"Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?" -Proverbs 20:6

Itinerary: Week 2 (Mon, Feb 3 - Sat, Feb 8)

Events:

• Tue, Feb 4 - Fri, Feb 7: UCT Orientation and Registration: Only for international students. Covered topics from curriculum to gender based violence. Drum Cafe came in for an interactive performance on traditional African drums! Hectic paper registration!
• Wed, Feb 5: Peninsula Tour: Bus tour around the peninsula where Cape Town rests. Visited the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, which are gorgeous!
• Fri, Feb 7: Church Picnic: Watched the sunset and met more members of Hope City Presbyterian!

Sunset Church Picnic: My roommate Brett and friend Gil.

• Sat, Feb 8: Rugby: My first rugby game and the largest sporting event I've ever attended. In the Dhl Newlands Stadium. The Dhl Stormers (our team) vs. the Vodacom (my phone company here) Bulls. We won.

Learn the Culture: Gender Based Violence in Cape Town

Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert in this topic! I'm just trying to be helpful in processing a problem our society as a world is facing these days.

Toward the end of our orientation at UCT (University of Cape Town) the topic of gender based violence came up in a forum like discussion; specifically Cape Town's rape culture. They started it with a video showing staggering statistics of how worse it is here compared to other places, the injustice of the police, testimonies of the victims, etc. Then they opened it up with various questions.

My first concern was that none of the men in the room (ye, we had less men than women) were participating. We had a lot of good comments from the ladies, but nothing from the men, myself included. This is a big problem, I think, in being proactive against gender violence. There are two genders, and thus both genders have to work together to make things right! To be honest I don't like talking about it myself, because it seems to lean towards man hating (to an extreme), because men are typically the ones committing rape. I felt defensive even though I am not a rapist, because it seems that because I am a man my opinion is not valued or can be easily offensive. There was a helpful booing session of 'patriarchy' in the middle to make me feel even more defensive. However, these feelings men cannot let control them! It's our Adam nature to submit, listen nicely and agree with the ladies, when we ought to be leading the fight against this thing! 

Obviously the men need to change, but so do the women. Rape is not always preventable by the victim, but the fact that most rapes happen by people who know each other says something. I haven't done research, but from my observations of the party, alcohol, late nights culture that is common here I can't help but see ample opportunity for men being tempted sexually, and women making themselves incredibly vulnerable. Not only this but the media of this day, songs worshiping sex and the woman body, commercials to hook you, pornography on astronomical levels, women trying to show as much skin as possible all adds to the highly sexualized atmosphere so many cultures around the world have embraced! It's no wonder this is a problem.

So what should be done? Proactive moves against sexualized culture I think is in order. What does that look like? I think it has to do with individuals. If people stop consuming media that is sexualized and start consuming media that values women, values marriage and sex within marriage, that values selflessness towards others and love for others, not selfishly taking from others, then sexualized media will ideally die out. However I recognize that this has been a problem since Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit, so ultimately a change of the hearts of people all over the world can only be accomplished by the powerful work of Christ's Holy Spirit that takes away the heart that desires to selfishly brutalize women. Ultimately the most powerful response is to pray for our world, that Christ would be preached to devastated hearts before devastation can be multiplied to others through gender based violence.

SPIRITUAL LIFE

I chose the title of this post because it is my desire to become that faithful man, and not one who declares his own goodness. Since I've been here I've encounter many men who are quick to talk about themselves, show off their knowledge, flex their biceps, etc. One man, God has placed me in the company of, in particular has been good in turning me to Christ in my walk of faith! I'll call him Fred. (don't know any Freds, so sorry to the Freds out there!)

Fred is your typical American. Considers America to be a country (the U.S.) and not two continents encompassing many countries, but then again even some Brazilians express great interest in coming to America. (You already live in America!) Considers America the best country in every way and has a million facts to prove it. Is a 'world traveler' type and is quick to show you he's been to more states than you, he's been to more countries than you, and he can speak more languages than you. He's a typical man and a typical Adam; a poser. And with many words, some of which have no merit or fact but sound smooth as white sand, Fred makes tons of friends very easily, even international friends that gawk at the glory of the almighty 'Merica. Fred also impresses women, who, like a gold ring in a pig's snout, have much knowledge and are considered quite intelligent, but lack discernment. Fred also doesn't listen to the experiences of others that counter his broad generalizations, but wants only to express his own heart and to sit as king of any topic of conversation.

I hope these things make you mad, because it made me fume! How could this be, that such infuriating pride could exist? How can it be that I'm the only one irritated by him and that others lick up his every word? (broad generalization 😉)

From Cape Point: The Eastern gulf side.

But guess who Fred is. Fred is me in so many situations, daily. Fred is insecure and bases his entire identity on what people think of him, so he's willing to lie and exaggerate that others might like him. He wants to compete because he always has to be on top to feel he has value. And most importantly Fred is a good guy, made in the very image of God Himself and we all need to love the Freds in our lives. This especially means praying for them and doing our best to speak powerful wisdom, truth and rebuke if he will listen. We also ought to look for the Fred inside of ourselves, because I know I am guilty of all these things! And thus I can forgive Fred of his sins against me remembering my own sins against a God who is holy! This is being that faithful man; forgiving, praying for discernment, humble.

join me: The Cape of Good Hope

Step off the classical tour bus with me onto the pavement of a one lane road that runs through the nature reserves at the end of the peninsula. The hills are dense with small shrubbery and we'd just seen some wild baboons and ostriches on our way in. There is a big board that denotes where you are; the historic Cape of Good Hope, the great joy and watery doom of many a sailor bold. A childish delight fills you at the prospect of perhaps seeing the Cape's famous phantom ship; the Flying Dutchmen! But it's beautiful out and the breeze beckons you to the shoreline! Not white sand, but large red boulders line the coast and lazy Atlantic waves splash up on the rocks. The contrast of red stone and aquamarine sea is stunning and vibrant! There is a hill nearby that has to be climbed. Not your typical Iowa rolling hill, but a steep rock protrusion facing the sea and a more gradual but still steep grassy incline facing the land. It's pretty fun to zigzag back and forth up the cliff side path and the first look out was pretty high! There are little rock stacks like the altars in Laos dedicated to demons. Theirs nothing to hold you back against the rocks beside the wind that is getting more intense are you go up. And below, beautiful water sloshing against jagged rock. In order to maneuver around other tourists you leap up a rock onto a farther ledge and the momentum starts. You forgot how much your legs desire to leap, how much you hands desire to hold fast to rough stone. And suddenly you're scrambling up the rock face, up and in between massive boulders, feeling nimble like a mountain ram! Your spirit feels light within you, more excited and alive than it's felt in a long time! And there's only one goal in mind; getting to the top. Up and up you go and the wind intensifies until you're more cautious that your footing is sure against it. But all too soon you reach the top. The wind is howling but even so you take out your phone at risk of sending it careening into the turquoise abyss below to take a picture of this whole new world you've just entered! And it was God who did it all for you! He caused seed that you can't even see to become muscles that power legs and arms to climb! He's the reason the sky is blue and the sea echos it in even more vibrant cool greens! He sent wind gusts so powerful it parted a sea for His people to walk through on dry ground! And in the end when we have all reached the mountain tops of our lives, we can look down and see what God has been masterfully orchestrating all along!

So when you see that mountain, its height and shear faces, do not hesitate to climb it! God has good things in store for you, and you may stumble or bruise your knee or slice open your hand, but then again a mountain wouldn't be a mountain if you didn't have to climb it. Nor would God be able to show you His work if it weren't so tall!

At the Mountain Top

Please feel free to comment if you want to discuss any topics here farther or just want to say hi! God bless!