Archive for the ‘Africa’ Category

Posted on December 1, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

World Aids Day

Life in South Africa has been lived somewhat under the shadow of HIV/AIDS for over a decade now. Conservative statistics put us as having 5.5 million people infected with the virus, which is about 16% of the amount of people infected world-wide. As a result of the pandemic we sit with an ever rising number of orphans, currently at about 1.4 million. And so today my blog post is a call to prayer. Won’t you stop for a second and direct some pray towards the following issues:

• The rate at which the virus is spreading: Pray that God will intervene here.
• The availability of medication: Less than a quarter of those infected in South Africa have adequate access to the right medication.
• Child-headed homes: As more and more parents succumb to the virus, more and more children are having to take over headship of households looking after even younger children
• Abstinence as a solution: Pray that people we see abstinence amongst the un-married as real solution and not something to be scoffed at.
• Faithfulness as a solution: Pray that married couples would be faithful to one another throughout their marriage.
• Discrimination: Pray against the terrible discrimination that some face after being diagnosed with the virus.
• The orphan crisis: Pray that God would raise up emergency parents, foster parents and even parents willing to adopt.
• Pray for our churches: Pray that the redemption they have received in Christ will flow out into acts of love and kindness towards those infected.

Pray for South Africa on World Aids Day. For more information about how to help with the orphan crisis here in Cape Town check out Arise: A ministry to vulnerable children.

Posted on November 7, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Politics Clouds the Issue of Abortion

In the midst of Obamamania I’ve been reflecting on the one area I differ most with the new president-elect: the issue of abortion. It’s quite clear to me that particularly in America, but here in South Africa too, mainly as the result of American politics abortion has become so entangled with conservative political ideals that Christians fail to really take in or adequately respond to the horror of the murder of unborn children. I think its a desperate tragedy that we’ve allowed politics to numb us toward this massive issue.

I think this is causing a lot of younger evangelicals who are far more liberal politically than a previous generation (like myself) to not take the issue of abortion seriously. A new emerging church in the west needs to correct the abuses and incorrect emphases of the past but it must never stop being the advocate of justice for the unborn. Throw your politics out the window and vest your energy into caring about the people because they are created in God’s image and are his.

Posted on November 5, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

What does Obama’s Victory Mean for Me?

Precious little at the moment to be honest. I woke up to quite a bit of euphoria this morning in the media over Obama’s victory. Tim Modise was raving about it on SAFM, my Kenyan friend was so overjoyed he blew his internet cap watching and re-watching Obama’s victory speech, and my Angolan friend has been carrying around this smirk on his face all day long because a black man occupies the most powerful position on the planet. So what does it mean for me? Well I’ve written before about the fact that I’m rather distressed by the man’s views on abortion and the murder of unborn children is rather a big issue for me, but let’s not be a party pooper.

I think his election has the potential to do wonders for race relations the world over and that excites me. I’m also quite keen to see how his foreign policy will play out – on paper it looks a whole lot more friendly than the previous regime – that’s a plus. At the end of the equation however I’m reminded that he is just a man and so just like any other man he is incapable of bringing about true lasting heart transformation which lies behind all of the issues and ills we see on the global landscape today. Will his victory be a positive one for me a white South African living hundreds of miles on the other side of the planet? I hope so. But as I wait to see how his term pans out I must consume myself with the victory that has made all the difference to this life and millions of others. I must consume myself with Christ and be an agent of blessing and transformation – that’s what means the most to me, and ultimately it will mean the most for all of us, Barack included. So to my Stateside readers – I hope this one works out for you – in the meantime keep living in light of the ultimate victory.

Posted on November 4, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Am I an Emerging Threat?

Well there’s a new blog doing the rounds in South Africa entitled, “The Emerging Threat of the ‘Emerging Church’ in South Africa“. Wow that’s quite a name. The stated purpose of the blog is the following:

‘This blog exposes the problems with the ‘Emerging Church’ Movement – an attempt to merge Christianity with the philosophy of Post-modernism: particularly in South Africa, but is also relevant to the rest of the world.’

Then I glanced down the sidebar and low and behold I found links to posts I’ve recently written under the heading of ‘Blogs on the Emerging Church in South Africa’- now does that make me an emerging threat or is it just because I’ve written about the EC on occasion (both positively and negatively). Not sure. Although the author does seem to be taking quite a number of pot shots at some of the EC guys I’ve interacted with here in South Africa. I’m not sure if his efforts are all that helpful – I’m also not sure all of the people he’s having a go at actually see themselves as part of the EC. Besides that I just think peeps like Roger Saner and Graeme Codrington need a break, they must be a bit tired of opening their inbox every morning to find out that some new blog or Facebook group has been created having a go at them for being heretics. I’ve met Roger and I’ve interacted with Graeme a bit online and I’m just not that sure that they really are heretics – but then maybe I’m an emerging threat too so my two-cents wouldn’t mean to much.

It’s quite strange that there seems to be a little bit of an upsurge of interest in the EC here in South Africa – even google is taking note. I guess that makes sense because South Africa has always tended to be half a pace behind the rest of the western world when it comes to church trends and most other things. I’m also guessing that the fairly large churchy culture that still exists here in South Africa is quite fertile ground for post-everythings to emerge out of. So its not really that much of a surprise. It will be interesting to see what tangible difference actually emerges in the church landscape over the next few years as a result. Till then be on your guard for those threats:)

Posted on October 4, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Where we’re Planting

Some of you from the other side of the Atlantic have asked me where exactly we’re doing our church plant next year. Well here are some pics of the areas of Green Point and Sea Point which are the two suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa in which we’ll be starting the work. They’re both on the Atlantic seaboard of Cape Town, right next to the central business district – in fact Green Point kind of just fades into the CBD.

Here’s a shot of both suburbs – Sea Point is the larger suburb on the right and Green Point is central – the CBD is in the background around the corner of Signal Hill which is the middle of pic. Table Mountain is in the background and the new soccer staduim and the fields around it (which are presently being transformed into sports complexes and other things) is in the foreground, the Waterfront is bottom left:

Here’s a close up of Green Point where you can see the construction underway (they’re quite a bit further ahead now) and Signal Hill in the background – Lion’s Head is the little peak behind Signal Hill which is above Sea Point (far right). The CBD is just out of picture to the left:

Here’s a shot of Sea Point from somewhere up on Lion’s Head. Sea Point is the most densely populated suburb in Cape Town along with the Townships:

And of course there’s also the world famous V & A Waterfront, one of our top tourist destinations, that lies at the base of Green Point – you can see the edge of the CBD on the left:

So that’s where we’re planting – possibly the most cosmopolitan and diverse area in Cape Town and maybe even South Africa. We will have our work cut out for us. Pray for us, or maybe if you’re able to, join us.

Posted on September 16, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Acts29 Church Planting Conference: Cape Town

If you have a Facebook account then you can sign up to attend the Acts29 Church Planting Conference happening in Cape Town from the 2nd to the 4th of February 2009.I’m sure there will be a more official sign up shortly but start by signing up on Facebook.

Posted on September 9, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Zapiro’s Jacob Zuma Cartoon

What ought a Christian to make of Zapiro’s latest offering of political satire. It looks pretty over the top even though many of us might agree with the sentiments he’s trying to portray. I guess he could have been a bit more careful. Jacob Zuma was acquitted of rape charges and so Zapiro should be careful of undermining the very judicial system he’s suggesting that Zuma and co. are raping. Some people have commented that the woman in the cartoon is white whilst the rest are all blacks – I’m not sure if I can see that it – let’s not turn this into a race issue again because I don’t think that’s Zapiro’s line given contributions he made to the struggle during apartheid.

You can read more here (for) and here (against). And you can see the cartoon, with commentary, here.

Posted on August 27, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Black Economic Empowerment and Individualism?

In thinking a little further about the whole Yebo Yethu thing a thought struck me – I know it doesn’t happen often, and when it does happen its not always that profound but just try stick with me on this one…

I’ve been doing a huge amount of thinking and research into the whole subject of community and even doing the odd talk on the subject recently. This has all been in the context of ecclesiology – my study of the church – which, for obvious reasons, is quite high on my priority list at the moment. An issue that I continually bump into is the rampant individualism of the modernist west and how it has saturated our lives, thought patterns and the structures in which we work, live and have our being. But thinking about the Yebo Yethu issue got me thinking about Black Economic Empowerement (BEE) in general in South Africa. I wonder, just wonder, if the reason that so many white people can’t stomach BEE is partly because they’re wrapped up in an individualist worldview.

So a white, individualist might look at something like Yebo Yethu and conclude that it is discriminatory in nature because it doesn’t allow HIM/HER, the individual, to invest in Vodacom shares. The collectivist (whatever colour he/she is) on the other hand looks at Yebo Yethu and sees that THEY, the collective group of non-whites who make up the majority of the country and who have often in the past had limited opportunity and know how in the area of investment, are being given a chance to invest and learn more about investment. A collectivist could then look at the whole situation and conclude that South Africa as a nation (white/black/coloured/indian etc) will benefit from this programme. Now obviously there would be a number of caveats I’d have to include – so for example if these programmes were attempting to build up the nation at the extreme exclusion of a minority group then I think it would also have a problem, but as I see it whites in this country still have plenty of investment opportunites – so I don’t think the exclusion can be described as extreme. And I do think that ultimately it is for the good of the collective.

So my my thought is: I wonder, just wonder, if western individualism is stopping us from building this country into the country it should be. Maybe I’m just a naiive optimist who hasn’t in any way, to date, incurred loss due to BEE or affirmative action – or maybe I’m right. What do you think?

Posted on August 26, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Church Plant Diary #1

Since the cat is out the bag I thought I’d start slowly blogging through the church planting experience I’m about to embark upon. This gives you a way to keep up to date with what we’re doing and a forum to give some critical feedback. To be honest the more I think about church planting the more I realize that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. Sure I’ve read some books and talked to some peeps – but let’s be honest Cape Town City presents a conundrum of challenges and opportunities in its radical diversity and its going to need serious prayer and real hard work to see something start emerging here.

To date God has been very good to us in laying the groundwork in so many different ways through the people he’s brought into our lives and the way everything, so far, has just effortlessly fallen into place. My guess is that its probably not always going to be that way and we’ll need to have a long term view of the work we’re doing to keep going. So welcome to my church plant diary and feel free to make comments along the way as a group of us take on the city of Cape Town with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Posted on August 15, 2008 - by Stephen Murray

Letting the Cat out the Bag…

I can finally tell everyone the news!!!

Some of you will be aware of this news already, some of you won’t, but today it all became official and so now I can post about it on my blog. We are joining and helping to head up a church plant in Cape Town City! As many of you know I’ve been completing my post-graduate studies at George Whitefield College this year with a view to going out to be involved in some sort of church planting ministry in the future. Initially Robin and I thought we were going to head back to Durban and be involved in some work there, but since January this year I’ve been in conversation with some people from our denomination about a church plant in the Sea Point and Greenpoint suburbs of Cape Town. Altough we’ve been fairly certain for the last 3 months that it was going to happen we had to wait for denominational approval. Well today we got it. Robin and I attended a selction conference where prospective ordinands are placed in various ministries throughout the country and there we met with some of the bishops of CESA and lecturers from GWC. They gave us the great news that they’re all keen on the idea of the plant and are happy with our involvement in it from January 2009 onwards! So we’re extremely excited about what God is going to do in this city through us.

I’ll be joining with a friend by the name of Jacques Erasmus to plant this church. Jacques has been working in the area with a ministry called Straatwerk (Street Work) for the last few years ministering to homeless folk, prostitutes, the homosexual community,  refugees and the night-clubbing crowd. He’s an amazingly gifted gospel worker with a huge heart for the unconverted – especially the marginalized in society. Together, with a small core team, we’re going to be launching an all out offensive on Cape Town come January. Please hold us up in prayer as we attempt this. Pray that God would be pleased to grow his church in these difficult places.

I’ll be updating you with news as we go along and give you more details to the plant as we flesh it out. Peace.