Week 5 and 6 of training has been a time of learning. The Transkei and the beauty of God's creation has been the best teacher, spiritually, emotionally and physically.
The Beauty of Coffee Bay
On 7 February 2012 the Global Challenge teams were off to Coffee Bay. After a 10 hour bus drive we arrived at one of the most Beautiful coastal towns I’ve ever seen (keep in mind that I have never been out of South Africa). The aim of our visit was painting a house/office for Judy, the lady in charge of the Coffee Bay Comprehensive Christian school, and fixing classrooms. While reaching this goal, ultimately we realised that the real goal was spiritual growth.
The town is a picturesque, non-commercial, holiday destination. When I visited it the first time in 2010 with Jolene Beyl and other friends, it stole my heart. Not only the beauty, but the people. The Xhosa people living in their colourful huts. The children showed so much love towards each other and towards us. I felt that God had plans for me in Coffee Bay, and I always knew I would come back.
We quickly learnt that Coffee Bay is not mainly a Christian town, and that there are many spiritual beliefs among the Xhosas and the tourists. Many of them believe in ancestral worship, while there are signs of Buddhism, Taoism, atheism and substance abuse is so common that we were offered magic mushrooms and dagga on our arrival. This was quite a shock to me, but it just means that God can do so much in this town.
We properly tested our tents against extreme weather conditions, and some of us realised that we will have to invest in new gear. The painting was much fun, and the Distant Islands team are now professional in the art of painting, sanding, scraping, ‘polyfilla’-ing and cleaning up afterwards. Our painting clothes will never be the same again.
Oom Gerrie gave us teachings on the Holy Spirit, which was really interesting for me. I also learnt that I can do nothing good out of myself, and that it is only the Holy Spirit through me. And nothing that I can DO can please God. It is only by grace that we are saved. Each day I am trying to die of myself so that the Spirit can live through me more and more. And now I don’t want Jesus to change me, I want Him to live through me. It is an awesome feeling to know that God is working in me!
Annie and I jumping around. ;)
Saying goodbye to these children was hard, but they left us with hearts filled with love.
Canzibe (“click-sound”-an-zie-bê) Mission Station
We were transported to Canzibe with taxis on 13 February. I am convinced that they were 4x4 taxis on those dirt roads. Wikus van der Walt and his family are working at the mission station there, where we got the chance to help out for a week. Canzibe is even more rural than Coffee Bay. There are a few ‘necessities’ shops and the rest were colourful huts. So beautiful. We really got exposed to the Xhosa culture here. We went into the community in groups to get to know the people and spread the gospel . Most of these people couldn’t speak English and we had to take a translator with. It was really great to see how inviting these people are. We spoke to mostly women as the men were at work either in town or cities far away from home. I got a taste of the rest of the years journey as we really got to interact with people. And it has been a lifelong dream to go to other cultures and learn from them directly. We were invited into their huts, to play with their children, to speak to them about their beliefs, which was incredible for me.
This picture is just classic for me. Eish Construction might explain why most of the huts are falling apart. Maybe I will come work here one day.
We went out with the idea of telling them something, when all along God wanted them to tell me something. I saw the simplicity of life and were reminded of the simplicity of the bible, and that we tend to make it more difficult than it really is, we turn the words around or try to say that “that’s how it was 2000 years ago when it was written”, but Jesus is living today, God is a God of today, not 2000 years ago. And He still does miracles, heals people and give spiritual gifts.
We were also faced with the problem of the Xhosa traditions in conflict with Christianity. I had the realisation that it is easy for us to go to other cultures and tell them to change, while they have been believing in their ancestors for years now, and that they will not be able to suddenly change. So I realised that God wants us to share His good news, not condemning people about what they believe, but loving them and His Holy Spirit will do the rest. Isn’t that awesome? He will water the seeds He plant.
Sharing the gospel with new friends.
Eating at the mission station.
I would love to go back to Canzibe to spend more time with the people we met, and the van der Walt family, oh, and to eat the best vetkoek in South Africa, called Amagwenya. ;)
If you would like to support financially:
Account name : GCEX One Year
Acount number : 9206958383
Bank : ABSA
Branch details : 31 Da Gamma Road , Jeffreys Bay,6330,South Africa
Swift code : ABSAZAJJ (For International Payments)
Please state as reference : Kim Geldenhuys
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