Saturday 18th February- Guerrillas in the midst!

 

Speaking of some people as guerrillas is not usually a compliment.  Guerillas are often a small group of people who are fighting/working a the edges of the community… and then will make short but effective moves into the area they are trying to win, before retreating back to their usual position.  So often in Africa and in other parts of the world, guerrillas are brutal, leaving a path of death and destruction, using fear as a weapon against their opposition.  Today we met members of a guerrilla movement of a different kind.

Revd Caroline with Rose, Lindi and Lesley,
eceiving gifts from St John's Church in Lawley, Telford

Inside St Anne's Church Stilfontain

We were invited to meet some of the members of the Church at St Anne’s Stilfontain, a suburb about 12 km from Klerksdorp where we are staying.  As we approached the single story house a quiet street of Stilfontain, we had no idea of the courage which we would find inside.

We were visiting members of St Anne’s Church in Stilfontain which has a link with St John’s Church in Lawley near Telford. We had been asked to see if we could meet folk from St Anne’s to pass on greetings and some gifts to help with their work.  The home was that of Brenda McKenzie-Cameron and her friend Lesley White… both of them white ladies in their 70s and widows… but please don’t let lead you to thoughts of Miss Marple or a quaint and quiet life.  These ladies are guerrillas for peace and justice! 

Along with Brenda and Lesley we were able to meet Revd Caroline Sebowane (priest at St Anne’s) and Lindi Paterson, who is a church warden and who leads the Sunday school… and both of them too are courageous in their pattern of life for God. Caroline has 5 boys of her own and is in charge of theological training in the Diocese- and sometime men to not like to be encouraged and trained by a (more qualified) woman.  Lindi is widowed herself and as a single mum battles with all the pressures which that brings, but still has a steely determination to make the Sunday School a thriving place for the children who come…(15  compared to 6 when she started it)

Brenda is recovering from a recent knee replacement…. Not that we would have known had we not been told beforehand.  She explained to us about the St Annes Social Care Centre (SCC) which has been running since 2001.  Essentially these two ladies, with the support and help of their church leaders and Revd Tom Mafora (a previous priest at St Annes), reach out and help some very needy people in the local township of Khuma.

Brenda explained to us how bad things can in Khuma, 45% unemployment, children who may not eat over the weekend (since school meals are their main source of regular food) with high levels of crime, and the fear that goes with that.  Lesley told us how their link started by them caring enough for their gardener, David, (from Khuma) who didn’t turn up for work and they decided to see where he was and if he was ok.  For two white ladies to go into Khuma would have been a brave (some would say unwise) thing to do.  But they went, and found the conditions he was living in, got him to hospital and helped him recover.  

Since then that have been going back very regularly to give out food parcels, firstly to families through the local church and now via schools.  They have helped people to get official documents (like birth certificates) and so enable them to get government benefits. They provide resources for schools, confront police on behalf of those affected by crime and are a force for good and God wherever they can be.

Brenda explained that this seems to be a “widow’s mininstry.” (Average age of the SCC group  was 73)  We were bemused, “Why?” We asked.  It seems that many South African white men would not want their wives to be involved in going to Khuma. (It wasn’t clear whether this was concern for the wellbeing of their wives, or because this would prevent the wife from doing the other jobs which were normally her role… Perhaps it was something of both).  In any event, the availability of time and the ability to drive were needed- as well as the absence of “permission” which would otherwise be needed from others who may have concerns for their wellbeing.  Whatever the reasons, there was a steely resolve and fire of compassion about Brenda and Lesley.  I would not like to cross them!

The discussion raised as many questions as it answered… Can more churches be involved?  Are not more white (and black) people aware of the conditions and needs of their fellow citizens in places like Khuma?  I held back from asking most of them.  But I could not help enquiring about how was it that more white folk from all kinds of churches were not involved…. “they are in denial”   was effectively what Brenda said… we might call this an inconvenient truth.   How many of these truths are there, that we choose to live in denial of in our private, separate worlds?  But Lesley and Brenda tell of God’s providing for the needs of the SCC in remarkable ways so that they can carry on the work.  They asked for prayers that they might have new, younger members who can take on the work when they stop… “We can’t keep going for ever,” they commented.  Perhaps this humility allows them to be able to keep going, as they know they are reliant on God’s strength and help.

I felt humbled and challenged during and since our meeting with the folk from St Anne’s.    It seems that the people we met are, like many of us, praying “Lord, your Kingdom come,”   But we had met some people, who were adding onto this prayer…” and do it now and use me to bring in your Kingdom Lord”

There was a sense that, whether or not they knew it, the people we met, were bringing the future realities of God’s Kingdom into being in the current realities of life for some of the children in Khuma.  Literally, on earth as it is in heaven.

I can’t help wondering how God must long to recruit some more guerrillas for his kingdom of justice and love and peace- whatever our age and situation - Surely we can only say, “Here I am send me Lord”   Then perhaps there will be more “Guerillas in the midst”  of our communities for God.

Richard