Justin Renton (lead evangelist of the Johannesburg Church of Christ) and I came down to Port Elizabeth on Friday to help celebrate the 21st anniversary of the church. I had never been to Port Elizabeth. It is on the southern tip of South Africa. It is a port city ironically nicknamed "the windy city" as is my hometown of Chicago...but for different reasons! Home to 1.3 million people, it has a newly built soccer stadium named after Nelson Mandela that was built for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
We had a great weekend singing, listening to messages, and fellowshipping.
It has been wonderful...but this morning caught me off guard.
We met on the beach with different members of the church to pray. I wanted to get to know one the brothers from the church so I asked him if we could pray together. His name is Alexis. We walked down the beautiful beach, taking turns praying to our common God in heaven. I listened to him pray with conviction about how powerful and mighty he envisioned God, asking him for help in his daily life, with his family, and with his personal evangelism. He prayed for his friends that he had invited out to church today, hoping that they would make it out to visit. After I prayed and we were nearing our starting point, I asked him where he was from. I was not prepared for his answer.
He told me that his family was from Burundi. I needed some help. I had him show me on a map of Africa. It is right next to Rwanda, which led to my next question...why did he come to South Africa. He explained his story...
Alexis and his family are Hutu. The Hutus and Tutsis have had constant civil war in Burundi and Rwanda, killing each other by the thousands over the past few decades. He was an engineer and his wife a lawyer. They were threatened with their lives and decided to leave Burundi with their four children in 2000. They made their way south, eventually walking through the Kruger National Park to file for refugee status in South Africa. For those unfamiliar, Kruger is the place people travel to from around the world to see lions, elephants, and other wildlife, typically with armed guides.
They eventually landed here in Port Elizabeth looking for any possible way to make ends meet. They met a Christian from the PE Church and were invited to attend. They came to the small group (about 50 members) and were taken in as family. They were given odd jobs working for some of the Christians around their homes just to put food on the table. They eventually were able to secure a home and after time, were both given jobs lecturing at the local university. They have landed back on their feet after much suffering, tragedy, and perseverance. They shared their testimony today at church, giving glory to God and thanking the church for the love they have received. They proudly sat back down next to the three friends that came to church with them today.
Absolutely amazing.
I am constantly struck by two things in Africa...the amount that people have suffered (as Americans we complain about the littlest things) and the difference that God's love makes in people's lives, often shown through His church.
God's glory shines the brightest where the world is the darkest.
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