Serving Christ in the Community of Crookes
WESLEY
HALL
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Serving Christ in the Community of Crookes
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RICHMOND PROJECT Where does one start? We can say that 10 years ago Richmond was a place of peace and tranquility, folks chose to retire here. Then politics started playing a role. Various parties started a power struggle and that was the beginning of huge unrest. People started moving out of the village fearing many times for their lives and so we saw an exodus of businesses. This in turn, caused unemployment. In the "townships" people started suffering as they were attacked, homes burnt and destroyed and many lives lost. All of a sudden certain areas became "no-go" areas, if you were considered to be from another political party. People poured into the town itself and sought shelter wherever they could find it. It became a common scene to see people sitting with all their belongings on the pavements, people responded by giving accommodation. The paper and TV had a field day and everything became negative. The TV made statements such as, "After 6 o clock no one was seen in the streets" and we became the talking point of everyone, so much so that if one went on holiday, which we did during that time, up the west coast miles from here, people on seeing our car registration, namely "NK", would ask all about the situation, and were very surprised to see that people actually still lived in the area. Please note we have no security fences around our home, neither have we got burglar guard on our windows and doors. During this time, radio pulpit phoned regularly to ask what the Christians in the area were actually doing for the situation. But behind the scenes God's plan came into play. During this time the Christian churches in Richmond became more united. We realized that we had to have a united front to stem the evil that was taking place. Feeding schemes started, and we, the Methodist church are still feeding some 70 kids up at lndaleni. The scheme is still going strong. We also feed the street children in Richmond itself; they are a problem, as they don't wish to be united back with the families. Let's backtrack a bit. I remember the time rain was needed as a drought had fallen. We went to pray every evening in the church and God answered our prayers. We then decided to have a thanksgiving lunch on the banks of the dam, which was now full. But the night before people again began to flee their homes as a result of a "massacre" and so, after blessing the food we decided to take all we had to eat to the people in the village who had gathered on the "soccer" field where the Red Cross was putting up tents. We actually fed all the big shots with food that the W.A. had provided. Praise God, peace has returned to the area. "Ockie" was very involved during the dark days. A week long prayer session was held in lndaleni's chapel and members of the Methodist church joined him nightly to fast and pray for the people in the "war torn" area. There are three entrances into Richmond and each church took an entrance and put up a huge board with the words "Jesus is our only peace" on it. The churches went up a hill overlooking the town and prayed and declared war on Satan. That's when peace started to return. The police station was closed some 3 years ago, and a national protection unit was put in place. This is made up of police from all over the republic ~ so they don't know the people and can't take sides. Now comes another miracle~ I was phoned on e afternoon all of three years ago and asked if I would undertake to be a pastor to these policeman and pray for them every evening before they went on duty. Where did this come from? 1 still don't know. These men spoke the 11 different languages of our country. Anyway a team was formed from our Methodist church and every evening two people went down to the headquarters, usually a husband and wife, and did just that. Also on Thursday mornings we take a devotional service for all the top brass in the area. Satan can't win. He caused unrest but provided us with a mission field. By sending these men and women into the e area we have ministered to over 7000 men or more. We have also given two Christmas parties for the police who are on duty Christmas Eve. Another thought comes, I can remember that on the morning of the elections (1999) everyone was fearful and the police asked us to come and pray with them at 5 in the morning!! We didn't have one incident that day God was and is still in control. Another episode stands out in my mind. We decided that on the day of reconciliation, 16th Dec 1998, we would do just that - reconcile with one another. We arranged an open air meeting for ten o clock in the morning. All the churches in the so-called black areas were coming in and we would gather in front of the municipal buildings and just praise the Lord. Everything was laid on and "Africa Enterprise" joined us. We opened a room in the library and they did counseling for the victims with their team as well as the "Foxfires" who had been doing outreach to the schools and even taken the children who had been traumatized away for weekends up to A.E. Back to that morning. The politicians decided to have a fun day with races etc. Knowing what had been arranged, when the people wanted to come out they were stopped because they were in the wrong area at the wrong time. Nevertheless we carried on. We actually got a good report the next morning in the press because the reporter spoke to me and asked what I intended doing. My reply was very positive and I was very surprised to find I was reported correctly. The present time: Peace has returned. But the war has left its casualties, mostly loss of business and people unemployed with no skills available to them. And that is where we come in. The New Covenant Fellowship kicked off by getting this house, an ex-SAPPI office block, and then things started happening. We have a room full of computers to teach people those skills. We have literacy classes going. The teacher is an ex lecturer for Mondi Paper and an excellent linguist. And then our project, the kitchen, where we hope to teach culinary skills. Basically we want people to regain dignity and also forge friendships, which seem to have broken down in many areas. In all of this we will present the gospel, so every session, no matter what, is started with prayer. We believe in the principle: give a man a fishing rod and teach him to fish. People need food on the table and this is the beginning of great things I believe. We had a meeting again this morning~ and so many folk believe that Richmond is going to be a starting point for God showing Africa and the world that He is still a mighty God. Many prophecies have been made regarding Richmond and I believe very soon TV and the newspapers will be back reporting good news this time . Our need right now is to get this kitchen up and running, and a suggestion has also been made that everything we make or bake will be used to feed the street children. After speaking to the ladies this morning any amount of money is welcome, but basically we need R10000 (ten thousand rand) in your language it would mean one thousand pounds . Our intentions are to have an on-going sponsorship - because se of the ingredients etc. that are going to be needed every month. But we know we serve a wonderful God and Saviour and things will come together. 1 have a wonderful team of ladies working with me - dedicated to the Lord's work and with a wealth of experience. They have all been involved in women institute work. So the monies will be prayerfully and carefully used. If you need any more information please let us know. I will send photo's, newspaper cuttings etc. I also did an article for The Dimension - the Methodist African magazine - urging them to take a police station in each town under their wings, so to speak, as these chaps are under terrific strain. We are hoping for great things and I just know we serve a risen Saviour. Yes the Christians in the area are under constant attack but I believe this is because Jesus is coming soon and "Satan" is running scared.
To see some pictures of the Project, click here. |
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