Slaves, prisoners, Hopelss, this may be the way the they see themselves, or how the world sees them. Laying down prejudice we went exploring, and looking with eyes of hope things seemed quite different.
| The Star: Drugs are their world, and Pullinger Kop is their home - Yusuf Omar May 2012 |
Prayerfully asking for opened eyes to see and remember, but blinded eyes to overlook and forget, the group set off to explore Hillbrow street life. The Badboys escorted the three cars of tourists through the apartments blocks, many subject to building hijacking. The streets are teeming with people, modern day African music drums out the traffic, and the red neon lights of the Vodacom tower eerily lights up the night. It's 19:30, Friday and the night is settling in on Pullinger Kop Park, our destination.
On arrival, the smoke from a marijuana joint and the thick smug of the Joburg pollution embraces you like an old friend. Most squatter settle in small groups or around fires, not for the warmth, but for comfort and family. Their experience of obvious corruption deprived any higher authority of trust and submission. These street families disregard the law, and enraged at the perceived heartlessness of the public, they rely on one another for survival.
In a corner some embers illuminate the sickening scene where two men are sharing worn out utensils in an effort to inject a heroin spike, the highlight to their day. The moral decay is tangible, it's cages visible in the self-centered desperate scurrying of addicts, with the temporary relieve in its consequent floating unconsciousness. Nigerians, Zimbabweans, and Tanzanians, the majority of the foreigners and inhabitants of this area. Also the culprits to most of these addict's habits; addiction that keep them alive, or at least give them a sense of it. Desperate individuals fall pray to the enterprise of drugs, trafficking, and sex promoted by the streetwise and savvy.
In another corner of the park a peaceful group settles in for the night. The leader to the group, a German man, willingly engages to tell his story. He was once part of a ministry team, knowing and tasting truth. Like a prisoner, he reveals his biased opinion to his heroin addiction and street prison, blaming Satan. Amid this dark, sad, desperate setting shines a glimmer of hope as he acknowledges this truth: that all hope is still set on God, and that He can still deliver, no matter how extravagant his fall.
The mention of hope reminded both audiences of the allegiance we owe to God, and the responsibility of that. The church is called to be the carrier of grace and love to mirror Christ to the world, but as it neglects to carry the light of authority into the dark places, God reveals His glory with or without the participation of His church.
For more information on carriers of Kingdom authority within Hillbrow, see Transformong.org.za - by @Nigel_Branken
