President’s Report
International Rep’s meeting
Cape Town, South Africa
January 26-31, 2916
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| Visit to St. Cyprian's Girls School in Cape Town |
A Prayer for Africa
(used on many occasions during the week)
God bless Africa
Guard our children
Guide our leaders
And give us peace
For Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen
I traveled to South Africa in my role as President of the
CCN-NA to attend a meeting of the International Representatives of the
Community of the Cross of Nails. We gathered as representatives from the U.K.,
Germany, Eastern Europe, South Africa and the U.S. for our biennial meeting. My wife Leslie joined me on the trip.
Petrina Pakoe was our gracious host in South Africa. Formerly
with Hope Africa, a ministry of the Anglican Province, Petrina is now director
of the Peninsula Feeding Association which feeds hungry school children on the
Western Cape. My arrival was delayed one full day because of a mechanical
problem in our British Airways 747 that caused us to put down in Abuja, Nigeria
for 18 hours. By the time I arrived, the meeting’s agenda had already begun.
The gathering is a chance to hear about the various events are going on
throughout the network and to find common cause with the work and staff at
Coventry cathedral. We discussed
fundraising, the Coventry Cathedral vision and strategy, and other areas of
collaboration.
Throughout the week the work of the Community of the Cross
of Nails in South Africa influenced our conversations and directed our time.
When not meeting, we visited centers and met with CCN members. The group
visited Protea Village and Good Shepherd church and learned of the their
decades long struggle to reclaim the land that had been lost by the local
colored population in 1950 when the Group Areas Act forcibly moved families to
the Cape Flats. Jenny Wilson, a CCN Companion, spoke about the work of the CCN
to help heal the wounds of history and fight wherever possible to advocate in court
to help return the land to its rightful owners.
We traveled on hour outside of Cape Town to the town of Paarl
and Ascension Church to present a new cross of nails to the congregation after
the previous cross had been stolen. The congregation’s work involves supporting
the rights of farm workers in this wine producing regioun, many of whose livelihoods
have been impacted by low wages and more recently the growing influx of foreign
workers from southern and central Africa to compete for limited work.
We spent a lovely day at the Volmoed Retreat and Conference
Center, a CCN partner near Hermanus. http://www.volmoed.co.za/aboutus.html Volmoed was started in the early eighties as a place that would
minister to people who felt shattered by their life's experience. Volmoed means
full of courage and hope. We met with theologian the Rev. John de Gruche who
offered a lively reflection of the state of reconciliation in South Africa –
which he implied is a bit tattered due to many whites ignoring the Truth and
Reconciliation -- and even found a way to include Donald Trump in his analysis.
EVERYONE we met wanted to know about
Donald Trump! John’s blog is certainly
worth looking into: https://khanya.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/books-etcetra/
On
January 29 we visited two schools that are ICONS schools. In doing so, we got a
glimpse of the education of the youth of the largely white and elite population
of the country. The schools were lovely and the welcome we received was warm from
staff and students of both Somerset West and St. Cyprian’s Girls School in Cape
Town. There was an open and honest sense of anxiety and uncertainly among the
white population that we had a chance to meet and engage. There were clear
concerns about the economy and the political turmoil surrounding the current
President Jacob Zuma. There was a great deal of chatter about the President’s
four wives and the recent 25% devaluation of the South African Rand, causing
real economic hardship for the people.
Our
host Petrina gave us a tour of the Cape Flats, including the colored area of Manenberg
and Reconciliation Anglican parish. We also visited the black township of
Khayelitsha, where we visited the Fikelala Children’s Home. The dedicated staff
care for abused and abandoned children, many of who are HIV+ and some of who
were born with alcohol fetal syndrome.
We learned later that then NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg had visited the
same home.
On
Saturday we gathered at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in the District Six area of
Cape Town to meet with Christian and Muslim youth and to visit a local mosque. From
the St. Mark’s website one can learn of the importance of this church:
Between 1969 and 1984, some
forty thousand District Six residents were evicted by the Group Areas Act, and
relocated in houses scattered all over the Cape Flats, their homes demolished.
Faced with the prospect of their church being de-consecrated, the St Mark's
congregation firmly rejected the Government's offer to rebuild the church, stone
for stone - an exact replica - in Athlone, and returned the two million rand
compensation cheque. At the same time they decided that, regardless of
distance, "they would, as far as possible, continue as before."
From
St. Mark’s we walked to the Al-Azhar Mosque and entered its worship space. The
mosque is a reminder of the unique centuries old history of Muslims living
peacefully and co-existing alongside Christians and Jews in the melting pot
that is Cape Town. The young people we met with were all very impressive in the
ways in which they have formed new and trusted friendships and are doing the
hard work of reconciliation, which for some of them begins in their homes with
understanding and healing from family histories and conflict. From there we visited St. George’s Anglican
Cathedral in downtown Cape Town, the site of many anti-apartheid protests, the
ministry of Desmond Tutu, and courageous HIV-AIDS education and outreach
through the years at the height of the epidemic.
On
Saturday evening we were hosted in the home of noted church and social activist
Di Oliver, a long-serving member of the Black Sash, a human rights
organization. Di has received many
honors for her role in advancing peace and justice in South Africa. The gathering was a valuable glimpse into
what I would call the witness and struggles of the white progressive minority
who were once at the center of the anti-apartheid government activity and now
see there roles shift and somewhat diminished in today’s South Africa.
Our
main service on Sunday was held at St. Saviour’s Church in Claremont. The dean of Coventry preached and I was
invited to read the gospel. In
attendance was the Rt. Rev. Garth Counsell, Bishop of Table Bay of the Cape
Town archdiocese.
On my
last night in Cape Town, Leslie and I went to hear a talk from Fr. Michael
Lapsley, an Anglican priest of international fame for his work as a liberation
activist and a reconciler. Michael lost both hands and one eye in a mail bomb
sent to him while he was living in Zimbabwe just months before Nelson Mandela
was released from prison in 1990. He is an amazing speaker and inspiring person
who has claimed a new identity after his own personal tragedy.
My
general and lasting impressions of my visit was to see up close how South
Africa is living
through the days after Nelson Mandela.
Though the evils of apartheid are behind them, the residue and impact of
that system of racial cleansing and social engineering are still very much in
sight. It is as if the people of South
Africa reached their Promised Land after years of oppression, led by their
Moses figure Mandela, only to find many new challenges in building a just
society in the new land.
I continue to be moved and inspired about how individuals and
communities gain strength through the iconic Coventry cross of nails. It
continues to invite people to imagine a different kind of future. It offers them a way to share their stories
and voices with others around the world.
Forgiveness, in the end, is the only way forward. But it does not come
quickly or cheaply.
The Rev. Mark B. Pendleton
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| Children's Home |
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