My time here in Cape Town is coming to an end very soon. Four weeks from today I fly out with my Mama. My mom is coming here two weeks from Thursday – November 15th. I am so excited to see her… it’s hard to believe it’s been almost six months! When I think about her coming, my stomach begins to have butterflies, as I am so excited!
My time with Dad and Robin was absolutely amazing! It was so nice to get to spend that time with them and to travel around with them. I fell in love with Zambia.... Victoria Falls is gorgeous... Kruger Park and the animals there living in their environment was astounding. What an amazing opportunity to get to do these things!
My emotions otherwise are a bit everywhere. I am getting very excited to come home and see family and friends and to go to Fellowship, but know I will miss it here too. It is funny how God has been preparing me to come home. I have been having random dreams of being home and seeing people. I also have an American friend here who is studying and doing her thesis on Americans in Africa, so she interviewed me to help her in thinking of different things. In doing this, I was reminded of so many things back home and even just re-realizing some of the big differences in culture between here and there. I think re-realizing some of these things and having these dreams will prepare me and hopefully make the adjustment back home easier.
Over the next three weeks, I am involved with the Restorative Justice II course in Pollsmoor Prison. I am looking forward to this, but am a bit scared of what God is going to bring out in me during this. When I helped with Restorative Justice I, I came home crying just about everyday and almost felt like I should be in the course rather than helping as a table leader. For the second course, we are doing an in-depth study on David’s life. I am very excited about it and would love prayer for me, the other table leaders, Jenny (the facilitator), and the inmates that are participating. Hope Ministries has put together a prayer request sheet, which I will cut and paste below.
I appreciate all of your support and prayers and look forward to seeing many of you in just a few weeks! May God bless you in abundance!
…………………………………..
HOPE PRISON MINISTRY
T O A L L I N T E R C E S S O R S
THE RESTORATIVE JUSTICE COURSE TWO with the Clients of Pollsmoor Female Correctional Centre starts on MONDAY 29th OCTOBER and finishes with the Family Day on SATURDAY 17th NOVEMBER 2007.
We, at Hope Prison Ministry, would sincerely appreciate your prayer cover during this time. This course is THREE WEEKS LONG. The theme for this second course is “DEALING WITH GUILT”. Please pray for:
THE INMATES/CLIENTS OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
● The 25 Clients who will be attending. Please pray for them by name.
Roxanne Helena Nyameka Rosina
Shameema Gloria Novuyo Yolanda
Karin Latecia Lindiwe Hestelene
Shelley Elcira Heidi Alecia
Adelia Loretta Nasheeba
Benita Nozibele Leslian
Iris Zukiswa Charlene
• For an openness to receive the content of the course. That God would prepare and soften hearts and minds.
● For those present to come into a relationship with the Lord. For total revelation of who God really is. That any head knowledge would become heart knowledge.
● For the content of this course to really hit the mark. That the inmates would grasp the truth of what is being taught and discussed. For life-giving revelation.
● For transparency from the inmates. For them to be open, sincere and honest in their response to the course.
● For the catering of lunch everyday for 40 plus people – Please pray for God's provision and for the preparation of these – this is a big task.
● For the daily venue of the course, as we may have to move venues.
• For the FAMILY DAY on Saturday 17th November. Please pray that the families of the clients attend and are open to respond appropriately.
FOR THE LEADER AND FACILITATORS – Please pray for us by name.
Leader of the course: JENNY CLAYTON
Names of Table Facilitators:
Table of Responsibility: Tania & Sue
Table of Confession: Mim & Veronica
Table of Repentance: Elizabeth & Luke
Table of Forgiveness: Dolly & Abigail
Table of Reconciliation: Marilyn, Doreen & Pam
Table of Restitution: Sarah, Angie and Mrs Fourie
There will be 6 tables, with 4 inmates at each (one table of 5) inmates with two facilitators per table.
● For wisdom, discernment, strength, courage, boldness and insight for Jenny Clayton, who will be leading this course and doing the majority of the talks over the three weeks. This is a supremely demanding role. Please pray that God will restore her strength on a daily basis.
● For God's protection over Jenny Clayton and the 13 Table Facilitators - physically, spiritually and emotionally. Also particular protection over our minds and over our relationships. This course is very intense, emotionally draining, and very demanding. Often at the end of a day the facilitator doesn't know quite where to put, or how to process what they have heard as the inmates unburden themselves.
● For the Facilitators: For wisdom, discernment, strength, courage, to be good listeners and good communicators. To know when to ask a question and when to remain quiet. To be able to draw out the quieter members of the table. For God’s love to shine out of the spiritual workers to the inmates.
We, as facilitators, have found in the past that the enemy will attack the following areas:
• FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
• MARRIAGES
• HEALTH
• STRUGGLE BETWEEN BALANCING EXTENSIVE TIME SPENT ON COURSE VERSUS QUALITY TIME WITH CHILDREN/FAMILY
Also, please pray for:
• PEACEFUL, RESTORING SLEEP FOR THE WORKERS
• PROTECTION OVER OUR HOMES AND TRAVEL
• PROTECTION OVER OUR MINDS, against bad dreams etc
• TRANSPORT & TRANSPORT EXPENSES
• FOR UNITY WITHIN THE TEAM – this is so crucial
• FOR THE DEBRIEF DAY WITH THE CLIENTS ON MONDAY 19TH NOVEMBER. Please pray that the spiritual workers are sensitive to how God wants us to continue to minister to the clients in order to meet their on-going spiritual needs.
NOVEMBER IS RESTORATIVE JUSTICE MONTH AT POLLSMOOR PRISON. COURSES ARE ALSO BEING HELD IN THE MEN’S PRISON AND WITH THE AWAITING TRAIL JUVENILE BOYS – Please pray for them also. Thank you very much.
Please contact us if you have any questions or want an update.
Thank you in advance for your much valued prayer support.
Blessings,
Tania Holcroft, Restorative Justice Prayer Co-ordinator
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Time Goes by so Fast
It has been way too long since I have written on my blog! Time is going by so fast, it is so hard for me to believe I only have two more months here!
My Dad and Robin are actually on their way for a visit and will be here in just under four hours. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself! It’s going to be so exciting getting to show them around Cape Town and travel with them!
I have been doing well. We had our last training block over the last two weeks and it was amazing. It was quite hard to say goodbye to everyone, but hope to see them again someday. Training was good – we studied the book of Ephesians, talked about Eschatology, being a Christian in the Marketplace, Sex and Relationships and had time to wait on God in silence.
On Friday, Sept 21st, Jac, who leads fyp South Africa, took all 24 of us on the beach and spread us out there. We were in seeing distance of each other, for safety, but could not hear each other. We were allowed to take nothing – no Bible, no journal, no cell phone, no music, no watch, etc… only ourselves. He left us there for three hours and we were not to move from our own area unless we needed the restroom. It was such an amazing time. We just rested in God, listened for His voice, adored His creation, sang, cried out to Him, loved Him… it was amazing. Afterwards, we got together to debrief and we were each allowed one word to describe what the three hours was like… people gave words such as long, short, amazing, awesome, silence, secure, listening, hearing, interesting, adoring… it was such an amazing time.
We also did some team building activities to build our trust and confidence in each other and in ourselves. One thing we got to do was go abseiling… which is when you basically go rock climbing in reverse… I’m not sure what we call it there – maybe repelling? It was amazing and scary!
Sue (my housemate) and I went to our neighbors on Tuesday night for dinner. Anne is from Montana and William is from Senegal (sp?). Someone had asked Anne to write an article for a magazine called Alive Now and she felt like she had too much going on with writing her thesis and all, so she asked if I would be interested in doing it. It is simply about being a Christian here in South Africa. I am not even sure they will use it, but I have been working on it for the past couple of days and thought that I would put on here what I have so far. I don’t even have a title yet. ☺
Here it is:
As I was leaving Pollsmoor Prison this morning, I found myself walking out with an Africanz lady. She was walking to the front gate, which was about an eighth of a mile from the female section of the prison. She went ahead of me as I was getting in my car. I was driving by her just anticipating to pass her and yet found myself wondering why she was there… was it for counseling the ladies, to visit a friend or even a family member?
As I was passing her by, I heard a little voice in my head: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mathew 25:40). I stopped to see if she would like a lift as I prayed for God’s protection. I asked her where she was going, and she was going to take a taxi to the train station up the road. I went ahead and offered her a ride to the train station and took her there.
As we were traveling together, I found out she was visiting her 18-year old daughter who she had not seen for three weeks and had finally connected with her when she found out she was at Pollsmoor. This lady said that her daughter was a pretty good kid until her dad was murdered in 2001, and she had gone downhill ever since.
I have been in South Africa since January of this year and have been doing volunteer work for Jubilee Community Church in Observatory and also doing some work in Pollsmoor Prison. I have heard many stories like that of this lady… I have met a lady who killed her husband as she was saving her own life, I have met a lady who was drug trafficking to “provide” for her family, and I have met a lady who kidnapped a baby because she and her husband had been trying to get pregnant for nine years with no success.
As I meet with the ladies at Pollsmoor or when I see people begging on street corners here in Cape Town, I am reminded of a verse in Matthew 11 – Mary and Martha send word to Jesus regarding their brother Lazarus and his sickness. They tell Him, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” I love this verse. They are saying that Lazarus is the one that Jesus loves. Each one of these ladies at Pollsmoor, each one of these people begging on street corners, and each one of us is the one that Jesus loves.
South Africa is known for its high-crime rate and non-safety. It has been hard to live here at times, as the culture is very different than what I am used to. One of my friends here made a comment to me that I will never forget: “The safest place a person can be is in God’s will for their life.” No matter where God has called you or where He has you living, He is your Protector and you are safer with Him than anywhere else in the world.
My Dad and Robin are actually on their way for a visit and will be here in just under four hours. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself! It’s going to be so exciting getting to show them around Cape Town and travel with them!
I have been doing well. We had our last training block over the last two weeks and it was amazing. It was quite hard to say goodbye to everyone, but hope to see them again someday. Training was good – we studied the book of Ephesians, talked about Eschatology, being a Christian in the Marketplace, Sex and Relationships and had time to wait on God in silence.
On Friday, Sept 21st, Jac, who leads fyp South Africa, took all 24 of us on the beach and spread us out there. We were in seeing distance of each other, for safety, but could not hear each other. We were allowed to take nothing – no Bible, no journal, no cell phone, no music, no watch, etc… only ourselves. He left us there for three hours and we were not to move from our own area unless we needed the restroom. It was such an amazing time. We just rested in God, listened for His voice, adored His creation, sang, cried out to Him, loved Him… it was amazing. Afterwards, we got together to debrief and we were each allowed one word to describe what the three hours was like… people gave words such as long, short, amazing, awesome, silence, secure, listening, hearing, interesting, adoring… it was such an amazing time.
We also did some team building activities to build our trust and confidence in each other and in ourselves. One thing we got to do was go abseiling… which is when you basically go rock climbing in reverse… I’m not sure what we call it there – maybe repelling? It was amazing and scary!
Sue (my housemate) and I went to our neighbors on Tuesday night for dinner. Anne is from Montana and William is from Senegal (sp?). Someone had asked Anne to write an article for a magazine called Alive Now and she felt like she had too much going on with writing her thesis and all, so she asked if I would be interested in doing it. It is simply about being a Christian here in South Africa. I am not even sure they will use it, but I have been working on it for the past couple of days and thought that I would put on here what I have so far. I don’t even have a title yet. ☺
Here it is:
As I was leaving Pollsmoor Prison this morning, I found myself walking out with an Africanz lady. She was walking to the front gate, which was about an eighth of a mile from the female section of the prison. She went ahead of me as I was getting in my car. I was driving by her just anticipating to pass her and yet found myself wondering why she was there… was it for counseling the ladies, to visit a friend or even a family member?
As I was passing her by, I heard a little voice in my head: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mathew 25:40). I stopped to see if she would like a lift as I prayed for God’s protection. I asked her where she was going, and she was going to take a taxi to the train station up the road. I went ahead and offered her a ride to the train station and took her there.
As we were traveling together, I found out she was visiting her 18-year old daughter who she had not seen for three weeks and had finally connected with her when she found out she was at Pollsmoor. This lady said that her daughter was a pretty good kid until her dad was murdered in 2001, and she had gone downhill ever since.
I have been in South Africa since January of this year and have been doing volunteer work for Jubilee Community Church in Observatory and also doing some work in Pollsmoor Prison. I have heard many stories like that of this lady… I have met a lady who killed her husband as she was saving her own life, I have met a lady who was drug trafficking to “provide” for her family, and I have met a lady who kidnapped a baby because she and her husband had been trying to get pregnant for nine years with no success.
As I meet with the ladies at Pollsmoor or when I see people begging on street corners here in Cape Town, I am reminded of a verse in Matthew 11 – Mary and Martha send word to Jesus regarding their brother Lazarus and his sickness. They tell Him, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” I love this verse. They are saying that Lazarus is the one that Jesus loves. Each one of these ladies at Pollsmoor, each one of these people begging on street corners, and each one of us is the one that Jesus loves.
South Africa is known for its high-crime rate and non-safety. It has been hard to live here at times, as the culture is very different than what I am used to. One of my friends here made a comment to me that I will never forget: “The safest place a person can be is in God’s will for their life.” No matter where God has called you or where He has you living, He is your Protector and you are safer with Him than anywhere else in the world.
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