--Beginning transmission—

--JordNet Transfer Activated--

Ok lets hope this works….

Week 1, Soweto

            Our first week here in South Africa didn’t start slowly. We immediately were immersed in the center of South African Apartheid era history. Soweto (the name being a shortened form of South Western Township) was a scene central to the forming of a Black consciousness and a place that became synonymous with the anti-Apartheid struggle.

During this week we had the privilege to stay at Ipelegeng Community Center in Soweto. It’s interesting to note that most of the Whites in South Africa have never been to Soweto nor understand why we’d want to go there. The ANC (African National Congress) used to meet illegally at the center when they were a banned party.

Right off the bat on Sunday we woke up and groggily hopped on the bus in our best Sunday clothes (only to discover that that term means different things to different students) and we went to the Zone 3 Vineyard where we heard Thami (Tommy) speak on the undiscouraged perseverance of God. There was singing and dancing. It was a moving experience. Then we hopped on the bus for a tour (walking and riding) around different places of Soweto. We visited the Hector Pietersen Memorial and museum. Hector Pietersen was one of the first students killed during the Uprising of 1976 when the students went out to protest the Afrikaans language being forced upon them in the schools. From there we walked to Nelson Mandela’s old house. It has been turned into a museum. Apparently you can buy dirt from “Nelson’s Backyard.” We didn’t go in. We then walked down the street to Bishop Tutu’s house. He still owns it and lives there when he’s not in Cape Town. Here a very amazing thing happened (I want to use the word amazing a lot… it’s the closest to how we feel, yet wholly insufficient for what we are experiencing). A young man (aged 10-12) approached our group with a deal. For 10 Rand per 2 people he would give us a tour of Desmond Tutu’s house. Was this kid for real?!?!? Yes!! He was Desmond Tutu’s grandson and he said that it was ok cause his grandma wasn’t home. This is just another example of the crazy things that God brings across our path over here. Next we went to Regina Mundi (Re-gee-nah  moon-dee). It’s the Catholic Church in Soweto where much violence occurred. The Apartheid Government tried to close down all the churches because they were places of resistance but this church would not. The police would wait outside for meetings to end and then harass the people leaving. They claimed that only rubber bullets were used and that they were only fired from the outside, but we got to see the old Plexiglas stained glass windows and the bullet holes in them that came from both sides. We walked up behind the alter at the front of the church and were shown where a piece of the granite table was broken of by the force of a rifle butt. It was an intense first day in Africa.

The rest of the week was filled with going to schools, painting schools, working at an Aids Hospice, working at a clinic, working at an orphanage and spending time with the children, as well as going to Vista University on Friday for a few lectures.

The final day was a sad day of departure as we were to leave all of our new friends behind. We’d already met many people and a part of us didn’t want to leave despite the part of us pulling on to the new things ahead. We ended the last day with a farewell party. I will remember this well as it became for me a freeze-frame moment embedded in my head. The sights, sounds, and feelings crystallized into a wonderful experience that was all encompassing and profound. The local drumming group was beating out a funky rhythm, the children were laughing and playing, the students were talking with new friends and old, the chicken was cooking, and I was playing in an impromptu soccer game with garbage cans for goals. But it gets better. The rain started to pour down upon this drought-stricken land. And we’re not talking little drops here. Within seconds we were soaked to the skin but that in no way made us want to stop. My memory of this occasion is this plus more, imbued with the realization that I am in South Africa, that this moment is fully unique and will never happen again, and that it is good. This moment was truly a gift from a good God.

One week done, 11 more to go. I hope that I survive intact and that we don’t go “Lord of The Flies”.  ;) I think to go through this experience and not change is impossible. God is good, though sometimes life is bad, and we’re in between striving to figure out what we cannot. I think I’m gonna stop for a bit.

Live from Africa,

Jordan Oram signing off.

--Signal end---