Masiphumelele

(Pronounced “Mossy Puma Lay Lay”)

Masiphumelele is not a Hawaian greeting. It is the name of a community about 2 kilometers (We are trying to practice using kilometers instead of miles) from where we stay. This community has between 30,000 and 40,000 people living in less than 2 square kilometers. While there are a few concrete style homes, the grand majority of the homes are what we you and I would describe as shacks. Entire families can (and oftentimes do) live in very small ramshackle homes with a small amount of electricity (enough for a few light bulbs and some basic appliances). Running water is a “luxury” that some shacks have, but many do not.

Last week we visited 2 different communities in addition the University of Cape Town (easily one of the most beautiful campuses we have seen in real life or in pictures!). We were asked to pray and consider where we felt God leading us to do ministry.

A side road in Masi

At the last minute through a few conversations with each other and with some leaders, as well as some prayer time that opened our eyes to a few things, we decided that during our “outreach phase” of our training we would like to focus on Masiphumelele (“Masi” for short which is pronounced like “mossy”).

A side alley filled with empty alcohol containers

We came to Africa wanting God to give us a clearer understanding of His heart for the poor. Masiphumelele provides an excellent opportunity for that. A difficult thing to remember when you are learning to love another culture is that each culture (ours richly included!) has blind spots to particular sin issues. Masi has huge issues with alcohol addiction as well as rape.

A few precious children in Masiphumelele

Our prayer is that God would show us what cultural sins we need to repent of as well as giving us grace and authority to speak with love to these issues that are so prevalent in this community. Please pray with us and for us!

We will no doubt have plenty more to say about Masi over time.