Meetings

I wanted to share about a few discussions/meetings I've visited last week. Oone was on Israel / Palestine situation. It was a group of local Muslim South Africans that are very involved in Israel and some young people from Israel that created a documentary about the Palestine situation. It was very intense and the discussion after was quite vivid. There were many Jews and some Muslims in attendance. Some were from Israel. It was quite interesting to be a Christian American in the midst of the discussion. I was dissapointed by the approach the movie crew took in calling in a discussion and wanting people to be open minded, but creating a one-sided video and starting out the gate by saying that Israel's treat Muslims like less than people. The responses however were not justified either and it was quite an enraged discussion.

I also attended a pastors meeting of various Christian organizations in the area. They are trying to create a unified discussion and sharing of ideas to further the efforts in Cape Town and try to not work together. I had seen a similar issue among Harrisonburg's non-profits and enjoyed the discussion. This meeting was about accountability. The leader told a story:
"A man got a call from his son's school and the teacher said that the boy had stolen a pencil. When the boy got home the man was furious, why did you take the pencil? I could have gotten it at work"
He challenged the Pastors to not be like the politicians and quick to spend the money unwisely that people trust them with. He also encouraged the Pastors to talk with their local political leaders and tell them what people's needs are. To be actively involved in politics. It was interesting to hear - definitely a different world here!

I also attended the youth leadership meeting. This was great because they are planning for next years activities so I did my best to stay as quiet as possible and let them run it themselves. I made it about half way through and then Leighton asked me what I thought and if I had some ideas. I shared a few but worked really hard not to give too much direction. They have some great ideas and are doing a good job. It is entirely youth run, a 20 year old in the groups leader, there is no youth pastor for the 50 or so people from age 13-31.