The Influence of Passion

Tuesday, March 8

I thought about Rapule all Monday evening, in particular, how his face lit up when talking about his passion.  In thinking about how I want to portray the stories of people in my art, I got excited about capturing that fire and life in their eyes when they begin sharing what really matters to them.  Regrettably, I didn't get a photo like that of Rapule but I set out for my next interviews with just that in mind.  Along with Dave Wayman and Kristen Wood, we returned to Diepsloot to talk with Pastor Eddie Ramabulana from the Diesploot church we had attended on Sunday.  When he spoke of his work, that of helping the community and planting new churches there, his face lit up.  Just like Rapule, when he spoke of his passion, he became fully alive, light and life shining from his eyes.  I tried to take photos of him when he wasn't aware (with the camera sitting in my lap).  I saw that same animation in his wife when she talked of her work with the children of Diesploot. This photo of Pastor Eddie comes close to capturing his excitement.

Pastor Eddie Ramabulana

The pastor and his wife then walked us over to the Diepsloot Police Station for our next appointment.  Officer Pauline Refilwe Mogale agreed to tell us a little about herself.  She proudly told us of a major sting operation that she had played a leading part in.  Her main role at the station is to work with the victims of domestic abuse and she makes a big difference in the lives that she touches.  As she talked about the situations that she's addressed, her passion began to shine out of her.  She has a real love and calling to the people she helps.  She also shared with us the real danger that the officers face each day while working in Diepsloot.  There are areas in the settlement that even the police do not venture into at night.  When we offered to pray for her, she excitedly ran to get her supervisor and he then requested that we pray for the entire staff on duty at the moment.

Refilwe Mogale

For lunch, the team met up with the Mosaiek staff and some of the Emthonjeni staff for more braii (barbeque) in a popular Zandspruit restaurant.  I'm mentioning this mainly to tell you about my new food love:  pap and sauce.   Pap is a ground white corn meal, similar to grits or polenta, only ground much finer and cooked with less water so that it's the consistency of thick mash potatoes, thick enough to pick up bite sized pieces with your fingers to dip it in sauce  (usually a tomato based sauce).  It's traditionally served with meat, and  I think I could eat it alone at every meal.  I'm now in pursuit of the ingredients to make it! 



Pap and Sauce



Tuesday evening found us back at Mosaiek for a big event:  The Awakening Artist seminar.  Artists from Mosaiek and other churches in the community filled the room as Cindy West described to them the journey that our artist ministry has been on for the last 11 years, and how God is calling all Christian artists to "create work that  no one has seen before or even realize that they need to see."  I could feel the thirst in the room of artists needing to hear that they have a valuable and legitimate role to play in the church if they follow their calling.  I recognized that feeling of thirst because I myself was in their shoes when the artist ministry first began at Woodmen Valley Chapel.  It's in learning to give yourself permission to believe that God loves artists and loves speaking through them that sets an artist free to pursue his or her calling.  I cried through a great deal of the evening as I realized how far our group has traveled together, where that journey has taken us and just out of sheer disbelief that I've had the chance to be a part of it.   New York, Africa and probably beyond...

The artists who attended the seminar are just now forming the circle of community that I described as setting us free to be who we are created to be.  I can't wait to see them reach the point where they are encouraging each to express what God gives each of them. 

The circle for this day was the effect that a stone has when thrown into water.  It causes ripples that spread and spread and spread.  Just like the passion of people doing what they are called to do.

Kristen Wood singing for the Awakening Artists of South Africa