"I don't have a category for this!"

Yesterday, we joined up with all the Staff in the Western Cape to do a special outreach to the "Bo Kaap"( a suburb of Cape Town, known for being a predominantly Muslim area)  We started our day in prayer for the people of the Bo Kaap, and for God to use us to show them how much He loves them.  We then were briefed on what to do if someone would confront us, yell at us, or destroy the materials we were handing out.  It was at that moment I thought, "I don't have a category for this in my head!"  We have done hundreds of outreaches, but never have we put ourselves into a position like this.   We would be handing out a DVD of the movie "Magdalena"to every home in the area.  This movie is very powerful as it is depicting Mary Magdalene from the Bible, her encounter with Jesus, and subsequently how He released her from shame.

We all drove into the city, praying as we went.  I (Christian) was in a group of four, and we all were from different backgrounds. Rose - an african american woman from Washington D.C. who works for CCC, Elise - an Affrikaans woman in her 50's, and Charles - a man in his 40's that was in maximum security prison here in South Africa and met Jesus 12 years ago, and has never been the same.

Our group began walking up the steep streets of the Bo Kaap. Things were going along well. We had a few conversations, and just when we thought we were getting the hang of how this is to work the road turned.  We checked our map and it said to follow it up the hill, so we did.  Before long there were no houses along this road. It is really hard to go "door to door," when there are no doors.  We asked someone if we were in the right area, and they said no but you could get there by just walking through this open area. We would call it a greenbelt in the USA.  As we are walking through this area we see a "squatters camp," basically a ramshackle camp for homeless people that they have put together from whatever they could find.

Rose, then says let's talk to them. So we walk into their camp and begin talking to them, and then Charles begins telling this small group of 3 men what Jesus did in his life.  The men go from being rowdy to somber, and you can see that his story is resonating with them.  He told them, "you can know this Jesus too and He loves you."  He then says something in Afrikaans, and the next thing I know they are praying asking Jesus to come into their lives and to make them the people that He wants them to be.  I am shocked and begin talking to one of the men about what just happened in his life.  I find out that he can read and so we look at a booklet that we have, "The Four Spiritual Laws." I am reading aloud the verses about God's love, who we are, and how we need Jesus to come to God. He is understanding and they look at us with warm smiles and many "thank you's."

At the same time, Elise, was praying for an older woman in this group.  Elise, tells this woman about Jesus and she gives her life to Him...and then immediately says my friend needs to know about this and then they share it with her.  The "squatters camp," was an amazing chance to watch God bring His love to people that were forgotten. They don't have a lot by material standards, but they do have new life.  Altogether, there were 6 people that began a relationship with Jesus in the "squatters camp."  We got back on the main road, and then began to hand out DVD's.  I was so amazed and shocked by this that I said to the group, "I don't have any category in my head for what just happened." Then Rose said, "God showed up!"

I don't have a category for God!  He is so much better and bigger than what I want to think.  He brings people from all walks of life together so that all the world would know that He loves them. One of the verses that I read to the men was Romans 5:8, " but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Altogether 13 people began a relationship with Jesus yesterday, and there are people with the CCC here that will follow up on their decisions and help them grow in Jesus. Thanks for all your prayers!