“Hope is the power to keep focusing on the larger vision while taking the small, often undramatic, steps toward that future.” – Mitri Raheb* Dear friends, Over these past two years as we at The Warehouse – with our wider community of friends – have remained committed to being a listening and discerning community, we have sensed and leant into...
Author: Caroline.Powell
Locked Down, not Locked Out
Around the country, churches are being called on to open their doors as Care Centres to the vulnerable, to those who are unable to self-isolate due to high-density living areas, to healthcare workers who need rest between shifts somewhere near their workplace, and as community testing and collection & distribution sites. With the need for...
Ideas for Specific Ways that Churches can Respond with their Space & Resources
You may decide as a local church that you have the capacity and expertise within your congregation to be involved in some key frontline responses during the lockdown period. If this is so, the first place to start would be to compile an inventory of the various resources that your church has access to. These...
Collaborating with Existing Networks or Creating Local Structures
At the moment, a huge amount of local community mobilisation is happening across the country. In Cape Town, this is largely in the form of Community Action Networks (CAN!s). One of the best ways for churches and church members to be good neighbours within their communities and beyond is to set up or get involved...
Local Mobilisation & Networking Among Church Leaders
The church has an extremely wide reach in South Africa. If you are a church leader, consider how you can connect with and mobilise impactful responses from the people within your sphere of influence at this time. Some questions to help you think through this include: Am I part of a wider denomination than just...
Mobilisation of Your Own Local Church Congregation
The local church has one of the most valuable resources available in times of crisis; readily arranged networks of people. The first important step to take is to map and become aware of these networks. Find out if there is a church database of members, and what information this database includes. Helpful information would include...
Awakening a Prophetic Imagination
When last did you play with a child? I mean really let your sensible, careful, sometimes anxious, adult self, get drawn into their world, fuelled by wild imagination and the sense that anything is possible? How did it feel? How did it leave you feeling? I have a vivid memory of children at play that...
Seeking Rest
Reflections on Ruth from the church in a divided South African city Written for the Stott-Bediako Forum in 2016. The theme of the forum was “The Refugee Crisis: A Shared Human Condition” Introduction This paper has been written from the context of The Warehouse Trust, an NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa, that has...