Blog entries

Gifts for the Giving

Leslie Black — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:50:11 +0100

Don’t you just love it when God, the Lord of the universe, Creator and Sustainer of all things, speaks to you and you actually hear Him? I’m pretty sure that He’s always speaking to us, but I know that I often miss hearing Him for any number of reasons. Sometimes I’m just not listening, or I’m focused on other things, or I’m distracted, or worse, I don’t really want to hear what He has to say.

Lately I’ve been asking God to show me h...

Cutting through the Red Tape with Prayer

Leslie Black — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 11:01:14 +0100

This is a story I’m sharing for the express purpose of garnering prayer support for those involved. Prayer is needed for many facets of this situation, so please pray as the Lord leads you.

In our last Reachafrica newsletter we shared about a teenage boy from the Barcelona Children’s Centre who has been “adopted” by a couple in Pinelands this year so that he can attend a better high school. This boy had expressed interest in being an engineer or a doctor someday...

It's Showtime! Reflections on U2 360 Tour

Leslie Black — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:38:48 +0100

Wow. I’m still processing the incredible audiovisual feast that I had the amazing privilege of experiencing a couple of nights ago with 79 000+ people at Cape Town Stadium. I’ve been a U2 fan for a long time, and who wouldn’t admire Bono for his tireless social activism, but I now have a totally revised impression of the man and an even deeper respect for how he’s carrying out his mission. Tim Elmore, in his workbook “A Life of Influence,” lists 6 thin...

On My Radar Screen

Leslie Black — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:00:22 +0100

It seems like more than the usual amount of “stuff” has come across my radar screen lately. Some of it has been pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, but some of it has a broader impact. Here’s a sampling, in no particular order:

· Last week 10 school children in the Western Cape were killed in a horrific accident when their tax...

Reflections and Observations on Our Time in the U.S. of A.

Leslie Black — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:32:39 +0100

It’s been a LONG time since I posted anything. It hasn’t been for lack of material, but more for lack of time. We recently returned to Cape Town from a month in the U.S., so that has given me some fresh reflections and observations that I thought I’d share.

This was the first time that we’ve been back to the States as a family during the Northern Hemisphere summer since we left 7 years ago. Our other trips have been...

A World Gone Mad

Leslie Black — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:04:55 +0100

Sometimes you just have to wonder how the world came to be so mad. For those of us who are Christ-followers, we know the theological answer: we live in a fallen world and all of the injustices and pain are a direct result of man’s rebellion against his Creator. But it’s still pretty hard to fathom the utter depth of our depravity.

For example, last week I read about a 24 year old mother (Busi Danxa) who was sent home to die a painful death due to kidney failure. Why? Well, ...

A Beautiful Sight

Leslie Black — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:11:27 +0100

Just a couple of days ago I was telling some friends how thankful I am that the Lord has put me in a place with so much awe-inspiring beauty because the beauty of nature is one of the things that draws me close to God. As I drive and walk around Cape Town every day Table Mountain is always part of the scenery, and it draws me like a siren to worship the Creator. I was telling these friends that I have often wondered how my worship would be affected if I wasn’t surrounded by such majesty...

Reminiscing about Delirious...

Leslie Black — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:32:20 +0100

I'm not really prone to soppy nostalgia, but I have been reminiscing this past week about the end of the Age of Delirious, my all-time favorite band. In my youth I never paid much attention to music, though I was bitterly disappointed that my parents wouldn't let me go to a Pink Floyd concert when I was in high school (now having teens of my own I can better appreciate their restrictions). Anyway, I became aware of Delirious when they were a relatively young band and I was in my 30's. Their m...

Thoughts on World AIDS Day 2009

Leslie Black — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:47:09 +0100

Here it is: World AIDS Day 2009. I wonder how many people outside of South Africa will give much thought to the fact that December 1 is set aside every year to commemorate and take stock of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. There is a fairly high level of awareness of this day here in South Africa, but not for the best of reasons. South Africa continues to be the country with the most HIV+ peop...

Meditation on Psalm 139

Leslie Black — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:18:58 +0100

There’s quite a bit running through my mind at the moment. Once again I’ve been reminded of the uncertainty that accompanies each day – two young students at Virginia Tech were murdered last week. The young man was a roommate of one of the leaders on the team that came out to work with us in June/July. That took me back to my second year in college when my chemistry lab partner was killed in a horrific car accident. She was the only sober p...

Once Upon a Time in Barcelona

Leslie Black — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:38:46 +0100

A couple of weeks ago we had the immense privilege of taking a team of 40+ mostly teens from Pinelands and Langa (South Africa), Blacksburg, VA (USA), and York (UK) to a dusty, pot-hole ridden, little township called Barcelona on the outskirts of Gugulethu/Cape Town. Deep inside of this particular Barcelona sits a little piece of heaven on a fenced bit of ground, in the middle of which is a big hall with no signs. The big hall is known as Barcelona Baptist Church and Child Care Centre, and i...

Thembi Ngubane - 1985-2009

Leslie Black — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Many of you may be familiar with the story of Thembisa (Thembi) Ngubane. I suspect far more people outside of South Africa know of her than people in her home country, but I trust that her courage and her struggle will prove to have had a positive impact in her community. Thembi achieved a certain level of fame globally through her "Radio Diaries," which were originally aired on National Public Radio in the U.S., then in the U.K., Canada and Australia, before airing here. Them...

Adventures in Africa Continued

Leslie Black — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Part One of Adventures in Africa described our camping exploits with Tim's parents along the Garden Route. This installment will highlight some adventures with Mom and Dad Black in and around Cape Town.

We arrived back in Pinelands the day before Good Friday. Tim preached for the Good Friday service at 9:30 Friday morning, so there wasn't much post-travel recovery time. The service was good in a contemplative way, as that type of service is meant to be. That even...

Adventures in Africa, Part One

Leslie Black — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Knysna

Well, it's been some time since I've had a chance to write anything. The past month has been FULL! The focus of this little piece is going to be a bit different than usual. For most of the month of April Tim's parents were here visiting us, so we tried to give them a whirlwind peek at South Africa in general,...

More Justice Issues...

Leslie Black — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

A few more troubling issues have surfaced in the past week or so. About 10 days ago a 13 month old baby died on his grandmother's back here in Cape Town. She had taken him to three different health clinics because he was severely ill, but she was turned away at each one. After walking from clinic to clinic with the child on her back, she finally headed home. When she took him off of her back she found he had died. This was a totally preventable death. On the positive side, the media was alert...

A Short Musing: Why Such Apathy?

Leslie Black — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Philip Yancey, noted author of numerous books on various Christian topics, was in Cape Town this past weekend to help Learn to Earn celebrate 20 years of holistically developing disadvantaged, unemployed people. In part, his speaking engagements were intended to help raise funds and awareness for Learn to Earn, which is an amazing organization that has been bringing personal and community transformation about for a long time (www.learntoearn.org.za). Yancey’s books are sold, and presumably r...

Reflections on Harsh Reality

Leslie Black — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

It has been a long, draining and emotionally confusing week. Much of it has been spent with Dumisa and her family trying to help them get their feet back on the ground after the fire that destroyed their shack and 400 others on Monday. We visited the site of the fire Monday afternoon. It looked like a moonscape - totally flat and covered in gray ash. By Wednesday the area was a bee-hive of activity with people building new structures as quickly as possible. There were people on the scene from...

Do Justice, Love Kindness, Walk Humbly

Leslie Black — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The words of Micah 6:8 seem to be a rather constant refrain running through my mind: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” It sounds so simple, right? I suspect that no matter where you live, issues of injustice abound, but sometimes they can be easy to overlook. Here in Cape Town, it takes a real effort of will to turn a blind eye. A lot of the work we are involved in is...