Inner-City Outreach
Monday, September 29, 2008
Today we enjoyed a great off-day. We choose to go to the local pool with the boys from the shelter. It looked more like a hotel pool than a local swimming area, but it was very nice and relaxing. It was funny though because they had a sign when entering that read, please no swimming allowed in underwear or boxers. And, it only cost 37 cents American for us to swim. Some things are a great deal. For the evening, we watched a christian film that is in the theatre's called Hansie. It was about a South African cricket player who took a little money from bookies. He never through a match though. It was interesting to see the pressure on him and how the country reacted to the news when he announced the truth. Overall, we really liked the story, even though it was a little cheesy and no comparision to the scripts of secular films.
Verse of the day: James 4:17 "Therefore, if anyone knows the good he ought to do, and doesn't do it, he sins."
Saturday and Sunday, September 27 and 28, 2008
Unfortunately, Desearel never showed up on Saturday morning. Our team was very disappointed, but one of the ladies who works here told us to guard our heart the evening before. She said that of the people in the city, either street kids or prostitutes who promise to meet her, 95% of them are no-shows. The inner-city ministry has really given me (Adam) lots of opportunities to teach. I shared my fourth devotional with our team, got asked last minute to do something on the prodigal son for the coffeehouse on Saturday night and also had the opportunity to preach on Sunday. All in all, I have really enjoyed the opportunities that I have gotten and crazy enough it is a lot more than when I was at home. I was a little cautious about how well my sermon on Sunday would be received, but overall it went very well. I talked on God's concern for the aliens (foreigners). I have been so disappointed in our time in the city of how South Africans, even South African Christians treat people from Zimbabwe. We did have another funny encounter with our friend Terrance. He wanted personal portraits of himself. So Jo and I shot pictures of him around the area and burned them on a disc for him. It was rather funny.
Verse of the day: 1 Peter 2:11 "Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in this world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against the soul."
Friday, September 26, 2008
Today was a normal day with street kids and the ladies of the night. We had a long walk looking for street kids, but only found one. Apparently most of them go to the suburbs on Friday to make enough money to last them the weekend. Due to our experiences last week, we did not expect much on what would seem a busy Friday night, but there seemed to be quite a few women out, as well as quite a few pimps. We stopped at one apartment, which seemed more like a brothel. I (Jo) talked to a girl, Desearel - she is 35 to 40 and I had a great conversation with her regarding God's plan for her life and how it was not prostitution. She wanted to leave, but was being watched and could not. So, we have a plant to meet her tomorrow. Hopefully she will leave with us, but regardless God is definitely working in her life.
Verse of the day: Proverbs 8:17 - I love those who love me and those who seek me find me.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
We had a great day today. First, for our street evangelism today we decided to go to a park. Well, there happened to be a few classes of school kids on an afternoon recess, so we had a children's program for some 40 kids. After that we went around announcing that we would perform a drama/skit. Some 20 or so adults showed up. It amazes me how God can open so many doors and avenues for us to share. For the evening, we were at the boys shelter. We broke them into four teams and rotated them around various groups: ice cream sundaes, missions, team building (mine) and charades (Jo's). It went great, they loved it and were really into every activity. Overall, it was so evident that God's word was proclaimed today!
Verse of the day: Col. 4:3 - And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
We are really back into the swing of things. Our team was on prayer this afternoon, so that means we are responsible for leading worship and 3 devotionals. Adam did a great devo on how God responds to our prayers. This evening we had the coffee house. For this devo, Adam and I did a skit for the group. One of the homeless guys asked me if I was going to become a mime. As we served tonight, things seemed a bit more chaotic than usual. Maybe it was the spirit of their national holiday, called Heritage day, which they celebrated today. Kind of different to celebrate a national holiday on a Wednesday, but this is S.A. The workers at the coffeehouse say that when they serve meals daily, as oppossed to their normal twice a week schedule, that the people are more difficult and picky about the food. Last night was Adam's turned to be hit on - tonight was mine. A guy asked me if anyone ever told me I was beautiful. I responded that my husband does. He then proceeded to ask if I wasn't married, would I maybe go for him. A homeless, 17 year-old...
verse of the day: Isaiah 58:10 - And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like noonday.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Today was a day of firsts. I (Adam) met my first drug dealer during street evangelism in the park. He was so jumpy, he kept looking out for cops. Sadly he was a father of 3, but yet would sell them to children the same age as his. To top it off, a prostitute attempted to pick me up. She kept stating "I can make you happy" and followed me for a while. I don't know if it was my good looks or her desperation.I (Jo) did a program at a girls shelter this afternoon. It was awesome. Our theme was focused around psalm 139 and being made in the image of God. I was in charge of the devotional as well. We played games, did their nails, and made a bracelet. I think it really touched them. They sincerely thanked us for the afternoon.
Verse of the day: Psalm 139:14 - I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Monday, September 22, 2008
This weekend we found out interesting news regarding the president of South Africa. Mbeki resigned early Monday morning because of pressure from his political party. He was also accused of interferring with the potential presidents court case. We haven't sensed any tension because of the change, but are curious to see what will happen. In other news, we had a good weekend. We worked the coffeehouse on sunday and we both had many good conversations. For our rest day we went to the Pretoria Zoo. Jo loved it. It was a very well laid out zoo and we saw a few different animals. One in particular is a cousin of the girafee, opeki, which has zebra like legs and giraffe like tongue. Overall, it was a great break as we prepare to get back to ministry Tuesday morning.
Verse of the day: Phil. 1:9 "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight."
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Today was the restful part of our inner-city ministry rotation. It was a good day. We decided to skip polony (a bolongy like substance) and head to KFC for lunch. Both Jo and I also had the opportunity to lead devotions for our team. Jo did extremely well, maybe a gifted preacher? For the afternoon, we were the prayer team. I prayed that one lady on our team named Flo would have a conversation with an alocholic. Her ex-husband is a former alocholic. Guess what, she talked to one for almost the entire afternoon while she was doing street evangelism. For the evening we served at the coffeehouse. We performed a drama of casting your burdens to Jesus for the homeless men. I enjoyed my conversations once again. It is such a great setting to talk to these men. A white guy that looks anything but homeless was one of my conversation partners for the evening. He was a former airline assitant and chef. He has been on the street for only two weeks and hates it. My other was the guy that Jo talked to previously, Terrance. Always interesting. It does blow my mind though when you hear the stories of these men. Each is unique and it may only be a few turns different than our own story.
Verse of the day: 2 Cor. 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come."
Friday, September 19, 2008
Today was a long day of walking. This afternoon we walked to visit with street kids. This time two of the girls in our team brought puppets. I (Johanna) thought that puppets would not be a good idea. To me, they just are not that cool. To my surprise, people loved them. We meet a 25 year old man, who had never seen a puppet before and talked to our puppet for 20 minutes. It was very interesting. I was amazed that people would talk to them and really responded well. Tonight, we had "ladies of the night" ministry. I felt like we walked for hours and barely ran into any. They did not seem to cover the streets like they had a few nights earlier. Most of the girls we did talk to didn't really want to talk and a few told me things like "what you are doing is wrong" or "pray for your own souls." So we walked and prayed for them. All in all, we were tired by the end of the day and are looking forward to a rest this weekend.
Verse of day: Psalm 9:9 - The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
We are beginning to feel a bit tired because of our long days. Today we went out to Marabastad, a section of town white people don't go to. Many of those who live there are foreigners who are in South Africa illegally. There is a lot of tension because they work for less money than South Africans. As we were walking today, we accidentally stumbled upon a brothel. We did not realize it was a brothel until further into our conversation with this group of ladies. It was sad to see the condition of their lives and the addiction to it. Funny note, on the way home we ran out of gas in our 1988 Land Cruiser, which looks like the ultimate safari vehicle. This evening we ran a program for the boys shelter. Overall, they behaved much better then my (Johanna) Reach Akron kids. It was a fun night. The shelter seems to be a great place for the boys. They now have high hopes for their future because of this place. For example, after only 8 months of living at the shelter a boy named Taebo was serving at the coffee house to his former street friends. To close off the evening we witnessed an immigration raid. It was very interesting!
verse of the day: 2 Samuel 22:29 - You are my lamp, O Lord. The Lord turns my darkness into light.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Our rotation today was one of prayer and the coffeehouse. It was a nice break from walking the streets. I (Adam) had the opportunity to do a few devotionals today. First, one for our training team before we left for ministry and then one for the homeless men before the meal. I shared on not serving both God and Money. Many of the homeless have huge aspirations for a business, to marry a white women, to travel to America and to find money to feed their addictions. Though they don't have it, the search for it has become a God for many of them. I was also on bath duty for the evening. Only one homeless guy took them up on the offer, but I thought it was a great service to provide for them. Johanna was a server. She had a very interesting conversation with a guy named Terrance. He thought he was a Christian, but prayed through ancestors to God. It is very common for many churches here to mix ancestral worship with Christianity. Government leaders actually encourage people to get to know their roots. They even television ed the announcement of receiving the 2010 World Cup as a gift from their ancestors. This man Terrance believed that Americans, white people could talk directly to God, but that he, a black man had to go through ancestors. He thought that black people are still evolving to become white people. In many ways, Terrance and his beliefs are not uncommon among the general public.
verse of the day: James 2:18 "Show me faith without deeds and I'll show you my faith by what I do."
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Today was our day to do ministry with the street kids and "ladies of the night." This afternoon we walked around with Eric who knows all the street kids. He works at the shelter as well. The kids respect him a lot--but many still don't want to leave their life on the street to go to the shelter--that would mean giving up an addiction, usually sniffing glue. We didn't see too many today but a few and almost got one to go to the shelter. This evening we walked the streets looking for the ladies of the night, or prostitutes. To my surprise, they covered the streets. The women in our group would approach them while the guys watched for us. The first lady we approached was a while girl, who said her name was "I need to work, leave me alone." She walked away. Some women were very open about their lives and others didn't want to talk at all and still others said they would talk but looked for jobs at the same time. One thing we noticed when talking to them was how much of a social thing it is. All of their friends live this way as well and they all live together too. It was so sad to see this tonight. I have heard so much about it, but it is a whole different story to actually see it.
Verse of the day: John 8: 11 Jesus talking to a woman caught in adultery, "then neither do I condemn you. Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin."
Monday, September 17, 2008
We have arrived in inner-city Pretoria. Our accommodations are bleak, with almost no privacy, but compared to the 20 or so homeless people who sleep on our porch we are grateful. We had a quick orientation of Action Laborers for the Harvest, which has a coffee house that serves meal and also a boys shelter. They do street ministry and hang out with street kids. One of the coolest things was meeting two young ladies who run and work at the boys shelter. They did training a year and a half ago and felt called here.
Our afternoon was spent doing street evangelism. We both have reservations about this type of ministry and its effectiveness, but today went better than expected. One of our team members handed out tracks about turning from drunkenness to random business people. We were quite embarassed. After dinner we went on a prayer walk around hte city, then headed back to serve soup and bread at the coffee house. Adam really enjoyed getting to know David, he claims to have a heart of stone and refuses to give up drinking. Adam is hoping to have more conversations with him over the next two weeks. In closing, Adam and few other guys had to break up and almost fight on the coffee house porch right before bed.
verse of the day: Matthew 8:20 -Jesus talking about the cost of following him. "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
