At a Crossroads

Working for Living Hope is giving me a first-hand look at the ideological gap between the administrations of President Barack Obama and his predecessor. George W. Bush’s PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief) initiative supported the Living Hope Prevention department, which provides life skills education in public schools and after-school children’s clubs in six Cape townships and informal settlements.

Obama has keep PEPFAR in place, but as of October 1, Living Hope will no longer benefit from its $300,000-plus annual contribution. Why? One word: Abstinence. Living Hope teaches sexual abstinence as the only guaranteed way to avoid sexually transmitted HIV. And that’s a position the current administration says it cannot support.

Impoverished South African children live in an environment where men have multiple sexual partners, and where women often give their bodies to these men in exchange for food. These kids see adults with no motivation to work and no hope outside of a 40-ounce bottle of beer. They see fathers and boyfriends beating their mothers. There’s a very real battle of good versus evil. If groups like Living Hope disappear, then evil gets the upper hand and thousands of kids suffer.

If Living Hope doesn’t secure replacement funds for the Life Skills operation very soon, the children it serves will no longer hear about values like responsibility, love, respect, integrity and service. They’ll no longer enjoy a daily snack like vegetable soup and fruit (often the best meal they get all day). They’ll no longer have an outlet to sing, dance, play sports and escape what is, for many, a difficult home life. And they’ll no longer hear about a loving God who can transform their lives for eternity.

It’s a long-standing debate, the question of abstinence versus “safe” sex. Abstinence proponents are accused of ignoring reality – i.e., “The kids are going to do it anyway …” But God’s laws continue to stand regardless of whether man agrees. Throughout the Bible, it’s clear that God intended sex only for the boundaries of a marriage relationship. When those boundaries are broken, serious consequences occur.

In a men’s Bible study I attended earlier this year, the question was posed, “How would the world be different if there were no sex outside of marriage?” The picture that results is startling. Think about it – there would be:

• fewer broken relationships
• no adultery
• fewer unplanned pregnancies
• fewer abortions
• lower STD rates, including HIV and AIDS
• and as one wise guy pointed out, country singers would be hurting for subject matter
  

Living Hope will not compromise its abstinence message, even at the cost of losing thousands of dollars in funding. If God wants this program to continue – and everyone involved here believes He does – then He will provide the means for it to happen.

If you would like to be part of the solution, go to www.livinghope.co.za for more information.

Triumphant over Trash

Another victory at Red Hill: On Wednesday we designated our after-school program “Save the Planet Day” and sent the kids out with trash bags to clean up the community. I’ve never seen anyone so excited about picking up rubbish. They took the area by storm, filling near two-dozen bags in less than an hour.

The lesson this week was on Nehemiah and the Israelites working together to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Save the Planet was an opportunity for the kids to apply the teamwork lesson, as well as the mandate, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23).

Clearly, litter is a universal practice, so hopefully the effort set an example to the adults in the community as well.

Facing Our Giants

Spending day after day in a poverty-stricken community can be discouraging work. Sometimes one can’t help but wonder: “Are we really making a difference?” But God gives well-timed victories that help keep us going.

Such was the case at Red Hill last week. Attendance had been down at the Children’s Clubs, so on Wednesday we decided to do something special by showing a movie, complete with popcorn. The film was Facing the Giants, the David-vs-Goliath story of a high school football team that overcomes its stronger opponents when it starts trusting and playing for God.

On a day when we typically might have 40 to 50 children, 75 came to see the movie. They paid attention from start to finish. They cheered during the scene where students pray and give their hearts to God. And at the end, when the undersized kicker makes a state championship-winning field goal, they let out a roar that could be heard throughout the community.

That a low-budget movie produced by a church in small-town Georgia (Albany’s Sherwood Baptist) can captivate a group of attention-deficit kids in a South African shantytown – this can only be the work of God. I wanted to shout “Go Dawgs” at UGA coach Mark Richt’s cameo appearance in the film. But the more appropriate cheer for the day would be, “Go God.”

There’s a great lesson woven throughout the movie. By the end, I realized it was as much for me as it was for the kids: Give your very best effort, do it for God, and trust Him to do the rest.

The Faith of a Child

Intercessory prayer is a key component in a missionary’s life. I have no doubt that God hears and acts on the prayers of my family and friends back in the U.S., and I am hugely grateful that these people care enough to remember me in their conversations with the Father.

I want to say a special thank-you to 3-year-old Addison Powell for her prayers. Last spring Addy’s parents, Willy and Janet, graciously allowed me to stay in their bonus room when renters moved into my own house. Now that I’m in South Africa, Willy says I may be the most prayed-for person in the world. In a recent email, he wrote: “Before Addy goes to bed – naps and at night – she always asks to pray for Mr. Al. Considering she makes multiple trips into and out of her room before going to sleep, each with a prayer for you, you ought to be covered.”

How’s that for an encouraging word? Thanks also to Delaney Powell (Addy’s older sister), Hannah and Madison Taylor, and Maggie Faciszewski, all youngsters of great faith who I know are praying for me. I love you all (and anyone else that I haven't mentioned here)! Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as there. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:14-15).

African Warning Sign

A "beware" you won't find in any wilderness in the U.S.

Whale-come Back

The whales have returned to Cape Town. Southern Right Whales migrate to the South African coast around this time each year, and sightings are a daily occurrence. The one pictured here was frolicking in False Bay just off of Fish Hoek Beach on Wednesday.

8 Great Things about Cape Town …

1. 70 degrees, sun, and no humidity
2. The sweet harmonies of African gospel music
3. Antelope – in the wild and on the dinner plate
4. The Cape of Good Hope (pictured above)

5. Movie, popcorn and a Coke for less than $6
6. Lekker, the Afrikaans word for nice. e.g., “Have a lekkah day, my bru!”
7. A passion for rugby that rivals that of college football in the South
8. People of great faith in the Lord Jesus