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Christianity Today, June (Web-Only), 2008 |

Dispatch from South Africa

Siege from Within: Day and Night in Johannesburg

South Africa is not an easy place to minister, despite the apparent normalcy.

Mark Galli in Johannesburg | posted 6/06/2008 10:03AM

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Everyone is a victim of this war of crime (not a war on crime, because at this point the country does not have the political will or finances to combat it but only to adjust to it). But as this former pastor — who still has an extensive ministry in his denomination — not everyone takes on a victim mentality.

Like Oasis, a U.K. ministry that has staff and five gap-year youth (like my daughter) working in Johannesburg, in places like Jeppestown, and in shantytowns around Johannesburg. Churches such as Table View Assembly of God (Cape Town area) and Seeker's Tower (south of Johannesburg), and ministries such as Lerato's Hope (Cape Town area), offer food, HIV testing, and health and literacy programs to those in need. (I'll write more on such ministries later.)

South Africa may be a country under siege, but there are enough Christians who refuse to hide and hunker down that it gives hope that the oppression will be lifted one day, if not soon. for like siege warfare of long ago, these things can take a long time to resolve.

Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today, and is on assignment in South Africa.

Related Elsewhere:

Galli's previous dispatch, "A Refugee's Quiet Dignity," was posted Tuesday.

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June (Web-Only) 2008, Vol. 52

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Jana	Posted: June 14, 2008 9:44 AM


We live in a country where we all are growing. God, the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit WILL be proclaimed by all South Africans. We are not given a spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind.

Olwen Carson

Posted: June 11, 2008 2:15 PM

While I agree about the level of crime in Jo'burg there are many other parts of this beautiful country where peple feel safe & lead a more normal life.I lived in Belfst until 1983 & used the same safety precautions there as I do here when outside of the home. I coordinate an AIDS project & spend a geat deal of time in a townshp.I am careful but do not spend my life thinking that I will raped, murdered or hijacked. God is alive, well & very active - I see many people coming to faith in Jesus Christ.Like others I have decided to stay and build.God is in sovereign & therefore in control. It issuch a priviledge to serve Him here in SA.

Ian Gough

Posted: June 09, 2008 3:16 PM

I grew up in Johannesburg and now live in Dublin in Ireland. Ireland too has its problems especially in Northern Ireland. Howecver Irish problems are tame compared to those of Johannesburg. I am a Christian but left due to the violence and corruption. Both my sons have friends who were killed for their possessions and my Johannesburg employer's father-in-law was killed at a SPAR Supermarket during a hold-up. He had gone to buy bread!! I now live in relative peace, go out at night drive through the streets and can look forward to a stable future. I am of British background so I have a UK passport and am able to work legally in Ireland. I do pray for those less fortunate than myself; those who cannot leave, but I cannot advise anyone to visit a corrupt violent society.

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