Cable Awards and Mbekweni

"Cable Awards“ is a yearly event of in which Media Village presents all the video projects of the past year. Also all the students of the "School of Video Porduction" are awarded and released at this event. It was the first time for me to be part of "Cable Awards" and it was good to see all the things that Media Village is involved in at one glance. I also invited some friends so that they can see what i am doing all day.

I went to Mbekweni over the weekend, a Township in Paarl. I told you before about the fact that a part of David's family lives there. This time we stayed a little longer so I could get to know them better.

It was a blessed time and the hospitality threw me out of my socks once again. On Saturday we went for a drive around. It seems like Mbekweni turns into a huge party over the weekend. Every age group is present, the houses play loud music, children dance on the streets.

We went to the church service on Sunday morning and half an hour into the service I was asked to give a short message. The bible reading was from Matthew 11:28: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." I used this passage to share about the fact that Jesus seeks for a personal relationship with us. I found in some traditional churches that the hierarchy causes people to put their hopes too much in the faith of their leaders. The individuals in the congragation do not have strong relationships with Jesus, because they rely on the fact that the priest or the pastor knows the bible and prays. We also did some typical African singing and dancing. Here is some proof that I was part of it.

The house of the family.

Hermanus

The weekend in Hermanus is over. We left to Hermanus with twelve teenagers and five helpers. Freinds of the church have got two houses there which they offer church groups to use for free. We all had a great time, but now I am quite tired.

I tried to sleep in the room with all the nine boys. Obviously they found it hard to be quiet after a certain time. Impossible. Considering that some of them come from difficult backgrounds might help me to have a soft heart for them, but it didn't help me to sleep. Looking back I have to laugh about the flying shoes, pillow fights and music through cell phones non-stop.

Besides playing billards and table tennis we learnt about the bible. It was about the red thread that goes through it – God's creation, man's sin and God's plan of salvation. The boys are loved and God is faithful! I hope they will remember that.

Bullauge 11

My new newsetter is online. Just click on the picture and download it as a PDF.

I am just about to head to Hermanus. It's a place a few miles along the coast towards the East. The youth group of the church is going to spend the weekend there. Please pray for a good time. For me it is a good opportunity to get to know the teenagers better. I will take a few pictures and put them online when I am back ...blessings.

Weekend

I experienced an interesting weekend again with many interesting people. After I cleaned my room and went shopping for the week I went to my friend, David to Claremont (I thought some of you might like this sign). Together we drove an hour to Paarl. This is where his adoptive parents live in a township*. It was one of those typical African experiences again. Everyone looked at me when we went through the streets. They are just not used to a white person walking through their town. One lady asked me if I wasn't afraid. A drunk man came to me to tell me that we are one country – black and white are one. It was an invitation for me to feel welcome.

I got to know Davids extended family. Three ladies introduced themselves as his mother, a couple as his step grandparents, he has many brothers and sisters and everyone in town are his neighbors. They welcomed me as part of their family and surely next time I will be introduced as a grandson or brother, too.

Sunday morning I was encouraged by the sermon of pastor Brian. The leadership of the church put a vision in words to make more of a difference in the community. Muizenberg needs a lot of help, so I felt like getting to know more new people today. It started with Janny. The man that sat next to me in church. He is homeless.

Janny comes to church every now and then. He obviously has an alcohol problem for which he wanted me to pray. He also wants to go back to his family that lives a few hours drive away. He does not have the money and he told me so I could give him some. What if I give him money? Will he really use it for the journey or on drinks? I told him that if he can save a Rand every day he can travel home in half a year. If he stops drinking even much sooner. I also said that I will gladly help him if he can prove to me that he has started saving some money in two weeks from now. What would Jesus do?

After the service a man rang on our door bell. He had a piece of paper which he asked me to read. It had written a whole story of why he was in Cape Town due to sad circumstances and that he too needed money to get back to his home further out in the country. I asked him many question to find out if his story is really true. I don't think it is. Still I gave him something. I hope they wont all come knocking on my door tomorrow.

After being on the road the rest of the day, I stopped at the drive thru at McDonalds in Tokai. While I order, a teenager on his bike drives along and hold his hand in begging pose. I ask the cashier what I should do? Does this boy really need help (his facial expression makes him seems very needy in deed)? "No", he says "he can find a job. He looks healthy." So true. Andrew (the McDonlads guy) and I get into a conversation of how he is trying his best to finance his studies at university. His father does not have the money to pay the fees. He used to go to church (in fact his father is a pastor), but he doesn't go to church anymore, he said. Maybe if I meet him again I will invite him to our church. I gave the begger my cheeseburger.


*Maybe you remember in an earlier post that David's family lives in a different place, called Guguletu. The reason for this is that Davis grew up in several families and places. I must admit his past is pretty complicated, but it is fairly common amongst the Africans to grow up with their grandparents or other family members.

News

A lot of things happen all the time, but unless I write them down I don't see what God is doing in my life. Not that is has anything to do with writing it down itself. It is more the fact that I need to reflect on what was been going on in the recent past to appreciate God's goodness.

I have been praying for someone to come and help me in the graphic department concerning the production of some of the media. A few days ago a young lady from my church has shown her interest to be trained by me. She is originally from England and married a South African, who attends the bible study group I go to. It is not clear, yet, but I would be glad if she would help out at Media Village and catch the big picture of training people from Africa to spread the gospel via mass media.

A couple of weeks ago I started helping out in a youth bible study group from chruch. At first I fouod the young men and women most intimidating. They are a very loud bunch, but actually very cool, too. We meet every Thursday and go through a short bible text. The leader of the group will leave us soon and I am thinking about taking over that leadership. Of course I would not be by myself, but I still have to see if it really is my place at the moment.

Next time more pictures.

School of Video Production

There is life back in Media Village. The Descipleship Training School is over. The course went over a period of six months – three months of lectures and an other three months of outreach in either Zambia or Uganda. The twenty students came back to Media Village for one week of debriefing before they headed back home. Now we are into our next course – the "School of Video Production" and the house is full of life again.

Next to the normal work I do at Media Village I lead a small group. Also I am in charge of the work duties. I assigned every student to do a certain job during 2pm and and 3pm so the house keeps tidy and in shape. I will not be teaching much in this course, because I don't have much knowledge to pass on in the area of video (the next course will be in digital photography and I will be teaching Photoshop there).

It's an exciting time. The twenty students are from all over the place. Zimbabwe, Congo, Uganda, Nigeria, Zambia, England, Ireland (in Dublin there is a new Media Village and Blathnaid is here to learn from the way we do things). There is also a girl from Germany.

Please pray that it will be a good time. The students will be pumped with information from mornings to evenings for the next three months and it does not give them much air to breathe. Pray also that their passion to share the gospel with the tool of video with rise in this time.

Life goes on

It's been too long since I wrote something. Not that I don't have anything to say, just got too much going on at the moment. Today for instance I moved with Nkanyiso and Butho (both from Zimbabwe) to a new place in Muizenburg. I took some pictures with my cellphone. Now I have a lot more space and am able to find some peace and quiet after work. There is always a lot going on at Media Village.

I have written before I have a lot to do at the moment and that is good. One goal of Media Village is to give people a chance to do an internship in the graphics department (its only me so far). That would help me a lot. I have come to realize that I don't have enough time to really adjust to my new environment and it doesn't help to tell myself I have already adapted. It's not true. Everything about life is different here. I think its two things I need right now and that is patience and a church to go to. The church I will attend is very close to my new home.

Currently I am working a few projects at the same time. Oe of which is a documentary on three woman infected by HIV/AIDS. All of which come from the same township in Cape Town. They have very poor and broken backgrounds and in the film they tell their stories and talk about what gives them hope. My part is too prepare some photographs for the film and also create the cover design. A great thing to be involved in.

More to come soon.

Her are more pictures of my new place:

My car

Here is the whole story on my car. A few weeks ago I met Mike from OM South Africa and I told him about the fact that I needed a car. He sayd he will try to help me out and organise something for me. So two days later he rang me to say he had already testdriven a Golf and it is a good price (3500 Euros). That's a great help because I don't know much about cars, except that second-hand cars are more expensive here and that it is better to buy a car in Pretoria than in Cape Town, because of the rust. I dont think it could have worked out any better.

So last Saturday Ncanyiso (easier NK) and I flew to Jo'burg where we were picked up and drove to Pretoria. OM South Africa is situated in Pretoria so I know some people there. Sigi celebrated his birthday and many other people I know were there, too. So I met Mike, Esme and Yvonne again. That was great!

Ben and Anne were also there! I had expected them to be in Mocambique on an outreach, but they are only going this week. Just like me, Ben also grew up in St.Matthäus church in Bremen. I think many people get us mixed up (same name and both South African missionaries). Ben and Anne work and live as staff at the training base there. That is where we stayed over night.


At 4am the next morning we hit the road. 1500 kilometers Africa (that is 930 miles). The long roads cut through beautiful dry land, but it doesnt change much over the entire distance. It looks pretty much like you see on the photo. We arrived safely at 8pm. Thank you for all your prayers.

PS: A short clip.

Job and Car

In the past few weeks I was involved in various Media Village film projects creating the DVD-covers. It is really exciting to see how most of the staff are doing an internship. They started doing a course in Adio or Video and now they are learning with real real projects how to produce films. In the courses to come I will be teaching on Photoshop and Typography. Together we are also thinking of how to establish a grahic-design-course here at Media Village.

Answer to prayer. I don't have picture of it, yet, but it's waiting for me at a friends place in Pretoria – a first generation Golf. It's still beeing built in South Africa – mine will be about ten years old. Next week I will go there and hopefully drive back with my new car. Praise the Lord.

Bullauge 10

Hello again. The first Bullauge from my stay in Cape Town is out and I have sent it to all my supporters. If you too want to receive it, please use the form on the right ("Submit to newsletter").

Guguletu

Yesterday I visited David – a friend of mine from my time on the Doulos. I went to the church for which he works amongst homeless people. The name of the oganisation is called U-Turn and is part of the St. Stephens church. They literally get people from the street to give them one of their twenty beds in an old storage hall. Everyone who knows David will say this kind of job is suits him really well! After the church service I met Nathan the guy with the crutches. Nathan is one of those people whom David gave the opportunity for a place to sleep. He is an Indian from Durban and a few years ago he left everything behind to "move" to Cape Town. He needs his crutches since he was shot a few times in his body, because he did ot want ot join a gang. After he woke up out of his koma he gave his life to Jesus. I would have loved to have heard more of his story, but David and I had to leave to go to Guguletu.

We took a taxi* to Guguletu the place in which David grew up and where his parents live. Guguletu is an expreience! When we arrived at 12:30 their church service was still going. Also Guguletu is one of Cape Town porest areas. Most of the living places are kind of shanty houses, but Davids parents live very comfortably and I had a nap for half an hour.

In the evening then we headed back to St.Stephens Church. They have a youth service there every sundaya evening. since I am here in Cape Town I have visited five churches, but I am still not sure were to stay.

*Travelling in a taxi is not the same as in Europe where you pay through the nose and its nice an comfortable. It's more like an overcrowded minibus – one of South Africas "must" experiences".

Kalkies

I went for fish and chips at "Kalkies" with Simtong from Nigeria tonight and we met a coloured man, called David. He works at the Kalk Bay harbour since he was fourteen, so for forty years now. He cleans the fish that the little fishing boats bring in during the day. He lives a bit further outside of Kalk Bay and can't afford to get back after work. So like many other he stays over night and sleeps on a bench or under a truck. Many times things would get stolen. If it rains the owner of Kalkies lets these men sleep inside. David also intruduced us to Nome.

Just as many South African black people Nome speaks Xhosa (the language with the many click-sounds). This guy even had been in the newspaper a few years ago. During a catch on the open sea Nome's fellow crew members gradually left him in by setting back home on a trawler boat. All alone he waited for three weeks for people to pick him up and take him back home, but noone came. He had kept himself and the motor running, but soon the food was empty and there was no other way to set back home all by himself, but he never learnt to steer or to navigate a ship, but he got home safely eventually.

Both David and Nome always mentioned that the Lord has helped them in their lives. Even though Simtong and I never said clearly that we were Christians David asked me in the end if I can give him a bible the next time I see him. "Preferably Afrikaans", he said.

Deep down South

Just as you have to see the "Roland" in Bremen or the "Muttental" in Witten, you can't live in Cape Town without having seen "Cape Point"

I am doing well and I am glad I am settling into the community here, eventhough some things take their time. I can say I have been accepted very well ,by my new collegues and that means a lot to me. Still I am waiting for my new computer so I have to work at my laptop for the time being, but that's ok.

In the meantime I can see in more detail what my tasks will be here at MediaVillage and I am looking foreward to tell you more about it.

Today the wife of the leader of MediaVillage (Diane) came back from Uganda. Together with a videoteam she visited various organisations and also she met up the First Lady of Uganda (Mama Jane). They also interviewed the president himself. Mama Jane is a born again Christian and is able to explain the condition of her country from a biblical perspective. The developement of Uganda is a good example for the fact that our faith can change large communities for the good. The AIDS-politics for example and the nationwide campaign "Love Waits" resulted in decreasing numbers of infected people by HIV. In all other African countries these numbers are rising.

At this time MediaVillage has 28 similar projects running. My task will be to design the covers for the DVDs.

Last Saturday I went to a local radio-station. I got to know some people who work there and they invited me just to sit in and watch. When they started the show the speaker started to interview me ... I am trying to get hold of the recorded tape so I can show it to you here on the web.

I am there!

So. My parents and my brother, Sam, took me down to Düsseldorf through the night so I could check in at 7am. Before I went on board the plane the Meier family and Johnnes came to say good bye, too. They waved on the visitors platform and I could see them when the plane drove by just before take off. I doubt they could see my though. I really know lovely people!

Except for a few lovely views over the Alps, the long roads of the Sahara desert and sormy clouds over Namibia (awsome) I found the flight to be rather boring. I sat alone so I had time to reflect on home and say goodbye inwardly. On arrival in Cape Town it took a while to find Butho (the dirver) and Swat (his girlfriend), the people to collect me, but eventually I found them.

Today it was good to take part in a staff meeting so I could get to know my new collegues. The house is full due to a descipleship training course running at the moment. For that reason I will have to share my room soon with someone esle. For now that's fine.

Picture: Landing in Cape Town

I am leaving

Friends, it is happening. On Sunday I will be on my way to Cape Town. For me this means new friends, new church and new experiences. I am stepping on unknown grounds. It also means to leave trusted friends and to trust God once again. I can learn a lot and need your prayers.

I will keep you informed.

Visa and more again

Many things have happened recently. On Friday I recieved my Passport with the visa for South Africa! Praise the Lord. On Sunday I was prayed for in the church service in Witten. I was in Witten for a few days to say goodbye to all my friends there. That was very good. I can see Gods timing to be prefect in many ways. Now I am checking flights and packing my stuff to leave soon.

This is also very important news: A week ago Johannes called me to invite me to a football match with Wynton Rufer (ex-soccer-professional at Werder Bremen). You can see how I tackled him easily.

Simon and I took Johnny and his fiancée back to Marburg. They go to bibleschool there: Marburger Bibelseminar. Also we met up with Mirko. He is doing an internship at Christus-Treff just as I did twelve years ago.

Not to forget. I took my sister back to Hamburg where I hepled her put up some shelves. Check that: Billy-Regal

Picture: Johnny in Marburg