Where do I start?
Yesterday began just like the last time I met a Sangoma. We went to a lot of houses, and no one was home. The last house left to revisit was the house of Lucky, the Sangoma. I had never been there before, but Joe and Christina had, so we decided to go back. Lucky and his mother who is also a Sangoma were busy in their workshop, so they told us to come back in 30 min. We took that 30 minutes to meditate and pray in the middle of a run down basketball court. Allen read Psalm 23 and Joe prayed the Armor of God from Ephesians 6. I felt like God was telling us that we should go into the situation without any expectations or assumptions about these people. We knew they were Sangomas but we didn't want to seem ignorant. Also, I felt that in everything, we needed to have love. Before we started preaching, we needed to love these people above all else. Finally, we prayed for protection as we willingly entered into a situation where the devil was welcomed.
We walked back to the house and when we walked in, we sat alone for a few minutes before anyone came to talk to us. Finally, Lucky came and sat down with us. Joe and Christina had never met him before. They talked with his father last time they were at this house. We started out asking questions about his family, but that didn't last long. It was obvious that he was a Sangoma because his hair was beaded with red and white beads. He had a chicken feather on the back of his head, and his arms held many bracelets, all signifying that he was a witchdoctor. Joe commented on his hair. "What are the beads in your hair for?" He laughed. "Is it because you're a Sangoma?" Yes. "What do they mean? Do they have any significance." He laughed again. Yes. They were in his hair because he had a dream that he should put them in his hair. According to his story, his ancestors told him how to put the beads in his hair. So he did. He became a Sangoma. "What are those necklaces for?" Oh. I bought this in Durban because I liked it. "What about the other one?" He laughed. Oh! This one is a for healing myself. (It had a bottle on it.) But only myself. It could not heal you. It could only heal me.
We went on for a while asking him about being a Sangoma. We asked him if he prayed to his ancestors. He said no. He said that he only asked them to ask things from God. We told him that in 1 Timothy it says that Jesus is the only Mediator between us and God and that by telling his ancestors to say things to God, it was like putting them at the same level as Jesus. He was upset. He said that he was not putting his ancestors at the same level because they would talk to Jesus and then Jesus would talk to God. Joe was a little blunt when saying, "Do you believe that your power is from God or the devil?" Obviously, he thought it was from God. This made me a little uneasy. I could see that he was feeling attacked. I tried to lighten the mood by asking him about his previous job at Nandos which is a restaurant in town, which I believe is similar to Red Robin. He said that he loved his job at Nandos.
After that, we shared Bible verses with him about ancestral worship and he was silent. Then he asked us to repeat. I think he was starting to understand. There was a seed planted, but he was still hurting inside. Somehow we got onto the topic of other Sangomas. We asked if he had ever known a Sangoma that stopped being a Sangoma. He said that he had heard of them and they died. "Have they all died?" No. Only some. "Are you afraid of dying?" Yes. I don't want to die. "I don't think I would like being a Sangoma because it sounds scary." I asked him if he found joy in being a Sangoma. Yes. He enjoyed it. Then we started talking about friends. He said that he used to hang out with his friends all the time but that when he became a Sangoma they all stopped being friends with him. He said that he didn't want friends anyway because they all disappointed him. I could tell that he was scared and hurting. We asked if we could pray for him, and so we did. I prayed that he would be able to desire God and come out of the sin that he was in. I prayed that he would find a friend who would not disappoint him.
All the while, I could feel the spiritual warfare. My eyes hurt and he kept rubbing his eyes too. Whenever his sister would walk into the room, I felt a greater presence of evil. She was not a witchdoctor, but she lived in a house full of them, and yet she did not look well. She looked tired and sick and hopeless. She looked like walking death. I remembered to pray for protection while we were there. I think that was important.
As we were walking out, Lucky walked us to the gate, and I told him that I would continue to pray that he finds a friend who does not disappoint him. He said he would pray that I would become a Sangoma. I told him that wasn't necessary and that I didn't want to be a Sangoma because that would be too scary. Pray for me, for I know that prayer to the wrong powers is still powerful.
We walked away and everyone was saying how great it was that we accomplished so much in the name of Jesus. I didn't feel that way at all. I tried to explain how much I could feel his pain about not having any friends. I could see that he was sad and hurting and scared. I felt so strongly that I have a treasure that he could have too. A great treasure that could take away the pain and yet he was not ready to have it. I felt God's jealousy for him. I felt like God wanted him so badly. Deja vu? It was the same feelings that I had for the last Sangoma, only greater. I felt God's desire for him. I felt the burden of wanting him to come to know God in a way that would free him and show him a life of joy. I felt such a strong passion for him just like last time. I tried to explain this all to them, but one of them said that he thought Lucky was only joking when he talked about his friends. I don't think he was. I think, even if not fully, there was some validity to what was said, and it broke my heart. I tried to explain how I was feeling about Lucky, but I couldn't get very far before I broke into tears and was unable to speak. The whole walk back to the church for lunch, I cried. It's so hard to explain to you how much I felt for this man. My friend Christina told me that it was good that I felt this passion for him because maybe God needed me to keep praying for him. It was an emotional day, but it was good. I felt God's love and passion for this man and that is a gift that I will truly treasure in my heart for the rest of my life.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A Story of Passion
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Highlights & Passion
Here are a few highlights of this past week:
- I learned how to do laundry, Basotho style. They think it's funny that we use machines for everything because machines don't do a very good job of cleaning.
- I was offered to come back to a house next week for a meal of mealy-pop (kind of like gritz) and some type of meat which we soon found out consisted of intestines. We set the date for Monday.
- One of the teams that is here, prayed over a man who was demon possessed. He kept saying over and over "Your power is no good." They could literally feel the spiritual warfare and kept praying and praying. Finally this man who had had a stroke and could not speak very well was speaking clearly and saying "Your power is so good!" and was telling people about how he was healed. It was like a modern day Bible story.
- My ministry group taught some young adults how to do the hokey-pokey and the electric slide. They then taught us some clapping games and a traditional dance. We danced for most of the afternoon, then teaching them how to do the "shopping cart," "sprinkler," and swing dancing.
- We got the opportunity to talk with people about worshiping their ancestors. I was late for lunch for the first time out on ministry because we couldn't stop talking to these people about Jesus. It was a wonderful morning and we went back in the afternoon to spend more time with them.
- Last night, we had a swing dancing party, and I learned to dance and learned some really cool moves. It was so much fun and I think I'm a little bit addicted to dancing now.
- I've gone running almost every day after ministry since last Thursday at an altitude of 6,000 ft above sea level. It feels so good to get in shape!
- I've realized my passion for going to college and discipling people. I have a new passion for working with youth. I feel like it is my calling to disciple youth. This is an amazing thing because I have not felt passionate about something or like God has been calling me to dedicate my life to something since I have given my life to him. I really can't wait to see what else he will reveal to me and what will come out of these things that I know he wants me to dedicate my life to. When I left for South Africa, I was thinking about studying Literature and International Relations. Oh how much things have changed! I am so excited to come home and live out what God has been showing me!
It's been a good week! Thank you all for your prayers!
- I learned how to do laundry, Basotho style. They think it's funny that we use machines for everything because machines don't do a very good job of cleaning.
- I was offered to come back to a house next week for a meal of mealy-pop (kind of like gritz) and some type of meat which we soon found out consisted of intestines. We set the date for Monday.
- One of the teams that is here, prayed over a man who was demon possessed. He kept saying over and over "Your power is no good." They could literally feel the spiritual warfare and kept praying and praying. Finally this man who had had a stroke and could not speak very well was speaking clearly and saying "Your power is so good!" and was telling people about how he was healed. It was like a modern day Bible story.
- My ministry group taught some young adults how to do the hokey-pokey and the electric slide. They then taught us some clapping games and a traditional dance. We danced for most of the afternoon, then teaching them how to do the "shopping cart," "sprinkler," and swing dancing.
- We got the opportunity to talk with people about worshiping their ancestors. I was late for lunch for the first time out on ministry because we couldn't stop talking to these people about Jesus. It was a wonderful morning and we went back in the afternoon to spend more time with them.
- Last night, we had a swing dancing party, and I learned to dance and learned some really cool moves. It was so much fun and I think I'm a little bit addicted to dancing now.
- I've gone running almost every day after ministry since last Thursday at an altitude of 6,000 ft above sea level. It feels so good to get in shape!
- I've realized my passion for going to college and discipling people. I have a new passion for working with youth. I feel like it is my calling to disciple youth. This is an amazing thing because I have not felt passionate about something or like God has been calling me to dedicate my life to something since I have given my life to him. I really can't wait to see what else he will reveal to me and what will come out of these things that I know he wants me to dedicate my life to. When I left for South Africa, I was thinking about studying Literature and International Relations. Oh how much things have changed! I am so excited to come home and live out what God has been showing me!
It's been a good week! Thank you all for your prayers!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Thank You Supporters
Dear Supporters,
I would like to thank all of you for contirbuting to help me fundraise all the money needed for this summer. As of yesterday, God provided all of the money needed for my summer here in South Africa. On the records, it showed that I needed $890 more to reach the full $3850. I got an email yesterday from the church telling me that they sent a check for $899.75. Praise God for his faithfulness! I want to thank you all for your continued prayers and for all of your support! I love you all and I treasure everything that you have done for me. May God truly bless each of you for what you have done to support God's work in my life here in South Africa.
Much love from South Africa,
Hannah Ruth
I would like to thank all of you for contirbuting to help me fundraise all the money needed for this summer. As of yesterday, God provided all of the money needed for my summer here in South Africa. On the records, it showed that I needed $890 more to reach the full $3850. I got an email yesterday from the church telling me that they sent a check for $899.75. Praise God for his faithfulness! I want to thank you all for your continued prayers and for all of your support! I love you all and I treasure everything that you have done for me. May God truly bless each of you for what you have done to support God's work in my life here in South Africa.
Much love from South Africa,
Hannah Ruth
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The Sangoma
On Friday, July 4th, I had the opportunity to spend one more day ministering in Qwa Qwa, South Africa with a group of teens, that I was able to lead, from Fall Church, Virginia. Here is the account of that day that I wrote in my journal:
"Our interpreter, Abram Moloi, who had been with us all week, was not able to come out today because he was helping out at Thrive's Leadership Day. We had to wait a while once we got into Qwa Qwa for another interpreter to arrive. Since we had to wait, we finally decided that we would just begin to pray before we went out. Prayer was good and it made me ready for the day. Soon after, our interpreter, Timby, arrived and we started to head out. We didn't really know where to go because we'd already gone to other houses a lot and we didn't feel that we were supposed to go back again. We decided we would try going to a house that we spent some time at only the day before. When we got there, there was no one home and the door was locked. We kind of just stood around for a couple minutes trying to decide what to do. Nothing made sense but to go to a new house. Even that didn't really make sense since we wouldn't have a lot of time to disciple anyone else on our last day. We thought that it would be hard to get into a deep conversation with someone in only a few hours. Lauren, one of my teammates, said that we should just talk about more cultural things, like what they watch on TV, rather that get into a deep conversation. We walked across the street into a yard where there was a tin shack. We didn't really know what we were doing, but walked up casually, not expecting anything. As we walked into this yard which held a tin shack, we bickered about whose turn it was to introduce our group. It didn't really matter when we got to the door, because Timby talked with the woman inside before we were even able to see who was there. They talked for a while, longer than usual, and we were invited in without even having to introduce ourselves. As I walked in, I immediately smelled incense and knew that there was something different about the woman that lived in this shack.
Sorry to stop so abruptly, but I remembered something else that is vital to this story and showing how awesome our God is.
While the group was walking to the area that we would minister in, Lauren and I were talking about how some people from her church had ministered to a man who lived next door to a witchdoctor, and they had been really scared. They were in the house next door, and they were scared. That's interesting to note. We also talked about how we had never ministered/discipled anyone who was not a Christian. A lot of people are from ZCC (Zion Christian Church) which is a church that believes that it's ok to worship ancestors.) ZCC is very poplular, and yet we had never met anyone that attended that church. Ok, back to the story.
When we walked into the house, with the smell of incense very evident, it was obvious that she was very poor. There were newspaper ads to cover up the tin walls and she had only a small table, camp stove, and two small chairs for seating. I sat on the floor. We introduced ourselves, and then it was just quiet. It was awkwardly quiet, even quiet for South Africa. I think the girls were a bit intimidated, so I spoke up. I asked her what kinds of things she liked to do. Most Basotho people will say that they just rest or they like to clean. This woman was different. She talked for a very long time. Finally the interpreter said that this woman liked working with her hands and doing medical treatments because she was a Sangoma, a traditional healer, a witchdoctor. We asked a lot of questions about her being a Sangoma and she was very open about it. She told us the story of how she became a Sangoma. She had a dream that she was wearing a dress (she pointed to the dress), and told us that it was the dress that they wear when they do specific types of healing. She said that's when she knew that she needed to be a healer. She told us why she wanted to be a Sangoma too. She said that before she became a healer, she went to a Pentecostal church and she was born again. She loved going to church and worshipping God. She became really sick and all the churches that she went to could not heal her. She became a Sangoma so that she could heal herself. After she healed herself, she wanted to go back to church, but her culture was stopping her. According to Basotho culture, when someone like her wants to go back to the church, they have to slaughter a cow and wash their hair in a special way. She was a very poor woman and it was easy to see that she could not afford to buy a cow to be slaughtered. She stayed a Sangoma because she could not slaughter a cow.
One of us asked her a question, but she didn't answer. Instead she said that she noticed that we had Bibles and she wanted to know about that. It took me a while to understand that this woman didn't even know what is in the Bible. I told her that the Bible is God's story of how he created the world and saved it through a big sacrifice. Right away, she said that before we left she wanted us to pray for her. Also, she was very eager and attentive to listening about the Bible. When we heard that she wanted to be born again but thought that she couldn't because of her culture, we tried desperately to try to explain how God's love is so unconditional and we can't do anything to earn it. Anna, one of the girls in my group, brought up the story of the prodigal son. She explained how God is like the father. She said that the boy was ready to work for his father like a servant, but the father, God, didn't want him to do that. The father welcomed his son home and had a party for him. We also tried to stress that what God wants is sometime different from what our culture tells us is good. We told her how our culture says that it's ok to have sex before marriage, but that God says that that is wrong. Also, our culture says that if you are rich, then you will be happy, but in the Bible Jesus says the poor will be happy, and he spent all of his time with poor people. We told her that we don't listen to what our culture says because God says differently and we know that God knows what's best. We told her about how God has the power to heal and all we have to do is have faith to be healed. I shared the story about the woman who touched Jesus' cloak and she was healed by her faith.
Finally, we gave her a card for Pastor Foto's church. She said she would be so happy to attend once she got a cow. I told her again that the people at the church would love and accept her no matter what because they have Jesus' love. We then prayed for her and prayed for her salvation. We prayed for her desire to know God to grow, and for her to understand that Jesus' love is free. I cried when we prayed for her. We left her with 1Corinthians 13 to encourage her.
When we left, Timby said that we did well in explaining things to this woman. She said that the things we said were all good. Timby also told us that a lot of Sangomas don't like to talk to Christians, and when they see people who are Christians, they know who they are. There is no confusion. She knew who we were, and she invited us in to her house without an introduction. We didn't even have time to talk about TV because we were too busy talking about Jesus. We asked this woman if she knew more about God or Jesus and she said mostly just God. We told her about the character of Jesus and how he heals and loves and spends time with poor people. My heart went out to this woman. I could feel God's desire for her. It was the strangest feeling of passion for her. I desired to love and let God consume her. I know that the Spirit was there with me. I had such great passion for her. God's desire for her was so great and I now know what it feels like when God desires someone, because I felt it that day. It was just good."
God was in that situation and I know that he will continue to work in that woman's heart. She has such a great desire to know who God is and it is my prayer for her that she is able to quickly find Him and be freed from the sin she is living in. Please join with me in continual prayer for the Sangoma.
I have more stories of how God worked on July 4, but I'll update about that later.
"Our interpreter, Abram Moloi, who had been with us all week, was not able to come out today because he was helping out at Thrive's Leadership Day. We had to wait a while once we got into Qwa Qwa for another interpreter to arrive. Since we had to wait, we finally decided that we would just begin to pray before we went out. Prayer was good and it made me ready for the day. Soon after, our interpreter, Timby, arrived and we started to head out. We didn't really know where to go because we'd already gone to other houses a lot and we didn't feel that we were supposed to go back again. We decided we would try going to a house that we spent some time at only the day before. When we got there, there was no one home and the door was locked. We kind of just stood around for a couple minutes trying to decide what to do. Nothing made sense but to go to a new house. Even that didn't really make sense since we wouldn't have a lot of time to disciple anyone else on our last day. We thought that it would be hard to get into a deep conversation with someone in only a few hours. Lauren, one of my teammates, said that we should just talk about more cultural things, like what they watch on TV, rather that get into a deep conversation. We walked across the street into a yard where there was a tin shack. We didn't really know what we were doing, but walked up casually, not expecting anything. As we walked into this yard which held a tin shack, we bickered about whose turn it was to introduce our group. It didn't really matter when we got to the door, because Timby talked with the woman inside before we were even able to see who was there. They talked for a while, longer than usual, and we were invited in without even having to introduce ourselves. As I walked in, I immediately smelled incense and knew that there was something different about the woman that lived in this shack.
Sorry to stop so abruptly, but I remembered something else that is vital to this story and showing how awesome our God is.
While the group was walking to the area that we would minister in, Lauren and I were talking about how some people from her church had ministered to a man who lived next door to a witchdoctor, and they had been really scared. They were in the house next door, and they were scared. That's interesting to note. We also talked about how we had never ministered/discipled anyone who was not a Christian. A lot of people are from ZCC (Zion Christian Church) which is a church that believes that it's ok to worship ancestors.) ZCC is very poplular, and yet we had never met anyone that attended that church. Ok, back to the story.
When we walked into the house, with the smell of incense very evident, it was obvious that she was very poor. There were newspaper ads to cover up the tin walls and she had only a small table, camp stove, and two small chairs for seating. I sat on the floor. We introduced ourselves, and then it was just quiet. It was awkwardly quiet, even quiet for South Africa. I think the girls were a bit intimidated, so I spoke up. I asked her what kinds of things she liked to do. Most Basotho people will say that they just rest or they like to clean. This woman was different. She talked for a very long time. Finally the interpreter said that this woman liked working with her hands and doing medical treatments because she was a Sangoma, a traditional healer, a witchdoctor. We asked a lot of questions about her being a Sangoma and she was very open about it. She told us the story of how she became a Sangoma. She had a dream that she was wearing a dress (she pointed to the dress), and told us that it was the dress that they wear when they do specific types of healing. She said that's when she knew that she needed to be a healer. She told us why she wanted to be a Sangoma too. She said that before she became a healer, she went to a Pentecostal church and she was born again. She loved going to church and worshipping God. She became really sick and all the churches that she went to could not heal her. She became a Sangoma so that she could heal herself. After she healed herself, she wanted to go back to church, but her culture was stopping her. According to Basotho culture, when someone like her wants to go back to the church, they have to slaughter a cow and wash their hair in a special way. She was a very poor woman and it was easy to see that she could not afford to buy a cow to be slaughtered. She stayed a Sangoma because she could not slaughter a cow.
One of us asked her a question, but she didn't answer. Instead she said that she noticed that we had Bibles and she wanted to know about that. It took me a while to understand that this woman didn't even know what is in the Bible. I told her that the Bible is God's story of how he created the world and saved it through a big sacrifice. Right away, she said that before we left she wanted us to pray for her. Also, she was very eager and attentive to listening about the Bible. When we heard that she wanted to be born again but thought that she couldn't because of her culture, we tried desperately to try to explain how God's love is so unconditional and we can't do anything to earn it. Anna, one of the girls in my group, brought up the story of the prodigal son. She explained how God is like the father. She said that the boy was ready to work for his father like a servant, but the father, God, didn't want him to do that. The father welcomed his son home and had a party for him. We also tried to stress that what God wants is sometime different from what our culture tells us is good. We told her how our culture says that it's ok to have sex before marriage, but that God says that that is wrong. Also, our culture says that if you are rich, then you will be happy, but in the Bible Jesus says the poor will be happy, and he spent all of his time with poor people. We told her that we don't listen to what our culture says because God says differently and we know that God knows what's best. We told her about how God has the power to heal and all we have to do is have faith to be healed. I shared the story about the woman who touched Jesus' cloak and she was healed by her faith.
Finally, we gave her a card for Pastor Foto's church. She said she would be so happy to attend once she got a cow. I told her again that the people at the church would love and accept her no matter what because they have Jesus' love. We then prayed for her and prayed for her salvation. We prayed for her desire to know God to grow, and for her to understand that Jesus' love is free. I cried when we prayed for her. We left her with 1Corinthians 13 to encourage her.
When we left, Timby said that we did well in explaining things to this woman. She said that the things we said were all good. Timby also told us that a lot of Sangomas don't like to talk to Christians, and when they see people who are Christians, they know who they are. There is no confusion. She knew who we were, and she invited us in to her house without an introduction. We didn't even have time to talk about TV because we were too busy talking about Jesus. We asked this woman if she knew more about God or Jesus and she said mostly just God. We told her about the character of Jesus and how he heals and loves and spends time with poor people. My heart went out to this woman. I could feel God's desire for her. It was the strangest feeling of passion for her. I desired to love and let God consume her. I know that the Spirit was there with me. I had such great passion for her. God's desire for her was so great and I now know what it feels like when God desires someone, because I felt it that day. It was just good."
God was in that situation and I know that he will continue to work in that woman's heart. She has such a great desire to know who God is and it is my prayer for her that she is able to quickly find Him and be freed from the sin she is living in. Please join with me in continual prayer for the Sangoma.
I have more stories of how God worked on July 4, but I'll update about that later.
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