Cape Town

“Cape Town is beautiful.” We had heard that comment from several people when they found out we were headed here. They were inaccurate. “Beautiful” is much too weak an adjective to describe the magnificence of this city. “Gorgeous” and “breath-taking” even seem a little too tame. The rugged mountains that jut up from the beaches and the turquoise ocean waters that lap at the white sands have us in wide-eyed wonder. The architecture, reminiscent of quaint European cities, is another delight to the eyes.

We are staying in a suburb of Cape Town called Muizenburg. This area was at one time a resort area for the rich and famous. Cecil Rhodes (think “Rhodesia”) had a cottage here for his vacations. In latter years the downtown had deteriorated into a low-income area populated by poor refugees. Recently, however, the buildings have been bought up and renovated as high-end housing developments. We have a room at Kosie’s Place, a Christian guesthouse just a five-minute walk from the beach. Kosie’s is run by a father and his two daughters and their families. They are gradually fixing up the 95-year-old building which houses a downstairs restaurant, their living quarters, and the guest rooms. It has been a delight to get to know this wonderful family and bask in their generous hospitality.

Brian and Sondra Davis and their two boys, Noah and Bryson, have an apartment just a ten-minute walk from our guesthouse. Sondra’s parents, Don and Rita Boyd, are also here. All of them spent ten years or so working here in Cape Town and establishing churches in the inner city areas. They especially targeted Congolese refugees. The Davises and the Boyds now work in northern Zambia, but they have returned for the month of February to follow up on the congregations they established and continue evangelistic efforts. A group of five members from a Cape Girardeau, Missouri, congregation flew in on Saturday and will be here for the next two weeks to assist in the work.

Our worship on Sunday was an experience I will never forget. Six congregations had a joint service as part of the evangelistic work. We have attended many assemblies where several congregations gathered together, but this one was unique. Our gathering included Americans, Afrikaans (white South Africans of European descent), Congolese refugees, black South Africans, and Coloureds. The latter comprise the majority (55%) of the Cape Town population. They are of mixed racial heritage but consider themselves a separate racial group and call themselves Coloured (NOT a derogatory term as we consider it in the US). We sang songs in English, Afrikaans, Lingala, and Xhosa. Xhosa has several clicks in the language, so this added a new dimension to the singing. David preached a very appropriate sermon on unity from Ephesians 4, and the concept had an entirely new meaning and importance when I thought about the huge differences in the cultures, races, skin tones, backgrounds, and economics of the people gathered in that room. One member remarked that we were probably much like the group described in Acts chapter 2 when Peter preached the sermon on Pentecost. Everyone on Sunday participated with joy and enthusiasm, and I hope the Lord was pleased with our sacrifice of praise.

On Monday we went up Table Mountain, one of Cape Town’s most famous tourist destinations. We rode in cable cars to the top of the mountain and hiked around to take in the incredible panoramic views of the bay and Cape Town. On the drive home Brian took us around more of the Cape Point to see other vistas of the bay and the resort communities that line the foothills of the mountains.

Monday night we met with a congregation of Congolese refugees for a night of singing. What an encouraging experience that was as we alternated singing songs in English and in French or one of their native languages. Tonight (Tuesday) I will be speaking to a women's meeting in an inner-city area and David will be teaching at another congregation.