From a South African Friend: Nhlanhla on Ubuntu

Ubuntu is the spirit of belonging, of fullness and being in community. Whether I know you or not, once I get to know your name and where you come from you become part of me and I adopt you into my family and in my being. The practicalities of ubuntu far outstrips just belonging, it is to be lived. It is said in Zulu “akasenabo ubuntu”, (he or she has lost a sense of humanity or being). It is also a complete set of ethical behaviour which is not individual and has many theories supported by different idioms that enrich how it is to be practised. It is also very complex because there are principles that guide this concept to be truly meaningful. For example elements of reparation are necessary if wrong has been done if one is to be accepted fully into the fold again.

ONE WORLD CUP: TWO WORLDS, by Mervyn Abrahams

Two days before the first-ever African FIFA Soccer World Cup many South Africans are gripped with a ‘feel good’ factor and excitement. Flags on cars are visible everywhere, people in the city-centers are wearing regalia in support of their soccer teams, and there are almost non-stop radio chat shows on the merits of one team versus another. South Africa is a soccer-mad country and hosting the most spectacular global soccer event has raised the excitement even more. For a country emerging from racial segregation and the brutality of apartheid, sports create a window of opportunity for nation-building because it could be used as a unifying force.
Will the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa be a unifying moment in the history of our nation and advance our socio-economic development by contributing to lessening the inequality between rich and poor? Voices from movements of the poor seem to paint a very different picture of the impact of the World Cup on their lives. From their perspective the World Cup will not benefit the poor and the disadvantaged. On the contrary, given developments on the ground, the opposite is more likely to happen. Second, the expenditure of billions of Rands on the 'elitist' World Cup constitutes a misdirection of resources needed to meet a wide range of pressing social needs.
They point out that South Africa has invested heavily in preparing for the World Cup. It is estimated that US$4.5 billion of public funds were invested in World Cup related infrastructure. At the time of bidding for the World Cup it was suggested that this investment would 'trickle down' through job creation and development. Yet of the 22,000 Cup-related jobs made available to citizens, 70-80 percent are subcontracted positions, offering wage rates of US$1-2 per hour, while construction companies reported pre-tax profit of 54–142 per cent. Thus, the World Cup will not benefit workers or the poor but rather big business.
Instead, FIFA has been granted a ‘tax-free bubble’ when its activities have been categorized as 'diplomatic' via the Revenues Law Amendment Act 20 of 2006, guaranteeing Fifa 17 provisions underpinning 'supportive financial environment', as well as free services ranging from safety and security, healthcare, transport, communications, intellectual property and marketing, control-zones for specific kilometers, amounting to as yet unknown costs.
Perhaps the best example of the manner in which the poor are being sidelined are the situation confronting street traders, those who sell small products on the side of the roads as a means to make a living. These traders are being forcibly removed from areas where they have been trading for years in the build-up and for the duration of the World Cup. This is to comply with FIFA’s designated exclusion zones. Rather than helping these traders the World Cup has become a means to restrict their ability to make a living. The same fate has been meted out to street children, sex workers and other beings considered undesirable in the quest to appease FIFA and to present South Africa’s cities as ‘world-class cities’.
Shack dwellers organisations like Abahlali have warned of increases in evictions from their homes and the South African Police Service (SAPS) has issued a directive to a number of municipalities not to allow marches for the duration of the 2010 World Cup, effectively suspending people’s constitutional right to protest.
So, what can we expect from the World Cup, hosted on African soil for the first time? Those who find themselves on the margins of society agree that the World Cup will in all probably address Afro-pessimism, on the side of First World tourists and media, and create a feel-good factor for South Africans and not much else. The real beneficiaries will be FIFA, big business and the political elite and the inequality between rich and poor in South Africa will remain constant, at best, or increase.
It seems we will remain a soccer-crazy people but mega-events like the World Cup create more difficulties for those who are poor. This is not confined to World Cup 2010 or South Africa but experience elsewhere in the world paints the same picture. Thus, the question remains – how can we use mega-events like the World Cup to improve the living conditions of the poor?

Faith in These Times, by Sakhile

Faith’s relevance has increased in this day and age. People more and more are leaning on their belief in someone or something. Or do they really believe? I don’t know if they are just consumed by the everyday struggles of life. All I know is that God’s Love is upon me and now, more than ever, I feel it because in the midst of this strife I can count my blessings. But what is faith to me? In Hebrews chapter 11, God plainly explains that faith is the confident belief in something unseen but bears the fruit of life. Faith is to draw enjoyment in the knowledge that God is here for me and his love endures all. I derive strength from God’s presence in my life, especially now, looking at the current state of economic affairs in my beautiful country, South Africa.
I have this feeling that I’m not where I’m supposed to be career wise, in my spiritual development and in my independence. The frustration is eating at me. I feel my spirit wants to jump out and do what I’m failing to do. I have the feeling that I should be asserting myself more at work, show more leadership at church and becoming my own man. I guess that’s how a lot of young South Africans feel when they are forced to work at a place that is not desirable, doing a job that they don’t enjoy. The economic recession was a painful period of lack for many, and still is, but brief in comparison to those of us who live in Africa with generational poverty. This time of despair really could drive one to lose one’s faith. Yet the opposite is true for Christians because we pray to a God who understands all our weaknesses, who has suffered for us. The story of Jesus, as it did to the first people who heard it, gives us the realization that suffering is for a moment and cannot compared to joy God has in store. The son of God made the greatest sacrifice for me, for us all. Why? Does God need as? The answer is no and that’s precisely why God did it: to show us his character. He is a God of compassion, grace and love. Knowing that side of God gives me strength to carry on, holding on to my dreams, pursuing them, even when people or circumstances say the opposite.
God’s character gives me faith, the awareness of his presence constantly. There are so many stories I can tell about the goodness he has shown. There is one I want to tell. Recently my brother and I were walking home from a movie when two guys came out from nowhere with knives and held us up. In the fear and confusion I saw my brother pulled to the side at knifepoint. The second confronted me with his hand hid behind his back as if at any time he’ll pull out a knife. We were near the highway and I just jumped over the railing shouting that my brother didn’t have anything, ignoring the guy in front of me, with the cars whizzing behind me. It was, I know, by the grace of God that he couldn’t find anything on my brother and left him alone. The thief must have been the leader because, without questions, the other guy followed. It was the first, and hopefully the last time, I faced crime. I said ‘God is great’ because anything could have happened that day.
I ask myself if all people see God when something great and unexplainable happens in their favor. The disciples did when Jesus was recruiting them. Simon Peter and his brother had been fishing all night, catching nothing. But when Jesus said drop your nets again they caught so much they couldn’t handle all the fish. Simon Peter saw God in that act and fell to his knees. There after, his life was changed. He recognized what happened was a miracle from God and repented. We see so much pain it is easy to lose the feeling of compassion for others. Until something unfortunate happens to you, then you learn the importance of compassion, because you know how it feels to go through hardship. I think that’s what God was showing me. God showed me that my life is in his hands and this gift could be taken away at any time.
I think, above all, faith is about stepping on the edge of life’s mountain and having no fear because you know the very creator of all has assured your safety. He has assured my safety in Jesus’ name. God love us all.

My God is a Poet, by Sakhile

My God is a poet
His poems can be seen in the stories of people’s lives,
Jesus is his pen,
The Holy Spirit his ink,
The beauty of which cannot be measured,
He writes about the pain and adversary faced by others
And victory over it though faith.

Our stories of faith.
His writings are on the faces of beaten and raped women,
Who goes to see her offender in jail,
Prays for him.
It’s in the eyes of a father who opens his arms
To huge a child that has misbehaved had gotten AIDS.
His in the hands of Christians that have gone out to a poor
Community and started foods gardens.

He has written so much in the bible and
Now in our lives he writes such inspirational poetry
That no one can ignore, it is seen in all creation,
The undeniable master of all is poet.

Faith, by Andile (Sakhile's Brother)

Inside I see stronger motives to live.
The force of gravity is much less than the strength of this depth.
In finding it, I find peace of the mind.

Pain tests the durability of these walls
And halls of safety that I sleep on.
My pillow of restful cloud in a world of storms.
I see him in it, I see him with it.

Faith like glass goggles protecting my eyes,
Projecting my vision to the dream of God’s promise.

From a South African Friend: Dean Myaka

To Kate’s Family and Friends

I greet you all with words from Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by GRACE you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the GIFT of God-not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” My name is Nkosinathi Myaka. I am a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) and Dean of Umngeni Circuit (Pietermaritzburg and Midlands) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I thank God that the ELCA MUD program allocated Kate to serve at Oebisfelde Parish in Dalton and also serve in our circuit at large. Her service among us is highly appreciated.

Since the decade 2007 through 2017 has been declared a Lutheran Decade (the decade prior to Lutheranism celebrating 500 years), our circuit youth have embarked on a program to revisit basic tenets of Lutheranism. This is done with the view of trying to find the relevance of those tenets in our context. One of those tenets is Luther’s teaching on Grace, the sola gracia, with its emphasis on salvation by grace alone… together we have learned, with the help of other pastors and bishops, through Bible studies and talks, that grace means FAVOR DEI i.e. God’s act of stooping in favour of the fallen human race, and, particularly, the inferior, the disadvantaged, and the oppressed. We have also learned that grace is undeserved, bestowed simply out of God’s love. We have also been cautioned by the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer that grace is “not cheap, but costly”. A call of grace can be a call to “come and die”. Therefore, we conclude that although grace is God’s bestowed, undeserved, free gift of salvation, the logical conclusion cannot be that of “there’s not much we can do”. It is rather a call to a Christian life of courage and enduring commitment to the course of salvation.

The main challenge that we are trying to grapple with is whether Lutheranism does fully bear witness to a GRACE-DRIVEN LIFE.

This year, 2010, South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup. For some developed countries, Africa as a whole does not deserve this opportunity. All predictions of who might win the 2010 Cup point to Spain, Brazil, and other great soccer nations, but not to any of the African teams (they don’t deserve it yet). We hope that Lutherans, given our doctrine of favor Dei, will not absolutely subscribe to this kind of thinking, but will leave room for God’s grace to take its place.

There are many other practical examples that pose a challenge to our understanding of grace as Lutherans. Conflict, poverty, illnesses, economic recession, unpredictable weather changes are just a few areas where Lutherans are called to project their faith in a gracious God, by living a life that bears witness to a God who stoops in favour of the disadvantaged.

I invite all of you to critically engage this subject and share your thoughts with us in Umngeni Circuit. If you are interested in communicating with us on this topic, please contact our youth leader, Nokuphila, at nokuphilan@webmail.co.za or myself at elcaumngeni@telkom.sa.net. We will be very happy to get feedback on this subject. I appeal also to your patience because most of your thoughts will need to be translated to the vernacular for the benefit of the majority of our members. We aim at continued dialogue with fellow Lutherans.

God bless you all.

Yours truly

Rev. Nkosinathi (Nathi) Myaka – Dean of Umngeni Circuit of ELCSA

Mr. Mzila

August 2000 to date has brought more excruciating pain to my family than I imagined I could bear. Through natural death I have lost nine members. That being the case, one has to gracefully accept the harsh reality that befalls humanity from time to time.
At first it was the sister who was a twin with the other. Death struck after long illness that could have given one hope for recovery. In a matter of weeks my mother had to succumb to hypertension that had regulated her life since time immortal. One touchy moment about death is that, quite often, when one is less than three days from it all (through ill-health) one hardly ever communicates so there is no way to know what exactly is on the mind of the-soon-to-die. Further worthy of note in our culture, death is received as needing an unnatural cause. God’s retribution, anger of the ancestors or sheer witchcraft are just some of the “imagined” possibilities or causes.
When my sister, who had just qualified as a teacher, passed on, death had gradually gnawed at her that I could not recognize her on the deathbed breathing her last. Shape, skin and everything about her had completely changed. In fact, the doctor told me that she had died some two days before it actually happened! One death picture I have indelibly stuck on my mind is peace. All the anguish associated with illness suddenly disappears just before death. Just maybe that is proof enough that dying is the passage to somewhere else.
When my all-powerful dad fell in August 2006 the words escaped me for a moment. I had got myself used to attending to his every need. I was still communicating with him despite his failing brainpower. As if I could not stand the reality of death striking at that time, it was my youngest brother who was by his bedside when he breathed his last. His failing life should have alerted me of his final demise but alas it would not be! As I look back on my father’s life, he served as a model of strength and character for me. In all the days of my life I had only once seen my father cry; that was when mother’s corpse was ushered in for a night vigil. The visual imprint remains as vivid as ever, only less painful now.
My two nephews moved on at different times, though it was death after another but each with the weight and gloom of its own. The fact that we have gone through all this in such a short space of time makes us neither wiser nor stronger about what the future still holds. On the contrary though, death gives one inner strength, peace and acceptance. As it is said elsewhere, “death is the necessary end to life”. So, in dealing with it, we have to be graceful as we can be. Incidentally my family graveyard is on the other side of our gate in full view as one moves in and out. We, then, can’t be shedding a tear or two day in and day out.
My conclusion would be that what befell us did and no amount of wishful thinking would make the reality an atom less harsher. Death is a cause for reverence, humbleness, pain, and finally acceptance and celebration. The latter is because of good life thrust upon us however undeserved.

From a South African Friend: A Local Teacher, Sandy Govender *

South Africa’s ‘colourful’ past renders it an interesting case study for justice and its implementation. Major class differences exist among the citizens of our beautiful country; luxurious suburbs slumber adjacent to monstrous informal ‘squatter’ settlements. Such extreme differences in wealth and lifestyle exacerbate crime.
Although apartheid has disappeared from our legislation for fifteen years, its legacy still taunts us, having left some sectors of the population financially secure and others poverty stricken. For many South African youth poverty is the order of the day and a sense of hopelessness pervades. Many view crime as the only alternative or rather hope.
Initially when I hear of suffering inflicted on my people by ruthless criminals I wish for a justice system that would cause them as much pain and suffering as they so vengefully inflict on their victims. However, such reasoning is quite primitive and unproductive and does not serve to improve our society. Justice which does not sought to rehabilitate criminals is base and when we behave in this fashion we are lowering our standards of behavior to match that of criminals.
Many South Africans are disillusioned as our justice system battles to process the growing number of trials with efficacy. Hence many criminals walk free. Added to our disappointment and yearning for justice are our country’s new leaders who confuse serving ‘selflessly’ and ‘selfishly’, corruption is rife. Politicians line their pockets rather than the bellies to the nations growing population of AIDS orphans.
I am pretty sure that by now you are contentedly chewing on your apple pie marveling at how dark Africa really is. But to me, a 36 year-old female, a South African of ‘Indian origin’, this is my home, warm and familiar. Justice for me takes on many dimensions not just judgments and criminal courts. My personal beliefs are very strongly rooted in the law of Karma. Karl Marx described religion as the opium of the masses, yet I am quite content leaving justice to be meted out by God. “Behind the sometimes seemingly random or chaotic succession of events in our lives as well as in the world lies concealed the unfolding of a higher order and purpose” (Eckhart Tolle- A New Earth). Although this maybe difficult to conceive, especially, with the many senseless murders, we must realize that sometimes what is lost can never be found, we must accept and so find peace. Peace comes from a place of knowing that we are just a small part of a higher order and as expressed in the old zen saying “The snow falls, each flake in its appropriate place.”

Sandy Govender
November 20, 2009

*Added to blog with permission from Sandy Govender