What's in a name?

Quite a lot, where Footsteps to Good Hope is concerned.  Choosing a name for a cause can be as difficult and challenging as choosing your child's name. It has to mean something to you, but also to everyone hearing it. It has to have a deeper meaning - more than just what the eye can see.

In choosing Footsteps to Good Hope, we hoped to achieve just that: to be more meaningful than just a name, a few words stringed together.

Footsteps to Good Hope firstly, asks the attention for the physical journey of 977 km on foot: a gruelling 30 km per day hike, in December's best hot summer weather with the sand of the beach reflecting the brilliance of the sun. A demanding chore for nearly 6 weeks: wake up, pick up your equipment and walk - day in, day out! And just when you think you can get comfortable and in autopilot rhythm, you realize you have to use all your senses to watch, learn, count, observe, take pictures, make mental notes and study. Really see what is around you, the damage done by mining activities, by poaching and looting, by careless people enjoying the beach and ocean waves, but not wanting to take responsibility for it! But also see God's glory shining through in the tiny detail of fauna and flora, making a living and surviving in spite of men's best efforts to destroy everything that is precious and beautiful...

The route will take Jacobus through difficult patches: the diamond mining areas, where no man has stepped foot legally for any other purpose than to mine diamonds. Quite a few National Parks - may they be a testimony to people getting wiser in the areas of conservation and our duty in taking care of nature. He will have to cross rivers, which may be a true blessing seeing how he lives in a province where we have level 5 water restrictions due to a very severe drought. He will also face the obstacle of crossing through the Koeberg Plant. Footsteps to Good Hope - an exhausting trip!

But, and this is where we dig deeper: Footsteps to Good Hope is also a trip aimed at the youth of our nation (and at the human race) - we can make a difference.  We have good hope that if we start today, every tiny bit we do in taking care of creation, will be worth it. We have good hope that we can learn from the mistakes of our fathers, learn from the missteps of our country and the world concerning nature, and do better! It is not too late - do your bit and support those who want to stand up for the environment!

Thirdly, Footsteps to Good Hope symbolises in its name the hope we have that our Lord Jesus Christ is at his Father's right hand - meaning He is ruling the universe. And He will come back and in an instant will change everything so that the whole world will once again be perfect - be as it was supposed to be: glorifying God's great name, his omnipotence and his everlasting love and grace.

And in the Name of this Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Jacobus will start his footsteps-trek. And by the grace and favour of our Saviour, he will be able to finish this trip. And it is in these powerful and almighty hands that we lay this journey, the participants and all of you supporting them! The Lord will perfect that which concerns me: your mercy O Lord, endures forever: forsake not the works of your own hands (Psalm 138: 8)

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Focus on Fokus

The river clean-up which started in March 2017 at the Kuilsriver, is an ongoing project. Although it was started by (youth) members of the congregation of the Free Reformed Church which practically lies on the river banks, this project has the interest of far more than just these few enthusiastic Christians. 

A Rocha South Africa has been visiting the site and are grateful for the efforts. They are organising similar events all over the country (and world). They did a beach clean up at Blouberg and Strand beaches these past two Saturdays.  A meeting on river clean up issues will be held on Thursday 7 September at 19:00 in the Free Reformed Church of Cape Town (corner of Frans Conradie and Stellenbergweg, Bellville). Details on this: https://www.facebook.com/A-Rocha-South_africa-1762121324145733/

For more info on A Rocha, follow them on their own website: www.arocha.org.za  

Fokus - the Afrikaans current affair TV program on SABC 2 - has also heard of these efforts and was on site to see what is actually going on.  The state the rivers are in, especially in the Western Cape, is a big concern to environmentalists, but it should be a concern to all of us. The Nederdutch Reformed Church La Rochelle took their turn in cleaning up, and were part of the footage shot to use in the Fokus program.  The program aired this past weekend. See for yourself: https://youtu.be/s25ti7BPJC4