If Jesus became human today, would He come to the rich city suburbs, travelling abroad with the best airlines, claiming the priviledges He as God deserves? Or maybe He’ll be born into the Zambian village that don’t know where they’re gonna find food for the coming year, because their crops were destroyed in the floods; He might just take the overnight bus to Lusaka, not complaining when they take an hour’s detour to report an accident; maybe He’ll rejoice in waiting 3 hours for a taxi to depart, appreciating the delay as an opportunity to minister. Perhaps Jesus will trade His warm bed for Rustenburg’s taxirank and wake at 4:00 to listen to the stories of nightguards and drunks.
How can we ever view Africa the same as before! We’ve been blessed to see it from outside our comfort zones, through the eyes of the poor and hurt, but above all, through the eyes of a God that we came to know even more as the One who loves, cares and provides.
After our “blikskud” in Pretoria, we travelled to Rustenburg, where our first night was spend in the taxirank. The next morning we had a real blessed time talking to and praying for guys at a local bar. After a taxi to Zeerust, where the locals really encouraged us, we got the best ride of the entire trip – aboard two huge trucks on their way to Gabarone! From Gabarone we took an overnight train further and Thursday afternoon we finally crossed the Botswana-Zambia border on the ferry. The most amazing 10 minutes at the Victoria Waterfall, but we had to hurry to catch a long, pothole
dodging bus to Lusaka! What a relief to arrived at the FCE base near Ndola, in northern Zambia, on Friday afternoon where our leader (dear Sulene!) were waiting with coffee and Jelly Babies. After a few showers and good meal we were ready for a tough schedule ahead! Will we do it again? … just give us a year to recover!
Elizma Myburgh, Red Team