PUB RESTORED INTO A CHURCH - Salem Danville, Pretoria, South Africa

FROM PUB TO CHURCH

Salem Danville's first service was under a carport on the 1st of March 2009 with 6 people. We started because the people of Danville spoke a need of a Biblical, relevant and alive church.

In December of 2009 we took over an old pub in Danville and renovated it into our church - a miracle done by God! Today we minister to about 100 people, 30 teenagers and 60 children.
Danville is a poor area in Pretoria West, South Africa - unique in a sense that there is poor people of all cultures and races.

Our vision - to bring His Peace and restoration to the people of Danville. To show them that your circumstances do not dictate God's love for you. Jesus loves all, no matter who you are, what you've done, or how much money you have!

Share the joy of ministering to the poor with us in this blog!

Kobus & Anina Homan (Pastors Salem Danville)

(Visit http://salem-danville.blogspot.com/ for our newsletters)

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Behind a smile...

Do you know someone that always smiles? And I don’t mean a forced friendliness, a sincere smile that comes from a sincere heart!

We have a family like that in our church. Innocence, his wife and 5 children. Each one of them, always smiles. I remembered thinking that they surely must have something to smile about…

Last night we had our second celebration dinner, where we aim to know people a bit better.

What I know about Innocence and his family is that they are political refugees from a Northern African state. He was involved in politics but had to flee for his life because he did not agree with the genocide going on in his land.

Last night he gave me some more details… and I struggled to keep back the tears!

He told me, how more than once, he and his family had to flee flying bullets. How he had to tell his children:  “Keep your head low if you don’t want to die!”

One time, they could not flee and he had to hide his children between corpses and told them: “If you move, you die!”

Another time a man was shot and fell on one of his daughters. He told her to lay still under this bleeding corpse until he would come back for her… after six hours he lifted the body off her - terrified, full of the dead man’s blood, but alive.

At times each one of them could only eat two spoons of rice and two spoons of water. Safely in South Africa, when they could eat more, their children still only ate two spoons of food. He had to teach them that they can actually eat more!

It took me some time to process all of this information. Trying to understand that behind the smile there is so much trauma and pain. So why the smile…?

Because behind the smile, there is a family of 7 people, that lives safely in a small room in Danville, sharing communal bathroom and kitchen. Who struggles to pay the rent of R1800.00 and do peace jobs to get food on the table.

But his whole family survived, he did not lose his wife or one of his 5 children….what is there not to smile about?

Shalom!
Anina

2 comments:

  1. God toid me that Inocence must become a missionary in Danville. If you want to support him financially please contact me at kobus.salem@vodamail.co.za

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  2. WoW Anina... Dis amazing, mens (ek) loop verby elke een van daai gesin en smile net altyd terug, want ons is mos vriendlike mense. Ek het vergeet van die smile van dankbaarheid... Ek wat woon in my 'beskermde' omgewing, het vergeet om te smile uit dankbaarheid vir wat die Here elke dag vir my doen en hoe Hy my geliefdes beskerm nie net teen geweld nie maar beskerming teen siektes... Dankie!! Antoinette

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