music was playing and after a prayer was said the women started to get up and walked with their canes and walkers to the front and started to dance, boy can they dance. They can hardly walk but once the music started to play they started to move. Lunch was ready to be served and they slowly moved to the next room, all smiles on their walkers and canes. I thought it would be nice to share a happy story and photos so that the next time someone calls you "old" just think of the Old People in Gugs.
My weekend was spent in Gugs, first the party on Saturday and then on Sunday I was back at the centre for the Adult Leadership Group. It starts at 8:00 AM and in case I forgot to tell you it is in Xhosa, so you can understand how difficult it can be to stay focused. I sit there and smile and laugh when they all laugh. They probably think my Xhosa is getting better or they are saying something funny about me and I don't know it.
After the leadership group I was invited to attend a Presbyterian church in Khayelitsha. Khayelitsha is the next township after Gugs. Khayelitsha means "hope" in Xhosa. There are almost 1 million people living there. Many are living in shacks that are not government sanctioned. Some areas are very dangerous and if you read my blog on xenophobia, Khayelitsha is where the incidents occurred. Khayelitsha is very large geographically and therefore it is difficult for many to attend church service. The interesting thing about attending church in the townships is that when you drive up to the church there are no cars and you think wow, no one is here, you walk in and the church is filled, it is because everyone walks, it is the opposite in the US.
This church was started by Reverend Sokoyi who helps with the pastoral ministry at JL Zwane. As you can see by the photo it is very different from JL Zwane. The congregation had about 30 people attending. The choir was the Sunday school class who sang a beautiful rendition of "Rock of Ages". The reason I was invited was that at the same time I started at the centre a young, newly ordained Presbyterian minister from Pensacola, FL also started. Her name is Mel Baars, she is 24 and has made the commitment to spend 3 years at JL Zwane. Mel is Army, so before she can be a chaplain in the Army she has to spend 3 years being a minister in a Presbyterian church. She chose to come to JL Zwane as a volunteer and therefore she has to support herself while she is here. She was invited to give the sermon on Sunday and I was excited to hear her preach. As she spoke, Rev. Sokoyi translated, he even included her hand gestures. I stood in the back of the church and took photos so she would have memories of her first sermon in a township church. The congregation was so thankful to have her there and her sermon was well received. When I think back to the first time I met Rev. Spiwo Xapile in 2001 and saw the dilapidated church that was JL Zwane and the big hole in the ground that was to become the JL Zwane Centre I thought wow, this is some dream. Years later as I walk the halls and sit and listen to the church service I realize if there hadn't been a dream I wouldn't have this opportunity. So Rev. Sokoyi, dream on.
Bye for now...
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