Please pray for believers in South Africa to stand up for social justice but to express God's mercy. Pray for our national leaders and popular leaders in the nation, that they come into true relationship with Jesus. This will take crushing conviction by the Holy Spirit and the overwhelming kindness of God's forgiveness. Pray for the body of Christ in the country to know how to war against the demonic strongholds of witchcraft, hatred, and revenge. Pray for the peace that comes with the rule of Jesus Christ.
This is a trying time for the city, but in many ways its 'business as usual' which makes me really sad. There is still striking going on at the Lonmin Marikana mine but so far that has not extended to other mining companies and any of their mine shafts. That is a real concern.
What's happening is a power struggle. Two different unions want control and are working against one another. The only way to do that is to show how hard they will come against the mining industry and gain the favor of the workers. The violence at the Marikana mine had been brewing for a while and witch doctors had been high on the hill next to the site for several weeks preparing for violence. Photos from the event show how blood-thirsty the crowd was, carrying machetes and spears. The argument is said to be over pay wages, but even that has been manipulated. The pay isn't what it should be but it's not what's being reported either. African unions strike are often very violent. They use fear as the number one tactic to get what they want. This must change.
The second power struggle is over the presidency. Our current president is Jacob Zuma. He pushed former President Thabo Mbeki out of office early to take the seat and was elected in the next election. All of this is in the ANC party. For a while our ANC Youth League leader was a man named Julius Malema. WE MUST PRAY FOR HIM. He is greedy, corrupt, violent, and hateful. He was removed from his position because he publicly called for war in Botswana. However, the minute he was removed from the ANC Youth League, he was chosen as a leader in one of the large provinces and has stayed in the spotlight. During a speech at a university he lead the students in the song called, "Kill the boer" which means kill the farmer. He is promoting land redistribution to take back all land from white farmers. He is pushing that the government become the head of the mining industry. After the violence in Marikana he encouraged the union workers to "fight till the death" for a pay raise. He said "when people ask you who is your president, you must say you have no president."
He wants power. Unless Christ grabs this man's heart, we can only expect more horrific behavior. I can't even imagine. When the violence first broke out the body of Christ seemed to really wake up in the city. But now after just a week or two no one is talking about it. South Africa needs prayer. Our leaders need salvation. Malema could lead this nation to all out war and by all that he has said, that his is plan. But, God can turn his heart.
That's what we need, hearts turned toward God. Please join us in praying for South Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment