Paul and Barbara Siaki OC International

Transcription

1 How It Began Paul and Barbara Siaki OC International Paul Siaki and his wife Barbara first visited Southern Africa in At that time, Paul s parents, Ben and Perla Siaki, were ministering in the kingdom of Swaziland, where they had been missionaries since It was at this time that God confirmed the area of Southern Africa for the Siakis and, after a few years of support raising, they arrived back in the Republic of South Africa in 1998 to begin serving on a permanent basis with OC International (One Challenge). In God s perfect timing, Paul was able to begin his ministry alongside his father, Ben. They traveled together throughout the Southern Cone of Africa, holding teaching and pastoral training events, including work with Michael Cassidy and African Enterprise, until 2002, when Ben and Perla retired to Auckland, NZ. One Challenge missionaries work in four countries in the Southern Cone and are resident in two of them: Mozambique and South Africa. Zimbabwe and Swaziland are countries in which OC maintains satellite ministries and there is the exciting possibility of a resident team opening up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in the near future. Paul has ministered in all four countries extensively and in his early days in Africa would spend much of his time travelling between Zimbabwe and Swaziland teaching and training local pastors and church leaders. He conducted weekend seminars on church planting, missions, evangelism and leadership training for different denominations and church groupings in Swaziland. It is also relevant to note that Paul was the conduit that connected IPC to each of our other four African missions partners. Zimbabwe In 2007, because of his contacts and work in Zimbabwe, Paul was asked to represent South Africa as an Independent Election Observer for the first open presidential election. Only two South Africans were chosen to represent the Council of Churches and Paul (though technically not a South African) was one of them. They conducted multiple interviews and voting site inspections and were present when Morgan Tshvangarai (the opposition party presidential nominee) cast his official vote. In spite of the fact that the Zimbabwean government rescinded their offer of total access to the election process and actually confined the observers to their hotel in Harare, Paul and his colleague were able to slip away to the different polling sites and give interviews to South African TV detailing the events they were witnessing. During his time as an observer, Paul was especially nervous because his passport had been officially blacklisted by the Zimbabwean government. For three years prior to

2 the election, Paul had been very active with the church leaders of Johannesburg in an attempt to force the South African government to address human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. They held protest marches, press interviews and events to increase public awareness in South Africa of these abuses. They also brought attention to the significant needs of Zimbabwean refugees living in Johannesburg. Paul and 10 other church leaders published an open letter to the president of South Africa (Thabo Mbeki) in the largest daily newspaper in the country and his name was printed in this letter along with the names of the other 10 leaders. In response, the Zimbabwean government blacklisted Paul. During the election, the South African government assured Paul that he would not be impeded or detained in any way. In Africa, promises like that are often shaky but by God s grace, Paul was able to play a vital role in providing transparency, through his eyewitness accounts, to an election that was of significant importance to Southern Africa. Soweto During his first 7 years in South Africa, Paul was a minister in Soweto at Holy Cross Anglican Church a very prominent and political church during the struggle against Apartheid. During Apartheid, the Soweto Township was the central hub of activism, the originating and defining piece in the fight for equality and freedom. Every leader in the African National Congress (Nelson Mandela s Party) had to come through the proving ground of Soweto. It was often said, When Soweto sneezes, South Africa catches a cold. In Paul s congregation were men like Walter Sisulu, the deputy director of the ANC under Mandela. While at Holy Cross, Paul cofounded the Soweto Ministers Fraternal and was the Chairman of the Fraternal for 7 years. This Minister s Fraternal is still one of the most influential in Johannesburg. Paul remains Chairman of the Board of Directors. Because of his time at Holy Cross, his work with the Minister s Fraternal and his continuing Chairmanship, Paul was given the title, Honorary Sowetan and accorded an official status by the city as a major stakeholder. Ruimsig Community Anglican Church In 2005, in cooperation with the Bishop of Johannesburg and with Anglican leadership feeling the need for a functioning new model of church, Paul planted Ruimsig Community Anglican Church a very radical approach to the typical Anglican or mainline form of church and church planting. This was not church as usual but, rather, Church Unusual (which is what a lot of people call them). Ruimsig Community Anglican Church focuses on non-christians, unchurched people, and those who have left the mainline churches. They mix traditional with contemporary and continue to push the boundaries as they feel God leading them.

3 In RCAC s early days, they conducted up to 10 adult baptisms every quarter in a Jacuzzi. Paul would preach from treadmills, couches, while playing chess, while putting. They did everything they could to be a place where God-seekers were affirmed, welcomed and ministered to. The church started in a restaurant, which meant that the children in the congregation attended Sunday School in the pub. After the restaurant, the congregation moved into a warehouse. Seven years later, Ruimsig Community Anglican Church is hoping to finalize a 50/50 partnership with Strubensvalley United Church (Presbyterian), a partnership which would see a co-ownership of the SUC property and the opportunity for RCAC to build on it. The current Ruimsig sanctuary is very small (120 capacity) but Paul hopes to expand to a capacity of 180 with renovations. Lord willing, a new sanctuary will be built in the near future. Paul remains the Senior Pastor of the Ruimsig Community Anglican Church. Barbara has been the Sunday School teacher and coordinator during the seven years of RCAC s existence. In the area of outreach, RCAC established a soccer ministry in a nearby refugee camp and it supports a full-time missionary there, Philen. The soccer ministry works with young boys to keep them off the street and in a soccer club. They study scripture together, keep their school grades up and learn to accept and adhere to community/ group rules. All of the Siaki children (Dominic, Michaela, Isabel) play in the church worship band. Dominic is the Worship Leader for all bands. Along with their involvement in worship at RCAC, Michaela and Dominic have each led worship and been a part of the counselor staff at various Christian camps in South Africa. Since the start of Ruimsig Community Anglican Church, Paul has been involved in planting two other churches one in a predominantly black area of Johannesburg and the other, aimed principally at East and West Africans, in downtown Johannesburg. Since the Siakis arrived in South Africa, Barbara has ministered to young people at the Zandspruit Informal Settlement, a refugee camp housing approximately 14,000 families from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and other neighboring countries. The camp has no electricity, devastating poverty and an extremely high crime rate. Initially, Barb taught younger kids and then began developing long term mentoring relationships with teen girls at risk. Barb meets with these girls weekly for Bible study and mentoring. She also spends time with them at a yearly camp. Another area that Barbara has been heavily involved in is Sunday School training. She has worked with Sunday School teachers in many different parts of South Africa through the years, showing them how to run their own Sunday Schools using whatever means/resources they have available

4 What Lies Ahead Paul has had some high-level involvement with Fresh Expressions, a church planting movement from the UK. At a recent conference, he shared the stage with Bishop Graham Cray, who leads the movement. About Fresh Expressions, Paul writes: FX is a way of planting churches in pubs, offices, grocery stores, restaurants, bakeries...the list is endless. It is a way of reaching those who just are not attracted to a typical church setting...and the outcomes are remarkable! The Anglican and Methodist churches alone have planted over 3000 FX churches in the UK in six years and 60, 000 people have been added to the Kingdom through those churches. I am very excited about being part of leading the formation of this partnership as we set up FX SA and the denominations are scrambling to be on board! We are amazed by the reaction of the Dutch Reformed Church to be a key partner, and many others. The pace and implementation is rapid and I m having trouble running just to keep up with everyone! And we are already years behind! In 2011, God began opening doors for Paul to become involved with China, both officially with the Chinese Ministry of Religious Affairs, and unofficially with Chinese pastors of underground churches. Because of his involvement with China and the Chinese Diaspora, Paul recently participated in a launch of the Southern Africa Chinese Outreach Network. As God leads him into the future, Paul is excited to see the ever-expanding opportunities for true Global Ministry. Going forward, he feels God guiding him and positioning him in the establishment of an Africa-Asia connection. In recent years, he has made at least one major trip a year to South East Asia to develop initiatives with the goal being the creation of a network of missionaries going between South East Asia and Africa.

5 Ministry Needs Paul and Barbara do not draw a salary from the church that they lead. They are personally responsible for raising all of their support from individual donors that runs through their parachurch organization, OC International. Over the past three years, they have been running an approximate $20,000 deficit annually, largely due to the fact that many of their supporters are older people who have been passing over time. Approximately 80% of their current support-base is consistent, recurring donations. The remaining 20% is comprised of one-time, or inconsistent, support. Paul and Barbara are doing a tremendous work in South Africa and are in need of both one-time gifts and consistent supporters.