WE MADE IT! =)

WE MADE IT!
After meeting at apu at 145 am and flying from LAX to Washington DC with a little layover, getting on a plane that took us 7 hours to Dakar Senagal to refuel and stop for an hour and then 8 and half more hours to Johannesburg, South Africa! Being up for like 48 hours is totally worth it when you realize that we get to LIVE IN AFRICA FOR 3 ½ MONTHS! =)
I got to spend my 22 birthday in an airplane. However it is one of my most memorable birthdays ever! God blessed me with some amazing south African friends that sat next to me on the horrible long flight and they were seriously awesome and so much fun! They asked the flight attendant in Afrikaans to wish Christina and I a happy birthday over the loud speaker! So then like the whole plan sang to me and Christina! So great! And then we got to go to dinner at this really cool place right by our hotel and have a wee birthday dinner! I got some amazing notes and gifts from friends back home that I found in my bag =) I love you all! Thank you!

So day one of South Africa was spent in Johannesburg and we went to the apartheid museum and a town called Soweto. Soweto is a town within JoBurg that was a place of extreme unrest during apartheid and it home to Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. Below is my relfection from my time at the museum :

The Apartheid Museum

Having been to South Africa before and spending some time studying and reading about the pain and struggle of apartheid I have a sliver of knowledge walking into this museum. However, no matter how much you know about something, understanding and a true grasp of the magnitude of an event take more than just knowledge. I will never know the pains of a “nei-blankes” or”non-whites” as my ticket classified me as. I am a white person; this means the people with my skin color were the ones who inflicted this oppression.

Growing up in California, in this generation, with the family that I have, racial acceptance and diversity is a common and celebrated. At APU and in my life, racial differences, diversity, and acceptance are frequent topics of conversation. It is so frustrating for me, someone who has tried so hard to have a mindset that includes and embraces all cultures and colors to see people who look like me continue in the stereotype. While looking at the pictures of blacks being servants to the white people elicited the irritation that color of skin is such a divider between people. Almost immediately after, I was reminded of my time in Northern Ireland. The English came over to Ireland and took over (which they seem to be so in the habit of doing) the northern part of the country and brought their culture and religion. Of course the Irish did not want this so they resisted. “The Troubles” were times in the history of Northern Ireland were many lives were lost, many bombs were thrown and many bullets shot. “The Troubles” took place in the past 20 years. This is just an example of man’s depravity because there was no physical difference or color difference between the Irish and English, but if it is not race that separates it will be religion.

The room that took my breath away was the one that had nooses hanging from the ceiling, the pictures of a few of those who were killed in the fight for freedom, and has examples of solitary confinement rooms. Is freedom free? Is the peaceful approach possible? As I was reading many of the signs, all I could do was shake my head in disbelief and annoyance and ponder “there has got to be another way to freedom, peace, and equality.” Why on earth has history repeated itself so many times? Have we as human not learned from each other? The holocaust? Have we forgotten that segregation and oppression has never really successfully worked well? I am not naïve I know that “birds of a feather flock together” but it is a matter of human rights. As I write this though I am reminded that my country is in war in the Middle East killing people, why is violence is so part of being human just as loving is party of humanity?

A picture of a man covering his face with a bible stated “When the Europeans came they had the bibles and we had the land, now we have the bibles and they have our land.” I think that this quote hit me so hard because people number one who look like me, number two who read the same bible I do have done things in the “name of God” that have hurt and oppressed so many people. It is hard for me to reconcile.

Approaching this day I was trying to prepare myself emotionally. I don’t think you can be emotionally prepared to hear and see and learn about these kinds of things. The part that brought me to tears was the final line in the final sign of the museum for the Veld Garden. The sign encouraged us to ponder what we just saw, to contemplate apartheid, then it ends with “And walk away free.” Even now as I write this I am in tears. I will never truly understand, but with all of my heart I am moved with compassion. I pray that the Lord will give me strength to look at His children through HIS EYES. I pray that I can be an emissary of true reconciliation towards God and between his people, true freedom that is found in Christ, and equality that is found in the Body of Christ.

Who knew that day one of South Africa would be so powerful.

I pray that we can learn from history.
Please look into south African history, learn about apartheid, learn about those who lost their lives in the fight for equality and freedom. May we remember.

So then today we flew from Joburg to Durban! And again the Lord blessed me with an amazing travel buddy from Durban! I love talking to people! =) the flight is like traveling from LA to San Fran!

From durban we drove an hour to our new home in South Africa: the African Enterprise Campus in Pietermaritzburg. OMG SOOOOOO NICE! I will put pics up asap! But this place is beautiful and amazing and I am so honored to be here! We start classes tomorrow! I CANNOT WAIT!
God is so good and I am so humbled to be here!

=) PICTURES AND more to come asap! =)

IN HIS GRIP,
Megan Frew