I apologize for the lack of blogs over the past 2 months. To be honest they were tough months and I've been wrestling with many issues. Christ remains faithful in my life and I choose to keep walking with Him . No matter what happens God was, is, and will always be good!
My April was spent in Cape Town. Two weeks on outreach in a place called Koue Bokkeveld and two weeks on the JAM base. May 2nd a team of 12 including myself took the two day voyage back to Mavhuza. The team stayed for 2 weeks and God did many things. One major thing He did was lead us in getting to the bottom of the Zone 2 situation......
Zone 2 is a sqatter/refugee camp just outside Giyani. Very few people have seen Zone 2 kind of poverty. The people live in mud and stick huts. The children wear dirty rags and often go hungry. Just being in the village for a couple hours is emotionally and spiritually draining. JAM has been ministering to the people of Zone 2 since 2005 or 2006. Gradually we've gotten to know the people and have been committed to try and help them any way we can. Because the people are living on this land illegally from Mozambique the South African gov't won't allow any perminent structures to be built. The claim has been that this refugee camp is a temporary place for the people to live in. To have a place to minister at and hold church, JAM build a tent like structure with wooden beams and green netting. Over time JAM has gotten to know the people and gain their trust. Last year the ministry grew to having a pre-school and a soup kitchen for the little children. Pastor Life and his wife Josie ran this ministry and it was going very well.
Then, this year out of the blue it was announced that the people of Zone 2 needed to leave the village and find another spot to set up camp. First they were given a deadline date to be out in March. If they weren't out by March ??? then their mud and stick huts were going to be bulldozed! I'm not sure when the bulldozer finally rolled into Zone 2 but when the guy who was hired to run over the village saw the reality of the situation, he couldn't continue the job. Nothing was bulldozed praise God! Many of the people are still in the village today while many have moved on trying to find another village to live in. Most villages reject these refugees and will not allow them into their village.
We didn't know what was going on? Finally Thinus (one of JAM's main leaders) took the lead and we started investigating. Our investigation again was filled with many different stories. Finally we arranged for a meeting with Chief Ngove which took place Tuesday. The Chief explained that the refugees from Mozambique who have been living in Zone 2 since 1987 are being invited to become apart of the Ngove village. They will have access to water, electricty, schools, medical clinics and gov't housing along with help in accquiring South African identification. The chief expressed a heart of wanting to help his fellow man and a desire to know the people. Lifter and I walked away from the meeting with the chief encouraged and grateful to God.
Challenges still remain. For the people of Zone 2 to become residents of Ngove village there is a R100 one time fee or tax that every villager is required to pay. The people do not have R100 to spare. They also must build new huts with zero resources on land that is not cleared/full of bushes and trees. Ngove is a good 2 mile walk from Zone 2 as well which makes things difficult. Lifter, Pastor Life and I are determined to help the people get to Ngove. JAM's hope is that we can continue the ministry with the same people we've invested in for the past 6 years. Please pray that God works everything out to His glory according to His perfect will. If these refugees take hold of Christ, even though they have nothing in this world they will posses everything in the life to come!
Blessings
