Say “Hi” to 50 cent for me

Yup, you heard that right. “Say ‘Hi’
to 50 cent for me” was one of the first things we heard from the
South Africans on our way to Nelspruit, South Africa over a week ago.
That statement really started the wheels moving in my head. Is 50
cent, the rapper, what people in South Africa relate us to? Is that
what America has become? In my short time being in this country my
eyes have been opened to racism, stereotypes, corruption, and poverty
on all new levels. I didn’t expect to not see these things, I just
didn’t expect for them to be so dominant and so noticeable in such a
short period of time.

Racism. As soon as we stepped out of
the airport, it was everywhere. I keep thinking back to the weekend
before we left Mexico, and what Tag said about racism in South
Africa. The black culture’s instinct is to serve white people, it’s
what has been taught to them. For example, if you invite a friend
over who is black and you invite him to your house and he sees a
mess…he will go and clean up your mess because he thinks that is
expected of him. Something I encountered last week while in
Mozambique was the women at the children’s center not understanding
that we were serving them. We were digging a hole to make a sandpit
for the kids, and they came up and took the shovels and hoe out of
our hands and started digging for us…not understanding that they
weren’t meant to do that work, that it was for us to do for them. I
saw it while hopping on a van to Nelspruit. There were some black men
helping my team and I get our luggage into the Coombie (the vans that
are EVERYWHERE in this region of Africa) and the driver of our
Coombie was white and treated those men like they were trash. Racism
is very much still alive, even in South Africa.

Stereotypes. This will happen to you if
you go outside of the US and visit any country with a slower and
weaker economy and a higher poverty rate, but merchants would follow
my team around because we are white and “have money”. I’m
starting to see what other countries see when they look at me and see
that I am from America. They think Hollywood, money, and PB&J
sandwiches. As far as Hollywood goes, the people have a skewed view
of Americans because all they see is the glamor and money in the
movies that are played here. I had a short conversation with one of
the men who does yard work at the Betor House, his name is Kenneth,
on my first full day in South Africa. I went over to him to offer him
an m&m and we got to chatting. He asked where I was from, and I
answered Philadelphia because no one would ever know where in the
world Limerick is. After saying that, he started talking about Will
Smith and his favorite movie with Will Smith in it: The Pursuit of
Hapiness. Last Saturday, we went to the market in Mozambique and
stopped in this adorable ice cream shop to get a snack. 50 cent’s
music video from several years ago was playing, and he was rapping
about being a “pimp.” Is that what the people here think of
Americans? That we treat our women poorly, that all the men are
pimps, and that we literally throw money around like it grows on
trees? I can see where they are coming from, because those things are
a reality in the States. I sure hope not everyone thinks that about
the US, but the sad reality is that is the stereotype.

Corruption. Since the World Cup is
being held in various cities in South Africa the summer of 2010,
including Nelspruit, major changes are taking place. They are
building a huge mall, twice the size of the already big mall that is
here. This, plus other scenarios, is going to cause major economic
problems for this country because after the World Cup craze is over,
they are going to have the bill for the constructing the mall, tons
of stores, tons of merchandise, hundreds of workers, and no one to
shop at these stores and buy anything. There are not enough people
here with enough income to spend money at a mall to keep it running
post World Cup. One thing that bothers me and really ignites the fire
in my being is that the South African government legalized
prostitution especially for the World Cup. If that isn’t corruption,
please tell me what is.

Poverty. My first couple days here, I
had the amazing privilege, by the grace of God, to visit Mozambique.
(There will most definitely be a blog specifically about the time I
spent there, but I need to include this right now to get my point
across.) When people think about Africa, they think of poverty.
Mozambique is the poorest country in the continent. They have the
highest poverty rate, they have the highest unemployment rate, and
have the highest rate of people who are forced to rely on the
government for money and survival. While at the children’s village on
the last day, we saw some God stories take place, which I will go
into more detail in my next blog (stay tuned!), in the form of food.
There were some visitors that brought the children and the women who
take care of them pizza. For most of the kids, and most of the women,
this was the first time they’d ever ate or seen pizza. It was so
precious to see the kids eat the pizza, because they didn’t know how!
And another person donated meat to them. This is pretty major! The
missionary that was hosting us, Amy, has been working/teaching at
the center since April, and since she has been here they have not
eaten meat. The women danced and cheered when Amy told them what was
being given them: The first red meat they’ve received in 9 months.

• Please be praying that I would not be
  distracted by homesickness as Christmas draws nearer! It’s going to
  be hard to keep my mind from my crazy family during this time of
  year!

• Be praying that God would wreck me for
  the people I will be meeting in the near future, through market
  ministry, through church services, and at the orphanage I will be
  spending three weeks at.

• Pray that God would bring me over my last
  financial hump of $450!

• Be praying that God would continue to
  teach me about who I am in Him, my identity in Christ.

• Please lift up the other Novas Teams in Nicaragua, Uganda, and
  Swaziland as they are starting their ministries and starting their
  journeys in these amazing countries.

• Lastly, be praying that God would just
  shower me with confidence, that I would be able to see and feel and
  be drenched in the authority that was given to me!

I have raised you up for
this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My name
might be proclaimed in all the earth. -Exodus 9:16