The Church on the Hill

Today Robin and I had the pleasure and privilege to worship at Norwegian Settler's Church. This is our regular place of worship here in South Africa and our second home church (along with Northview Bible Church in Spokane). When we came to live and serve here in the Port Shepstone area we came on our own on behalf of our small organization Two Tunics. We were not coming to join a team already on the ground and did not have a larger mission organization ready to support, guide and encourage us. We realized one of the first priorities for us needed to be to find a church and a small group for Christian fellowship. God provided for us the Norwegian Church and then a home cell group with in that church. Both have been a blessing to us.

Robin and I with some of the members of our home cell group







The Norwegian Settler's Church is just that, a church started by Norwegian settlers a little over 125 years ago. Today it is a thriving, predominately white interdenominational church. It sits on a hill with a view that in a sense captures life on the South Coast (as this part of KwaZulu-Natal is known). Toward the sea (lets call it east) the church overlooks the beach communities with their hotels, restaurants and shops that are a holiday destination for people from throughout South Africa as well as Europe and further abroad. It is in this community that Robin and I live.

Margate beach on Christmas day

Toward the south the church overlooks rolling hills of sugar cane fields where predominantly white and Indian farmers grow the historical number one cash crop for this area. Toward the north the church overlooks the industrial outskirts of Port Shepstone know as Marburg. Here textile factories, the Coke bottling plant and other light industries offers jobs at salaries that barely cover transport and food costs. This is also a residential area for many "coloreds", an official designation for a mixed race group distinct from blacks. This area is known for its violence, alcohol and drug abuse.

Toward the west the church overlooks an area known as Mkholombe, a shanty town that merges into a slowly expanding government housing area. No one knows how many people live in the sprawling shanty town but is definitely in the many thousands. In this community are the effects of extreme poverty, hunger, AIDS, drug abuse and despair. 40% of pregnant mothers in this community are HIV positive. Young children, many of them orphans roam the dirt paths between tin and mud shacks. Many sick with AIDS lie alone on dirt floors, abandoned by their families because of the stigma associated with AIDS.

Norwegian Settlers' Church sits on a hill overlooking these four communities, realities that together make up a microcosm of this South Coast region of South Africa. Most of the church's members come from the coastal and farm communities. They live, work and relax in a world of one or two of these realities. The other two are often unrealities to them as they have little or no contact with them. A few years ago Pastor Trevor Downham challenged the church regarding whether anyone would notice if the church disappeared. That challenge resulted in the formation of Genesis which today continues to provide care, support and hope to those in communities around the church affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty.

Genesis is fulfilling the desire of the church to be relevant to all of the communities surrounding it. Genesis is one of the key partners of Two Tunics and I am currently acting as the Medical Director of the Genesis Care Centre, a 40 bed HIV palliative care centre run by Genesis as a ministry of the church. Sometimes we think as we walk into our churches on Sunday morning "this is church". But I prefer to think "this is church" as I walk onto the Genesis wards this week helping to care for sick, dying and despairing people who would be without hope were it not for this church choosing to be the church to the pleasure and glory of Jesus Christ.

An Atheist Says Africa Needs God

A couple weeks ago I came across an article on the TimesOnline (London Times) by a columnist named Matthew Parris (click on the title of this post to go to the article). The title of his column definitely got my attention; "As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God." Apparently he had been born and spent his boyhood in what is now Malawi and just before Christmas returned for a visit after 45 years.

He states in the article that he is "now a confirmed atheist". But he also says traveling in Malawi refreshed a belief that "confounds" his ideology and "stubbornly refuses to fit" his atheistic worldview. The observation that he can't avoid is that he is "convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa". In contrast to government programs, international aid organizations and secular NGOs which can provide education and training alone, "In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts."

It is important to note that he doesn't say Africa needs Christians or Christian services. He says (as a card carrying atheist) Africa needs God, because only God can change hearts. Wow! He admits he used to try to avoid this truth by applauding the practical good works that churches and missionaries do in Africa. And he would then say "It's a pity ... that salvation is part of the package".

The observation that brought him to this truth, against his ideology, that Africa needs God, was one that was consistent in his boyhood in Africa, later as a young man traveling in Africa and now years later returning to the Africa of his boyhood."The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them. There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world - a directness in their dealings with others - that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall. "

As a missionary of Two Tunics working in Africa our work focuses to a large extent on the social needs associated with AIDS - medical treatment, HIV prevention education, support of orphans and vulnerable children. Sometimes I feel a need or have a desire to design our social services in a way that is not necessarily linked to evangelism. I don't want to be appear to be providing our care and support services in order to win converts. I feel at times like I need to justify or even apologize for our Christian evangelism which is counter to much of their African culture. Sometimes I even feel like I am being more true to what it means to really follow Jesus' when I just live the gospel rather than preaching it as well.

I have to thank an atheist for reminding me that what I am doing (bringing hope for the future)is all about changing hearts. That only happens as someone speaks the gospel message of Jesus Christ into the lives of others. Thankfully we have South African partners in our work who have Zulu pastors and staff who are very intentional about speaking the truth that changes hearts into the lives of those we serve. I'm thankful for Abraham, Amos, Joseph, Penny and Edmara among others. What I must do is help these Africans whose hearts have been changed by God to provide Africa with what it really needs.

Vision Sunday, Part 2

In the previous post I shared some about Vision Sunday at Norwegian Settler's Church (NSC) this past Sunday. Living in Africa and working in the area with the highest prevalence of HIV in the world makes one really understands the importance of visionary leadership. One sees every day the truth of Proverbs 29:18 that "where there is no vision people perish" (KJV). Much of the struggles in Africa can be attributed to a crisis of leadership; leadership without vision.

Thankfully our church here in Africa (NSC) does have visionary leadership. On Sunday Pastor Trevor Downham shared his and the other church leadership's take on the vision of NSC. As described in the last post this vision for the church is based on a vision of God that results in a recognition of God's holiness (purity with a purpose). God is pure, we are not and God purposes to do something about it. Trevor described it as God having a burden. Specifically he described the burden of God as - "the lost". (Christian jargon for unclean people in an unclean world who have yet to receive a vision of a holy God.) I might just say God has a burden for dying people. (Understanding death to be a consequence of sin, and life being spiritual and eternal as well as physical and temporal.)

All this has been leading up to sharing with you the Vision of Norwegian Settler's Church:

Our Core Value: People

Our Priorities: (which translate into programs)

• Discipleship (learning to follow Christ)
• Teaching (learning to apply scripture)
• Children (when most people come to know Christ)
• Youth (our future church)
• Community (meaning outreach rather than a huddle)

Our Mission: Love God & Serve People

I like it. I want to be a part of it. Lord, help me live it.

Vision Sunday

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday in the US. But it was Vision Sunday at Norwegian Settler's Church (NSC), our home church here in South Africa. Trevor Downham, the senior pastor truly is a visionary leader. He is in large part the reason that the Genesis ministry and the Genesis Care Centre exist. Proverbs 29:18 says "where there is no vision, the people perish"(KJV). Because there is a man of vision in this place, people are living who would otherwise have died.

Yesterday Pastor Trevor presented NSC with his, and the other church leadership's vision for the church. One of the statements he made was that "you can only have a vision for God if you have a vision of God". He went on to look at what happens when someone receives a fresh vision of God.

There are many examples in the Bible of people getting a new or special vision of God. One of the best examples is Isaiah 6. Dr Del Tackett in Focus on the Family's The Truth Project describes 3 things that happen when Isaiah or anyone else has a clear vision of God. 1) They have a fresh understanding of who God is. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 2) They have a fresh understanding of who they are. "Woe is me! I cried. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips". And 3) They have a fresh understanding of their circumstances. "I live among a people of unclean lips".

In his message on Sunday Trevor emphasized a key attribute of God that is always prominent when one has a vision of God. This attribute is clearly preeminent in each of the three understandings that Dr. Tackett pointed out from Isaiah's vision. It is God's holiness. "Holy, holy holy". "Woe is me". "I live among a people of unclean lips". God is holy. I am not. There is a problem in the world.

There are 2 aspects of holiness that are demonstrated in Isaiah 6. One of them, purity is commonly thought of with holiness. God is pure. I am not. I live among people who are unclean(impure). But another aspect less often associated with holiness is evident as well and that is purpose. God in His holiness says "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" God in His holiness has a purpose and a plan. Things are not to stay as they are. Isaiah was made clean and I can be as well- "your guilt has been taken away and your sins atoned for" (Isaiah 6:7). God in His holiness sends one who can be about transformation in the world. He sent One. His holy purpose is being accomplished. He is still sending.

Here I am, send me.

(Check back in a day or two for part 2 - the NSC vision.)