Take the Red Hill journey….

Floyd and Sally McClung

These photos were taken by Paula Watts, a CPx student and professional photographer - www.paulawattsphoto.com

I have to tell you about the terrible events unfolding in South Africa, and what God is doing in the midst of tragedy. But it is a long letter. I understand if you are in a rush….

You’ve seen the news: Unbelievable racial violence has broken out all over the country. There are xenophobic riots taking place in every major city of the nation. Much of the violence has actually been under-stated for a change. It is worse than any one TV network can cover.

It is a case of the poor attacking the poor in the townships and shantytowns and squatter camps. No one knows how it actually started, but it has spread from one part of the country to the other, until tens of thousands of people are homeless and hundreds of people have been killed.

It is mainly jobless, homeless poor people turning against political and economic refugees from Zimbabwe, Malawia, Mozambique, Angola, Somalia and the Congo. There are 3,000,000 refugees from Zimbabwe alone in South Africa! South Africa is looked upon as the breadbasket of Africa, a safe haven for the destitute and oppressed. There are ruthless dictators in Zimbabwe and the Congo and other countries close to us that squash any sign of criticism or freedom of speech. So people come from those countries to South Africa looking for jobs so they can survive and send money back home.

Massiphumelele, or “Masi” as we call it, was spared from the violence. Many people worked tirelessly to stop the violence from breaking out. We held prayer meetings, worked with the local pastors and community leaders and police, and did what we could to help.

Community meetings were held in Masi, foreigners from neighboring countries were invited back to the community (many had fled in fear for their lives), and people went door-to-door recovering the stolen property of the refugees who had left in haste, fearful for their lives.

I spoke with some of our Malawian friends in Masi, and they were frightened for their lives. About 25 Malawians, Somalians, and Zimbabweans fled Mai and spent the weekend sheltered in our team house. Vuyo, who is part of one of the little churches we have started in Masi, got assaulted - he is a local but was in the wrong place at the wrong time - he got hit  twice  on the jaw and head.

Last Saturday night there was a joint community and police effort to recover all stolen property by going door to door, and Sunday morning people were still spontaneously bringing stolen stuff back. A national Television news station reported on how local Masi community pastors and leaders acted to stop the violence. In effect they were saying the violence was not acceptable in their community. They condemned the violence, acted proactively to stop it, and set an example for the rest of the country!!

Sun afternoon the premier of Western Cape Province arrived in Masi to congratulate the pastors and community leaders. A deputation took a memo to the refugees to invite them back to Masi. More than 70 foreigners were welcomed back to Masi with a KFC supper late last Sunday evening!

But things were much different in the refugee camp just a few minutes walk from where Sally and I live. This is the camp for the foreign refugees driven from other communities by the violence.

I would like to quote from a report I read about what the conditions were like in the camp:

“There was Alvin from Angola, whose brother was killed on Friday, and who was so traumatized by the guilt of leaving the body to save himself, he could barely speak. There was Maria (not her real name) from the Congo, who was raped on Thursday, didn’t know where her teenaged son was and just wanted to be given a pair of panties and a place to sleep. There was Noor-Ali from Somalia, a very smart young man in a stylish leather jacket, who had spent years working his way up from cleaning cars for change to owning his own business, only to have absolutely everything he owned snatched away from him in minutes. They, and most of the estimated 1500 people there, were in an extreme state of shock…

“…, two more buses arrived, offloading yet more shell-shocked people. Tensions amongst those who had been waiting 24 hours already without a single word from the authorities on what was going to happen to them began to mount. Sharp words were exchanged between Somalians and Congolese, each feeling more vulnerable than the other… many of the refugees have survived genocide once already in Rwanda and the Congo…

“…Unlike the foreign residents of Masiphumelele, who were evacuated by the police on Friday as a precaution, these people - from Phillipi, from Du Noon, and from Khayelitsha - had been violently chased from their homes…”

The camp where the refugees are staying is a few-minute walk from where Sally and I live. These people are homeless and without hope.

Please pray for us, and more importantly, for the refugees as we try to serve them.

If you want to give financially to help in the relief efforts for those suffering from the violence, you can send your gift to - please mark “Crisis Relief Fund” in the reference.

All Nations Crisis Relief Fund
Standard Bank
All Nations account:
Account number: 072 110 619
Fish Hoek branch - Address: 77 Main Rd., Fish Hoek, 7985
Branch code: 03600980

Being here in Africa reinforces to me how great the need is for leadership training. There is a desperate need for honest, servant hearted leaders, for leaders who seek to find significance in God’s eyes, not success in man’s eyes. Leaders who want to make a difference like the leaders in Masi did this last weekend.

All Nations Leadership Institute is involved. The students from the All Nations CPx leadership school are involved in Masi and in the refugee camp. They have been serving the Zimbabwean refugees for months, feeding them, bringing them blankets, and sharing the good news of Jesus. I am proud of them for serving without recognition.

These are the men and women who are the hope of Africa.

Yours,

Floyd and Sally McClung
All Nations
Cape Town, South Africa

Some of the things that have blessed and encouraged us have been taking place in Red Hill (the community that was destroyed by fire in Feb.).  Every week there are individuals who are coming to personally know Jesus.  There are now 7 small house churches started……most being led by new believers as students from CPx (our church planting school) coach them.  Namandla (a former bar owner), David (a well known drunkard in the community who was saved & delivered of his addiction), Shepherd (who was touched by the story of Zacheus), and Archie (captain of the soccer team)……..all are new believers and growing in their faith.

Just as we’ve been rejoicing in these wonderful testimonies of new life, some very distressing events have taken place.  They call it “xenophobia.”  Many of the poor in the nation have turned in violence upon the foreigners, the refugees in our midst, from other African nations.  Many have been beaten and killed.  Others have lost all their possessions.  The spirits of hatred and fear have run rampant through the poor communities.

The events of recent days have been “shocking,” to say the least.  “Unbelievable” would be more like it.  “Heart-breaking” only touches the surface of the emotions we’ve experienced.

Our workers have helped house and feed the refugees who are, yet again, trying to find security and safety.  We’ve joined with community leaders and pastors in trying to quiet the rising violence.  We’ve supported those who are trying to recover all the possessions that have been stolen.

Through it all, and indeed in facing so many of the needs/problems that we’ve encountered in South Africa, I find myself feeling helpless, even hopeless.  How can we meet such huge needs?  How can we see things changed?  How can our small efforts make a difference?

The conclusion I’ve come is is…..we can’t - but God can!  We may feel helpless, but we aren’t hopeless.  Seeing the need confirms to us the importance of what God has called us to do to make a difference.  The hope of Africa is a new generation of leaders who are not caught in the grip of greed, hatred, or fear.  God is up to something!  He’s at work!  The enemy would have us see the needs, the problems, the bleakness.  God would have us keep our eyes ON Him, our trust IN Him.

We don’t have all the answers, but we can live here, love and serve those around us, pray, share His goodness, and be faithful in the things we face each day.  These may seem like small actions, but in God’s sight they are powerful weapons.

There IS hope!  In fact, the tide may already be turning - we just can’t see it yet.

“When everything was hopeless, he hoped anyway.”  Romans 4:18  The Message

Blessings,

Floyd and Sally

“These last two weeks we’ve felt so humbled and honored, like Jesus said, “These fields are ripe for the harvest! I sent you to reap what others worked for. They have done the hard work, you are reaping the benefit of their labor.” With the same enthusiasm that we saw for getting the nicest shack and filling it with the best stuff, people are hungry for Jesus! About seven house groups are meeting now! Also, Nick + Paula + I (Liana) are finally moved in to Red Hill! We felt we must move in and believe that “all these things shall be added”. Specifically, we’re hoping for electricity, beds, and warmth to be added at some point…

A few highlights:

+ Paula has been meeting with a woman named Namandla. (Floyd wrote briefly about her- a shabeen/bar owner before the fire, she realized that God still loved her when she saw the skit that some CPX students did.) She’s gathered her friends and is excited about leading the bible study! She’s had such a revelation of God’s grace towards her and is getting a vision to share/pray for her friends and neighbors. Paula meets with her before the bible study and helps her prepare.

+ David, the notorious drunkard, has renounced the drink!! Late last Thursday the Spirit of God spoke to him. We sat with him as he prayed to ask Jesus to help him quit drinking, then exclaimed, “There will be no more drinking for me!! You will come to my house and study the bible, and soon I will be the one leading it!” God plants his vision in his people.

+ Shepherd, after hearing the story of Zacheus and how his heart changed just by being with Jesus, pressed Alexander, “It seems like there’s a difference between believing in Jesus and in following Jesus. Tell me about it.” After presenting the basic gospel, Alex asked if they’d like to consider these things for awhile. Wonderboy said emphatically, “I need this change in my heart NOW. I don’t want to wait until next week.” Shepherd agreed. “I want to follow Jesus now.”

PS Thank you for your love, prayers and financial support for Sally and me. We are very grateful!

Baby Safe project for abandoned and unwanted babies: Bethany has been meeting more people about  “baby safe” project. She has been really encouraged by the feedback and advice received.  Her desire now is to have a drop off place staffed.
Child headed households: We are doing a survery to confirm how many child headed households there are and how we can serve them.

A Man knocks on the door and asks to know more about Jesus: Tim had someone from his street come to his door Tue. night asking to be saved!  Tim was really encouraged by the man’s desire to “have what Tim had”.  He wants to get plugged in with the rest of us that are working in Masi also.  I think that is really encouraging for Tim and also for Jeremiah, who has really been praying for that street.

Meeting with Rastafarians: From Stephen Taylor, one of the team members: “Jonathan and I had a great meeting with the Rasta’s on Tue. night.  I felt that we had built a strong enough relationship with them that I could be more bold than I would normally be, and we shared openly with them.  I challenged the leader of the group to ask the Almighty if Halal Salassie really is the Christ.  He believes in the Holy Spirit and His power to teach us, so we ended the meeting praying that God would teach us the truth.  I am confidant that he will come to the right conclusion.” PLEASE PRAY FOR THE RASTA-MEN!

Xenophobic attacks against refugees taking place all over South Africa: Our workers are meeting with different refugees and foreign workers in South Africa, including Zimbabweans, Malawians and Somalians and have built a relationship with them. LAst night some of them came to us for help because of attacks against them.

Simple church during the week: Two of our CPx students, Jonathan and Jeremiah, had a great time with a guy who was really discouraged that he wasn’t able to ‘go to chuch’ because he works on Sunday.  They discipled him and empowered him to start his own church.  He is friends with people from a number of different countries, which makes his potential to be a example to others even greater.

Floyd and Sally
All Nations
Cape Town, South Africa

One leader said, “If we had sown more seed of the gospel we would have definitely reaped more fruit. Did we do enough?” Another commented, “You encouraged us to reproduce our church with new converts in the last three months. I think we may have failed.”

Around the circle set some of the most awesome, Godly, dedicated people I have had the privilege of working with in the last 45 years of ministry. Their humility and passion challenge me deeply.

The one leader who felt she may have failed to reproduce themselves as a church, was the team leader for our work in Red Hill. Red Hill is where we have done the emergency relief work the last three months (all of the shack homes in Red Hill except two were burned down in terrible wildfires three months ago). We have rebuilt 78 homes in three months, held several out door celebrations, prayed with countless people, developed very deep and meaningful relationships, been a voice for the people to the government and to citizens groups, and prayed for deliverance for people fearful of harassing demons and “spirits.” Many in Red Hill live with continual fear and hopelessness.

One lady in Red Hill commented that she never thought Jesus would take her back because she ran a “shabeen” from her home. A shabeen is a township beer hall, and usually a center of violence and prostitution in the community. After seeing a drama about a father forgiving his daughters for their drunkenness, this lady had hope that God will be merciful to her.

The battle to plant a church through holistic discipleship amongst the poor is a tough battle. One key, the most essential key, is leaders who are trained with the skills and attitudes to know how to overcome the cultural and spiritual obstacles of working with the poor.

Africa will not be changed without developing a new generation of leaders who are not fixated on authoritative, hierarchical power over people. That’s what CPx, our training program, is all about. And by the way, we graduate 68 leaders today from the teaching phase of CPx!!

As we held our debrief with the leaders, I helped them gain perspective on how well they had done in Red Hill.We asked the question,  “If our goal is to plant a church that produces lasting fruit in Red Hill, when do our relief efforts start counting? Only when the church is up and running? Or do all the hundreds and thousands of hours of love, prayer, fasting, hammering nails, listening to the people tell their stories, does all this count as well?”

On a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of amazing success stories, Red Hill is probably a 5 or a 6 - now. But the story is not over. In terms of faithfulness, love, service, wise and humble leadership, I would give our efforts a ten.

Not just a ten for good works, but a ten for wisdom and skill in working with the people. The people of Red Hill were blown away by the fact that our team is a multi-cultural team of whites and blacks. Our team members speak local languages.  They took time to listen. We did a lot of things right – and it is turning the community around.

And of course, the story is not over. A long-term team now takes over the work in Red Hill and is deeply and passionately committed to see a movement of churches born in Red Hill. The team has the same ministry philosophy of servanthood, holistic discipleship, and avoiding dependence on us as outsiders. They are determined to see a number of little churches gathering in the newly-built shack homes in the days and weeks to come, led by new believers as they learn to lead Bible discussions, pray, worship and gain confidence and commitment to take the good news of Jesus to other communities near and far away.

No, we didn’t fail Red Hill. In fact, knowing that it was a deeply divided community before we got involved, that it was filled with fractured half-families and scores of single parents living together (only one or two couples were married in the whole community), knowing the people had learned with good reason not to trust anyone who said they would help them, our efforts in Red Hill have been effective.

The community is starting to come together. The Red Hill Attackers soccer team has been re-birthed after we donated new uniforms. We were cheering like crazy when the Attackers won the first annual All Nations Red Hill soccer tournament against six other very good teams.

The people of Red Hill have become friends. They listen with open hearts when we proclaim the gospel in open air meetings and at celebrations.

I was deeply proud of our leaders as we debriefed the last three months of ministry in Red Hill, Bo Kaap, Masiphumelele and Ocean View. You would have been proud of them as well.

Thanks for your part of making Red Hill a story in the making of God’s transforming power.

PS. If you would like to donate to the work in Red Hill or one of the other communities where we serve the disadvantaged and plant churches, we have started the All Nations Crisis Relief Fund. If you are interested, write to us for a list of projects you can help sponsor.

After forty years of traveling all over the continent of Africa,  I am convinced that the hope of changing Africa is a new generation of servant hearted, disciple making leaders. Leaders who think Biblically and act like the New Testament followers of Jesus.

Sally and I are giving our lives to train such leaders who will help lead this continent out of the morass of pain and poverty it is experiencing.

We are greatly inspired by the students who are gathered from 15 nations for CPx, our leadership school here in Cape Town. There are 68 amazing students in our school, 43 from all over Africa. They are the hope of changing Africa!

In three weeks time one of these leaders is launching ‘Explore Africa.’ Explore Africa is an initiative of short term and long term teams throughout the continent…the vision is to change Africa through making disciples, training leaders and planting simple, disciple making, leadership empowering movements. A big part of this will be abstinence “clubs” on university and high school campuses…the clubs will empower and encourage young men and women to live lives of sexual purity, to be disciplined followers of Jesus Christ, and serve as simple disciple making churches on their campuses.

If a new generation of young leaders do not disciple the nations of Africa, the nations will disciple the young leaders!

Another goal of “Explore Africa” is to raise up a new generation of servant leaders who are equipped to disciple nations. Sub-Saharan Africa has been evangelized many times but it has not been discipled. Outsiders can inspire temporary behavior modification in Africans but unless their minds are renewed from animistic world-views to a Biblical world-view the changes are only superficial. Animistic world views combined with poverty imprison people in dependency, hopelessness and a paralyzing victim mentality.

Our teams have labored long hours in Red Hill, but they now near the end of “Phase Four” of the relief work. We are transitioning to longer term development work and to planting simple home based churches. We are dreaming about Red Hill experiencing transformation.

One man in Red Hill named Sydney was convinced there were demons or spirits under his shack home. He believed these spirits were more powerful that God. His little son work up every night screaming from bad dreams. The local sangoma (witch doctor) promised to take care of the problem for a lot of money. But one of the couples on our team offered to pray with Sydney, and since that day his son has not experienced one bad dream. Sydney has opened his heart to Jesus in a new way, and poured a concrete floor in his shack home!

One of the keys to transformation in Red Hill is servant leadership. It is the key to changing Africa. There is a desperate need for a new generation of leaders and a new expression of the church of Jesus Christ, making disciples, training servant leaders, and planting holistic church planting movements that preach good news and live good news to the poor and needy.

Thank you for standing with us to make a difference in Africa,

In his introduction to the special session, Floyd set the tone for what followed, “I believe God planned the nations, tribes and peoples of Africa. God planned each individual and God planned each “nation” of individuals. God made Africa and Africans. How will we serve Africa, and how will we respond to the challenges of Africa?” he asked. Floyd believes that Africa, once enslaved, now needs to be served. “The beauty in Africa will be set free by people with serving hearts,” he says.

The All Nations CPx has brought young leaders together from several countries in Africa and from other continents as well, to learn what it means to be servant leaders, especially in Africa. The majority of these sixty-six men and women are from African countries where the words ’servant’ and ‘leader’ are often polar opposites.

Africans Speaking About Africa

Three of the African leaders in CPx, Bruce Chitambala and Sydney Musonda from Zambia, and Vakele Dlamini from Swaziland, opened their hearts and shared what they see are the bright spots but also the shameful realities in Africa. Bruce described the good news about Africa and the bad. Africa is the most “Christianized” continent. It is a continent of amazing natural beauty. “Her unique and colorful peoples are hospitable and gracious to strangers. Her vast natural resources can feed the world.”

However, Africa is a continent ravaged by HIV and AIDS, wars, crime and poverty. Bruce talked about his crushing loss when his favorite aunt died from complications from HIV and AIDS. Most of the African CPx’ers raised their hands to show they had lost a friend or relative to HIV/AIDS. Bruce wept as he described how his mother would cut up her dresses to make shirts for her children and how he had to sell colored iced sugar water to help buy food for the family. “And we would be described as one of the privileged few,” he said. How Does Africa Break the Cycle of Poverty?

How does Africa break out of the cycles of poverty and disease? Bruce, Sydney and Vakele agreed: “Africa’s most compelling need is servant leadership. Our leaders must learn the difference between significance in God’s eyes and success in man’s eyes. Sadly, many of our leaders are more interested in how much they can acquire than how much they can give. Africa has enough to meet the need, but not the greed, of all her peoples,” one said. Sydney explained that most African men want an education and with it, the perks of a good life, cars, money and clothes. “Naturally, a person wants to take care of oneself first,” he said. “But we must raise up young men and women with a bigger vision, who will make a difference, to go back to their countries to impact the young generation with new role models. Everything rises and falls on leadership.” Bruce and Sydney and Vakele have given up good paying jobs and careers to invest their lives to train and equip other African young leaders.

Child Headed Households in Africa

“Africa is sick, and we need a healing message,” Bruce declared. “Everyone knows about HIV and AIDS but one result of this pandemic is the massive number of child-headed households. The family, though highly esteemed, is endangered. It is plagued by poverty, ignorance and unfaithfulness among partners. We have to speak about purity and abstinence to men, since this is not the norm,” Sydney says.

Bruce shared his conviction that many Churches in Africa are weak and dependent. “Those planted by international aid agencies are often enslaved in dependency. This is why I am excited about the simple church model in which everyone learns to love one another, studies the Word of God together, and take responsibility for each other,” Bruce says.

Sydney spoke about the need to disciple believers. “If Africa is so highly Christianized why it is also so highly infected with HIV/AIDS? What is wrong?” he asked. “People need to be discipled,” he said. Bruce, Sydney and Vekela voiced their conviction that Sub-Saharan Africa has been evangelized but not discipled.

A New Kind of Leader - Courage to Be Different

All of the African leaders in CPx see themselves as part of the new thing God wants to do in Africa. “It is time to rebuild Africa,” Sydney says. Floyd McClung also believes this.

“This is the one of the main reasons we moved to Africa. God wants something new to be birthed in Africa,” he says. “We sense God birthing something new through CPx in the hearts of these young leaders. God is longing for His people in Africa to break free from hierarchical models of leadership. God is longing for African leaders to break free of the old ways of dominance and control, and to unleash the potential of Africa to bless the rest of the world. We are dreaming and working toward holistic church planting movements all over the continent. God will not be satisfied until Africa is ready to come to the party!” he says.

“What is God’s response to these huge challenges? Do we continue to do church the way we have in the past? Will old ways of thinking solve the old problems we face?” he asked. “Perhaps the old problems have been caused by the old ways of thinking about church and the kingdom of God. My heart is exploding with longing to empower the bright young leaders of Africa who see the problems of Africa and are open to change,” he says.

What about Women in Africa?

It takes a special bravery for an African woman to speak up, but Vakele Dlamini is willing to be that kind of woman. “We have experienced love and acceptance on all fronts here,” she told her fellow CPx’ers. “We are free to share our brokenness, our same struggles.” As a woman in Africa, there are many struggles. “Women are almost non-exsistant,” Vakele says. “We are raised to listen to men, respect our culture and traditions, and be silent. Men are customarily allowed several wives and mistresses, and a woman, out of fear, must submit to this,” Vekela says. She said this practice contributes to the rapid spread of HIV and AIDS. Even for women in churches, this is a “huge difficulty,” Vakele says. “Like many women, I do not know where to find my place.” Vakele believes the African men and women at CPx hold the key. “Guys like ours need to embrace change, and target other men to help them change,” she says.