Adjusting to Africa
I made it to Africa! Looking back on my first week, I have been blown away by the beauty of this country and have began to experience life outside of my comfort zone. As a special memory, this trip coincidentally started on my 21st birthday where I spent all day on three longs flights across the world. My first in-flight meal was accompanied with some pretty gross wine to celebrate but it was special to say the least. We flew out of Denver to New York City and from there to Paris. After a 3 hour layover in Paris we boarded the longest flight I have ever been on – a full 12 hours, flying over the entire continent of Africa.
On those long flights, I was not able to sleep much so it was nice to finally arrive and get some rest. Traveling was not easy for our team of four, as Linnae was in a car accident on the way to the airport, one bag was sent to Johannesburg, and Alan was sick with a sinus and an ear infection whilst simultaneously attempted to keep his active Typhoid medication alive. You can imagine the amount of ice he would need to keep his pills cold for 40 hours.
South Africa is a full eight hours ahead of Mountain Time and the jetlag was very real. The first few days I was constantly tired and felt like I was only running on a few hours of sleep. I eventually reacclimated to the time and now after our first week it finally feels normal. The time here is still bizarre to me since it is winter, so the days are the shortest of the year where daylight comes and goes quickly.
The first night we arrived in Cape Town we were picked up by an intern coordinator where we drove north to a city known as Wellington. We stopped for burgers because we were starving and crashed at the ministry owned office/farm that was converted from an operating bed and breakfast. We woke up the following morning and packed for the next week as we wouldn't be back for a while.
We drove back towards Cape Town and stopped in Muizenberg at the ministry directors home, Andrew, for training and dinner. After welcomes and introductions we spent a majority of the day going over prison basics such as not to ask about their crimes nor their tattoos. Here we actually learned we would be going directly to prison that night. Ahead of the trip, we knew that during one of the weeks of our two month long stay would actually be living on the grounds of a prison, staying in guest homes just a few blocks from the maximum security building.
The prison is known as Pollsmor and our group was split between two small houses in a small neighborhood of others. This was my first experience entering the perimeter of a prison but it seemed more relaxed than I had expected. I was still nervous but soon after we drove through the gates, my nerves were eased and I actually felt more safe than we were on the outside of the fence. We went directly to the guest house and awaited the arrival of the rest of our team, six others traveling in from The University of Washington on a very similar program as Messenger. Late that night we were introduced to these new teammates and I was eager to get to know them more. We also met our native field intern coordinator named Marco, and another local intern named Beauty. They both speak the native language of Afrikaans and Beauty also speaks the tribal language of Xhosa, which is so helpful to have as she can translate for the men who don't speak english. Afrikaans is very similar to German believe it or not, while Xhosa involves heavy use of clicks. Both languages are fascinating to listen to.
The following morning we actually went to spend time with inmates and witnessed a program with about 30 inmates that were going over the 3rd step of 12 from a book titled "From Addict to Disciple". This book was really good content for someone who wants to put an end to their addiction and start to live a new life following God. It was really cool to sit back and witness a first glimpse of how this ministry works.
After the main part of the session, we were broken into small groups for discussion where I, alongside a few inmates and one facilitator, chatted for about 15 minutes. I was introduced to a man who was in prison for murder. He opened up that he would feel emotions due to problems with his family, would become angry, and that anger would turn into violence. He told the group that he had killed 11 people, this too was an addiction of sorts. I was so shocked that the first man I would meet was someone who has done one of the worst things I could imagine, and had done it multiple times. I continued to listen and he was brought to tears because he hated the life he had lived and wanted to make a change starting now. It was so eye opening to see someone in such pain and all it took for him to recognize the need for change was someone who would simply listen. I didn't say much during this time as he kept talking and it seemed that is all he needed in this moment. After our small group I was able to pray with this man and gave him a hug.
The next day we experienced something similar but this time with unsentenced adults. A volunteer facilitator named Willem was going over the idea of a broken heart and the fatherless childhood that can cause it. Many men who are incarcerated here have the pain of growing up with a father they are not fond of and this causes some really deep wounds that last a lifetime. Willem asked them to raise their hand if they didn't have good memories of their father. Most men raised their hand. He then said keep your hand raised if you grew up without your father. Only a few hands dropped, which to me, was shocking. He then offered to the men that still had their hands raised that he was willing to step into the role of their father and called them to the front of the room. One by one Willem gave them a real father-like hug saying to each one "As a father, I want to apologize on behalf of your father for never being their." I immediately begin tearing up at the sight of lost men hugging a real loving father for maybe the first time ever.
Later on, a teammate of mine Sam, and I got to speak individually with someone who was awaiting sentencing for being an accomplice to rape. He opened his pocket bible and wanted our interpretation of a verse that was hard for him to understand.
"For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame." (Hebrews 6: 4-8, NLT)
He explained to us that he was once someone who was a follower and then lost his way. He now wants to follow again but he is hesitant because of his past decision to turn away. Sam and I were speechless as we didn't know how to respond. We chatted for a minute and prayed over this man that regardless of an interpretation he finds his way to God again. This was my biggest fear of coming here, feeling ill prepared, and here I was on the second day living out that fear. After the session ended our team debated the meaning of this verse and ways to respond next time this happens. This was just a taste of the many curveballs we would be thrown this summer. I can't wait to try to hit them head on next time.
Other than being in prison most week days, we have explored lots of Cape Town. We have been to Muzienberg Beach, hiked to the top of Lions Head Mountain, shopped at various markets, eaten at restaurants, toured slums, lead a kids camp, toured Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned), learned about Apartheid from a first hand experience, and so much more. For the first time, I feel like I am beginning to experience a new culture from all angles. In the past, I have been places short term and feel like I have never learned so much about a place, the history, or built relationships like I am here. The best part is that it is just the start of the second week!
Stay tuned for more updates and thanks for reading!
Connor