RED HILL - 27 March 2008
I often wonder what life would be like once Red Hill returns to complete normality.
What would substitute the sounds of hammers pounding nails, saw’s sawing wood and sink being dragged over the rocky surface?
Would it be reduced to an eerie stillness, void of all life, the only sound the wind howling in the Hills, echoing voices of a community that is long forgotten? Forever incinerated
by the raging fires that swept across the peninsula.
19 February 2008 - Red Hill
When the Red Hill crises started almost two weeks ago people were talking about how much money it would cost to rebuild the community.
In general the amount turned around the R400 000 mark.
Of course everybody knew that such a big amount would only be possible if God showed up and did something pretty extraordinary.
Saterday was a rough day at the Red Hill site.
We were tired, having worked eight days in a row with no rest in between. And the people decided it was their turn to take control.
15 February 2008 - Red Hill
We dared to face the accusations of many; serve the poor; listen to the broken hearted and wipe the tears of the widows. With broken hands and feet we have become builders of homes and builders of God’s Kingdom in Red Hill.
14 February 2008 - Red Hill
Yesterday we said that we can’t wait to see what God was going to do today. Nothing of course
prepared us for what happened.
We had already spent almost R40 000 on material for the township and needed to spend about another R30 000 to get most of the residents of the ground.
A lot of the money spent we hadn’t received yet but came from our budget which is suppose to go for different projects.
This morning as we started our day Floyd invited all of us to listen to the Holy Spirit and hear what amount he is laying on our hearts to give. Because we first have to open our hearts before we can expect others to give.
13 February 2008 - Red Hill
Today William, one of the residents I’ve been building a relationship with, suddenly said to me: “Your God must be pleased with what you’re doing here.”
Here’s my opportunity I thought. We got into a conversation about God and it came to the point where he said his favourite book in the Bible was Israel. “Israel?” I queried. “I don’t know that book.”
So he took me into his newly built shack (his shack was the very first one after the fire) and showed me his Shona Bible. William is from Zimbabwe and so speaks Shona.
When he showed me the book, Israel, I realised he mistranslated it and he actually meant, Isaiah.
Red Hill, Cape Peninsula
12 February 2008 - There was only one thing that kept the people back from building today: wind.
And the wind was extremely unhelpful.
Each volunteer was covered in a thin layer of black dust by the end of the day, and most were trying to get sand out of their, ears, eyes and mouths. Still the volunteers and the locals kept pushing on, knowing that time and the elements was against them. The sooner a shack is put up, the sooner people can get out of the wind into their own places.
Red Hill, Cape Peninsula
11 February 2008; Today was an important one as the new shacks slowly began to take form in the Red Hill area.
Aided by volunteers the people started putting together the material provided, adding whatever they could find.
One of them was William and his 
girlfriend Gladys.“I was very angry, sad and disappointed when I saw my burned down house,” says William. He lost literally everything. “I’m a handyman so I had power tools and other appliances in my house. I would value it at R18 000,” he continues.“Now I have to get loans of up to R7000 to rebuild my house.”
For the last three nights William, Gladys and their child would have had no place to sleep if it wasn’t for a certain Mr. JP van Niekerk. A businessman, for whom Gladys has been working the last 17 years, concerned him over them and booked them into a self catering room. Not everybody is that lucky however.
10 February 2008
“Rain means blessing,” said Clara Miles, Global Challenge (GC) Staff member.
We are standing in the pouring rain, looking over the Red Hill community that was destroyed by fire less than two days ago.
The rain is indeed an answer to prayer as it extinguishes the remaining fires and causes the dust and dry ash to settle.
The unique smell of burning wood extinguished by water hangs in the air.
It’s been an exciting day. The whole CPx (Church Planting eXperience) group from All Nations arrived in the morning to come and aid the community.
Red Hill, Cape Peninsula
09 February 2008
Raging fires across the Cape Peninsula have destroyed houses and left people with nothing.
The runaway fire did the most damage in Red Hill, an informal settlement, where at least 55 houses have been burned down and more than 90
people have been displaced.
“All I have left is the clothes on my body,” says Wonder. A single guy living in Red Hill. His house was completely burned to the ground while he was at work.
Global Challenge (GC) Staff who is working with All Nations in the area decided to visit Red Hill and access the damage.
“We were completely shocked at the extent of the damage,” says Stefan Kleyn, GC Staff member.
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