On this final day in South Africa, I had the opportunity to share in the World Wide Prayer Meeting at THQ in Johannesburg and our team led THQ family prayers. Guy introduced the crew and shared about the ministry of SAVN.TV. Alex gave his personal testimony which was thoughtful and reflective. The exposure to Africa has caused Alex to consider scripture differently – clearly it’s been an impactful and stretching experience.
I shared a devotional based on Psalm 100 and we collectively prayed for the Army’s work across the territory. It was a wonderful way to formally conclude our final day together in Africa.
I believe this journey has caused the guys to reflect and give thanks for the blessings that we all enjoy but sometimes simply take for granted. There is no question that we are blessed beyond measure. We were once again reminded of this when we visited the community of Alexandra today, just hours prior to our departure.
Alexandra is a very poor community. The area is littered with garbage and goats just roam around. The small brick houses butt up against each other. The narrow roadway which snakes through the area is a tight squeeze for our van. As we negotiate the tight turns we stop and ask for directions as there is an even more desperate part to the district we understand.
We stopped to shoot some video and photos. We felt awkward about filming the abject poverty but believed it was important to tell the story. A few minutes later, we drove deeper into the community and eventually came across a shantytown consisting of hundreds of ramshackle houses built on a hillside along a very polluted river. The area is called – District 9.
The sight instantly transported me back to my first year of university and an urban geography course that I took. The aged professor had travelled the world and illustrated his lectures with pictures of good and bad urban planning. He showed various cities around the world with shantytowns. Those pictures were shocking to a young university student and the impact of seeing my first shantytown in real life, almost 30 years later, was no less shocking.
It was raw and real. The juxtaposition of a large cemetery over looking the shantytown was haunting. We felt sad and helpless for the people who lived in these squalid conditions. Not surprising, we learned from our guide, Major Carin Holmes, that The Army has an outpost in Alexandra. Amazing. The Founder would be proud!
The reality of poverty and need is all around us. It doesn’t matter where we live. There are communities and people in need. Our journey in Africa has been significant in many ways and the team is returning home richer for the experience and sensitive to the reality of what ministry means in different countries, cultures, and communities. The learning and reflection has been important and the memories of our time together will last forever.
This blog concludes my daily postings and I thank you for reading and sharing in our journey. Thanks also for your emails and notes of encouragement along the way. I look forward to continuing the work with SAVN.TV as we consider the ‘next steps’ in the documentary process. I have also committed to writing articles for The Officer magazine and All the World and will produce a photo essay as well. So keep an eye out for these publications in the weeks ahead.
In closing, we return home with ‘hearts full of thanksgiving and praise’ for all that we have seen and heard.
Thanks again for reading.
God bless.
Major John Murray, Communications and Literary Secretary
