God knows

God brings people into our lives.

He knows there are too many needs in the world for us to cope with (at times it can be overwhelming) so he chooses a few people at different times to connect us with particularly.

On Friday I visited some of "my" such people. We had an encouraging time together, talking about what God was doing, had done in their lives and their hopes and ideas for the future.

Two of them waited until I'd gone home before getting in touch again and asking for money (this was after I'd left them with a selection of non-monetary gifts). I'm sure you can imagine the human feelings this gave rise to.

My first opportunity of sending them money came today so off I went to the bank. All the time another person's name kept sounding in my head (though I hadn't been in touch with her for weeks) so I thought I should send the same amount to her.

So far she has been the only one to respond.

She was praying, bringing her needs, and those of her child, before the Lord, not knowing how she was going to do what was necessary. The little I could send was an answer to her prayer. She didn't know I was back in South Africa. I didn't know her immediate need.

God did and he connected us. 

Sometimes people are too ready to take the easy way, to assume that because God has used a particular method or person to meet needs in the past, that's the route we should always take. He knows our needs even before we can express them.  He has an infinite variety of ways in which he'll meet them and he likes to keep things interesting.

Don't dismiss the name that pops into your head just because you don't why it's there. Learn to recognise the voice of the Holy Spirit. Trust and obey. Step out in faith and see what the Lord will do. He is awesome.

Back in the UK

July 2024

 We didn't expect to be in England just now but we're not really surprised.

Two years ago we applied for our visas to be renewed but have been caught in the great South African visa backlog ever since. We've been able to stay in country as the Department of Home Affairs regularly granted blanket extensions to everyone who'd applied but not received a decision. The last extension expired on June 30th.

We waited until June 28th, regularly checking the government website for announcements, expecting something to come at the last moment, but by the close of office hours on Friday we knew we had to make a decision. 

Some people couldn't see why we were thinking about leaving. "The waiver will be extended. No one will chase you or even know you're here with expired visas. Just stay."

We couldn't reconcile that attitude with following Jesus in truth, honesty and integrity. Staying illegally when we had a choice didn't seem right.

The run up to the end of this extension period had felt different from previous ones, as if God was preparing us. The way that plane tickets, organisation and provision for animal care fell into place within twenty-four hours was a reassurance that we weren't doing this alone. We got through passport control at Cape Town airport a couple of hours before the deadline and arrived in Amsterdam the next morning.

It had seemed unfortunate that Fraser hadn't been able to fly on to Manchester from Amsterdam on the same plane as Dawn. When Dawn's phone went missing at Stockport railway station on the train leg of our journey (car-plane-bus-train-car) we were very glad he'd had to wait. Whilst Dawn filled in online police reports, thinking her pocket had been picked, Fraser was able to check at the station lost property office on his way through several hours later. He arrived at Doncaster station carrying the recovered phone.  "In all things God works for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28).

Whatever the reason, we know that the Lord has guided our steps and wants us to spend some time in the UK just now.

We do have return tickets for the end of August which we'll keep to, despite the new South African Minister for Home Affairs making his first announcement on Thursday an extension of the visa waiver until December 31st. In some ways it's as if God is telling us again that he has his plans for us. If the extension had been announced on Monday or even Tuesday our feelings about our hurried departure would have been far more conflicted. 

Would you be convicted?

Bible studies run in prisons can often use more legalistic language than discussions in other places as everyone there is intimately familiar with the legal system.

In Medium A today we were talking about how a person could be assured he was a true follower of Jesus (mainly looking at 1 John and discussing the blog posts of Richard Beck on the subject. This is the link to the first of four http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2024/04/notes-on-1-john-part-1-how-do-you-know.html). 

I asked the question, "If someone was gathering evidence on you, would he find enough to convict you of being a Christian?"

It was one of those "Sho," moments - the sound which shows the question has hit the mark, is challenging and accurate; deserving of further thought and action.

If you call yourself a follower of Jesus, would an observer be able to gather enough evidence from your words, deeds and attitudes to convict you?

Would Jesus?

Biblical discrepancies

 One of the highlights of my week is the time I spend leading Bible studies in Maximum and Medium A at Drakenstein Correctional Centre.

Whatever the ostensible topic of the day, we always have wide ranging and hard hitting discussions in (I trust) Spirit-led directions.

Last week one of the men brought up a good illustration to explain some of the apparent discrepancies in biblical accounts.

In Medium A there are various rooms (cells) which accommodate everything from one to 20-30 men. Each has to produce a "room report" every day which provides details of everything that's happened within the room. A single cell example might start with the inmate taking off his shoes and leaving them outside the door when he went inside. A multiple-occupancy room report would have the men going inside with their shoes on.

Fast forward one hundred years to historians researching prison habits in twenty-first century Western Cape Correctional Centres. One historian is convinced that inmates have to be bare-footed inside the cells, no shoes are allowed. Another historian says that's rubbish; he has evidence of shoe-wearing within prison rooms. Without additional knowledge who can tell which historian is correct? How can the discrepancy be resolved?

With a little bit of extra information it's easy to see how both views can be reconciled.

A man in a single cell has to leave his shoes outside because shoelaces can be used to commit suicide. When there are multiple inmates in one room it's more difficult to use shoelaces to kill yourself without someone else noticing and intervening. Therefore there isn't the ban on shoes in rooms containing more than one person. Apparent discrepancy resolved.

Sometimes all we need is a bit more background information and the humilty to acknowledge that there might be things modern people don't know but original writers and readers did.

At last

 This morning we actually managed to get past the first session of the Restoration programme.

On Monday evening Ashley and I went through "About you" with about twenty members of a local addiction support group. Some were interested, others a bit miffed that they'd come with a list of questions only to find the meeting was focused on something else. We thanked them for their time and invited them all to the next session on Saturday.

On Saturday six of the group turned up at the church hall to delve deeper into understanding and breaking the cycle of damaged lives, unforgiveness, self-centredness and pain. We'd prayed that the right people would attend. These were the support group leader, his wife and four men whom he'd identified as future group leaders. They wanted to be equipped to help others; they ended up being challenged and informed themselves.

We were trying to fit five sessions into one day. One of the challenges of working in the community is the difficulty of getting people to commit to a time for regular meetings, especially when some work and others can't see the point. That's why we'd agreed to try a one-day programme. This group saw the benefit of what we were offering and even said, "Don't hurry through the material. We'll come again. Tell us everything." So we tried.

We only covered about half of what we'd planned but even so, one man said he'd sat through many courses but none had made such an impact as this (and we hadn't even reached the topic of forgiveness).

Thank God for his timing and his gathering the right people. This is how ideas spread - organically and at a grassroots level, by people known and trusted reaching others in a way that an outside process might struggle to achieve.

We're looking forward to the next time.

Forgiveness is free.....

Good Friday services traditionally focus on the death and suffering of Jesus in our place. He died to pay the price for all the wrong-doings and rebelliousness of humanity against God. 

He didn't have to; he chose to. 

Out of love and the longing to have a relationship with each of us. Out of the need to break down the barriers caused by pride, selfishness, greed, anger, violence and turning away from God. Out of compassion for broken, fallen, hurting humanity.

He died in our place so we could be freely offered forgiveness, healing and reconciliation; a place with him in heaven.

What Jesus offers is beyond price but is offered to us freely. He has covered the cost.

Forgiveness is free - but it is not cheap.

Sometimes we gloss over the suffering Jesus went through in our rush to get to the wonders of being forgiven, offered a new start.

During our service people were invited to identify with and acknowledge their part in the price Jesus paid for our forgiveness by dipping a finger in red paint and adding their mark to a white cross (idea from Engage Worship). 

The image of the "bloodstained" cross and pile of "bloodstained" wet wipes was surprisingly powerful. It was my deeds that caused Jesus' blood to be shed; your deeds that nailed him to the cross. During the joy and hope of celebrating his resurrection from the dead three days later, being able to gaze also at the cross, streaked red by the good men and women of the congregation, helped emphasise that it was not a painless thing to pay the price that we owe.

Forgiveness is free. 

Forgiveness and hope are offered to anyone who accepts Jesus as Lord. 

Forgiveness is not cheap.

Connections

 Every second Wednesday I go into Drakenstein Maximum Correctional Centre to facilitate groups of guitar and ocarina learners. This music initiative stems from the prayers of one of the inmates a couple of years ago who asked God to send someone to help him read music. He attends the Tuesday Bible study and was surprised when it turned out that I knew enough about reading music to be able to help him. Since then we have been bringing music into the lives of many of the other inmates and frequently being reminded of how God takes an interest.

On Sunday we had "Lord we lift your name on high" at the church I attend. As we sang, I felt it would be a good song to take into Maximum for the guitar group.

Experience has taught me it's a good idea to act upon such feelings.

When he saw the sheets I'd brought, the inmate said that again God knows. He wanted to use the song for church in Maximum on Easter Sunday and was going to ask if I had the music.

Coincidence, or God making connections?

Not against flesh and blood

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

We're beginning to suspect that something/one is working against the Restoration course. People turn up at the introduction and sign up enthusiastically but then most fall away. Others are interested when Ashley talks to them on the streets but won't change their interest to action. Even the lady who turned up for session one was suffering from flu and had to go back home to lie down. It's as if everything is being done to prevent us completing a first course of six sessions as, if that happens, the doorway to real life and community change will be opened. If you need darkness to do your deeds then you'll do everything possible to thwart any sign of light.

The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)

Last week we held the introductory session for women and five arrived, most with a history of problems with drugs. They left feeling hopeful that what we were offering would make a big change in their lives. Some were already working out who they wanted to reconcile with and would invite to the final session. One even said she'd definitely be at the next meeting, even if no one else was: later in the week her husband replied to a reminder Whatsapp by saying she would not be attending any more.

Then there are the men who were given first chance and said it was a great idea. They're still hanging around the streets, interested when Ashley talks to them but not brave enough to sign up to face themselves and change.

 

We'll keep turning up until we feel it's time to shake the dust from our heels and move on to a different area (Matthew 10:14) but it is sad to see opportunities lost.

Introduction Take 2

It is much easier to run a course when the participants have few other pulls on their time and no means of escape.

Our original two group members both now have jobs or occupations that mean their afternoons are no longer free. It's great that they're working. A job is hard to find under good circumstances, it's harder still if you have a criminal record, so I'm very pleased for them but it does leave our Restoration course without an essential ingredient - available participants.

Time for option two.

When Ashley first mentioned our plans at the support group for recovering addicts which he attends and he said the first course was just open to men, there was a bit of dissatisfaction from the women. They could see the benefit in what we were offering but we thought a mixed sex group would add an unnecessary layer of complication to the proceedings. Now, as the men came, said how interested they were, then couldn't fulfil their commitment, it's the turn of the ladies.

As I went along to the support group to talk about Restoration, it struck me that perhaps the women will be the key to change in the community. Who is the backbone? Who communicates most? Who has contact with children and the different layers of society? We talk about the ripple effect of crime. Let's hope that the women who come to learn about restoration will be at the start of a ripple effect of healing and change.

Restoration

 It's easy to pray, "Lord bring the right people to the meeting," but then to mumble, "Shouldn't there be more?"

Why do we often have the tendency to think that more is better? That things aren't worthwhile unless the numbers taking part are huge?

Jesus looks on the crowd as individuals, not on the individuals as just a crowd.

Two men braved the 40 degree (104F) heat to take part in the first day of our restoration course. One of them hadn't even been to the introductory meeting last week. He was the one who thanked Ashley and me so wholeheartedly at the end of the session for giving up our time to show him things he hadn't thought of before; and being willing to listen. He was the one who, after we'd played Elvis Presley singing In the ghetto to illustrate the cycle of crime through the generations, said, that was his life. He wants to break the cycle of drug abuse, crime and prison; to give his children a better role model to follow; to learn how to be that role model.

Music is a great key for unlocking feelings and understanding. During the introductory meeting we played Gungor's Beautiful Things, acknowledging the pain that's all around but declaring our faith in the fact that God can grow beautiful things from wasteland. He sees beyond what we are to who we could be, who we were created to be. He can make it happen.

I thank God for the two men, the right men for this time, that he sent.

Pray for them, their commitment and growing understanding.

Fish and chip shop by the church
where we meet - good positioning!

Introduction

 It's a privilege to be involved in the Restorative Justice process within prisons. Lives are changed, attitudes challenged and relationships restored. However, it would be far better to reach people before they were incarcerated, before so many lives were broken. Many inmates, some of whom have been in and out of prison since a young age, have said, "If only someone had told me these things years ago, my life would have been very different."

On Monday I joined my friend Ashley (once an effective gang recruiter and drug dealer, now living a completely changed life for Jesus, often in prison but this time as a spiritual worker, not inmate) and we met gang members in his community to invite them to join us in six sessions of encounter (with self, others and truths), repair (of relationships) and transformation (of thinking and behaviour).

Our vision is to hold these gatherings one by one in the different gang territories around Wellington, exposing as many people as possible to the idea that there is a different way to live, a better way to think, and a chance to lead a life not determined by violence, fear and destruction. That's the long term aim - Monday was the first step.

I was a little perturbed in the morning to see heavy rain and thunder forecast for the time we hoped men would be walking to the church hall where we'd be meeting. What could be done? Pray that God would reschedule the rain slightly so that possible participants wouldn't be put off. 

Whilst I waited at the hall that afternoon, watching heavy dark clouds move slowly across the mountains as they advanced over the town, I couldn't help thinking of the darkness that imprisons so many of those who live there. There wasn't a opening in the cloud so a cliched beam of sunlight shone down to spot-light the hall but there was a sense of God's power moving and lightening the darkness. Later I was listening to O Gracious Light a track on Resound Worship's album Downcast Souls, Expectant Hearts. The line that stood out was "Even this darkness is not too dark for you." That's what I felt.

The rain didn't fall until all the men were safely inside the hall. Then it came down with a vengeance.

Five teenagers took shelter in the doorway. Ashley called them in and invited them to join the group. When I questioned the wisdom of mixing these youngsters with the eight older men, he told me the boys were already gang members. They needed to hear what we had to say just as much as the adults did. 

Earlier, as I waited outside before the meeting started, I watched the schoolchildren on their way home. An 11 year old girl came up to chat to me.

 "Why are you here?" she asked. 

"I've come with Oom (uncle) Ashley to talk to people."

"People here aren't lekker [nice/right]," she answered, looking concerned at my choosing to be in her neighbourhood when I could have been somewhere else.

Pray for God's blessing upon this venture as a contribution towards change in the community so that 11 year olds aren't worried for adults who visit their neighbourhood and adults aren't concerned that 11 year olds think their best prospects lie in joining gangs.

Life lessons in music classes

There are so many things that can be learned in a music class.

Not just the obvious, how to play an instrument, but skills that can have a huge effect on how a person lives his/her life.

I started the guitar classes at Drakenstein Maximum because I know that being able to play an instrument can help you through difficult times.  Emotions can be expressed and relieved, confidence can be built up; if you're willing to put in the practice you will improve, whatever your initial innate talent.

Many incarcerated men have a misguided opinion of their abilities. They either think they're not worth anything much (as that's what they've been told most of their lives) or they think they're the bee's knees, the one on top. 

Learning an instrument is a great leveller. It takes work and dedication (channelling Roy Castle on "Record Breakers" and showing my age here). If it's approached full of pride and entitlement it won't necessarily make the sounds demanded. There are very few shortcuts (and so much of crime is about taking shortcuts). These benefits are even before the taking the choice of practice pieces into account. In my classes, though my own musical tastes are wide, the songs I take in to Maximum are about Jesus. They're often chosen according to chords learned or notes available on the ocarina but still give opportunities to discuss what they mean.

There's something about the sessions that brings out the best in the inmates. The more proficient will help the beginners or those struggling. Bridges are crossed, relationships made and another way of living is learned.

In a place of so much darkness, fear, cruelty, selfishness, misery and despair, I thank God for this opportunity for light, joy, sharing, achievement and creativity shine through.

Ocarinas

 Delightful is not a word often associated with ten inmates of a maximum security prison but this week it was definitely appropriate.

I've been facilitating a basic guitar class in Drakenstein Maximum for a couple of years now. Kind people have donated enough guitars for six men to take part at a time but there are always more who want to learn than can be accommodated. A guitar is a wonderful instrument but isn't cheap and the inmates can't take it back to their rooms to practise - all donated Maximum guitars are kept under supervision by the officer in charge of "life skills" classes. 

I've seen the joy that comes from being able to make music, the sense of achievement when a man who has often been told that he's worthless or stupid is able to change chords smoothly and accompany others to the end of a song. Anything wholesome that offers an outlet for emotion, that helps develop a sense of self and hope in the ability to change is worth providing. In South Africa, what used to be prisons are now called correctional centres. Music can play a big part in helping the men who go in as criminals come out as men with a better chance to live different lives as changed people.

I wanted to provide more men with the opportunity to learn an instrument which they could carry around with them and practise. It had to be simple, inexpensive, fairly indestructible, portable and difficult to convert into a weapon.

Enter the ocarina. 

I've never seen as many smiles on the faces of inmates or passing officials in Maximum as I did during our first ocarina lesson. Surprise, joy and a sense of achievement were the predominant emotions as each man discovered that even he could produce a nice sound and different notes. They're concentrating on mastering the lower notes to start with - less chance of annoying others with excruciating squeaks - so the room murmured as if a parliament of owls was in session. When they moved on to simple tunes it was as if the sun was shining from that classroom. 

The image of tattooed men in orange uniforms playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on green and blue plastic ocarinas with such a sense of achievement and happiness will stay with me for a long time.