We left Jeffreys Bay on the 5th of May to drop off Nala, our Rhodesian Ridgeback, with my brother and sister.  

We set out on the road to visit key ministry partners as well as people doing extraordinary work all along the South and East Coast of SA.  

I came to call this trip our ‘State of the Nation Trip’

We have not traveled South Africa extensively for a while, especially since Covid and lockdowns that are still going on. 

We needed to get out! And see dear friends and how this country had handled these unprecedented times. 

We traveled through Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, Free State, Kwazulu Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and back home. 

We would visit all the provinces except Gauteng. 

South Africa is a massive country. With extremely diverse landscapes and vast wide open spaces. 

We were left in awe most of the time. 

Words like beautiful, breathtaking, awesome and glorious got thrown around a lot.

 ‘How cool is that?!’ One of my more favored expressions.

We drove over too many mountain passes, which is not great in a Toyota 4Y engine. 

We saw tropical estuaries on the East Coast and savanna grasslands filled with Acacias. Game was abundant. We almost hit a massive male giraffe around a bend on the way to Satara. We truly got to see Nature in all its glory.

We also drove through many towns and villages. 

As we did, one can not be filled with some worry when going through these places. 

The condition of many of the roads are in shambles. Monumental sized potholes for miles and miles. 

With the only sign of anything being done was a small sign on side of the road saying POTHOLES!  I doubt they will ever get fixed – there are just too many roads and at too high of a cost. 

Outdated infrastructure can not support the needs of a fast growing population. 

Many places we visited did not have water or electricity. 

The decay of small towns are alarming. Houses are delapitated, post offices and many municipal building burned down by angry protesters due to service delivery…. or so they say. 

Why this is all so alarming is because South Africa was not a nation known for roads with potholes, energy and water crises, or decaying and abandoned towns.

Everywhere we see people and wonder how they are making a living!? We see the youth and wonder what future is there in these places?

It is hard to consolidate the beauty and productivity of our natural eco systems and then compare it to our urban regression. 

I often pondered the verse where Jesus says “See I have come to make all things new”

Which leads me to our mission of Restoration and I ask HOW?

I highly doubt the roads, buildings and infrastructure of South Africa will ever be restored again.  But I have learned and know that this is not where our focus should be. 

Let us look to the restoration of the heart of man that can only be accomplished through faith, obedience and alignment according to our Creator’s masterplan. 

God’s whole reason for keeping us as humans around on this earth is so we can get back to a place of dwelling with Him!  In the world He made for us and where He said in the beginning ‘IT IS GOOD’.

When we dwell with Him we see life, growth and a natural rhythm that is so easy to flow into. 

But dwelling in a place outside and void of Him, we see decay, abandonment and ultimate corruption.

This is where we have the freedom to choose our stance towards all of this. 

Will we blame-shift? Become bitter and live in a nihilistic way? 

Or will we make the individual choice to become part of the restoration process? 

I choose to put my trust in a God that promises that He will restore that which has been broken down.

I choose to see the green shards of grass that comes back after a devastating veld fire. 

I choose to make a difference where I am with the time that I have been given.  All the while living in the knowing that there is more life to come eternally. 

Isn’t that comforting to know?

Let us look for opportunities where we can breath restoration into people and circumstances. 

Let us strife to live in peace with as many people as we can and extend hospitality to the stranger in our midst. 

Let us not wait for others to do something for us all the while we have the capacity to do it ourself. 

Let us love with the love promised by the One who said that He came to make all things new. 

Reghert van Zyl – Aleph Surf Founder and Director