Plains/Paradise UMC sends second team to South Africa

It took thirty hours of non-stop travel including hurried walks through terminals, long lines of security checks, boarding gates, connector flights, and nearly two nights of sitting in an aisle seat cruising at 37,000 feet before the second South African Mission Team from Plains and Paradise UMC and additional friends landed at OR Tambo Field in Johannesburg to begin another life-changing journey into the heart of South Africa.

In 2011 as part of a mission initiative of the Plains and Paradise UMC, the congregation sent four of its members to build a house in Ikagene, South Africa. One year later, the mission has mushroomed into an ecumenical, community-wide initiative. In October, twelve missioners flew to South Africa—including a high school student from First Lutheran, two high school students from Plains Bible Chapel, another from Christian Scientist, two non-churched persons, and five members of the Plains United Methodist Church. The ages ranged from sixteen to eighty-five.

"The mission was simple . . . but impossible," Hall said. Build a six-hundred square foot brick house in four days. An impossible task for twelve people to accomplish, the Montanans joined muscle with Tswana-speaking Africans, Afrikaan-speaking whites, and German-speaking Europeans. With much sign language and charades, not only was the structure completed on time, but replete with a small yard of sodded grass, a driveway made from broken bricks, paint inside and out, running water, and a roof.

To help make the mission less intense, Mosaic, the non-profit organization who has gained national attention through its justice efforts to provide adequate housing and water for the poorest of South Africa, provided a safari for a day and a half. "That’s when the elephant attack nearly ended our mission," said one of the missioners. Unaware that a two-ton bull elephant had marked its territory and considered any object as an intruder, the open-roofed truck carrying the missioners nearly got upended by the elephant. "That was a very close call," the driver admitted once the vehicle had out-raced the pachyderm.

Serengeti adventures aside, the chance to change one family’s life in a land ravaged by the HIV-AIDS pandemic was the highlight of the entire trip. On the last day of their mission, the US team welcomed and hugged and cried with this year’s recipient of the house that love built. Paloosa, meaning "joy," was the African mother’s name. The translation of her children’s African names are "We Win," and "Gift." Accompanying her into this new house adventure was her husband, David, and their soon-to-be born child.

What was the "take-away" from this missionary adventure? For the high schoolers, the response was immediate and unified: "We faced discrimination as we’ve never imagined . . . never again will we laugh or demean persons of other races . . . or people who have less than we."

Another, "my take-away is the power of team," adding, "to see people from such diverse places in the world and from such different cultures working together to build a stronger Africa was astonishing."

Thomas Hall, pastor of Plains and Paradise responded, "The take-away? For me, it’s the whole experience—standing up to discrimination, working with Africans to build the house, worshipping with them, and seeing the face of a woman who can’t talk because she’s overcome by gratitude and joy at the chance for a better life."

Any talk about a South Africa 2013 Team? Hall said, "So many people are indicating their interest in going to South Africa next year, we’ll probably send three different teams there. Teachers, doctors, PA’s and RN’s, clergy, high schoolers, and retired folks are all part of the mix that will form the 2013 teams.

For more information about Mosaic’s work, please check out their website: www.mosaicsa.org . To learn more about this missional opportunity and costs, please contact Thomas Hall, 406 529-6822 or email him at thall12152@gmail.com.