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Mike & Pam 5/28
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Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7). I find that the Lord never allows a problem for which He does not provide an answer. (Billy Graham)
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History has shown us repeatedly that man because of his "fallen" state, can and will conduct himself with evil actions for his own selfish gain. How wicked is man without God in his heart! Our goal when we came to Cape Town was to help people who had been abused and oppressed for many, many years, and simply did not understand how to help themselves. We came to show them the Way and to share with them the Hope that is Jesus. Now, in the middle of our efforts to foster relief from this horrible oppression, some of these very same oppressed people are reigning terror on helpless foreign refugees who have no where else to go.
The Zimbabweans, along with the Malawians, Zambians,
Mozambiqueans and Somalians, have fled here to find work so they can feed themselves. Since none of these groups have grown-up under the oppression of apartheid, they do not have the same mindset as the native, black South Africans. They have a hope for the future and a great work ethic. Many of the local native groups struggle desperately without hope and are often not willing to work. To worsen matters, most of the immigrants are illegal.
The violence being seen on the news is Xhosa (our local native group). They are attacking the Somalians because they claim they are taking their jobs away. The Somalians, in particular, have very astute business skills, own shops in the communities and can sell their wares for less than their Xhosa counterparts. Most of the foreign groups are educated and bring with them many skills and crafts which makes them great employees for all sorts of trades. As a result, the locals enjoy lower prices and more choices from the foreign owned shops. But when the riot fever strikes, their stores are looted, they are beaten, ran off (literally) and often killed. Even when times are peaceful, the Xhosa gangsters randomly attack, steal, and rob foreigners on a daily basis. Our friends live with the reality they could be beaten and robbed at any time because of their race.
Several of our friends are from Zimbabwe and attend our church. On Thursday, many families hid within their homes (shacks) expecting the violence to start overnight. The following night many of them (approximately 162) left their homes and stayed at our church. We served a meal of instant dry soup and continual buttered bread until they were full. Many of them had brought everything they owned in one or two plastic bags, just in case, they never saw their homes again. By Saturday afternoon, the government had set up a temporary shelter nearby. Everyone was moved to the shelter except for the ones who attend our church on a regular basis.
The pictures of violence on TV from Johannesburg, and from some of the larger settlements around Cape Town, are truly horrible -- brutal, savage beatings and killing. Sadly, this is a model of the behavior they learned during apartheid.
On Saturday, some of our friends returned to their homes in Masi to avoid sleeping on the floor at the church or in a tent at the refugee site.
We have never felt emptiness like this before, wanting to help but unsure of how to help, lacking in the knowledge of the rules of the street, and the language, just really confused and sad for people we care about.
Please pray for the safety of our friends, for peace to return to our community and throughout South Africa, and for us to have discernment, wisdom and courage to do all He expects of us. May God richly bless you for partnering with us in this effort. Thank you.
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UPDATE ON CIVIL UNREST...
During the Sunday morning worship service, our pastor urged the church body to open their homes to the people (appx 20) who remained at the church to give them a better place to live until they could figure out what to do. Within 30 minutes after the service ended, most of them had been offered a place to stay but all of them declined. They decided to go back home to Masiphumelele.
There has not been any violence since the Somali shops were looted on Thursday night. The police have been patrolling heavily around the clock.
We went this afternoon to visit the refugee site to see if Living Hope volunteers would be needed this week. A volunteer videographer arrived this morning to shoot footage for our files. Living Hope is the provider of medical care for the camp, and our pastor, John Thomas, is the director for the entire camp.
There are approximately 1200 refugees at this camp, with only about 300 of them from nearby Masi. There appeared to be 9 huge circus-type tents, each with a specific purpose. One was for medical treatment, one for clothes distribution and serving food, and the remaining ones were for sleeping. The housing tents were completely full without room for even one more person. With seven tents for sleeping, there is roughly 170 people sleeping in each tent with absolutely no privacy. There is already a concern about sanitation related diseases.
The leaders held a meeting for the whole camp to attend where a representative from the government pledged more help and the UN was on the way. Local leaders from Masiphumelele asked the people to return to their homes if they were from there. Even if they all return home, there would still be close to a 1000 refugees at the camp from other areas of Cape Town. They are 20-50 miles from their jobs and camp conditions are very bleak. The weather is very cold by South African standards and is damp. The camp is located right next to the beach and the breeze off the Atlantic is cold and steady.
Before the violence started, people were without jobs, homes, food, and hope. They lived in shacks, and begged for work, money, food and a chance. The violence has just compounded an already bad situation. There is no easy solution. The officials are afraid the camp may end up being a very long term reality and are preparing for that scenario.
Right now, they do not need volunteer help at the camp but they do need our prayers. Please pray for the people of South Africa, and include the ones who were not born here, but have fled here to find Hope, and also pray for us to be light and salt to those in need.
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Mike and Pam
Mike and Pam Talley Missions
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