The Flores Journey

For the past two months, we have been working amongst the Xhosa people in the township of Khayelitsha. As we get to know the people in the community we have begun to uncover some very scary beliefs amongst the “Christians” here. One young man shared with one of our team members about his baptismal experience at his “Christian” church. He told us that a goat was slaughtered as part of the ritual and was given a goat-hair necklace by a witch doctor to wear after the baptism. He also shared very openly that prayers are made routinely to dead ancestors.

We talked with some people who have worked with the Xhosa for some time now and they affirm this practice. They told us that it is a very common thing amongst the Xhosa people, even the Christians. They also told us that when the young men go to get circumcised, (see this post), the people who actually perform this surgery are witch doctors. Prayers are offered to dead ancestors and every Xhosa boy has to perform this, or else they will not be respected in the community. When we heard this we were deeply shaken. Many of the young men we know in our Africa Jam group have performed these rituals. We ask that you would pray for us especially in regards to this matter. We are very much aware that to take on this issue we are going to take on a tribe’s sacred tradition. I am distraught that this is so widely accepted amongst the Christians here. We do have some hope in that we have heard of one church in particular that we have ties with in the community who we believe does not agree with the practice of ancestor worship. That said, the same missionaries who have been working amongst the Xhosa told us that some Xhosa Christian’s who don’t agree with the practice said this: “A Xhosa Christian must check their Christianity at the door when going to get circumcised. It’s Cultural and we won’t have any respect. We can’t even get married if we do not do this.”

During the ritual one of the teachings of the witch doctor is that after the circumcision the boy’s first emission is tainted. So they are told that the first girl they sleep with cannot be their wife because the girl would then be tainted as well.

I hope your heart moves for these people as much as mine does. Please pray for wisdom for Andy and me as we try to figure out how to shine light into this very dark area.

One of our kids that meets regularly at the bible study in Khaeylitsha was killed a couple days ago. He was Stabbed by another guy from the township. We talked with Louiso, another A.J. leader about it yesterday and he said that the kid was killed over a drink of soda pop. A girl was holding another guy's drink and our guy asked to take a drink from the soda. The girl gave him one, and when the other guy found out about it he got very angry. The young man from our group told the boy that he would buy him another drink and he had only drank it because he was thirsty. At that, the kid got even more angry and said, "You don't think I have enough money to buy one myself?" He pulled out a knife and stabbed our young man who then bled out there on the ground.

I'm letting you guys know because of the seriousness of the situation in Khayelitsha. These things happen and are much more common that you would think. I can't even tell you how angry I was at this news. I was filled with a lot of righteous anger. I work with a lot of these young men and to think that another person would think life to be so cheap. By his action he told the world that this child wasn't even worth a soda pop. I feel helplessly angry. It's soo wrong! I feel a real sadness in the pit of my chest.

God Help Them!

Boy did we ever have a crazy night a while back. So all of you know everyone in South Africa has some sort of Security alarm on their house with an armed response. You see it on every house you drive past. Our security system is called Chubb. The reason that everyone has these kinds of security systems is because their tends to be a lot of break in's and armed robberies in South Africa. Every time I pick up the newspaper, there is another story about a robbery and break in that occurred during the week.

Claire and I just finished watching a world cup game and headed off to bed. Before I jumped into bed I armed the security system which secures the entire house. As we were drifting off to sleep, we heard a large crash downstairs and instantly the Chubb security system started blaring throughout the house. I was half awake when the alarm started blaring and immediately my heart was in my chest. Someone was downstairs!!! I told Claire to grab Peyton and jump on the other side of the bed away from the door leading downstairs to the ground floor. As I stared at the door my hands fumbled for anything that might serve as a weapon to protect my family. My hand rested on the large bedside lamp that was plugged into the outlet on the other side of the bed.

Our phone rang and Chubb was on the other line. They asked what was the problem and though my voice was shaking I told them what had happened. They told us that an armed response was en route to our area and would arrive shortly. They remained on the phone with me and as Claire recounts, "She was preparing herself to die. I don't know how to explain the terror that grips you when you are expecting men with guns or much more likely crude knives coming through the door. We have a window upstairs and we waited for Chubb to arrive the pulled up and the dispatcher asked me to go downstairs and let them in. I tiptoed down the stairs listening intently to hear if their was anyone else in the house. I opened the door to see three armed Chubb men completely decked out with body armor and weapons drawn. I was very impressed. One went outside to secure the grounds while the two others secured the downstairs. To Claire and my great relief, and yes embarrassment we saw our intruder that had us bound in fear upstairs. It was the T.V. It had fallen over from it's position on the couch. Claire had pulled the sandle that was propping up the T.V. when we had gone to bed.

If it had been an intruder I don't know what we would have done. I don't know how to communicate this but in that moment we felt like our house, the place of security, had been compromised. The one place that I feel safe in, My castle, My last defense didn't feel so secure in that moment. Praise the Lord it wasn't what we had thought.

I am grateful for Chubb though. They came very quickly, though it seemed like forever at the time.

Bryan