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South Africa Festivals bringing hope Currently many locals and visitors from 6 other nations are in South Africa to help run festivals during this significant sports event for the year! Read more about what is happening over the next 2 weeks. Check out the blog site: http://pilgrimagetosouthafrica.blogspot.com/
It is amazing to look back on South Africa and to consider that in just nine months we have gone from our first cold contacts to now having small groups of people in 26 different communities who are actively working to transform their own neighbourhoods and build a safe, harmonious and inclusive society in which every person can find their place and purpose. We have done training with over 1000 individuals and yet the biggest team that we have had on the ground at any one time was only 14 people. Through networking, training and community building we have been able to help local people move to the front foot and to become a part of changing the world. Our team is gradually building but we are still working to secure an ongoing financial support structure for them. We are working to try and build local support in SA but to also find people here in Australia that have a burden for South Africa and who would like to contribute to the work there.
Here is the introductory paragraph the pilgrims have in their journal that explains a bit more of what they will be part of over the next few weeks:
Welcome to the journey of a life time...
For thousands of years, the human heart has tried to make sense of itself. One of the ways has been by embarking on a meaningful journey.
It’s as if all the forces that have shaped our thinking, identity and character have to be left behind for a period of time as we immerse ourselves in other cultures and communities and listen to the way they express the meaning of their existence. It’s as if we have to leave home to take the journey so we can come back home and see it for the first time with new eyes.
A pilgrimage is a transformative journey to a sacred centre; always such a journey is full of risk and renewal because a journey without challenge has no meaning and a journey without purpose has no soul. Probably the earliest recorded pilgrimage is that of Abraham who left Ur 4000 years ago seeking the unknowable - “the presence of God” in the vast desert. His descendants, Moses, Paul and Mohammed - embodied the notion of the sacred journey. The Bible, the Torah, the Koran, the holy texts of Hinduism and Buddhism; all encourage their followers to take the journey on a path toward enlightenment. Many pilgrims went back to the places of birth of the founders of their religions. We, on this trip, will take a journey into South African culture and work to help South Africa find connectedness and hope through this unique moment in June 2010.
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