The real "dirt" on missions work in South Africa

Today (Saturday) we made the transition from being "tourists," gawking in wonder and sometimes confusion and dismay at the sights of Cape Town (or so it felt to me at times), to "workers." We jumped in with both feet AND hands, and most of us got them all thoroughly dirty in the work we did at the Living Hope Community Centre in Capri. This is the location where a former bar ("The Croaking Frog") has been turned into a place of outreach to the community, and where the hospice building is being completed. We planted cuttings of a plant (the South African equivalent to kudzu?) to reduce wind erosion in the sandy soil around the new building. This involved digging shallow holes in a bank of earth on two sides of the building and putting in the cuttings...and praying they take root. The wind is constant, and it becomes a health concern to keep soil from blowing into the building.

Another project was to clear out some space in front to make more room for parking, which involved some more digging and moving rocks and tires. Some of these rocks were very large, but a couple of our guys and a local employee of Living Hope had the skill and brute strength to get it done. In the process, we managed to avoid being attacked by a scorpion we met, and and by the snakes we heard about from our local helper but thankfully did NOT meet.

We took a break to get a tour of the hospice facility from Pastor John Thomas of Fish Hoek Baptist Church, the church that initiated and oversees the ministries of Living Hope Community Centre. The hospice will be a place where locals who are sick and dying will be able to come at no charge to be cared for in a professional and loving environment, with an emphasis on ministering to them spiritually as well as physically. Plans are underway for one of our group, a registered nurse with hospice experience, to work for a year here, thanks to the support of Brentwood Baptist Church. Along with showing us the wards and visiting rooms, Pastor Thomas showed us a glimpse of his heart and his passion for reaching out to offer a tangible, practical experience of the Gospel in action to people who are possibly at the lowest point in their lives. He shared a couple of stories of how God had provided both the bold vision of the hospice and the means to accomplish it, involving local volunteers, churches around the world, and even government resources in the task. After our sweaty work in the dirt and the wind outside, and despite the fact that the walls were still bare and the furniture had yet to be brought in, I was struck by the beauty and the peacefulness of this place. I imagine it will be a shelter in the storm for the patients, most of whom would not otherwise be able to afford any healthcare at all, and I don't doubt that many visitors and patients will come to know God in a new way. Though in some ways, it will obviously be a place of death for many...but in more important ways, it will be a place of life and hope.

By the way, if you have a hard time keeping up with the different names and locations of the ministry sites and the organizational structures involved, don't feel bad, because so do many of us! This is a result of the apparent approach to ministry by Fish Hoek Baptist Church that I wish I could see more often; instead of simply duplicating the kinds of ministries they are familiar with and stamping the church name on them, the church leaders look at the practical needs of the area and think of ways they can serve God by serving the people at their point of greatest need. They then use the opportunity they have to speak to the spiritual needs. This approach of "earning the right to be heard" works on a personal level, as well, so it's something I can do every day. This is one of the greatest things missions work has taught me over the years, so it's inspiring to see it on such a large scale in this faraway place.

Grace & Peace,
Mark Kelly Hall
www.markmusicmatters.com