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News Bulletin From Jae & Debra Evans |
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May 2008 |
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In this Issue Special Links
How to Donate
MCM Web Site
Contact Us Praise Report: Please join us in thanking God for the following items: For the completion of the new Food Center and the beginning of the distribution of bread and soup to our community centers. For the high school leaders camp with 28 new commitments to Christ and 4 new discipleship leaders to train. Prayer Requests: Please join us in praying for the following items: That God will continue to develop in us an intimate relationship with Him. This is first above all else. For Debra`s continued improvement in strength and health, and for the complete healing of her cancer. For our safe travel as we return to the United States. That God will continue to touch those who are willing to support us monthly as we work in South Africa. For the continued success of the Food Center with more distribution to feeding programs within the community. For many to be drawn to God`s word in our small groups and high school programs. For our new small group leaders and interns to be strong in their witness, attend church, and for their daily protection. For more donations from the community to supply soup and bread for the poor. That God would put an end to the xenophobia and all the refugees would be able to return to their homes That God would be glorified in all our work, words, and ways. |
Well this has been another incredible month. So much has happened this month it is hard to decide just where to start sharing. In fact I am sure that I can only give you the highlights of just a few items in the space of this newsletter. So here goes...
The really big news is that we have completed all the construction on the Food Center project, and we are up and running, making soup and baking bread. We also had our official Grand Opening of the Food Center. It was a great evening where we introduced the Food Center to the community. It was a big push to get everything ready but because of our last minute efforts we are now able to provide soup as well as bread. In fact we have already started to provide all the soup and bread needed for the MCM feeding programs where we feed over 1000 kids every week. We also have had a few new organizations sign up for soup as well.
Another really amazing thing that took place this month was a community wide youth camp we held at the MCM camp in Porterville. The whole camp was amazing and the biggest part of it was that we had over 85 young people (high school age) from every culture in the Paarl community represented. It was truly history in the making as it was the first time the community has seen a camp where Blacks, Colored, and Whites were together. It was also the largest camp we have had.
Debra and I had to cut our time at the camp short in order to return to Paarl in response to the Xenophobic riots in the community of Mbekweni. What a mess. Fortunately there were only a few minor injures and no deaths. Others weren't so fortunate in other parts of the county. It was truly a God thing that we had just completed the Food Center because we spent the weekend making soup, pap (corn meal mash) and bread for the people forced from their homes and living in a makeshift refugee camp.
We couldn't have done all of this without the help of a Short Term Missions team that was here from Azusa Pacific University (APU). This team was such a great support to the MCM team through all that was going on.
With all that is going on Debra and I find it hard to leave to return to the U.S. We will be arriving back in California on the 11th of June. Debra is scheduled for another scan and a follow-up with her oncologists the following week. We are praying that the scan shows no cancer, or at least now further growth. We hope to see a lot of you all when we are back.
What a great time and what a big load off my shoulders! The Food Center is officially open! No more dealing with contractors or deliveries of equipment where it was always "defiantly, maybe tomorrow."
We really pushed hard to have everything up and operational before our big event. We even made our first BIG pot of soup for the event. That was a wee bit stressful, since we didn't even know if the pot would work or not. We also baked bread and rusks and served Monte Christo Spring Water! It was really great to see all the people from the Paarl community come and check out the Food Center.
As if the Grand Opening wasn't enough, the following Monday we hosted a meeting of the Paarl Community Service Forum at the Food Center. This was a sit-down dinner where we served soup and bread from the Food Center, a Quiche and salad from the MCM Coffee Shop, and water from the MCM Farm in Porterville. All of this was served by members of the APU short term team.
Our first week of full operation went very well. We were able to provide soup and bread to all of our feeding programs ( a little over 1000 kids) as well as provide soup to a couple of other organizations around Paarl. We are also starting to see some food supplies coming in from various places in the community. I was invited to speak at a local Dutch Reform Church about the Food Center, and they decided to donate the offering to the Food Center as well. We really are starting to see this become a Community In Action program and not just an MCM project.
P.S. We are still waiting for our two new soup pots to arrive, and could use your help in covering the cost of these last big items. If you want to help, just drop me an email and I will reply with how to go about making a donation.
I love our camps! But this one was over the top! It was not only the largest camp we have had at the MCM camp but it was also the first with White, Black, and Colored kids together! That is truly a historic event for MCM and the community of Paarl. Ten years ago this would have been impossible, and even today there is still a lot of difficulty in getting the different cultures together.
Not only was this the biggest camp it was also very well organized. There were so many kids that we had to set up tents for the boys to sleep in while the girls got the bunks in the house. It was so crowded that Debra and I had to pitch our tent out back of the pack shed. We also had a big tent for the meeting and worship time, complete with hay bales for pews. The MCM team also put together our own worship band, which lead some awesome worship time. Again the APU team made a huge difference by helping out in the kitchen and wherever else they were needed.
Debra and I had to leave early to return to Paarl to help out with the crisis developing there, but the reports back from the camp indicated that 28 kids made decisions to make Jesus Lord of their lives. An additional 5 asked to join our discipleship leaders program to be trained to teach in our small group bible studies. It just doesn't get any better than that!
I really hadn't heard that word before and I am sure most of you haven't either. It means “a fear or contempt of that which is foreign or unknown, especially of strangers or foreign people.” The world press has now and for a long time to come tied the word to South Africa. Let me explain. Here in South Africa we have what is an increasingly volatile problem. Unemployment exceeds 30% and, due to the many known problems in many of the African countries to the north, we have a large illegal immigration problem. Many of the immigrants are men seeking gainful employment and/or safety. They are from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Somalia, Congo, Nigeria and many others. Many of them are also trained with Job skills (teachers, retail sales, engineers, professionals, etc.) and are hard workers.
Frustration and anger have been building among the local unemployed South Africans and much of that anger has been focused on these foreign nationals, considered by some as illegally stealing the work that is available.
All that is background to the violence that has sprung up around South Africa. Beginning about mid May, shops and homes of foreign Africans were attacked in Johannesburg. The news reports of these attacks spread around the country slowly triggering like actions in townships and informal settlements throughout South Africa. We, in our community of Paarl, thought it would never happen here - but last Friday it did! The next thing we know there are mobs that have developed in Mbekweni forcing people from their shacks. The Police responded wonderfully evacuating everyone before their were any significant injuries or deaths. But now we had a camp outside of town with a growing population of frightened people. What to do?
MCM responded quickly. From the grand opening of our new food center just a week prior to these events we had a small inventory of soup and some bread already prepared. We agreed to provide the food to the refugees. Many of our team members were called in on Saturday and we quickly made plans to go up and feed everyone at the refugee camp. We got a meal up at mid-day and began making another batch of soup for dinner. The crowd was still growing.
By the next Monday morning the camp has swelled to 650. We served Pap (corn meal mash), bread, and soup. As the week has gone on, we have continued to supply food to the refugee camp. We have also provided some entertainment and spiritual upliftment, including an evening worship service lead by the MCM team.
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