By: Phil Goldsberry on June 22, 2017
Introduction In 2000, I invited a young South African, Brendon, to live with us and work for our church. Together, we worked from New York and he from Johannesburg, to get a “religious workers visa”. I had met this young man through Youth for Christ. He was traveling with a South African YFC group that…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on June 22, 2017
This week we read a book that was not an academic account of the historical events that occured during the Apartheid in South Africa. We have been reading books from theologians who have fever and passion about shifting the narrative back to its origins. The origin of our Christian faith which belongs now and has…
By: Jim Sabella on June 22, 2017
“In South Africa there’s a saying that to be black is to be at the end of the line when anything of significance is to be had. So these people [living in Alexandra] were considered and treated as the dregs of society, aliens in a land of their birth.”(1) As I read the painful accounts…
By: Marc Andresen on June 22, 2017
“There is a death far worse than physical death, and that is the death of the mind and soul…” [1] This is a poignant summary of the fascinating yet overwhelming book, Kaffir Boy, written by Mark (Johannes) Mathabane. It is a powerfully moving book, in part, because it shows the devastating impact of bad leadership.…
By: Aaron Peterson on June 22, 2017
Kaffir Boy is the sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes hopeful, autobiography of Mark Mathabane who grew up in the horrendous environment of apartheid in South Africa. One theme throughout the story is religion. At first Mark’s mother becomes a Christian for the material perks being a Christian offers to blacks in South Africa. This part reminded me…
By: Katy Drage Lines on June 22, 2017
THE WHITE & THE BLACK While I’m gone, white mother, kill the fattened oxen And feed your dear ones well, prime meat and curds Overspilling so the dogs too lap the juice, And still enough is left to throw a surplus To your close kin across the seas. And you, black mother, hold…
By: Garfield Harvey on June 22, 2017
“One of the apartheid’s chief aims was the elimination of competition between black and white, invariably to the benefit of whites.”[1] Therefore the government designated land for both groups but the whites reaped the benefits because they received the lands with natural wealth. The blacks had to settle for the poorer lands, which was also…
By: Rose Anding on June 22, 2017
Introduction Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa is authored by Mark Mathabane. The playwright narrates how he was brought up in overwhelming poverty and received education in cruel boulevards and the most distressed ghetto of South Africa, where bloody gang battles and midnight police incursions…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on June 21, 2017
There were two perspectives I came from as I read “Kaffir Boy”: #1- Professionally, as a therapist, understanding the emotionally damaging effects of living in an oppressive state and the power of compassion. #2- Personally, viewing my first experiences of overt discrimination and my ethnic friendships. #1- Professionally, understanding the effects … To live…
By: Pablo Morales on June 21, 2017
Author Mark (Johannes) Mathabane wrote his autobiography in 1986 in order to give people a window into the atrocities of Apartheid. The book Kaffir Boy describes life in the segregated township of Alexandra through the eyes of a child who eventually escapes the suffocating claws of poverty and segregation through the pursuit of education. Through his love for tennis, Johannes eventually gets…
By: Lynda Gittens on June 21, 2017
KAFFIR BOY young students in Soweto, South Africa (Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church Mission trip) People moving out, people moving in. Why, because of the color of their skin. Run, run, run but you sure can’t hide. Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration, Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation. Ball of confusion. Oh yeah, that’s what…
By: Mary Walker on June 21, 2017
I had to believe in myself and not allow apartheid to define my humanity.[1] Mark Mathabane The delusion lies in the fact that no matter how well we think we know the Other, we still judge from within the imprisoning framework of our own limited cultural criteria, we still speak within the cliché of the…
By: Kevin Norwood on June 21, 2017
London Advance 2016 Visual Ethnography by Kevin Norwood for Dr. Jason Clark London Arriving in London was a refreshing time. We stayed in one of my favorite parts of all of London. Kensington is beautiful and the gardens are so detailed and manicured. Gathering back with friends that may…
By: gfu blog on June 21, 2017
As I wandered around London, suitcase in tow, sleep deprived and trying to find my hotel, I was intrigued by the culture. In my wanderings: I wondered at the homes crammed together, marveled at the ancient architecture, and bantered with the 4 taxi drivers who encouraged me to walk instead of taxi since it was “just around…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on June 21, 2017
‘My First Sermon’ by Sir John Everett Millais When we happened upon the Guildhall Art Gallery during a break one afternoon from our meetings in London – ‘happening upon’ an gallery containing both famous works of Art and an Roman archaeological site, is the kind of thing that you see in movies or hear in…
By: Claire Appiah on June 21, 2017
Personal Interests One Advance—two amazing historic cities: London and Oxford, that I had the privilege of experiencing with fellow cohorts in the Doctor of Ministry Leadership Global Perspectives program, and faculty at Portland George Fox Seminary. The assigned readings in my cohort (six) were preparatory for this Advance in many ways. This Advance required participants…
By: Aaron Cole on June 21, 2017
By: Rose Anding on June 21, 2017
London Bound… Traveling with my daughter Tamela 09/21/2016 The people of London were of all races and nationalities, all cultures like a Cajun dish named Jum-Ba-li and when thrown in the same pot and seasoned correctly (with the nourishment of mental food), they see…
By: Aaron Cole on June 21, 2017
Here’s the link. I have tried for 2 hours to upload and have dumped all the pics I can. My file shows it is below the 20mb file size, but it keeps kicking back. If I am missing something, my apologies. However this is all I know to do. https://1drv.ms/w/s!AhxavF1jqUiWpwjaRgOGb-L7NWSD
By: Aaron Peterson on June 21, 2017
