World Tour – Day 6 – Pretoria
By mattsmallbone. Filed in Tour Journal |
11:50pm
Tonight’s concert was again incredible. Another sold-out show. Well over 6000 people came together to worship with us… and I once again felt God walking in the room. However, it has been a heavy day indeed.
Africa is doing me in.
As a first-timer to this continent, I am daily confronted by things that I never saw in Toowoomba, the Gold Coast or Nashville, TN. The kaleidoscope pieces of my life have been unsettled, and my materialistic nature is under attack.
Tonight’s venue was a massive church which was as spectacular in construction as any mega-church I have seen in the USA. There was, however, one enormous difference. Lining one side of the church property was a high fence with razor-wire, and beyond the wire was a ‘slum’ or ‘squatter’s quarters’. There were at least 2000 people living in make-shift housing. It was heart wrenching. They were hungry while I was feasting on lamb shanks and pavlova.
Check out this video that I made with Michael Olson… it shows the contrasting elements of my day…
The church that we played at are doing a wonderful job with these (mostly) Zimbabwean refugees. They feed the people twice/ week and run all sorts of outreach events for them. The South African government gave these people squatting rights on the land beside the church and the church gave it the OK. It seems like they are being a city on a hill for these displaced people.
Matthew 25 is a very unsettling piece of the Bible. Jesus describes the end times, and more particularly he describes how He will separate the people of the world into two groups… the sheep and the goats. It becomes clear that one of the groups (the righteous) get to go to heaven… and the others must ”depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. In this passage, the unrighteous are charged with not feeding the poor, not giving water to the thirsty, not welcoming strangers, not clothing those who were without, and not visiting the sick and the incarcerated.
I read that passage and it really messes with my theology… A LOT. It seems to say that at the end… Jesus will make some eternal decisions based on our passion for social justice. There is obviously more to it than just this… but it is worth considering the implications of Matthew 25: 31-46 for a while. Go and read it… and let me know what it speaks to you.
Whatever the case…Jesus has a great heart for ‘the least’… and so must I.
matt
Thursday, May 20th 2010 at 5:42 pm |
Hey Matt! Pretty incredible stuff you just mentioned here in this blog & video… Seeing things like this really leaves on impression on the heart and soul.. every time I go ‘out into the field’ (which really is not often enough, and I am not at all being modest.. wish I was), I come back home saying, ‘I don’t need all this stuff I have’, and ‘I’m going to do this and that’, and over the years I’ve been changing, but it’s so easy to forget after a while.. God has His ways of reminding me of some of the reason(s) He created me for though..
Thank you for keeping us posted! You guys are awesome, and I pray for “y’all” every day, and that hearts be touched through the amazing work that you do..
God bless!
Zorina.
Thursday, May 20th 2010 at 6:54 pm |
Yeppirs, this is so true… If I have it I share it, if they have it they share it! Being a former ‘well off’ person & former homeless person, I do indeed relate to homeless much better… all they (we) really want is someone to talk to, someone who will listen & not judge for our past doings. Perhaps a meal & drink then on our way. We don’t come to harm, we come to LOVE & be LOVED. It’s been GLORIOUS that God has led many a stry to my doorstep. My hopes would be everyone would see homeless “invisible” ppl this way rather than shunned as many ‘well off’ do.
Monday, May 24th 2010 at 2:41 am |
Dear Matt and the entire MSW team on tour
1. I was at the Pretoria concert/worship session: WOW! So uplifting, again, after a really tough semester (I am a university lecturer).
Above all, after Thursday evening I REALLY know that my yearning for
doing something else and for the Lord (professionally), is not my imagination, but God wispering to me. I will continue praying…
2. Sang so loud I thought I’d damage my vocal cords a bit… But so awesome to sing, shout and dance for our God!
(This is not meant as harsh criticism, but please take into account that
the sound in the Pretoria venue was slightly “off” for the first couple of songs – we could hardly hear Michael sing… And the teleprompter/powerpoint with the lyrics failed or was a verse or chorus behind in about 3/4 really powerful songs… I am privileged to know the songs almost by heart, my three colleagues/friends, however, did not and at times only tried their utmost to catch up.)
3. At first I was slightly taken aback with the Pretoria video clip of the tour and the comments – took a bit to digest. As fellow Christian I have to just say that (i) the economic divide (ever-increasing) is a reality I struggle with every single day and (ii) I am absolutely aware of the fact that every earthly posession I have, is only granted to me by God’s grace. (iii) It is easy to comment on SA when you just look at it from the outside: be assured that Christians are doing (in most instances and in the community I live in, about 15km from the mega church where you performed in Pretoria) a lot for less priviledged and less educated people.
The church I attend, started a really cool programme of giving meal vouchers to local businesses and residents: the voucher (with a map/directions to the churhc on the reverse side) would entitle the homeless/hungry/jobless to a warm meal at our church. These meals are cooked by the small groups and then warmed up and served by the staff at church.
4. I followed a lot of your Twitter comments: honestly hope the Pretoria event was not “only an event”. Be assured that God really moved many of us (our hearts/attitudes/renewed our commitment etc.) in ways you guys could not imagine. Sounds silly or petty when I say that, but I wanted to articulate what SO many people experienced! Your visist was really a blessing!
I pray that the rest of your tour is blessed in all ways!
Kind regards
Anné
Friday, May 28th 2010 at 6:32 pm |
Hey Matt! Pretty incredible stuff you just mentioned here in this blog & video… Seeing things like this really leaves on impression on the heart and soul.. every time I go ‘out into the field’ (which really is not often enough, and I am not at all being modest.. wish I was), I come back home saying, ‘I don’t need all this stuff I have’, and ‘I’m going to do this and that’, and over the years I’ve been changing, but it’s so easy to forget after a while.. God has His ways of reminding me of some of the reason(s) He created me for though..
Thank you for keeping us posted! You guys are awesome, and I pray for “y’all” every day, and that hearts be touched through the amazing work that you do..
God bless!
Zorina.