Good Morning All,

Our group arrived into Cape Town, South Africa last evening about 9:30pm local time (3:15pm Indy time, Saturday).   Everything has gone very smoothly so far.  The flight from Chicago to Amsterdam was ~9 hours and from Amsterdam into Cape Town was ~11 hours.   Lots of time for movies…and a little sleeping.

We’re staying in a hotel that was originally built as a Prison back in 1859, called the Breakwater Lodge.  It’s right on the harbor, so I’m looking forward to walking around  and checking out the waterfront.

People have been asking just what this trip is all about.   It is a vacation, a pilgrimage, a mission trip, or what?  “Tearing town fences and building bridges, and learning how others have done so in the past” is one way to describe this “study tour.”  Each day our group is going to visit a place of pain in South Africa, and experience how God has brought or is bringing hope to that situation through Christian Churches and leaders.   For the past ~60 years a program known as “Apartheid” has bitterly divided South Africa.  Laws were enacted to forcibly separate the majority native African peoples from the minority European peoples.  Separate schools, hospitals, neighborhoods, even beaches, were established to keep people separate.   This caused terrible poverty in some areas and great wealth in others.  Christian leaders like Nelson Mandela helped organized communities to tear down walls and build bridges between peoples. 

Today we are going to worship with a Presbyterian Church in Cape Town named JL Zwane.  This church is in a “township” called Gugulethu which is a very poor neighborhood with high crime and high unemployment.  The church, with Pastor Spiwo Xapile are doing some amazing things to help bring hope to the people.   Interestingly, many of the problems that communities are facing in South Africa are the same problems we face in Indianapolis.   

If you’re interested, Google the name Amy Biehl.  She was a young lady who was killed in this neighborhood back in ~1993 when she was working with the people.   She inspired many people to continue fighting for justice.

Have a great day….