Sunday July 26, Pretoria

After a great breakfast at the Michelangelo Hotel in Johannesburg, we boarded our coach and drove about 30 minutes or so to Pretoria. We had the privilege of worshiping at the New Life City Church in Sunnyside, a poor neighborhood in Pretoria. Pastor Derrick Mashau and “the band” led us in a worship style most of us aren’t used to, but worship it definitely was. It was a joy to participate. For most of us, it was the first time we’ve ever seen a dance-off in the church! The New Life group gave us a great meal of fried chicken after the service.

Then it was downtown Pretoria to see what Vilna DeBeer and the Ribbens (Mike and Megan) are doing with the Tshwane Leadership Foundation (TLF). South Africa—like America—has its share of homeless, unemployed, drug users, sexual assaults and more. Vilna and TLF have been at the front lines of these social issues—all from a Christian perspective—for about 20 years now. We met people and heard stories from people who have been impacted by this ministry. Our group had the chance to meet with some of these folks over coffee and birthday cake (Koos Brouwer’s birthday today!) We prayed and sang together.

Michael Ribbens leads us in singing Happy Birthday to Koos Brouwer, Mike Smuts (our guide)
and Pastor Joel, at the TLF offices. 

On to the Voortrekker Museum. This is a huge monument commemorating the great trek of the Boers in the 1800s as they left Cape Province to escape British rule. They moved inland, fought wars and disease and after all that, many had to leave again when the British followed them.

After the Voortrekker, we went to the Union Building in Pretoria, part of South Africa’s government. There’s a huge statue of Nelson Mandela here, and this is where Mandela addressed the nation  when he became president in 1994.

Barb Hoekstra and Megan Ribbens in Pretoria