We have just got back from two weeks staying at Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa. What a great time we had. On the first week we were with a team from Community Church, Chafford Hundred, and we worked with The Sozo Foundation in the Vrygrond community. We were blessed also to have Mark Melluish with us from the UK New Wine churches and we took part in a significant ceremony laying the foundations for the new Educare Centre.

We then painted the community library, and Anita (my lovely wife) did some work with the mums from Vrygrond teaching baby massage, and health and hygiene. I had the great privilege of preaching at The Bay Community Church on Sunday morning and enjoyed the generous hospitality of the church throughout our stay.

We also had time to take in the breathtaking scenery of the CapeTown area and see its beauty in two weeks of glorious sunny and warm “winter” weather! The contrast between the beautiful scenery and the dry dusty settlements and between the “haves” and “have nots” is stark!

So what have I learnt in our time in Cape Town?

Of course it is very evident that the need is great. Even in the area where we stayed there were hundreds of thousands of people living in small, cramped shacks, some in formal settlements, some in informal settlements. Whilst there are some affluent areas, poverty is everywhere. Most of the housing areas are still grouped by ethnicity, race, or colour of skin. Educational opportunities are still limited for those from the townships.

In the midst of all this, I see great hope for the future. There are new housing communities being established that are truly multicultural. There is a lot of regeneration projects in the area bringing employment to those in need of work. There are great NGO’s like The Sozo Foundation doing incredible work transforming lives, families and communities. And then of course there is the church! Truly the church is the answer. As the oft quoted Bill Hybels says:

“The local church is the hope of the world.

There is nothing like the local church when it’s working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addictions, frees the oppressed, and offers belonging to the marginalized of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness.

Still to this day, the potential of the local church is almost more than I can grasp. No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close.”
– Bill Hybels in Courageous Leadership

This is absolutely true, as the church carries the Good News of Jesus to those in need.

However, the thing that I learnt and will carry with me in my prayers is that the issues that the country faces are complex and the solutions must be long term. My immediate responses to some of the problems came from my UK background and understanding. I soon realised that it was not so straight forward! There are different cultures with deep rooted hurt which go back generations. The scale of need is hard to imagine. That is why NGO’s like The Sozo Foundation, and churches like The Bay Community Church that work with the community to empower transformation from the community through practical and spiritual renewal will leave a lasting legacy.

We must pray for their ongoing work which is truly amazing and will see many lives, families and communities transformed and won for the Kingdom!