South Africa. Our mission was to meet with Cassie and Jenny Carsten, a South African
missionary couple, to find out how Mariners Church in Irvine, CA could come alongside
the Carstens in their ministry to a squatter's camp called Kayamandi.
in Capetown for a quick driving
tour of the city. Capetown is at
the southern tip of Africa. This
beautiful port city is located where
the Atlantic and Indian Oceans
meet. After our tour of the city,
we drove an hour to Stellenbosch
in South African wine country.
who live in the township would be
better off if they had stayed in their
villages. Because of cramped
living spaces and open fires in the
simple structures, many homes
can be wiped out and children can
be burnt by an unattended fire.
With poor sanitation and limited
health care, disease spreads
almost as quickly as a fire.
Kayamandi, a squatter's camp of 30,000
people within the city of Stellenbosch. We
walked through row upon row of hastily built
shanties put together with whatever rough
materials the owners could find. The
people who live in Kayamandi worked very
hard to come to the city to try and make
money so they can send most of what they
make back to their families in rural villages.
large group of foreigners into her tiny home as Cassie explained to us how he had gotten to know her. When
Cassie and his wife Jenny first began their ministry in Kayamandi, this woman did not trust Cassie and would
not look him in the eye. One day, Cassie and some of the neighbors came to her home and started painting
her house. Over time, the woman began to trust Cassie and even became friends with the Carstens.
living. She walks to the river to gather
reeds and carries them home. After
drying them, she weaves the reeds into
mats. It takes her two days to weave one
mat. Cassie and Jenny help sell the
mats in the market in Stellenbosch so
she can support herself and her family.
photos of children and their
families in the squatter's
camp, I went to a photo lab
in town and had many
photos printed.
out to the people I had photographed. The children (and adults!)
were so excited to see and to have photographs of themselves.
introducing us to the people with whom they minister, we spent a
great deal of time getting to know Victor, the former mayor of
Kayamandi. Victor and Cassie first met when they had gone head
to head over a real estate deal. They both wanted to purchase a
local pub and use it to benefit the township. They soon came to
realize that their interests and intentions for good were the same.
They chose to partner together and turned the building into a church.
told us how even after he had known Cassie for some time, he still did
not trust this white man. He described a day when he sat in Cassie's
car and asked Cassie to pray for his heart to change. Victor grinned as
he talked about how a spirit of peace came over him as Cassie prayed.
Victor walked away from the car that day ready to begin a friendship of
trust with Cassie. These two men work tirelessly to build relationships
with the people of the township and to share Christ's love with them.
