WELCOME TO A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY FULL OF PROBLEMS
Welcome to a beautiful country full of problems. These were the words of an old lady who greeted us in a store on the second day after our arrival. She was surprised to find Dutch people, especially such a young family with three children.
When we talk about problems, it is often about the decline of South Africa. Headlines don’t lie. Over 7,000 people murdered in 3 months, over 13,000 rapes in 3 months. Shocking. And sometimes there is no power for 6-8 hours a day and/or no water for several days.
That’s why we get surprised reactions from neighbors, at our children’s school or in the stores. Why did you come here? You must be ‘out of your mind’ to emigrate to this country. Don’t you know that the country is in decline and you are in potential danger at almost every intersection?
If you tell them you work for a mission - Bethlehem Mission - they throw you a strange look. Don’t you know that South Africa has hundreds of churches and has been doing missionary work for years? There are thousands of pastors and there are lots of seminaries. Sometimes you smile and tell them that Bethlehem Mission didn’t just happen by accident. Sometimes you reply sharply and try to explain that not everyone is telling a Biblical message and that the doctrine of unlimited atonement is deceptive.
‘But ‘oom’ (‘uncle’, the South African way of saying ‘mister’), they say, ‘What church do you go to?’ ‘Well, to a reformed church.’ Ah, they do know that one. Lots of reformed churches here. There is one in every neighborhood. If you tell them you don’t work in the city but in the townships, they don’t understand. You must be crazy, it’s very dangerous. To be honest, you do think about that sometimes. It seems like impossible and especially endless work.
But, many are deprived of God’s Word, and yet, in an extraordinary way, God granted opportunities to do missionary work on behalf of our denomination. These black local people can often hear God’s Word within a distance of 30 minutes, but yet it is inaccessible. The Bible is of – and for – white people, they say, not for us. Yet some have a Bible, but they don’t understand it. Romans 10:14, ‘How shall they hear without a preacher?’ I think of that, or of Acts 8:31, ‘How can I, except some man should guide me?’
This Bible exists alongside their pure pagan rituals, which is sometimes painful to experience. Many are being held captive and live on with peace of mind. Are we any different? Are we not also held captive by habits and everything that demands our attention? Are we not just living our lives? Or do we ask, ‘Is it well with your soul?’ Skin color, background or place of birth will not be able to help us.
In fact, there is nothing that makes us better than white or black South Africans. Let us just stay close to ourselves, that is enough for us. Let us humble ourselves, there are so many interferences. What are the fruits of years of reformed preaching and teaching? Does it lead to bowing down in dust and ashes as Job did? What has it brought you? A broken and defeated heart as in Psalm 51? A renewing miracle of grace is needed, as described in Titus 3:5.
The Lord works and provides through the preaching of His Word. What value has this gotten for us? Then seek the Lord while He can be found, before it is too late! The letter of Hebrews tells us, ‘How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?’
Mathias Weststrate
