A letter from Cindy Easterday in South Africa
February 26, 2008
Our passion for justice often seems like a dream. We dream the dream of justice. We glimpse, for a moment, a world at one, a world put to rights, a world where things work out, where societies function fairly and efficiently, where we not only know what we ought to do but actually do it. And then we wake up and come back to reality. But what are we hearing when we’re dreaming that dream?
- N.T.Wright
Dear Friends and loved Ones,
A wonderful thing about my life in Africa is the people I am so privileged to meet along the way—people who inspire me and, unknowingly, challenge my thinking and attitudes, humbling me in the process, people who live out their faith with integrity and confidence despite invisible walls of diverse obstacles.
One such person was Bantu Stephen Biko, who died in prison in 1977. He was a black South African leader along the lines of Martin Luther King, Jr, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela. He fought for the dignity of all people and particularly to raise the consciousness of his own people, who were living under the degrading apartheid system.
When I was in King William’s Town last year, several of us visited Biko’s gravesite then began searching for his home in nearby Ginsberg township. After wandering about, we found a girl on the road who pointed us to the house of someone who could help. That’s how we met Akona, a young woman who went beyond giving us directions. She went with us for the next two hours, showing us the homes of Biko and others and sharing some of the history of that time.
I felt as if the events of the past were a silent movie playing in the shadows, still present but not visible, soundless but in action—two dimensions reflecting the past and the present simultaneously. It was like living a dream. I was awed to be walking where these great stalwarts in the struggle for peaceful co-existence had gathered and walked years before.
Cindy Easterday (left) with Steve Biko's sister-in-law (center) and new-found friend and guide, Akona.
Akona directed us to the home of Steve Biko’s brother, recently deceased, to introduce us to his wife. Gracious and hospitable, I was struck by her warm welcome and embrace. We were strangers to her, yet she exuded a love that could only flow from a forgiving heart. I was honored beyond understanding in her presence and very grateful to Akona for taking us in hand so willingly.
To learn more of this influential leader, including the relationship with a leading white journalist who became his friend, read Biko by Donald Woods or see a movie based on that book, “Cry Freedom,” with Denzel Washington. It’s not easily forgetten.
Zimbabwe – surviving on hope
God often touches our heart through people whose lives become inexplicably intertwined with ours in wonderful, challenging, and sometimes painful ways. But all the ways we are touched are blessed, because we share a common thread that unites us. And so it is with several precious friends I came to know in South Africa years ago who returned to their native Zimbabwe when it was already deteriorating politically and economically.
Having decided to accompany friends travelling to Zimbabwe over Christmas, it wasn’t long after crossing the border—a tedious experience in itself—that I wondered if we hadn’t made a mistake. But our vehicles were loaded and we were determined not to turn back.
It’s impossible to even begin to give you a sense of the difficulty of life in Zimbabwe these days. My dear friend Leonard Skumba, a pastor in Harare, tells the story of a man who goes to the bank, withdraws some money from his account, and heads home with a wheelbarrow loaded with bills. As he tires, he stops to rest under a tree. When he wakes up, the money is still there in a big pile, but the wheelbarrow is gone! We laughed heartily because it was so imaginable!
Although he was preaching to people who wonder how they will get food, pay rent, or pay the bus fare to work that that costs more than they earn, Leonard’s sermon that Sunday was inspiring and filled with the very real Hope of God’s presence in the midst of our struggles. As we shared a meal after, so conscious of how precious this time and food was, Leonard and his wife Gertrude shared how God has provided for their needs in ways they don’t understand. Their faith and love for Him deepens and grows as they rely on Him for their very daily existence. Oh, to have even a fraction of their faith and goodness! Still, it remains a challenge for them, so your prayers on their behalf and their fellow Zimbabweans would be appreciated.
With gratefulness for our God of justice and peace, who will prevail!
Cindy
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 30
