Pastors

Throughout the ages there have been people with unusual spiritual energy and endurance. Hebrews 11 is a Who's Who of ordinary people whose faith, commitment, and perseverance catapulted them to challenge the impossible.

Two weeks ago Terry Muck and I met four such people. They were black Baptist ministers who pastor churches in the segregated townships immediately surrounding Durban, South Africa; the townships house the migrant labor force that fuels Durban commerce and industry. We met in a comfortably furnished parlor attached to a white, suburban Baptist church. They had graciously agreed to come to us since it was not advisable for us to go to them.

We asked what it is like to be a pastor in black South Africa. Hesitantly, they described the madness, the chaos, and the trauma of their daily lives. The battle lines created by the political and economic inequities between three million whites and twenty-seven million blacks converge in their townships. Heavily armed troops roam the perimeters ...

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