a wonderful, awful place

I wrote this in my journal a few days ago and wanted to share it with you.

It's only 6:40am and already the African sun is beating down on me as I do my quiet time on the front steps of our home. I have to shield my eyes from the sun when I look up to smile at the students walking by on their way to school. I am constantly amazed at the friendliness and openness of the people who live in Jeffreys Bay - even in the rich, white section of town. yesterday I went on a prayer walk through the poor community with a few of my teammates and we came to a giant hill/wall of stones and plants. We climbed it and as we reached the top, we realized that it separated the rich white from the poor black/coloured communities. If you looked to the right, you would see nice buildings, homes and cars, and what one would generally see if looking over any small town in Canada/America. If you looked to the left, you would see dirt roads and rows and rows of houses and shacks. I'd never seen anything quite like that before. Each of us prayed for the "wall" to be broken down between the communities and that the blacks, whites and coloureds would be unified. I was speaking with a man from Holland the other day who works at a school for street kids called the Joshua Project. He told me that Jeffreys Bay has the highest level of racism in South Africa. It's not always evident to me when I walk through the streets and see the smiling, happy faces, but this man told me that some of the whites never set foot in the black community because they think they'll get mugged or killed. I'd never expect anything bad to happen there - everyone is smiling and waving and having a great time - but just last week, a South African teen robbed a Somali corner store and was shot and killed by the owner. Soon after that, a mosque in town was burnt down. The other day I was talking with high school students who told me about gangs in Jeffreys and how they hurt and kill each other. It's scary.

So although I love this place with all my heart and generally see the bright side of life while I'm here, I'm not naive or ignorant to the horrifying things happening in this town.

Jesus, You are needed here.