Stewart 5

My friend Andrew just came back from Zim. Here’s a bit of what he experienced.

Note: there are some hard to look at pics. That’s torture.  That’s Zimbabwe.

Pray for Zimbabwe. Pray for us as we feel God is calling us to be involved in different ways.

zimbabwe

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At the Amahoro conference, my friend Trevor Ntlhola was talking about racism and reconciliation ( podcasts are becoming available as Graeme has time to post them). At one point, Trevor had this indictment against the colonial/western missionaries who brought Christianity to the continent…

“The white missionaries taught us that God loves us. They didn’t tell us that THEY loved us.”

Does the content of our good news match the “delivery”?  If not, the message is impotent, isn’t it?

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As you may recall, at the end of last year I put out a request for donations for a group of guys Jostina and I have been serving dinner to one night a week. I call them “MaGents.” I quickly received over $400 to sponsor HIV/AIDS testing and counselling for these young men. I am grateful that we were able to help 10 guys (and gift the nurses and counsellors as well) with $30 gift certificates for a local department store. Please pray with me that the knowledge of their individual status and education they received will prevent future infection of HIV and VIMBELA IGCIWANE ELISHA (”Stop the Virus,” in Zulu)!

The day after the 10 guys were tested and given their “gift,” the other 17 guys wanted in on the deal. So, I am asking again, please prayerfully consider how you can partner with us to serve this often neglected population of young men through a financial contribution and/or by spreading the word among those in your network. I need to raise $560 to reach 17 more young men! If you would like information on how to send $$, please email me!

The testing and counselling has been possible through a connection with a local HIV/AIDS resource center called Vimbela Igciwane Elisha. A truly amazing and sacrificial woman, Maria Sekaja, directs this underfunded non profit, grassroots organization based in Pretoria North. Vimbela exists to provide home based care to frail, sick and HIV/AIDS patients, initiate awareness campaigns and various support services to HIV/AIDS infected and affected persons. Vimbela was formed in 2002 by Maria and a group of women from the community concerned about the lack of care and support services available to those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in the Northern subburbs of Pretoria, South Africa. As a registered non profit organization the staff of Vimbela, currently totalling 8, is responsible for securing funding for the services they provide. They currently offer all services free of charge as the people they serve are impoverished and cannot even afford a minimal fee.

Vimbela Igciwane Elisha operates from an office adjacent to the government run Pretoria North Health Clinic and a sub-office in the nearby township of Soshanguve. Vimbela is the only HIV/AIDS community support organization currently operating in the Northern subburbs of Pretoria. There are three local government health clinics who regularly refer patients to Vimbela. After the initial HIV counselling, testing and post counselling, patients infected by HIV receive no further support from the local clinic outside of health related visits. Daily the staff of Vimbela dedicate themselves to serving this neglected population with little recognition from the larger community as they strive to meet overwhelming needs. Vimbela struggles financially every month just to cover basic operating costs like phone, electricity, and office supplies. These costs must be covered and Maria regularly pays her staff before herself which means that she, and the other staff, often subsidize Vimbela personally each month. Maria, the two counsellors and two nurses who made MaGents testing possible were also given gift vouchers as a small expression of appreciation for their sacrificial dedication to the people they serve. A consistent and generous monthly donation could lessen the burden on Maria and her staff tremendously. Currently, Vimbela’s primary one time need is for a vehicle to transport patients to and from medical appointments. They need approximately $17,000 to purchase a 7 passenger vehicle.

Any help you could give either financially, by spreading the word of these needs to those who might be interested in donating, and even help with researching and requesting grants and donations from companies/organizations in the US would be greatly appreciated. You are welcome to pass along this information to anyone who may be interested. Please ask if you have any further questions or need more information concerning Vimbela and its needs.

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A new book you really should read is Sub-merge by John Hayes. John is founder of Innerchange, a ministry that works among the poor. He is extremely experienced and knowledgeable and has really shaped my own thinking and practice on living the Kingdom among the “least of these.” We are using John’s book as a text in our apprenticeship this year.

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This year I’ve been serving dinner every Tuesday night to a bunch of young men. I call them “MaGents” (pronounced mah-gents) a slang South African term similar to the American term “homeboys” or “my hommies.” Many of these guys (aged 17-25) have families and homes in nearby townships, but they have left for varying reasons. Some of their families have sent them out to provide for themselves. Some of the guys have chosen to leave because of the abuse they’ve experienced at home. Many of them have not finished high school and several can’t read or write.



Most of the guys hang around on the street near the mall 3 blocks from our house. They direct people to parking spaces on the street and ask if they can “watch your car” for you while you shop. They’ll even wash your windows or the whole car if you let them! This is a very common occurrence here in SA. Some stores, restaurants and malls employ their own uniformed car park attendants. It is customary to tip them if you agree to allow them to watch your car, usually about R2 (about 30 cents at the current exchange rate). The guys say that on average, if they work all week from 7 am till 6 pm, they make about R200 ($30). They sleep in vacant lots around the shops and some of them say they have “a room” somewhere.



A group of people from different churches got together a couple of years ago to serve food to these guys five days out of the week. Several NieuCommunities apprentices have been involved in serving these guys over the last 3 years. Since we had no apprentices this year, I took over Tuesday nights. I asked one of our Pangani staff, my friend Jostina, if she would accompany me. So, after she works a full day cleaning my house and doing my laundry, Jostina and I head to the place where we serve MaGents. The kitchen staff at a nearby retirement home provide the food. Jostina and I bring plastic plates, forks and serving spoons.



Most of the time the food from the retirement home is decent. Sometimes, honestly, I wouldn’t eat it. The guys eat most of it because they are hungry. But, often they choose not to eat one item or another. One week, when they seemed unhappy with the meal, I asked them what would they like, what was their favorite meal…they said they liked motwana (pronounced mow-TWah-nah), pap (pronounced pop) and coca-cola (Coke:).

shirts v. skins serving the foodMotwana and Pap

One Sunday afternoon I invited MaGents to the park to play soccer and eat lunch. Arthur, Tim Ramage, Doug, and our kids played a shirts v. skins match. Jostina made the motwana (boiled chicken feet with a tomato and onion sauce), pap (the main starch eaten throughout Africa, but prepared a bit differently from country to country) and mashed pumpkin. We served the food after the soccer game and then just talked and hung out at the park until the sun began to set. It was a beautiful day.

Last week Abie asked me to bring “cool drink” (similar to punch). I told him I would, but that since I would be paying for the drink each week I needed his, and the other guys, help to keep each other honest and not take the forks and plates that we bring each week. Many times MaGents show up to eat and they have been sniffing glue or drinking cheap beer. One of the younger guys, Tsepo, is regularly high on glue. On occasion he is sober and he’s really an articulate, intelligent, likeable guy. I’ve told him a few times now that he is a smart guy and that I really enjoy him much more when he is sober.

A few weeks ago MaGents told me they would like Christmas presents. I asked them what they kinds of gifts they wanted. One guy said, “just something that will make us happy.” So, I don’t know what kind of picture you have of these guys at this point, but picture any average 17-25 year old in America. These guys want similar things. They like to look good. They save up their money and buy Fila “takkies” (athletic shoes). They are into soccer and talk about what kind of car they’d like.

I told MaGents that I would see what I could do to get them some Christmas presents. But, I also asked them, if I got them something good would they get tested for HIV in order to get the present. I had asked one of the guys prior to this conversation if he had been tested. He said “no.” I asked if he would get tested and he said, “probably not.” So, these guys, in general, have no natural inclination to get tested. After I presented the idea the guys said they would get tested if they got a gift out of the deal.



Here’s where you come in…I’d like to give these guys the option of a new pair of athletic shoes or a soccer jersey. I am hoping to get 20 guys to come out one afternoon to get counseling and HIV testing through the local clinic. I need $45 each, a total of $900 to pay for the gifts. Please email me ASAP if you are interested in partnering with us in this endeavor!



Thank you for listening to my story:) Melissa

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